Spooky Days!

What a FUN week we had... (* click to enlarge photos *)

As Family Fun Activities Coordinator in the Fam Bam, I stacked the week with many expeditions, some haunted and some not. First things first, last weekend we went to the October Carnival downtown. I was completely ecstatic to go since it has been over 10 years since I visited my old stomping grounds....err, fairgrounds, the South Florida Fair. I didn't realize how much I missed the food, exhibits, overpriced object throwing games, and rides until we stepped foot onto the Messeplatz Fairgrounds here. I guess they must have German scouts that scour the US looking for great rides to use because all the oldies and goodies were there. I'm talking the Himalaya, the Round-Up, the crickety old roller coaster, the house of mirrors, and of course THIS....

It was known as the Pirate Ship in my day and it is evil!!! I would rather have my tonsils removed than plant my behind on this thing! This is also the case when it comes to any tower of terror, elevator drop, or bungee jump contraption. Saige & JD ran up to the pirate ride with no hesitation. I wasn't sure if they realized the life or death risk they were embarking on...but who am I to pass my judgments onto others? Everyone needs to experience life's little thrills, right? Oh, and I didn't realize there were naked, hookah women all over the backdrop until today when loading up my photos on the desktop.


I'm assuming nobody noticed...because the kids were shell-shocked!! I could hear Saige screaming from the sky. And JD had this "That was fun, but I don't want to EVER do that again" look on his face.

Mom's ARE a wealth of information you know...and have a pretty good idea on how to keep their kids alive.

Here's my cameo...getting off, I mean running off, the rickety roller coaster that I promise was made in the 1920's. And yes, that is George holding Teage (he insisted he was not too little to endure this...They would have NEVER let him on this ride in the states) but you know in Europe, they could care less. Your kid can smoke & drink at age 16 here...go figure!!


Teage wanted to get on every mini-car ride he could catch in his sights. He kept trying to find the big rigs saying, "Where's O-timus Prime?"...cutie!




There was also the pony/horse rides, and T was all about it. I always felt so bad for the horses and their life of circular hell at these venues. I just hope they get to graze on big, green pastures during their off-time and enjoy whatever it is that big, green pastures have to offer :o) Either way, you gotta love a horseback ride....


While the similarities were evident at the good old fair, there were some differences.

Like how about you play a little ball throwing game to win your very own German beer stein?!


Sooo much better than winning a big stuffed animal that ends up in the basement because you have too much crap!! We didn't win one by the way...

Or Jim Bob Becker, the talking moosehead, chillin' atop a drink stand...


Perhaps you would expect to see pumpkins run amok, since it is Fall. BUT, is this what comes to mind?

...ok, maybe it is ;o) That gourd is smoking, for real! And what about those eyes?? Hmmmm...

Good Times at the Kaiserslautern Fall Carnival!!

Next up, we spent a weeknight taking the kids to the Ramstein Community Center for the "Family Friendly" Haunted House.


That's my kind of Haunted House! I don't "do" Haunted scare-me places ever since I peed my pants heavily at the awkward age of 11...Location: Haunted Woods in Tennessee. There's more to that story...some of you know it and if you don't, well ask me sometime.

So it was super small, and very not spooky, well....except for that guy that grabbed my ankles while I was trying to get JD to go through this tube.


I thought they weren't supossed to touch you in haunted houses....FREAK!

T & J had fun and even Saige got in on the action afterward...more like caught in the action.


There was a craft table set up across from the haunted room...and the kids each chose one to do. Teage decided to cut out a pumpkin. I had to show this. He's completely unaware of his little concentration quirk...but WOW, I'm totally impressed by his scissor skills!


JD just spent the whole time admiring his spider ring and drawing the Haunted Mansion.


Finally, the big day came. I swear, Teage was asking me up to 20 times a day if it was Trick or Treat time yet. He was super-excited to really use his Batman costume properly. He has been putting it on everyday to mentally prepare for his role. However, on Thursday I realized I couldn't locate the dang thing. With our painting and organizing of the house still going on, I was worried we'd never find where he stashed it. Luckily, it was stuffed under his tykes table in a ball. Anyway, JD was none other than...the Joker! Of course they both wanted to be each others nemesis. In this case the enemy towers over the hero, but what a great duo...


