The boys both had games last night. I put some video clips of the action on YouTube. I think Tina needs to rip the drawstring out of Calvin's shorts.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
A quick trip to the Ramstein Air Base
Today is a federal holiday so I had the day off of work. We drove to the Ramstein Air Base (about 70 miles south of Wiesbaden) for lunch at Macaroni Grill. Oscar ordered cheese pizza and Calvin got chicken strips and french fries. Tina got chicken and shrimp scaloppine. I ordered a pepperoni and sausage pizza.
On the way there, I took a photo of a scenic tower off a ways in the distance. You can see there is still a lot of snow on the ground and the grape vines are all brown and dormant.
On an unrelated note, the army came on January 4th and took back the loaner bed that we had in our guest room. We had been told when it was issued in July that we were only authorized to keep it for 90 days but multiple people had told us that they had kept theirs for years and nobody would ever ask for it back until we were going to be coming back to the States. Things were going great with that bed (Susan slept on it when she came for a visit in October) until the week before Christmas. Two of my coworkers came in to work that week and said that they had gotten calls saying the Army wanted their furniture back. They called us the next day. We really aren't sure why they asked for it back but we had kept it much longer than they initially told us we could have it so there wasn't much to argue with about that.
Obviously a guest room without a bed isn't much of a guest room so we needed to get another bed in there. We had been checking the classified ads for a used bed (bookoo.com is a Craigslist-like network for military communities) but the beds that looked decent were being sold the same day they were being posted. This past week Tina found a futon couch for sale that looked decent. We made arrangements to buy it. The only problem is that the family lived about 15 miles from Ramstein. The drive to Ramstein is a bit of a trek so we were glad we were able to grab the futon on a day when we were planning on coming to the area anyway.
We picked the futon up on the way home. It was shoved in the back of the Odyssey with about two feet sticking out the back. We drove home with the lift-gate partially open. The futon would have fit inside the van if I had been able to remove the first row captain's chairs. But, of course, the boys were sitting in those chairs so we had a bit of a chilly ride back to Wiesbaden. My neighbor helped me get it up the stairs into the guest room so we are officially welcoming guests again.
On the way there, I took a photo of a scenic tower off a ways in the distance. You can see there is still a lot of snow on the ground and the grape vines are all brown and dormant.
On an unrelated note, the army came on January 4th and took back the loaner bed that we had in our guest room. We had been told when it was issued in July that we were only authorized to keep it for 90 days but multiple people had told us that they had kept theirs for years and nobody would ever ask for it back until we were going to be coming back to the States. Things were going great with that bed (Susan slept on it when she came for a visit in October) until the week before Christmas. Two of my coworkers came in to work that week and said that they had gotten calls saying the Army wanted their furniture back. They called us the next day. We really aren't sure why they asked for it back but we had kept it much longer than they initially told us we could have it so there wasn't much to argue with about that.
Obviously a guest room without a bed isn't much of a guest room so we needed to get another bed in there. We had been checking the classified ads for a used bed (bookoo.com is a Craigslist-like network for military communities) but the beds that looked decent were being sold the same day they were being posted. This past week Tina found a futon couch for sale that looked decent. We made arrangements to buy it. The only problem is that the family lived about 15 miles from Ramstein. The drive to Ramstein is a bit of a trek so we were glad we were able to grab the futon on a day when we were planning on coming to the area anyway.
We picked the futon up on the way home. It was shoved in the back of the Odyssey with about two feet sticking out the back. We drove home with the lift-gate partially open. The futon would have fit inside the van if I had been able to remove the first row captain's chairs. But, of course, the boys were sitting in those chairs so we had a bit of a chilly ride back to Wiesbaden. My neighbor helped me get it up the stairs into the guest room so we are officially welcoming guests again.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Potty Training for Calvin
Tina is a big fan of Toilet Training in Less Than A Day. Originally published in the 1970s, the book says the best way to get a child to consistently go to the toilet is to isolate the child with one parent for one day and to focus only on the task at hand. The child is given lots of liquid and the toilet is always nearby. Successes are rewarded with small trinkets. Calvin's toilet training day was on January 4th. It was a big success and, as promised, he was wearing "big boy" underwear the next day. In the two weeks since Calvin's big day, he has had only a handful of accidents. He wears a pull-up a night but the last three days he has worn his underwear during his nap and everything has been fine.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Basketball for the boys
The Army sponsors a recreational basketball league for children so we signed both of the boys up to play. We had hoped that both of them would play on the 3-5 year-old team but Oscar turns six a week before the season ends so the Army is making him play with the 6-7 year-olds. This makes Oscar the youngest person on his team and also the shortest. Calvin just turned three so he is the youngest one on his team as well. Both of the boys had their first game tonight so I took some photos and some video.
Thing started out well for Calvin.
But once the game actually began he didn't want to do anything except sit on the floor.
During the 1st half, Calvin found the drawstring on his shorts to be very exciting.
Things did not improve during the 2nd half.
Thing started out well for Calvin.
But once the game actually began he didn't want to do anything except sit on the floor.
During the 1st half, Calvin found the drawstring on his shorts to be very exciting.
Things did not improve during the 2nd half.
Monday, January 4, 2010
A new look for a new year
I borrowed some inspiration from Facebook to redesign the banner image at the top of the blog. I changed the photos for the boys and added a photo block for the baby girl that is due in mid-February. We have not yet made a final decision about a name. I like Sara Jane but Tina says she wants something that is a bit less common (she doesn't want school teachers to have to call her "Sara N." to distinguish between other students that might have the same first name).
Opening presents on Christmas Day
The boys really liked opening presents on Christmas morning. Tina let me sleep until 9AM but then sent the boys to jump on the bed to wake me up. As always, photos are on Picasa.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)