Autumn / Herbst

So I am not too tardy on this post as we are still in the season of Autumn, but I do know that it's been a while since I've blogged.  I guess I can say that we've been enjoying life rather than "typing" about it (except on Facebook).

So my favorite season of all has been here for a couple of months and it's turning into winter here in Germany (my least favorite season - except for the one or two days of snow I enjoy to look at).

I love the colors of autumn, the word autumn, the smells of autumn (pies of all sorts, pumpkin anything, caramel - that's not really seasonal - for me it's ALL the time!, apple everything) and the sounds of autumn (the crunch of the leaves).

As a family we got to visit a corn maze (with quite a few friends), we also visited the pumpkin festival (Tom's first time, our second time).

The Pumpkin Festival is an annual event but the theme changes each year (last year was Switzerland and this year was Sports).

The past couple of years I have gotten pictures of my two sweet boys with the beautiful colors and this makes me happy.

We also got to participate in an amazing Chapel marriage retreat down in Garmisch at Edelweiss...it is our boys FAVORITE vacation spot - mostly because of the pool.  This was such a great retreat with childcare and such beautiful scenery and then we even had friends at the retreat too, so the fellowship time was sweet too.

There have been a few other things that have happened during the fall, but those deserve their own post...so for another day...

First Day of 1st Grade

Today Gregory completed the first day of the 1st Grade.  He is in a multi-age class (K - 2nd grade) so he will keep the class (for the most part) and the same teacher (as long as she remains here).  So there wasn't a lot of "new" today for Gregory and that was kind of nice.  His class is relatively small (20 students) and about half of that number are new students (maybe a little less).  There is a german tradition that when you enter the 1st grade you get a "Schultüte".  This is a cardboard cone which is filled with "goodies" and school supplies.  Even though Joshua isn't going into 1st grade he got a miniature Schultüte because it was just easier this way.  I put some silly stuff (moustaches, toys, candy) and then a couple of school supplies in them each as well. 

I also forgot to get a picture last year of what Gregory wanted to be when he grows up, but it was a paleontologist.  This year it's an astronaut.  I love asking this question each year...it will be fun to hear what it is in 10 years from now :-) 

 

Summer Recap

Since school officially starts on Monday, I decided I needed to get a summer wrap-up post done so that I'll be all ready for that first day of school post soon after Monday.

As always, the summer goes too fast and there are so many things I wished we'd have gotten done, but I am happy with all we got to do as well.  Here are some of the highlights.

Edelweiss, Lindenhof, Documentation Center (Eagles' Nest)
Playmobile FunPark (for the 4th of July)
Sensopolis (Kid's indoor play place)
Saw Sesame Street Live production (on base)
Participated & Volunteered with VBS
Strasbourg (Kid's museum, toy museum, train ride, boat ride, bunkers)
Rubble Hill (little hike)
Dinosaur Museum (with friends)
Fossil Dig (with friends)
Dinosaur Museum (a different one and with friends)
Jumpinn (Kid's indoor play place and with friends)
Trips to Ramstein for medical appointments
Sinsheim Technik & Automobile Museum
Grilled, celebrated Father's Day, celebrated our 10th Anniversary, hung out at the park(s)

We did a lot, saw a lot, made a lot of memories, enjoyed each other, laughed a lot, and drove some.  It was so much fun to return to places we had visited before, but this time to get to show it to our boys and it was also great enjoyment to get to visit new locations.  We made sure to leave plenty to do during our random days off from school and the weekends when Tom is caught up on his schoolwork.  There is always so much to look forward to in the fall, so now we close this season and move on to the next...one of my favorites...autumn (and spring is my other favorite)...so happy to have four seasons here in Germany, even if there short lived sometimes (SUMMER).

As always, there are lots of pictures documenting our fun this summer... https://tomandroxannecook.shutterfly.com/ or also on Facebook.

Another Fun Summer Vacation Trip

This past week we went to the Strasbourg, France area.  This was our first time being back down there since being back in Germany.  When we were living at Ramstein we had been there 4 or 5 times (with various family as well).  In fact, we took Gregory there when he was less than a month old when my parents visited us.

This time though we ventured out to some of the surrounding areas, as well as letting the boys see some of the fun stuff in Strasbourg.  First we went to a children's museum and this was a ton of fun!  Lots of hands on activities.  Afterwards we went on the boat tour of Strasbourg (on an open top boat) and Gregory thought this was one of the best things ever!  They had an audio tour for kids, so this was very cool to him!  It was amazing to think about 6 years ago we had been there on a closed top boat with my parents.  I have a picture of me holding Gregory and feeding him a bottle while we were on the boat.  What a special memory to get to bring my boys to a favorite place we like to visit.  It's one of a few select locations that we have "artwork" reminding us about, so this was neat for our boys to see it in real life, not just on the wall. 

