H2O and getting stuck

Our little Sweet Pea LOVES drinking water out of a big kid cup and is getting pretty darn good at it, so here are some pictures for all to enjoy. The pix at the end are a couple of the promised pictures from yesterday (see "Fuzz Farmer" post below) backing herself up underneath the couch and then realizing she was stuck (not really, she just couldn't roll over so she considered herself stuck.) Again being a good mommy, i saw the moment coming and grabbed my camera...so fun!

we practice holding the cup "with both hands"...doesn't work so well the other way

learning about gravity, and the properties of water. believe it or not i caught it before the water hit the tray. way to go Mom!

getting good at placement, but remember the bottom lip has to be OUTSIDE the cup!

so proud of you baby girl!

"look, I am really drinking..."

i just love this one because i can't get enough of her baby blues and those cute, chubby baby hands!

having a fun time just cruising around the living room...didn't check the rear view mirror though...

hey wait a minute, i can't get it out of reverse! and you are taking pictures?
(hehehe, this is the good stuff)

Our little Fuzz Farmer...

I am guessing this falls under the category of the "cute stuff that our kid does". So our little girl has a new nickname, "Fuzz Farmer". Here's the story. Since our entire house here is hard floors we needed at least a little soft-under-foot somewhere and we recently purchased a 9'x12' area rug for the living room. Any of you that have had new carpet know that at first they shed like crazy and that you have to vacuum seemingly constantly to keep the carpet fuzz under control. Needless to say our little darling is spending a lot of time on said rug still trying to master crawling. (I am sure that we delayed this phenomenon somewhat by almost never putting her on the floor for about two months while we were transitioning and unpacking, but she is working on it.) So far she is pretty skilled at pushing backwards, which i have been assured is solidly pre-crawl. This morning she pushed herself under the couch and got stuck half-under, being a good Mom i took pictures. And she can turn on a dime, for whatever that is worth...rotational skills are very advanced!

Anyhow, the carpet is nice and thick and she now loves nothing better that to bury her little chubby fingers into it, grip tight and pull up (harvest) as much fresh carpet fuzz as she can manage. Furthermore, having complete clarity that the following is absolutely a "no-no", she then proceeds to wad it up and shove it into her mouth as quickly as she can, often while scanning the immediate area to see if anyone that would thwart her efforts has caught her in the act. While we want to maintain a convincing front that this is completely naughty, in hopes of stifling the carpet ingestion, it is also hilarious (especially the trying to be sneaky part.) And some people say we aren't born sinners, c'mon! She also enjoys a little batting from the underside of the easy chair or ottoman as an appetizer or midday snack. If only she would eat real food with such no-questions-asked gusto!

So that's the latest anecdote about our little Fuzz Farmer...oh, and one more amusing detail i almost forgot. Her and Ed (her kitty) seem to have an arrangement worked out. He goes around sharpening his claws on the carpet which of course pulls up LOTS of fresh fuzz which she can then go behind and glean. Because after all, the best carpet fuzz is that which you did not have to work for at all...now isn't it.

Merry Christmas, part 1

Hope you all are having a blessed Christmas. I know that those of you in Spokane are certainly having a white one! We are having a pretty quiet day and have yet to even open presents. I am planning to post pictures another day of EB's first big Christmas experience with presents and all but i wanted to get her Christmas picture up for everyone to enjoy since we are so far away (we just got these back). We love and miss you. Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday to our savior Christ Jesus!

Our first castle

So I never got around to telling you about our first adventure. (At least not with pictures.) Just after arriving, on September 14th we visited Burg Satsvey about an hour away from Bitburg. It was a beautiful sunny day and they happened to be doing a full festival at that castle the weekend we went- complete with costumed musicians, vendors and a historical reenactment of feudal warring! Here are some fun shots of that day and the town outside the castle… (I also put a couple pictures of our Sweet Punkin Pie at the end, cause if you are a Grandpa, Grandma, Auntie or Uncle who cares about a dumb old castle anyhow...) Love you guys.

cobbled sidewalks are common, notice the scrolled gate on the right...

and a peek inside this quaint german courtyard

the entrance to Burg Satsvey

the moat

musical entertainment

the marketplace

look at all that blue sky!

uh oh.... who's got the key?

Mr. M, Cutie Pie & one of the merchants...nice kilt & stockings. Guess you have to be Scottish to look tough in a skirt.

"EB" (initials of a nickname) in her super-cool duckie bathtub

Cookie face...

i love these little hands that always smell like cookies or milk & honey lotion :)

Thanks & misc

So you will have to bear with me as i catch up on posting some blogs that have been floating around in my head before we had a blog. This is one of them. Thanks to all the folks who came to visit and/or spent some special time with us just before we left. Here are some last minute WA memories....

Grandpa's are so cozy...

they make good pillows...

and offer sage advice....

and are very good at Pat-a-Cake!
Thanks for coming up Dad.

Buddies :)

the Zany family B

miss you guys!

P is for Papa...this photo was for his grand daughter :) Thanks Papa!

Pictures...

As promised here are a few pictures

A story before bed

Ready for lunch

Always inquisitive

Rockin' the saucer

Who could resist those blue eyes...

Sleeping beauty

We give thanks...

Today we wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! (This picture is of us the day we arrived- with the load of stuff we drug through the airports.) We miss our family & friends very much but had a lovely day with new friends here. And we are thankful today. For our Savior, who is with us wherever we are. For the opportunity to seek and serve Him, and the blessing to do so publicly without fear. We are thankful to be here together and enjoying good health. Thanks for your prayers for us. We hope you have a blessed day as well. Enjoy some pictures of the munchkin...

Snow day?

As I type it's about 30 degrees here in our little corner of Germany and snowing. Not heavy snowfall mind you, just some snow. Mr. M's boss called him earlier to advise him that they are likely to be told to stay home tomorrow because of the snow conditions as we are expecting 4-6" overnight. What??? This may seem reasonable to some, but to us it is downright strange and pretty funny. This is in light of the fact that last winter in beautiful Spokane, Washington we got over 9 feet of snow throughout the season, sometimes as much as 10" in a single day. With all that snow there was only one partial day that they were told to go home, when the plows finally could not get out to the road they were on. AND that is the only "snow day" my hubby and his co-workers had in the seven years we were there- they average 50-60" annually. What a change.

But I have to admit we are all a little excited about the prospect of him getting an extra day home with the family, so here's hoping.

Coming soon to a blog near you...

Just wanted to let you all know (all 3 of you) that I know that you are only here for the pictures, and I will try to get them up very shortly! I kind of killed our laptop...containing our pictures and now need the assistance of a skilled I.T. type person to retrieve them. Working on it!

Maiden voyage!

Well, here it is! My first BLOG. Feels kinda new & exciting. My dear friend Becky finally talked me into this, and it took a lot less time than talking me into a myspace page. (Thanks Beck!) Of course I am an ocean away now, that probably helped. But more about that later.

So what to blog about? hmmm. Maybe a bit of advice. If you move thousands of miles away from everyone you know, bring your Bible and your Ipod. Both are incredibly comforting and transport you from a foreign land to the warm embrace of familiarity. (If you can only bring one, bring the Bible- it comes with great company!)

Short and sweet seems about right for now, so I will check in later when I have more to say (and we all know that won't be long...)