Don't ask me about the make-up...I figured the Joker is really not a make-up artist either so I just smeared it, I was channeling the Heath Ledger version. Plus, I was in the back of our truck and it was dark (don't worry, we weren't crackheads on the side of the road...we were downtown that afternoon and so we just packed our Halloween essentials with us to go on base). Saige didn't "dress-up". Unless you call wearing Stitch ear barrettes in your hair and Stitch T-Shirt dressing up (and yes, she wore that last year, too...even though I bought her cutie masks for this year, grown kids are so weird sometimes). She still looked cute of course!

What a great night...even if it was 40 degrees!! Check out the rest of the pics from T or T night! (JD really takes his character seriously...just sayin')




Once I told them I was happy with the amount of candy they retrieved for me, we piled in the truck to defrost and go to dinner. Teage was passed out before we even made it to the parking lot. Back to the food. I have been craving Thai food like a psychotic woman since being here (talk about irony). I brought my frozen camera inside to snap a picture (like I have been meaning to) of my usual green curry chicken dish and once again, I couldn't contain myself and gobbled up the whole bowl before shooting it. Blasts!! I did manage to catch the kids' fortunes from their cookies...do they secretly know my kids at the fortune cookie factory or WHAT?!

Saige's:



JD's:


This is what I saw when we pulled into the driveway and looked back...Saige was awake and didn't hesitate to inform me how mean it was for me to take a picture of JD like that. She knows anything snapped by momma has potential to go up on the World Wide Web I guess. LOL! How cute that she stands up for him though.

Terrific week!!!!

Last note...I went to the Red Ribbon Run this past weekend for a newsletter article I am writing and there were an astounding amount of people out there. I just want to give a shout-out to DARE, MADD, SADD, and Nancy Reagan for helping us Just Say No!! I pass on the message to stay safe...and call a cab if you ever have one too many glasses of Spooky Sangria!!


Now it's late and this blog has officially consumed practically all of my Sunday. So, as my kids put it...

I Heart Faces...in costume!

With the move and being in Internet rehab, I have missed out on doing the I ♥ Faces contests. But, there was no better way to get back on the horse than with this week's theme...Halloween Dress-Up!! Are you kidding? This was made for me. I ♥ Halloween and all that goes with it, including seeing swarms of little children in their best get-up of the year. This picture is from last year's Halloween. I snapped this at my son's preschool. I love how NONE of the kids are looking at the camera because they all have something going on at the same time. I can't wait to see this year's little rugrats...

Go ahead and feed your inner desire to play dress-up over at...

Home Coming Together

I had this whole post written for Foodie Friday about my lunch adventure with Steve...it was a good one, too. AND THEN, I went to upload the pics and they were M.I.A.! Not on the camera, not on the hard drive, not on the laptop or desktop. The Cyber Monkey took them, I know it! So weird...

Anyway, I still have plenty to say that isn't related to food.

This past week, there have many things going on. The obvious was our peep visit (did I mention that more of my peeps need to jump on the bandwagon and get their arses to Europe...our guest bed is calling...and HELLO, it's Europe!!). Back to my story...after Stevie E and J left, I had to take Teage to "gyumsticks" (his interpretation of the word...so precious), and I finagled some waaay better photos that day.


He was such a good listener, that he was the only one to receive two stamps that day...I was like "Really??"
Stick it and Stretch....


He has never had a problem with heights...GO TEAGIE!


Saige had homecoming week going on, too. In spite of my own anxiety preparation, the school does a pretty good job of easing the kids and parents into THE Dance of the Fall. Each day of the week, they dress up according to the spirit theme. Tuesday was wacky tacky (she looked neither wacky nor tacky I thought...unless you call 3 necklaces and some leg warmers tacky. I thought it looked like any other trendy person on the street). Wednesday, was PJ day (again, my kid walks downstairs with some black sweat pants and her Oki All Day tee on...not so PJ-ish to me). Thursday, it started to get a little weird. It was "Gender Bender" day. Hmmm....I don't remember that ever being something our school had. Sounds good to me and she took it and RAN!! After scouring her dad's closet for some "boy jeans", she walked into my room looking like this....