We also took a day and went to Colmar, France (about an hour away) and visited a toy museum, took a "train" ride around the beautiful city of Colmar, visited a memorial to the military veteran, Audie Murphy and then visited a small bunker near Colmar.  Seeing the memorial was pretty cool as my mother-in-law, Betty, is a big fan of Audie Murphy.  We got some neat pictures and it was neat to see the memorial.  Of course Gregory and Joshua (mostly Gregory) were super excited to learn more about WWII and to hear why Audie Murphy was such a big war hero.  The bunker was used during WWI & WWII and it is one of many bunkers along the Maginot Line.  It was just the start of whetting Tom's appetite to want to see more WWII stuff.  In the evening we even got to enjoy some Domino's Pizza in our hotel which had wonderful air conditioning that was amazing since it was quite hot and humid outdoors.  We are finding that we really like the Holiday Inn Express chain of hotels in Europe :-)

Our last day we went to Cora, which is an incredibly large store like a Target/Walmart, but the awesome thing about Cora is it's in France.  So they sell lots of unique french foods (like Speculoos in a few varieties, macaroons, croissants, etc.).  While we were in there a huge rain storm came through, so we were very thankful that our plans worked out for us to be inside during this time.  After a bite to eat we started our trek home, with a stop along the way.  We stopped at another much larger bunker further north on the Maginot Line.  This location was AMAZING.  There were all kinds of displays and buildings and "static" displays of vehicles (from a small jet, a Russian helicopter, tanks, etc.).  The bunker was also much larger and they had many rooms set up with different things (from a dentist office, a kitchen, an office, etc.)

Unfortunately, we had some detours to avoid staus and it took a bit longer to get home, but maybe, just maybe it was my way of stretching out our vacation time since it was such a fun time for our family to get away and have fun together. 

If you've got the time and want to see some of our pictures, here's the link to where you can see them all.  I don't think I could pick out a favorite this time, so you have to go to the link to see them.  Enjoy!  Click here to see "Our photos".

Garmisch (again, finally)

It has been more than 7 years since we've been at Edelweiss (Armed Forces Resort) and it was wonderful to be back again (for the most part).  We have so many memories from being there with my parents, my sister, her husband and Jaden, when he was a baby.

It was awesome to bring our boys to such a beautiful area and to enjoy God's beautiful creation.  Unfortunately, it was not without complications...the day before leaving Gregory developed pink eye and then right before getting in the van to drive Gregory got a very bad bloody nose and he has some horrendous allergies to something outside at this time of year.  In spite of all of this and trying to find the right medicines and such we all had a pretty good time unfortunately we don't have the family pictures we planned on doing because of Gregory being so sick and not feeling up to pictures, maybe next time (as we also missed out on being in the pool too).

On the way I packed a picnic lunch so we stopped at a beautiful lake and enjoyed feeding some ducks, skipping some rocks (or at least trying), watching all of the sailboats, gazing upon the moutains, and a far away view of Neuschwanstein.

We got to visit and went on a tour through Schloss Linderhof (one of King Ludwig's three castles in Germany).  Gregory was incredibly attentive while on the tour and enjoyed it a lot.  The day was beautiful (a tad warm, but the sky was gorgeous) and so we had ice cream multiple times during the day.  Joshua loved watching the hang gliders as we had a beautiful view out of our room at the resort.

And then the day before we left we drove about 2.5 hrs to the Berchtesgaden (Obersalz) area where the Eagle's Nest is.  Our original plans were thwarted due to an oversight on my part...it was Hotel Turks day of rest, so we didn't get to tour the WWII bunkers under it, but we did go in the WWII bunkers that are under a documentation building near the Eagle's Nest.  Due to the crazy bus ride up the mountain to get to the Eagle's Nest we decided to view it from afar and just take in the close by things to see.  Gregory and Joshua loved learning about the WWII bunker and I am sure they will develop a love for all things WWII just like their dad with as much as they get to see and hear about it in our home.  The temperature in the bunker was the big bonus as it was incredibly hot outside (in the 90s)...but very cool inside the bunkers.

