Life Goes On

In the midst of the last few crazy months - despite time feeling like it stopped in some ways, life continued to go on.  The daily distractions of busy little boys and their expanding schedules has probably been a blessing in disguise.  There is something helpful about being genuinely busy when our cares seem to loom so large on the horizon.  Here's a small sampling of our last few months in Florida.  This is the normal stuff - and sometimes Normal is a really lovely place to be.

Worthy doing his reading homework

our little guy accompanying us on (yet another) school function

sampling (and sharing!) American perfection doughnuts

the vote is in

Worthy went on a school field trip to Kennedy Space Center and had a blast! He's very interested in space and all things science so this was a real treat for him. We're so glad he got to experience this.  I hope he will always think science is amazing! 

We've also had our fair share of Emergency Room and hospital visits. William and Dan are the only ones that haven't had some injury warranting a visit.  Just this past week Worthy fractured his little finger, Calvin had a weight dropped on his foot and we had reason to suspect Christian had ingested some tiny little pills.

If you'd love to hear me rant & rave complain - just ask me how I feel about American Insurance companies.  

On a much brighter note - we've gotten to enjoy baseball and T-ball!

Just a small sampling of our past few months of Normal.  

Normal can get a bad rap, but sometimes there is something so pleasant about the mundane.

Humdrum - I'll take it!

Missing My Boys

Dan & I are in Vienna packing up our apartment and we find ourselves desperately missing our little guys. Thankfully, we've been VERY busy with the business of packing up a household and getting together with friends.  We've been out every night with someone so our minds have been quite occupied.  With every moment filled with duty or pleasure, we've been blessedly distracted from focusing on missing our Home.  I had a little time this afternoon and just had to look at a few pics - I am missing them dreadfully!

Thank you God for my Home.

In the midst of feeling like a wanderer, I know where I belong.

Wildlife Park

A new friend invited us to join her and her boys for a visit to the Homosassa Wildlife Park.  We had a GREAT time. We saw some manatees, oogled a huge (and active) Hippopotamus and generally just had a wonderful time in the sunny weather. Yes, while our northern (and not so northern) friends and family are getting pummeled by snow and meteorologicly sealed into their homes we were outside working on our Vitamin D intake. Calvin & Christian hadn't seen any manatees before and they seemed to be interested in them.

Older boys spotting the manatees

It was a beautiful day.

My friend's boys are almost exactly Cal & Christian's ages so it was fun to see them interact.

At one point they commandeered the bench and turned it into their own jungle gym (pun intended...)

About the coolest thing I've seen in awhile... the hippo emerged!  I've only EVER seen hippos in the water.  The size and scope of this guy just baffled me.  I'm still at a loss for how his tiny legs hold him up.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch, saw some snakes & birds and thoroughly exhausted the boys. All-in-all a really great day!

Becoming Natives

We are slowly slipping into routines and becoming locals.  Here's what we're learning or doing:

• Homework after dinner will always be poorly executed
• Kids eat free on Monday (and Tuesday) at Cody's
• The weekly library kid program is a must-attend

• Standing next to my husband during worship is wonderful.
• I just got a gas card to a local place that makes it a little cheaper.  (I hadn't pumped gas in 2 years!)
• There are too many gastronomic temptations
• 
• We need to exercise... a lot
• Soccer practice - it's more fun than practice

• I have to consciously remember to say "Excuse Me" when trying to squeeze by people so as not to seem too rude.
• The grocery store trip(s) has become a pleasant part of my week
• Attending a weekly Bible Study that I use to attend - same location with many of the same women - has been a highlight of my week.
• Being around older and vibrant Christians has been a balm to my soul
• Not bundling up in Winter Gear has been a really nice change

It's nice to be back. We miss Vienna.  We miss being home even while we are here at home.  We're so blessed to call two places Home.

