Life Lately

Hi everyone!! I thought I'd sit down and do a quick update on what we've been up to the past month since our move back home. Things have been SO good, but so, so busy!!!

We had all of the furniture that we had in storage delivered the day after we flew home (thank you, Pro Movers!!) but we still have two more phases to our move. Our "air shipment" was packed up shortly after we left which has most of our clothes, shoes and kitchen stuff in it (pots and pans, dishes, silverware, etc...) and we're hoping that will be arriving soon...they said it would take 2-4 weeks and Tuesday marked 4 weeks so fingers crossed we get a call about delivery soon. Just before Chris flies back for good at the end of September they will pack up our "sea shipment" which is the kid's toys, our photos, bikes, etc...) THAT should take 6-8 weeks so we'll see how it goes ha! 

I'm so lucky my sister lives in the neighborhood so I'm able to "shop" her house often for things we need...and of course, I've been no stranger at Target (guilty!)

The kids have been doing great and are so happy to be home. School started this week and it's like they haven't missed a beat. Their classmates have welcomed them back with open arms and it's like they never left...I have been brought to tears with the kindness and love showered upon our kids. While we had a short summer since school only wrapped up in Germany a month before school started here we were still able to do so much !! We celebrated a family wedding in Indianapolis, spend a week in Spring Lake with family, have a belated 40th birthday celebration for Chris, have some pool days at BHAC, some super fun outings with great friends and another fun lake day with family on Bald Eagle Lake. We've also just spent some cozy days at home hanging with family...Life is good!! 

We're slowly getting used to the fast-paced American lifestyle again, but I'm trying like crazy to slow down and not get too wrapped up in the " go, go go" of it all the activities and events. It's a really tough balance as the kids are getting a little older and wanting to participate in after-school sports and activities but I'm really making a conscious effort to try. Allie is playing volleyball and Michael is doing flag football and will also start swimming. Mary is doing a little gymnastics class and Emily has a weekly swim lesson and dance class that is starting soon with her little buddies. One activity we're really excited about is the German lessons the kids will be taking. There is a German language school that offers classes one afternoon a week at a local middle school. It is geared towards German expats living here or German families who are living in the US, but they also offer a German as a Second Language program which is perfect for our kids! Allie, Michael, and Mary are all fluent in German and we really don't want them to lose it..they had to work SO hard to learn it!! So on Thursday evenings, they'll be taking German lessons. We didn't register Emily this year because she's still so young (3.5) and she really doesn't know very much German to be honest. She can understand a bit and answer back in English but for now, we think she can probably get just as much out of watching some of her favorite cartoons on Netflix in German and we'll see what the future holds. 

We're all missing Chris like crazy and I'm so thankful for facetime. He will be home September 27 and we cannot wait!! His timing is perfect as he'll be home just in time to celebrate Oktoberfest at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs which is a super fun weekend at our parish and school that includes a 5k race, live music, carnival rides, beer tent, bake sale, raffles and more! We're all excited for Oktoberfest this year in case you can't tell! ha! And yes, our kids will probably be wearing dirndls and lederhosen!! 

Thank you all so much for all of your love, support and prayers during this time of transition...we continue to feel so lucky, so supported and so loved. 

Happy Birthday, Chris!!!

Today is one of our favorite days of the year because we get to celebrate our FAVORITE person!!!

We can't wait to spoil and love on our favorite guy. all weekend...we've got some fun things planned and we're crossing our fingers that the weather cooperates!

The kids wanted to share 40 things about their Dad in honor of his 40th birthday that they love and that they think make him special.

1. He's funny because he tells a lot of jokes.
2. He's the one who always fixes everything and puts everything together.
3. He plays soccer with me. (This one was all Michael)
4. He's really good at math.
5. He's always nice.
6. He's just himself and doesn't try to be anyone else.
7. He works so hard for us.
8. He reads us books.
9. He gives the best tickles.
10. He's really cool!
11. He takes us on really cool adventures!!
12. He's really smart.
13. He dresses really cool.
14. He's a great driver and drives really fast!
15. He always does the best for us.
16. He's super strong!!
17. He cooks the most perfect eggs!
18. He has cool hair.
19. He lets us sleep in bed with him when we have a bad dream.
20. He has a great smile!
21. He makes everything easier for us.
22. He has really blue eyes.
23. He helps us get through hard things.
24. He's an awesome skier.
25. He's a great dancer.
26. He takes us to get ice cream.
27. He knows the best songs.
28. Peanut Butter and Chocolate are his favorite.
29. He loves Notre Dame.
30. He makes everything fun!
31. He's just awesome.
32. He's always happy to help us with our homework.
33. He helps us learn about God.
34. He likes to smoke cigars.
35. He loves to take us on bike rides.
36. He teaches us to never give up.
37. He has an important job at work.
38. He always protects us and makes us feel safe.
39. He is the best person to cuddle with.
40. He always loves us, no matter what.

Happy birthday, Chris! Thanks for putting up with all of our crazy...may all your birthday wishes come true! We love you so much!!

Bittersweet, but exciting news!

So we have some exciting news to share: we're moving back to Michigan one year early! This was not our plan and nothing we sought out...we really love our life here and leaving early is definitely bittersweet, but Chris had an exciting new job opportunity present itself so we're packing up and moving back to the Mitten.



The timing has been really fortunate in that our renters actually moved out in May so we are able to move right back into our home and since school is wrapping up in another 2 weeks our kids are able to complete their year here and begin a new school year in MI. They'll have the shortest summer ever, but that's ok, we've put them through worse! haha! We're all really excited that the kids will be back at  Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, too.

