The European Way

You may already know that Europeans often take the month of August off. Entirely. This is easy to do when one has 6+ weeks of vacation to burn each year. Well.... my absence from the blog this past month was unintentional (lazy?) but, I like to think, very "European." Anyway, please forgive me. I'm emerging from my summer haze and will be getting rapidly back on track. This post will have to be updates on summer happs and the next will be more strange things about being American in Germany. Being gone awhile changes ones perspective all over again, at least temporarily.

ELI: Removing this child's tonsils was our wisest decision this year. His appetite is up 90%. His whining is down by 90%. He is happier when he wakes up, needs no naps, and needs far less disciplinary intervention. While I'm sure there are coincidences as well as causes here, we like it. In fact, I'm thinking mine ought to come out.... I could do with a better attitude myself. Eli's social calendar is currently busier than ours with soccer, tumbling, school and playdates. Sadly, he had a cavity this summer and it was not a pretty scene. But he is mature enough to understand why it was needed. He really is a great kid.



MARY: Our own little 'Dennis the Menace' is at least as social as her brother and now has mommy-and-me playgroup as well as tumbling on her weekly calendar. She says 'heis' (hot) and 'tschuss' (bye-bye) in German and 'Maaaahh' (mom) and 'Doddee' (daddy, Eli, dog) in English. She says many, many other words and screeches in her own language as well. She is also a celebrity at church and when we travel (story to come on the Rhine trip). She revels in the attention and is an opinionated, overly-dramatic tomboy. She's also incredibly cute.



KEVIN: Struggling to hold a 3-person team together with one going to the states, soon, for a 2-year assignment and another laid up for 2 months following a bad fall off of her horse. Trying to find some employees and do work occasionally. This good man almost always comes home in time for dinner and always, always comes home in time for me to go to German class, Bible Study, or get my haircut. Plus he meets me in town for tough doctors appointments.

ME: I gained a bit of weight back during my States stay and have been slowly but surely losing it since getting back. Strange. Really feeling like this is my neighborhood lately and talking to lots of moms, getting together for playdates and talking... it's a good feeling. Looking forward to welcoming possibly two new Deere families to our area (only three families right now) this fall and - are you sitting down? - starting some homeschooling with Eli. I know, I know. This from the mom who looks for places her kids can go away from the house. But Eli wants so badly to read (already does most 3-letter words) and asks math questions all day long. These are things he won't get in school. Found a cool christian homeschooling company through a friend and will spend 30-60 minutes a day with Eli working on a rounded program. Not hardcore yet, we'll see how it goes. It can only happen when Mary is asleep anyway.