The drive back was long, very long.  Staus are not our favorite thing to be stuck in...we like it when traffic keeps moving...so much better than sitting at a standstill on the (oh so fast SOMETIMES) autobahn.  So with the travel we did, we are now trying to think through our next travels to Italy...will we be able to do it (and be happy and feel like enjoying the area when we arrive?)  Stay tuned to find out where we travel to next!

http://tomandroxannecook.shutterfly.com/

Father's Day and our First Summer Vacation (for this year)

This past weekend we got to celebrate a few things...Father's Day!  And the start of Summer vacation.  But this post is dedicated to my son's daddy.  As I looked through the pictures from this past weekend I notice a commonality...just about everywhere Tom is, there you will find Gregory and Joshua.  Both of our boys look up to their daddy so much...oh the pressure this brings.  I know there are days when Tom feels the weight of this and then there are other days that he seems to forget about the pressure and just has fun with his boys.  Tom will be the first to admit he's not perfect, but I know he does try so very hard to be a good example to his boys.  He has always been there for his boys and we are so thankful that his military career is nearing an end so we won't have the "fear" of a deployment.  Our boys have only been apart from their dad for at the most a long weekend (with a youth group event)...they have been blessed.  Tom is passing on so many of his traits to his boys (both the good and the not so good).  Thankfully he has an awesome memory which is tested every day by Gregory.  One of Gregory's favorite things to do is to have Tom tell him stories about what it was like when he was a kid (his favorite tv shows, favorite games, favorite wii game..hahaha, etc.)  Joshua's favorite thing to do with Tom is to "play tackle"...yeah that's my Joshua...a future football player.  There are lots of Super Hero games in our house, lots of Transformers to play with, and Legos....my boys love to have their dad involved in their lives and that is what he does...he is involved with his boys and loves them incredibly.  Tom, thanks for being a godly man who has so many wonderful traits (too numerous to list) and you have been giving our boys a godly example to aspire to.  I love you!

Kindergarten completed!

About a week ago Gregory finished his first year of school - Kindergarten.  We were so proud of him and all he did and learned this year.  It was amazing! 

Here are the beginning and the ending photos:

 

Here are some of the highlights of the year:

• Two field trips:  Ropes Course & the Stuttgart Airport (and water play at a park after riding the train and a bus while going to the Airport)
• Having an incubator in his classroom - got to watch eggs hatch and see baby chicks born
• Learning to read and doing so well with it
• Math, Science, Reading, PE, Recess and Lunch were favorites
• He made lots of friends - Austin, Dieter, Levi, Joseph, Gabriel, Gregory Miller, Zachery (notice there are no girls listed!)
• Enjoyed Ms. Beckham for his teacher
• He was in a multi-age class with Kindergarten, 1st Grade and 2nd Grade (He will be in this class the rest of our time here in Stuttgart with the same teacher - as long as she stays here...she's been here over 10 years already)
• Sliding down "the hill" in the winter time
• Had Art, Spanish, Host Nation (German) and Music class as well
• Mrs. Caravona was a great "aide" in the class and always made learning everything fun.  She taught him math mostly (including money)
• Learning about money has been the most difficult for Gregory...you have to think...he's learning about Euros and Dollars
• Gregory got to celebrate his "6th" birthday with his classmates and brought in cupcakes
• His favorite things to do at recess were play foursquare, tag and just play with his friends.
• He learned (and loved) to play baseball and was on the 6 & 7 year old team.
• He had TONS of spelling words and very regularly got 100% on his spelling tests.  We were amazed at the difficulty of words he was given and soon found out that the words he was being given were more advanced as he was learning how to spell very quickly.

 

My baseball player

Last year Gregory tried soccer and it wasn't for him.  He kept saying he didn't like that he couldn't use his hands and wanted to try baseball.  So we got him in and he loved it...he loved that there was a ladybug on his cap when he was in the field :-)  This was the first practice and by the end of the season (which only lasted 5 weeks) he was doing great and has a great natural "batter's stance"...so I think we've found his sport for now...he has some room for improvement when it comes to running (Tom's idea of pretending that a girl was chasing him hasn't worked to well so far)...and he needs to work on catching, which isn't too surprising considering halfway through the five weeks he got hit in the face by a ball that was tossed to him to catch by one of the coaches...there was a lot of blood involved with this injury, but he was back out on the field before the practice was over.

I love baseball, so I hope Gregory sticks with it and that it is "his" sport.  I always loved watching my little brother play baseball, so now I look forward to the days at the baseball field with my boy.

Here's an "artsy" picture from our last baseball game.

Gregory's 6th Birthday Celebration

Nearly a month ago we celebrated Gregory's birthday.  He chose to have a "Transformer" themed birthday party at home with as many friends (who were boys) that he could invite.  So we had 11 boys (Gregory and Joshua included), all 2nd grade and younger.  Wow, do we have a small apartment or how much more did it shrink after we filled it up with boys? 

Due to living where there is no easy way to purchase a Transformer cake, I relied on my God-given talents (and the wonderful training from watching my mom decorate magnificent cakes).  I think it turned out pretty good for not knowing how it was going to all work out. 

