10 things

In order to condense some of my blogging, here are 10 things I have done lately (in no particular order)....

10. Cologne, Germany. 2 weekends ago we took the kids for our first trip to Germany. Cologne is home to the largest cathedral in Germany and it was AMAZING. However, I have to say that Cologne was the first European city that I have been un-impressed with. Apparently it was almost completely destroyed in World War II (except for the cathedral) and it has been re-built to hold as much charm as any cement building circa 1960. The crazy radicals protesting and mass German politie probably didn't help the image much either....

9. Genk, Belgium. After Bray's soccer game Saturday we went to the greatest park on earth. We set out to see an open-air museum full of Flemish period costumes, cheese making, lace making, etc., about an hour from our house, but ended up finding the park next door to the museum first, and never left. It had loads of totally dangerous, extremely fun play equipment. Ryan and I commented that you would NEVER see a playground like this in the States, as someone would be worried about getting sued. There was a 3 story slide that scared the bejeebies out of Landon, but it didn't stop him from doing it 2 dozen more times. The boys also rode go-karts and we played miniature golf.

8. Had the missionaries over for dinner. I love LOVE the missionaries in our ward. They are so anxious and excited to do missionary work and for me, they embody everything a missionary should be. We also had a Chinese woman who is investigating the church over too, and after it became apparent that Landon was quite wild and we had apologized for his lack of obedience she said (in a super cute Chinese accent), "Oh no, it is good for child to be monkey in China. It mean they have smart brain. The children who just sit there we say 'Oh, they not very smart.' But monkey children have very smart brain. I want monkey children."

7. Cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning. I am trying REALLY hard to get everything pulled together and organized. With all of the weekend ventures we do, and the evenings I spend planning for said ventures, I'm not nearly as productive in the house as I used to be. I'm still waiting for the day when I can sit at the computer with every household chore done and have guilt-free computer time. I'm thinking it might be quite a number of years before that ever happens again.

6. Day-trip to France. This fabulous trip actually happened today with a good friend that I have met here. Her son is in Brayden's class at school and as soon as we dropped the kids off we ran to the car and headed out with Charlotte in tow. We went to this incredible tapestry warehouse in a small French town with floor to ceiling tapestry in every different shape, size, and color you can imagine. I think I had perma-grin the entire time as I have been dying to buy some tapestry for my family room since we arrived in Belgium and, along with entrance to little league, this tapestry warehouse was another dream fulfilled. We grabbed some yummy crab sandwiches on large crusty baguettes on our way out and made it back for school pick-up. Days like today make me unbelievably happy to be here.

5. Bedtime cuddles. The boys are always wanting me to lay down and cuddle with them at bedtime. I endulged the other night with Brayden, and was reminded of not only what a sweet boy he is, but what a short time I have until he thinks cuddling with mom sounds "like totally embarrassing."

4. FINALLY found a crock-pot. It only took me looking in about 20 stores over the last 2 months, but I found one. Those of you familiar with my cooking style know that in the winter months I almost always use my crock-pot. I love that I can throw a load of ingredients in the crock-pot in the morning and by dinnertime I have a well-cooked roast or simmering pot of soup, among other things.

3. Listened to Brayden speak his first French words. Brayden is very shy about telling me anything he knows in French. I heard the boys speaking a little french after school when they were playing (and by "little" I mean basically teaching each other little words they knew). Tonight when I told Brayden to get his pjs on he told me, "No anglais, je parle francais." In my best French accent I told him to go and we ended up having a very funny conversation in french about what languages Brayden speaks. He told me, "Je parle anglais au francais." When I asked Landon (in french) if he spoke English or French he said no, but said yes to Chinese.

2. Been completely missing Dancing With The Stars!

1. Planning for my trip to Paris this weekend. Ryan and I are going to Paris, WITHOUT the kids this weekend and I am just about dying with excitement. We are doing a babysitting trade with some good friends so that each couple can get away for a weekend. 2 days without the kids is one thing, but in Paris?! Ooh lala.