The New Digs

We had a bit of a time finding a place to fit us all that we could afford. We had a line on one and were in the qualifying process while traveling. Once we got here, we had to work out a couple of kinks, but 2 days later, we were moving in.
The kids got to spend a week in Washington after I left, then my mom flew them to Pennsylvania to spend some time with their other grand parents. They got to visit Dutch Wonderland and Hershey Park (or Chocolate world as Joel called it) while there. They then drove down to Columbia, SC where Mike is in school to visit him for a couple of days before driving them this way to me.
We've had Wes' kids with us since we moved in, and I think they were glad for the extra company. Everyone is getting along well, but man 5 kids are a lot! Leftovers are a thing of the past (yes, I've been cooking dinner!)
So, for to satisfy everyone's curiosity, here are some pics of the house. Please excuse the lack of pictures on the walls, unpacked boxes and evidence of children. We're still a work in progress here.

It looks small, but as you will see, looks can be deceiving.

The view from the front door. What? It has an upstairs???!!! Crazy!

Living Room

The door to the far right is to the master bath, the door at the right of the dining room is to the master bedroom.

Dining Room


Master Bedroom


The master bath. There is a partition door in the center that seperates the commode from the shower area so we have a "powder room" for guests.

Kitchen

The breakfast nook, which we use to hold all of Joel's trains, and the pets.

Kids' bath at the top of the stairs, the boys' room is to the right, girls' to the left


The boys' room (it was already blue)


The girl's room - with Joey, Mackenzie, Russel, & Joel horsing around

Joey, Brianna, & Russel

Mackenzie & Russell

Joel playing the Wii

Still Alive and Kicking

To catch eveyone up.....
On July 9th with a 24' rental truck loaded with all my wordly goods (kids' things too), my car towed behind with 2 guinea pigs and a dog, cat in the cab of the truck, I set out on my latest adventure. My travel partner (aka Wes) and I headed east to where the kids and I would be calling home. Summerville, SC. The first thing we learned as we drove throught the Cascades was that this trip was gonna take longer than we expected. I'd driven across country with a car, with a mini van towing a trailer following an RV, with an 16' truck. But apparantly a 24' truck towing a small SUV is a whole other ball of wax. Climbing to the summit we hit the out of contol speed of 25 mph. Yes folks, we were cruising! Not to mention the engine started over heating so we had to stop for a while at the summit to let it cool off. For those of you that have ever driven between Washington and any point east of the Rockies, the cascades were only the beginning. We had set our sites for Butte Montana for that first night. We made it to Kellog Idaho.

Other than the miscalculations on time, the drive went smoothly. The animals were all taking the trip fairly well and we didn't have any problems finding hotels that were pet friendly. Wes enjoyed Montana. He says if he ever wins the lottery he wants to build a summer home there. We did manage two tourist type stops. No trip through South Dakota is complete without a stop at Wall Drug. And we had lunch at a place called Al's Oasis. Apparantly its up there with Wall Drug. Here are a few pictures I took along the way:

5 Things I love about Clarksville, TN

Continuing on my theme of things I love about places I've lived, it's time to move back state side. So, come on down to rocky top with me...

1. Wal * Mart This was probably the one time that I didn't hate visitng the Wal Mart. Seriously, no matter where I've lived, I've been anti Wal Mart. Its hard to explain, but I get a head ache just thinking about going to Wal Mart. Not in Clarksville though. Maybe it was the cool house next to the Wal Mart that looked like the Munsters house, but nicer.

2. Proximity to other cool places. We were only a days drive from places like Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis, Chatanooga, we even got to Orlando in a day's drive. An extra long day, but still. Louisville, Nashville, Knoxville, Bristol, the Smokies. We didn't necessarily visit all these places, but the fact that they weren't that far was nice to know.

3. A small town that isn't small. Clarksville was one of those towns that had small town charm without being too Mayberry. We didn't all know each other, but everyone treated each other like we did. It wasn't the big city, but still had everything you might want or need as far as shopping and entertainment. Even a good size University (Austin Peay). I never felt out of place or like I was missing something.


4. Fireflies. The first time I saw fireflies was during my brief visit to meet Mike's parents in Pennsylvania right before we got married. But it was so cool to me to sit on our front porch and watch the fireflies in the field across the street. I never did try to catch any, but that's ok, I like the way the look flying around better anyway.


5. The Grand Ole Opry. Ok, its in Nashville, but only an hour away, and its a must see if in the area. We managed to go twice. And while we didn't have any "big" stars show up, it was still a very cool thing to experience. The informality of it all, not big production. Just country music singers getting up and doing what they love to do.

