Spring

My dear Readers, I haven't forgotten about you at all but since I started my new journey with all the work on top of my normal stuff, time is limited. But I have to say that it doesn't 'feel' like work. I really enjoy doing all this and although I won't see results right away as time passes it will all pay off. Well one thing changed for sure, my paycheck *lol*... 

Ok, let's get back to the beginning of April and what it had in store for us. We celebrated 'spirit week' in school and we had 'college day' one day and Zoe's 'University' choice was very unique :)... 

My van has already over 100000 Miles on it (jup... all me driving around in only 5.5 years! So it needed a new timing belt and a new water pump while we got to ride in this stylish vehicle for a day... Henry wasn't happy about it but he survived and his grumpy face he couldn't hold for long :).

80's Baby... Zoe had a spring concert which was super cool. It was so much fun listening to all the different music era's 70's, 80's, 90's and current... the kids and I stayed all night and had a great time.

Frank's Bday Present came a few days late but it was so worth it :). We picked out a frame for a glass painting his father has made and gave us a while back. It is a very special piece and has such great colors. The white frame brings out the beauty even more... really cool.

We had a few days when the weather was really great and we took advantage of the days and taught our neighbor how to ride the bike without training wheels. It only took one full day and the next day she was off on her own... next one is Henry... oh and yeah, somebody else got hold of my phone... guess who? ;)

We finally got Aldi in Belleville now as well and oh was I excited to see the German pickles on the shelf :)... I don't like the American Dill pickles... I only can eat the German pickles and I'm so excited to have a glass of those for my next pickle craving :)

The reward for riding without training wheels... a trip to Frosty Boy :). 

During Spring Break the kids and I took a ride to Chicago and visited my friend Stephanie in her new home. We had a great time, chatted a ton and here is one of our 'pink drink' morning pictures... :)...

I treated ourselves to some new water bottles... drinking water in style :). They have really cool water bottles here and I normally run around with mine and the kids are used to it as well. We also got these cool thermo lunch container so I can heat up lunch for the kids and they can eat it warm at lunch time. We tested it out and Zoe loves it... a great alternative to the same old sandwich

Another Morning Pink Drink Picture...

On Saturday we got so lucky that we went on a Mom's Day Out... we went to an opportunity event and met some amazing new Ladies who we're working with now... it was an amazing time

Henry's creation

Last night out on the patio with some mimosa and peanut puffs... OMG, they were so delicious...

On the way home we stopped at the 'Bauernhof' to check in on Henry and Zoe

A successful trip came to an end... it was fun

Oh somebody stole my phone again... all this evidence *lol*

I don't remember what this was... maybe just a weekend morning or before bedtime... just hanging out with the kids trying to puzzle

Zoe's school had a great evening event one day where the Hands-On Museum came out into their gym and we took advantage of the whole 2 hours and tried out almost every station. Great event

Playground time... Henry was so excited to have made it up on top of the rock... he's getting so big!

Back home there was another opportunity event with the company so I went again and checked it out. I had the opportunity to meet the president and I did. I went to him, shook his hand and told him who I was etc. and had to take a picture with him and his wife...

another 'promotion picture' *lol*... jup... I'm doing it... all in.

Easter Weekend came pretty fast around the corner and we had a great turnout at our annual neighborhood Easter Egg hunt again... it is so nice meeting new and old neighbors and catch up with them.

Easter Morning was pretty uneventful... the kids enjoyed their gifts and we had a very relaxing chill day

I made a Turkey *YUM*

The flowers I planted last fall as a surprise for the new home owners finally came through and make my heart jump. It is a great bandage for all the heartache this house hunt was... 

Oh look... somebody fell asleep running errands ;). Life is exhausting *lol*. So cute though... I love to see the kids sleeping... it is such a peaceful picture and every time I tuck in the kids before I go to bed I watch them for a minute longer how they sleep so peaceful.

I promise to post sooner next time... I just had to get used to a new schedule and how to get the most out of my day. I have a good handle on it now that i'm in the new groove and it's a lot of fun.

Starting New Adventures

Today is a very special day... it's been 10 years that I actually became a US resident so I figured why not start a new journey, a new blog with some new, a little different approach and if you'd like to follow me... here you go: http://rona1981.blogspot.com

I cannot believe it has been 10 years already... I still remember my first week so vividly. I was so excited for all the new adventures that I was about to embrace and it was such a great time... anyway... you've read it all through this blog and you know my journey ;). I will keep this blog active as well since this is a different one at least in my eyes... this blog is very dear to me and I started it for my family and friends in Germany who probably missed me when I left. I wanted them to still be close to me by reading about me and kind of stay with me at least via the internet. Then I got married and Frank's family enjoyed seeing the kids grow up as well which was a great opportunity to continue this blog and since I really enjoyed it I never stopped and I never will ;)... so here our recent exciting adventures.

It's Frank's Birthday today so we secretly painted some bird houses for him for his new location with his company. The kids had so much fun painting them and making them extra special for him. Maybe a bird or two will enjoy these new 'homes'. Since Frank got himself the birthday present I was about to give him I had to do a last minute change of ideas and it won't be ready until the end of this week which is ok. I'm sure he'll really like the gift :)... so stay tuned for that...

On SAT we went to a 'Farm Safety Event' that was for free and an amazing education for the kids and myself. There are so many great things you can do with your kids... it's just mind-blowing... they had 8 stations I think. Each station explained and demonstrated different safety awareness for living on a farm. They had ATV's, tractors, Lawnmowers, Grain, Emergency, Animals and spreading of viruses etc. it was really cool!!! 