I thought "OH NO, bring my daughter back!! I cannot be invaded by all boys up in here!!" All kidding aside, she looked like she finally got the idea of spirit week. Since the boys had to dress up as girls I thought for sure the boys would back down. I mean, how many boys do you know that would hike their skirts up and model the stilettos?? Saige reported that afternoon with pictures to prove that the boys went ALL OUT!! Make-up, midriff shirts, bras, and minis. Far cry from our school days. I was happy to hear it though. It means more and more kids are self confident. LOVE THAT! I guess being a girly girl really is desirable to the male species. I wonder if George wouldn't mind squeezing into a....oh wait this is a Family Blog, not Diane's headspace! Back to the Fam Bam goodness...

I also made my way to a new town this week...Saarbrucken. My Itouch had a brainfart and decided to freeze up and crash on me. When I tried to call tech support, they told me I had to take it in to the nearest Apple provider...which is in Saarbrucken, about 60k away (not that this is breaking news, but the Itouch coded, I gave it mouth to mouth, and it is now doing just fine) Back to the drive...I popped in my trusty Garmin, strapped Teage into his Chico and off we went.

Man, did I say this out loud yet?....this GPS thing is like GOLD!! Who knew the hype was so dead on!! It sends me onto many unknown adventures and I could care less where I end up because home is only a fingerprint away. I have it set for Dr. Nightmare to talk to me sometimes....George sets it to the British heifer Serena. What does that voice have that British Daniel's doesn't...lol! Anyway, I found a mall on the way, some riverboats and of course, tons of food stops. I didn't have the time on a Friday afternoon to visit all these places, but with my steadfast GPS I will be back out on the road again in no time, with camera in tow.

Next up for the week was the middle school's Fall Carnival. I had no hand in the planning of this event, but I was more than happy to help man one of the many game booths. Meet your Bean Bag Toss Maestro (that was for you Farrah)...

The boys had a blast...especially when they got their faces painted. Teage wanted a Batman mask (that is what he is going to be for Halloween)...

and JD requested a skeleton (I beefed him up in the editing room with all the wounds & vampire eyes)!

While I was there chasing after bean bags, I also met someone that lives in my village. She has two smaller kids, but seemed pretty nice. It would be nice to know one of my neighbors I guess. So far the only one I've met is the guy across the street, Axel a.k.a Red "cause I'm a redneck". His words! I've never seen this guy when he wasn't fuming alcohol. However, he does have the up and up when it comes to getting oil and firewood. I'm sure he would have porchtime with me, but I'm not that desperate yet...errr, YET!

Back to homecoming week.....the inevitable occurred on Saturday...the dance!! Saige made her way to the football games that morning while all the men and I did some flea marketing...love it! After that, she came home and napped until 5 so that I could help her get ready. Once my palms stopped sweating, I started doing her hair and makeup. Yeah I said it...makeup. This is not starting on the regular, but for the occasion I thought it was time...plus it was fun for us. Nick and his parents came to pick her up and he had flowers for her (insert "Awwwww"). His parents seemed pretty normal, so that was good. I took more than enough pictures...against Saige's wishes. She looked beautiful, and GROWN!





I cannot believe I am here in this moment in time with her already. She is going to drive the boys wild here, because she is good girl and knows what she wants. Boys are second to her goals and I admire that. It makes waving the nightstick to the boys less necessary.

While she was whooping it up, we killed time by going to our new fave local restaurant, Porbacher Hof. It is literally two minutes away (that's what Garmin said) and is owned by the brother of our landlord's wife. The place is beautifully decorated and the food is off the chizzle...Here's a couple pics I took in there.



A plate of steak and potatoes later, I was on pins and needles to find out how it went...and to see if Nicky tried to pull a fast one on my girl...I'm just sayin'!! She is no wallflower, but boys are boys, and I'll cut one if I have to! George picked them both up and dropped 'the boy' off at home first. I tried to act like I was just chillin' with Teage when she walked in, but I was dying for her to spill her guts! She answered my prayers and was full of stories about dancing with her friends, trying to drag Nick out there, and taking pictures the whole time. She pulled out the camera and said...

S: "Oh, by the way, we did kiss and I took a picture of it".
Me: "Ummm, ok"
S: "It was nothing bad though, just a quick one"
Me: "Well, did he try to put his tongue in your mouth?"....it's a reasonable question, she's not 5 anymore!
S: "MOM....No, Mom. In fact, I'm glad he didn't try because I wasn't ready for that"
Me: ....Breathing again....