Determined Much?

Yesterday morning as I dropped the older kids off at Teri's house. Joel wanted to stay too, but he had to go to his babysitter's house. So, he wanted to know if he could stay at her house that night. I said I would ask, and he was ok with that. When I picked him up after work yesterday, he asked me if he could stay at Teri's again. I'd forgotten to ask, so I called her. She said it would be ok, but not until she got home. We went home and did a few things around the house until she called. She had a meeting to go to, but Ernie's cousin would watch him until she got home. So I took him over there. He was happily playing outside on the play eqipment when I left.

This morning I learned what happened after that. Not long after I left he decided he wanted to come home. Ernie offered to drive him, but no, he wanted to walk. He wasn't going to tak no for an answer. Ernie walked with him. As they neared the end of the drive, Teri was coming home. That didn't deter him. He was walking home!

They made it almost halfway to my house when he finally told Ernie that he wanted to go back to their house, and to call Aunt Teri to pick them up. Fortunately Ernie was a good sport and considered it good excercise.

Warning: bragging mom post ahead!

With the end of the school year, its time to bring up the accomplishments of my kids. For a change we'll start from youngest to oldest this time.
Joel is becoming quite the little chatter box. He needs to know how old anyone is when he meets them. He's full of questions, and answers as well. According to him he will be starting school tomorrow (everthing with time is either today, tomorrow or in ten minutes) and he will be going to his purple school. Sounds cool to me!

Mackenzie ended school on the same note she started it. She's an excellent student that is not just praised for her abilities, but also for her compassion for other's in her class. She is the first to help when someone needs it. But can I get her to help with the dishes? Her reading level keeps going up. By the time she's in middle school I'm sure she'll be reading at a college level, lol. She just finished the last book in the Harry Potter series. Her fear of water has all but dissappeared and she's become quite the fish, thanks to all the practice she gets in her Aunt Teri's pool. She also finished her last year in Brownies. She recieved a ton of badges and was bridged into Juniors. Here's some pictures from her awards dinner:



Joey finished his first year of middle school with a bang. He made honor roll and was also accepted into the highly capable program for English & Social Studies. We were delighted with his first concert playing the French Horn. Little did he know he was following in his mom's footsteps when he chose to switch to the French Horn that his mom once played it as well. He is also spending as much time as he can in Aunt Teri's pool. He's also started riding his bike with his aunt and cousins from their house to the office in Marysville in the mornings. (Don't worry folks, there is a bike trail, seperate from the road almost the whole way). He doesn't even mind getting up early and having to hang out in the office all day to do it.

Mackenzie and Joey have also been learning some of the ropes at the office this summer. Learning how to work the fax machine, make copies, file and even fill out job records. I can even pull them away from the computer to get them to help out. Again, so happy to help there, but doing the dishes???? That's ok, I've accepted my role as the evil mom/slave driver.

5 things I love about Turkey

In no particular order, as always...

1. Ephesus. This is an extraordinary place. It has some of the best restored Greek/Roman (this city housed both cultures in each of their primes) ruins in the world. It also has great biblical history (Revelations, Ephesians). The house where the Virgin Mary
is believed to have lived out her later life is nearby, as well as the cave of the 7 sleepers.
Go here for their story.
Ephesus is also close to Kushadasi, a wonderful resort area. Cruise ships dock here, there are beaches, clubs, stores, a carnival, cobblestone streets, outdoor pubs, street venders, and tons of scenic beauty.


2. Pamukale. When I went here the first time, it reminded me of parts of Yellowstone. The difference here, you are allowed to walk on the hills. The white is caused by chalk deposits in the water. You can find out more here.

3. Culture, culture, culture. Those little things that make it unique. The "circumcision" parties are a trip. Close to a combination of a bris and a barmitzvah, when a boy turns 7 he is circumsized. Before the act he is dressed in princly clothes and paraded around town in a convertible with a caravan of friends and family members in the backs of trucks banging drums and blowing horns. After the act there is a huge party that will sometimes go on for days. Families will go into years of debt to "keep up with the Jones'" for these parties. Or election time. Election time brings parades of people shouting in the streets proclaiming their candidate. They will walk in hordes for hours around the city tooting horns, shouting and chanting with banners and flags. Bayramis were great because for us Americans it was a free long holiday. The downside is that during the winter Bayrami (holy holidays) everything is closed from sundown to sun up, oh and the about to be sacrificed sheep can be heard on the balcanies of apartment buildings all over. Now I know the meaning of the Silence of the Lambs. I could go on and on, but for a better take on these fun little cultural things that make Turkey well, Turkey check this book.