ReCulture Shock

I've lived in the US for the majority of my life, so to some of you it might seem weird to have culture shock coming back here.  I'd say it's probably less shock and more just tremors.  Dan, Worthy & I are natives here.  William and Calvin have spent the majority of their time on this planet in Austria.  It's easy to forget that Vienna is home for them.  It's where they feel comfortable and understand the rules (even unspoken ones).  This is of course Christian's first time here, so he's still in tourist mode despite being a US citizen :)

A couple of observations:

• We got some fast food on our way home from the airport and William was shocked to have ice in his drink.
• My parents took the kids to Chick-fil-A one afternoon.  William came home and said, "Mom - you won't believe it... there was a playground IN the restaurant!"
• Going into Walmart.  At our grocery store in Vienna, we have 2 choices of orange juice. This was a delightful (and a bit overwhelming) culture tremor.

• Casual friendliness.  I'm not talking about friendliness with acquaintances at church or school.  It's the social pleasantries with strangers.  The greetings when walking into a store or shop, people talking to my kids in the grocery store line and just general nice-ness of people.  I'm not saying that Viennese aren't nice - they just don't display a casual niceness if that makes sense.  At the store a stranger was talking to Calvin and he asked me "Do we know her?"

These are just a couple of things.  Many happen in small doses and catch me off guard.  And while some of these things I've missed, some of them now feel foreign - like I'm a stranger in my own land.  Which is probably a bit how I should feel - knowing heaven is my home and this is just a temporary stay. 

First Week Back

The week has been a bit of a blur.  Shortly after arriving back in the US, I started running a fever.  After getting chest X-rays, it was evident my bronchial infection had turned into pneumonia.  I ended up staying in the hospital for 4 days to recover get medicine. It was definitely not restful.  Although it was nice to be able to understand my nurses.  The upside - I finally got to watch Season 1 & 2 of Homeland which we received as a Christmas present.  I didn't see the kiddos for a while - which was a little tough (I didn't want them coming to the hospital and picking up any unnecessary germs!).  I will gracefully refrain from showing any pics from my visit.  Thankfully my parents were still around and able to assist with the logistics of adjusting, getting Worthy & William ready for school and just helping holding down the fort while I recouped.

While I was in the hospital, Worthy & William began school.  So far, it's been a good experience.  They're both getting use to new places, routines, curriculum, friends and uniforms.

And if that wasn't too crazy enough - we had to take Calvin to the ER when a friend accidentally dropped a 20lb dumbbell on Calvin's foot.  Thankfully, it wasn't broken, but the doctor did have to puncture the toenail to release an ocean some blood from underneath. It was rather traumatic, but a good thing to have done.

It's good to be back.  

And will be even better when things settle down for us :)

Auf Wiedersehen Wien

The week before we left was full of packing, cleaning & saying Good Byes. It was a super hectic week punctuated by the fact that I was quite sick.  Thankfully, I had been prepping since December 27th which ultimately made things much easier that last week.  

I had a ton of errands to run and tried to tackle the bulk of them in one day. This became a crazy day.  Worthy, Baby & I rode 14 different public transportation legs. Yep - 14.  He became our Navigator for the trip which helped to lighten the pressure of the To Do List.

One of the MANY elevators that day!

 We also had to say goodbye to school.  

William's Kindergarten teacher put together a great picture collage of his time there.

 We also had a birthday party to attend.  This was a great chance for William & Calvin to have some special play time with close friends before departure... and we ate cake which is always delightfu!

 Worthy also had some goodbyes to say.  I took in cupcakes and he had a special time to tell the class about his next 6 months.  It's a wonderful group of kids and I'm so glad he had a sweet send off from them.

Worthy and some buddies

Our departure date quickly came and before we knew it - it was officially goodbye

front door to our apartment

We left early in the morning - two gracious friends drove us and our luggage.  Thankfully, we arrived early because there was a backup when dropping off luggage.  We zipped through, but by the time we were finished with checking in the line had grown very long.  Because of this backup we were able to zip through security.

The flights were rather uneventful.  Only Calvin & Christian slept a little.  I won't recount the details of it for you because quite frankly I don't want to remember it.  It's a blessing that we don't have to do it again for another 6 months or I might be freaking out.  

After our long flight - we arrived in America.  These are our bags.  It was exhausting.  And I didn't know this at the time, but I did all this with pneumonia.  Yep.  Doesn't get much worse than taking 4 young kids overseas with pneumonia.  

That said - it was great to arrive and see my family.  Their help and assistance was invaluable.

This is Christian's first time in the States.  

Welcome to America Baby.