And a big thanks to Tom for being the "big" boy of the bunch and hanging out with the kiddos while they played some "Transformer" games.

Gregory had a great time with his friends and got some wonderful gifts.  It was a fun time celebrating with him.  

Oh and the day before Gregory's birthday at school they were celebrating "Earth Day", so I made cupcakes that were green and blue on the inside with brown frosting on top (with a Transformer pick on the top).  Didn't get a "good" picture of them once they were decorated.  Bummer.  They were so cute!  I love how they looked like a globe :-)

Happy 6th Birthday to my big encourager, awesome big brother, amazing reader, great baseball player, funky dancer, and a rock star of a son!  Love you Gregory!

Another month and a couple of more birthdays

So another month has past and another couple of birthdays have past.  The least "exciting", but still special was my birthday on 8 April.  We enjoyed the day together so much!  I got to pick where we ate that day so we went out for italian at one of my new favorite restaurants...Vapiano's.  It's a large international chain that I had never heard of...but now that I have...I think everyone should check the place out.  It was a fine lunch date with my boys (all three of them).  Afterwards we went shopping!  It was a super fun time and great memories.

Yes, it's a rare, goofy picture of me...but hey, you only live once, so why not this time  :-)

And then we celebrated our next birthday...Gregory's 6th Birthday...as always, this deserves a post of its own.

Always busy

So we have been doing more living than blogging lately as you all can tell...and I say "all" lightly...not sure how many are still reading this since I've taken so long to continue my blogging career. 

I have actually read more books this year than I have in the past five years probably, I know that's pretty crazy for some of you who read a book a month. 

I have also been working on getting more physically fit (a nicer way of saying, trying to lose some weight).  I am doing pretty good with this so far, not to the point of blogging about it yet :-)

I have also been greatly enjoying my bible study group with PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel) and my MOPS group too.  I have been organizing (for what seems like an eternity) a VeggieTale Movie event that is coming up in a little less than two weeks.  I am pretty excited that we are going to give tons of people the opportunity to learn more about God through the movie, The League of Incredible Vegetables.  It's been about 8 months in the working!  Praying that God uses this event after all the effort that I have put into it.

Tom has been working incredibly hard on his school work this semester and working many hours doing his job with the Air Force.  He has also been involved a lot with our chapel middle school youth group.  He was gone over President's Day weekend for their retreat, so me and the boys kept ourselves busy with fun stuff to help the time go by quickly...it did.

Gregory is always busy...on the computer, on the wii, watching tv, building with legos, playing with his Transformers, doing "schoolwork", making a craft, reading or working on his spelling words.  Gregory is AMAZING us every day with his reading skills.  It is so crazy to think that a little over 100 days ago, Gregory couldn't read a single word and now he is reading books...not just "Bob" books either, but stories (or even his new Bible that he got for Easter).

And Joshua, well, we aren't making any "major" progress on the potty-training, but we are pretty sure by the time he's 10 he'll be using the toilet :-)  Ok, hopefully sooner than that.  Joshua loves taking care of his "friends"; Winnie (the Pooh), Tigger, Bob (the Builder), and many others.  He LOVES music and loves to imitate musicians...so this has gotten Tom and I thinking about what do we want our boys to "do" musically...so we'll see where this leads in the next few years.

A big change for our family has been that we are attending a different church than we had been.  This was a big deal for us since we'd been attending IBC (International Baptist Church) since we came here to Stuttgart.  We are now attending SMCC (Stuttgart Military Community Church).  We've met with the pastor and his wife a few times and gotten to know them a little bit and have decided that we needed a church like SMCC to help us grow spiritually.  There have been  a few "incredible" moments for me at SMCC, one being that our church is pastored by a couple that are Assemblies of God missionaries.  For me this is amazing as a little over 10 years ago when I worked at the Assemblies of God Headquarters I got to be involved with the process of when people first became missionaries with the Assemblies of God.

 And the last, but probably the most important thing that has been consuming our minds and our prayer time...what will we be doing two years from now!  Yeah, two years from next month Tom will be retiring from the AF after 20 years in!  It's pretty hard to believe that we are so close to this happening and starting to seriously contemplate what our next "job" will be.  We are weighing our options and praying constantly...will we join with Cadence International Ministries or will we be interviewing at churches to see if that is where God would have us to be?  If you think of it, please pray with us about this, that God would make it plain for us to see and that we would follow His leading. 

As always, there are new pictures on our shutterfly page (http://tomandroxannecook.shutterfly.com/)

Blessings to you and yours and I hope to not have four months pass before I blog again.
            

Decorating For Holidays

I have discovered one of my favorite things to do is to decorate my "mantle" each month for whatever holiday is happening...here are some of the latest shots...