4. The places I didn't get to see but wish I did. Like Istanbul
, Dyarbikar, Ankara, Pergamum
. And the list goes on.

5. Ekmek. Turkish word for bread, it was about 10 cents a loaf and you had to get it fresh every morning because after a day it was then only good for hammering nails into the cement walls. But when it was fresh, it was SO good. Along the same lines, when you ran out of gas (propane) you put your empty bottle outside of your apartment and your kapaci (door man/janitor) would exchange it for you and bring it back. Trash also went on the doorstep, picked up and disposed of by the faithful kapaci. Out of bottled water? (and you went through a lot, not even the local drank the tap water) Put your empty bottles out and your kapaci took care of that too. But, don't leave your shoes inn the hallway, they will run away.

5 things I love about Bonn, Germany

1. Rheinaue Park.
I liken this park to Cental Park in NYC. The park is huge and has several facets to it. It is on the Rhein river, but away from downtown. It has restaurants, beir gartens, playgrounds, ball fields, trails, ponds, gardens, and meadows. They hold several big festivals there every year and one Saturday a month is the flohmarkt (flea market). That is always fun, because there is no charge to set up a "booth" so this is where people come to have their "garage sales". After experiencing my first flohmarkt, I tended to avoid the park on flohmarkt Saturdays. A little too chaotic for me. My favorite festival was Rhein en Flamen. This isn't unique to Bonn, it is a festival held up and down the entire Rhein River, but at Rheinaue they set up a carnival with rides, concerts, and fireworks. We lived right on the edge of the park, so it was so easy for us to enjoy these things. Mike's favorite was always the BierFest. Bier stands from around the world were set up all over the main meadow, and you got to keep the glasses.

2. Public Transportation
It was so easy to get around in Bonn, actually in all of Germany for that matter. Trains and buses within the cities were very accessible and not tough to figure out. And to travel from city to city, even country to country was simple. The only time we didn't travel by train was to the south of Spain, and to Italy when we had a serious time constraint to catch our cruise ship. Even when we flew back to the states for a visit, we took the train to the airport. We had the bag toss down to a science. I was in charge of getting the kids and personal items (carry ons, stroller) on board. Then, I'd haul the bags out of the dorrway as Mike threw them in. The trains wait for no one, so it an important skill to have down.
3. Deichman's Shoes
No photo for this one, but this was like Payless in Germany, but better! Don't get me wrong, I love Payless, but this place had top quality shoes for super cheap. I still have several pairs purchased there. It was also great for kid's shoes. At the preschool the kids went to, they were required to have house shoes and boots. Well, the PX being what it was, slippers for little kids was hard to find. Boots too, and I had no time to oder anything online. When I was told I needed house shoes for Joey, I asked around about where to get them. Our Irish friend told me about Deichman's. He gave me some rudimentary directions. It was located off the Theatreplatz in the downtown shopping area. There are no streets in the shopping district, its all plazas and alleys. But, I needed the house shoes. So, one afternoon I loaded up Mackenzie in her stroller, got on the bus and headed out. I could not find the store! After a couple of hours wandering aimlessley, I finally sat down and tried to calm myself. I decided I would go back to the fruit stands I'd passed, get some fruit and just go home. As I was walking back to where the fruit stands were, there it was. I must have walked past it a hundred times! But, I got the house shoes and boots as well. And lots of excercise!

4. Getrankemarkts
The drink stores. These are stores set up specifically for beverages of all kinds. Beer, soda, water, wine, alcohol. They have it all. The beauty is the recycling system. You pay a pfand, or a small fee per case or vessel of beverage. When you return the empties, plastic or glass, you get a refund. The grocery stores do this as well, but they don't have near the selection.
5. Recycling.
Germany made recycling easy. Outside of your apartment building were several containers. You had your paper/plastic container, your metals container, your compost container, and then your trash container. These are huge dumpsters. All you had to do was seperate inside, then put it in the correct bin. And honestly, you didn't have to seperate a whole lot. I realize Washington is good at this, but not every state is. In Tennessee, we had to drive our recyclable materials to the processing place ourselves. And the only processers around were for paper and aluminum. South Carolina, same thing. Oh, and how could I forget Spurmule? That is big trash day. Once a quarter, the city would post the dates for each neighborhood's spurmule day. People then would put out the unwanted furniture, appliances and what not. Then, the public at large had a day to "browse" the neighbor hood for finds before the city picked it up and depending on the condition, toss or reuse what was left on the sidewalks. How cool is that?