Now, I know she has 'kissed' before in Okinawa, but then they broke up and she had said to me "it really should be worth it 'cause you may not last with that person, ya know?" YES I DO & thank you Jesus for figuring that out!! I hope all my kids stay on this path of cause and effect. It's all about "What'd Ya Learn?" But, overall she had fun and that was what mattered.

That's all for now...I'm still looking for the M.I.A foodie pics, I'll let you know when I find them!!

P.S. Did I mention it is flipping freezing here now?? Try a high of 40's and frost on the ground...my boys wear Winter well though, don't they??


Good thing we finally lit this thing....(and yes, I do have a chestnut tree growing in my backyard)!


Tschuss.....

Spring Break...the end!

Well, the time has come that all little children must go back to receiving their education. WOOT WOOT!! I love them of course, but DANG it can be hard to please/entertain a 13 year old a 2 year old at the same time. But we did it and had a fun week all around. Saige got in her sleepovers here and at her friend's, while Teage fulfilled his eagerness to have outdoor play every single day. JD is so easygoing...except when he complains that he's missing out on his lego fix. So, the previous post was all about the first few days of Break and this will cover the latter part.

We had a few more stops on our week adventures and one of them was Shuri Castle. The oldest child has already been here on a field trip for school, but it holds a lot of history about Okinawa (specifically the Battle of Okinawa which destroyed most of the castle in 1945) so I thought it was a must that we go as a familia. It was fun and I could feel the historic energy as we sashayed the halls of the biggest Okinawan castle. There were several areas where we could not take pictures and had to walk barefoot, mostly because of the ancient artifacts and conserving the restoration. JD was hilarious...he kept asking the whole way..."Where is the KING?" Of course this was the home to many of the Ryukyu kings centuries ago. But, we finally found the throne, the crown, and the quarters where the royal families lived. It was very regal....
The random tour guide practically cut off Teage's head in this pic...poor baby :o)


There was a nice mini display of what the castle would have looked like in its day....notice the king...hiding away!



Along the way through the castle, there were podiums where you could get your map stamped and if you received all the stamps you got a reward...JD took that as a mission. He was excited to see that the reward was stickers of all the stamps. So all the kids got their stickering on...

...map complete!!

Our next stop was Kokusai Street. This reminds me a little of NYC where there are just tons of shops/restaurants lining the street complete with the usual peddlers, starving artists, and your occasional photo cutout spot. We all had a blast...Saige brought a friend to this one!! "You gotta have a shopping buddy", she said!! She's pretty much right!!

JD ran up and put his cutie face in this one so I immediately snapped and then sissy says..."I'm not putting my head in that slaughtering pig thing". I didn't even notice. That is all wrong!!


Ok I had to do it....


Lastly, "One of these things just doesn't belong here" LOL LOL LOL!!!


We picked the sunniest day of the whole break (thank goodness we had one) and high-tailed it up to Okuma Beach Resort. We have been there before, but it has some great amenities that we wanted to do again. Gotta love a beach day...


This is all Teagie wanted to do...throw rocks in the ocean!! He wasn't too big on getting sand all over him...it was cute! And of course we had to go pod racing...

In addition to all the out of school fun...we celebrated Easter on a very low key this year. We did the good old egg hunt (well two of them did...the other one was telling herself she was too big to hunt LOL), ate Thai food and went shopping before heading in early to prepare for a school night's sleep.

It was a very relaxing day and I have to say the whole week was a fabulous one.

Now, I have some news that just got brought to our attention today at lunch (yes I said at lunch where George and I were minding our business...when a co worker of his walked in and burst my bubble). Our extension to stay here has been officially disapproved!! It made my stomach turn. Not just because it means I have to think about once again packing up my whole life and changing locations...that is part of the job. But mostly because of the kids' education. It is so hard to make the kids move and ask them to make all new friends and adjust to a new school. It hurts, but I know they will be ok no matter what happens. I am not sure of what will happen now....since it is still so fresh! We have some other options (maybe Tampa...that would be awesome, or Germany would be ideal choices). I just hope we can lock in a location before we are TOLD and placed and in some jacked up state. Let the anxiety begin....

I'll keep you all posted as I learn new information! Please keep us in your prayers for a good assignment...

Hope everyone else had a great Spring Break, too!!! Love Ya!!