Bedtime Stories... another fun book we read :)

New Adventures

Zoe also got a little chick and as far as I know she's still named 'Zoe' :)... Henry has grown already so much, that little chick is now medium size!!! Crazy how fast they grow.

Poooooop :)

The book fair at the school. One morning we got greeted in the morning by Clifford the Dog... fun fun fun

Our experiment with the Sugar Crystals turned out amazing and apparently very yummy too :)

It's March, Reading Month (at least at Zoe's school - not sure if it's a 'thing' or it actually is like all these other 'event' days that are happening)... Zoe has a challenge to take pictures of unusual places where you could read... so here are her pics :)

After my FR Night workout class we got some frozen yoghurt... it was sooo warm yesterday... like SUMMER... and today it's so crazy cold again... those temp hikes are crazy but what do you expect when living in Michigan :)... I'm really excited for the spring / summer... we already have buds on the trees... cannot wait for Michigan to show their spring colors... they are always sooo rich and screaming happiness... yeah yeah yeah

I needed a new profile picture... my new glasses actually broke :(... well not broke but got a scratch on them and apparently I have an anti scratch thing on them and I got warranty on them so I'll get new lenses but I haven't gotten the glasses back... but I really love my old glasses too :)... I forgot how much I loved them... makes me look more hard and not so soft like the new ones... I really enjoy wearing glasses as much as it could be a hassle and a heartache sometimes... I love them....

Oh, yes my new adventures... :)... I'm excited for it and I have all these crazy new ideas in my head. I'll let you know soon about it... a very big day is coming up for me on Monday... so stay tuned... I want the post to be perfect for that :).

Weather Craziness

Let's start this post off with a Date Night... yes... we actually had a date night in March checking out the band that filmed a video for one of their songs where Frank is playing a part in ;). If I ever get that video I'll post it of course. The band is called 'Second Echo' and they're super cool... so we had a great time and had a small appetizer afterwards in a pub closer to home and called it a night... 

Here we are again eating Sushi... I forgot why we went and 'celebrated'... the kids probably would know *lol* but I forgot the occasion. Henry goofs around while waiting for the food...

Yum

That WED we had a super windy day... it actually knocked down a bunch of trees.. mostly pine trees... of course we had power outages all over Michigan. Luckily we only had like 30 min on a FR night (while they were repairing other areas) but there were many many people that had no power from WED through SUN... and the weather got colder again too. Some of our neighbors lost shingles on their roofs but luckily we didn't loose anything and nothing got damaged...

creation of the moment... so to speak 'homemade tater tots / oder Kroketten'

Zoe and Henry got little chicks at their 4H club. Henry named his girl 'Henry' and Zoe names hers Zoe. Zoe hasn't met Zoe yet... she will this Sunday. That SAT we went and visit them she got to hang out with 'Amelia' ;)

A Science Project... we're having a lot of fun trying out new things:

Oh, what's that? Jup... IKEA :)... Zoe had a day off and it started snowing again and the roads were pretty slick so after the gym we went to IKEA for lunch and strolled around a little. We'll be moving the kids bedrooms around. The guest room will be Zoe's room and the smallest room (Zoe's current room) will turn into the guest room. We figured we should do that :)... Zoe is really excited and with all her set up playmobil she barely has room to play in her room so let's move some stuff around and make it interesting :).

My first Field Trip :). I never volunteered to be a chaperone at a field trip. 1st of all I have Henry with me and 2nd I didn't care too much for a day full of a whole classroom loaded up with kids or better three classrooms... because we have three 1st Grade Classes that will go on the trip together. Well... little did I know... it's so much fun. And the excitement in Zoe for DAYS to be looking forward to spending a whole day with me alone was just the cutest thing ever... she was thrilled... we had a great time and I got to ride on an American school bus for the very first time and I got to share that moment with my daughter... how much more special can it be? 

I won't post any pics of the rest of the trip... we went to the Henry Ford Museum (my favorite place to be) and since I got all the other kids in the pictures I'll leave those offline... but it was really fun. Next Field Trips I'll volunteer for sure... because Henry will be in school full time anyway and then I can chaperone all the trips going forward, if they need me ;)... 

Hello March

So March is already here... the weather has been quite interesting here. Very warm at times and of course no snow but last FR and also yesterday we had a crazy Thunderstorm going through our town... every new day is a surprise... 

When I did my online clothing shopping for the kids (mainly uniforms for school) Henry saw this 'cool' shirt and asked me to get it for him :)... hihi.. little munchkin 

Daddy Daughter Dance. Zoe saw the advertising in the gym and asked Frank to go there with her again and they both had a great time again...

I just thought this little essay from Zoe was so wonderful I have to share it:

We survived 12 weeks of ballet! No more ballet for Zoe anymore and we celebrated it with a dinner out at her favorite Sushi place ;)

Here the crazy Thunderstorm that came through last FR right at school pickup time!!! :( it was a bit scary but at least we were inside the car and nothing happened to us.

My little hot dogs ;)

The Henry Ford Museum is always a great destination

With the 4H the kids attended a 'mini horse show' clinic... it was basically just to learn how to 'show' a mini horse and of course they had sweets and treats that were a bigger hit than watching the clinic!

 I got some new cleaning cloths and after I tried them out the kids wanted to try them out too... I guess that's a winner :)... no chemicals needed only the cloths and water and it's clean afterwards and germs free... hard to believe but it works... I cannot stop cleaning now *lol*...