The kids and I will fly back at the end of this month, their last day of school is July 27. We'll bring back as much as we can in our suitcases and since we purchased all new furniture from IKEA when we moved here and have had all of our furniture from our home in Michigan in storage these past two years (thank you, Pro Movers) we won't have to wait months for our furniture to be shipped back to the US.

Chris will be home for 2 weeks in August for a planned vacation, but then he will fly back to Germany to finish up work with ZF and wrap up all loose ends here. He'll be back home for good at the end of September. It'll be a long six weeks until we're all back home together again but we'll make it, and the kids and I will be surrounded by family and friends while he is gone. I totally owe him, too...when we moved into our home in Beverly Hills I was in the hospital having just delivered Emily. I left our old house to have a baby and came home from the hospital with Emily to the new house. He moved us all. Like I said, I owe him ; ) It's my turn to move us in and let him come home to a finished house. Ha!

I met a sweet friend (also from Michigan!) shortly after we moved here...and their family moved back to the States a few months after we met...I was SO excited for her and for their family. We were only a few months in and the transition here was really difficult for me (remember I don't like change haha!) I remember my friend expressing her feelings about moving back to the US, she was excited and happy to be closer to family but also feeling sad to be leaving Germany. I didn't get it at the time...how could she be anything but excited to be going back to the US?!? But I totally get it now.

I don't know when I'll have the words to express what this experience has been like for our family. We've grown closer and have felt so fortunate to be welcomed into a new country and culture by so many wonderful people. I'm going to miss these friendships and relationships deeply. And I know our kids are, too. As excited as we all are to be coming home, and we are...(please don't misunderstand me. We get to come HOME! To the best country in the world!) We are also sad to be leaving this beautiful place and all of these wonderful people we've been lucky enough to meet in the past two years.

We {heart} Italy

We were lucky enough to spend the last week of May in Italy. The town we stayed at is called Lido di Jesolo which is about an hour from Venice. Chris and I were super torn on where to visit this particular holiday...we are for sure feeling time slipping away from us and the opportunity to travel and see so many places while we are living abroad so we felt kind of guilty at the thought of "just" doing a beach holiday, BUT...Chris works his tail off you guys...he works so, so hard...this man deserves and NEEDED a vacation!! He found this amazing beach town and when we realized we could still do a day trip to Venice we were sold!!

We visited Italy last year during this same holiday and I can confidently say we're all in love with this beautiful country. The people are SO kind!! We had another truly amazing week and I hope we can visit again someday...I would love nothing more than to travel Italy for a few weeks. Someday...

We drove about 8 hours on Saturday and arrived at our hotel in time to swim for a bit and have dinner before crashing for the night. 

I wish I took a picture of our rooms!! We had two rooms on this trip (which is pretty standard for our family of 6) but this time we had a "boy's room" and a "girl's room"...we were just down the hall from each other, and while the boys had a standard room with a king bed the girls and I shared a room with four twin beds lined up...it was so cute! And totally the best way to sleep with kids if you ask me...at least my kids. They're all pretty active sleepers! ha!

We bounced from the beach to the pool all day Sunday and Monday and on Tuesday we drove to Venice for the day. What a beautiful city! I had visited once before super briefly when I was 11 so I really don't remember anything, but I was so excited to visit and explore!

We had a tour scheduled and started our day at St. Mark's Basilica. For whatever reason, the crowds were quite small the day we visited so we were able to really take our time and check out the Basilica inside and outside without getting in anyone's way. You have to take note here that with four kids (two still being fairly young) we take up a lot of room and are almost always in someone's way! ha! We're working on it! : )

These four are so lucky to have a Dad who shows them the world

After St. Mark's we saw the city from a water taxi and our guide pointed our e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. She was seriously so sweet. I think I've mentioned before that we have used a website called Tours by Locals when we travel and want a designated tour somewhere...we've had fantastic luck using this service because the tour guide is able to structure the tour in a way that's going to be exciting and fun for our kids...on this tour she took us to the workshop of an amazing craftsman named Roberto Comin who makes marionette puppets! He was the sweetest man and explained to the kids how he designs and makes these puppets and let them play a role in the creation of a few! And of course, he let them play with the puppetts themselves and taught them how to move them..this man was the sweetest and for sure one of the best parts or our entire trip!  

As magical as the city of Venice is the behavior of all of our kids didn't *quite* match up...we had a few trying moments with one who shall not be named but by late afternoon and an early dinner plus two gelato breaks we had a happy crew!

We wrapped up our day with a gondola ride. It was perfection. SO peaceful and beautiful...Venice was just amazing.

The rest of our holiday we spent in a pretty fantastic pattern of waking up around 9:00am for breakfast, heading to the beach to play in the sand,  slowly making our way to the pool for the majority of the day and finishing up with playing in the waves until around 6:30pm when we'd make our way back to our rooms to shower for dinner...sprinkle in a lot of snacks and drinks (for the kids AND the adults) and we all left the following Saturday well rested, pretty sun kissed and sad to be heading back to reality!

The end of the school year is in sight and we cannot wait!! I'm so thankful for the German school schedule of half days because I feel like we can still enjoy our summer...the kids are home by 12:00pm every day (Allie has school until 12:45pm two days a week) so for the most part their homework is finished by 2:00/2:30 and we can have a few hours of fun enjoying the sunshine and hitting up our local pool/lakefront!! We don't feel quite as cheated out of a shorter summer break, but we're all itching to get home to visit our family and friends in August!!!