Paris - Part One

One of the biggest perks about living in Germany is that I live so close to the French border, and to Paris in particular. My wonderful husband decided that he should take a day of vacation and we'd make it a three-day weekend and do a Paris trip. It was absolutely amazing. We had so much fun and saw so much history and iconography that my head is still reeling.

We decided to head straight to the palace at Versailles. I've been in love with this city and the sun king since I first heard about it when I was in the eighth grade. The palace lived up to and exceeded my hopes, even though I had such high expectations. There wasn't a ton of things to see in the castle, since most of the areas are cordoned off to visitors, but the most important parts are open.

This is the personal church of the King at Versailles. It's absolutely amazing. It's just too bad that I wasn't holding the camera in an orthogonal position. My favorite part of the castle, though, was the famed Hall of Mirrors. It's absolutely breathtaking, and I can only imagine how resplendent it must have been back when the court held royal balls there.

As you can see, Link and Drake were really impressed to have been sitting on floors that queens and kings once walked upon. Actually, I'm pretty sure Drake just enjoyed the sound his shoes made as he stomped about on the hardwood floors and Lincoln just liked all the shinies.


The grounds were just as, if not more, impressive than the chateau itself. The grounds are absolutely breathtaking in their scope, from the reflecting pools to the fountains, to the immaculately trimmed hedges and the beautiful surrounding structures. Marie Antoinette's estate, especially her Hameau, was like something out of a fairy tale. It's hard to choose just one photo to elicit the general feeling of the place, but I think this is a good synopsis of her Hameau.

Stay tuned for part two (and more, if I'm feeling ambitious) of our Paris trip. This was only the first day (and few hours) of our trip, and we saw so much. I highly recommend going to Paris, if you're ever in the need of a vacation suggestion. After all, there's a reason there's a saying that you can "see Paris, and die."

Lincoln - Ten Months

It's really hard to believe that I haven't posted new pictures of my kids since Link was two months old. He's really changed a lot since then. He's deliciously chubby now. His personality has certainly developed and I'm convinced he's brilliant. He's been playing peek-a-boo since he was six months old and he says words on command already...all except for momma, which I won't go into (grr!). He loves to yell, "dada!" Oh well, one of these days he will. He does love to blow me kisses, so that makes up for it. Since he's been concentrating so much on language, he's not really gotten the hang of crawling yet. He does the "low crawl" fairly well now, and can roll himself around to get wherever he wants to go, but just a month ago he was pretty funny at his attempts at crawling. I know this is evil of me to post, but it makes me laugh and hopefully you will too.

government issued

What is a Military Wife?

They may look different and each is wonderfully unique,
But this they have in common:
Lots of moving---MovingMoving far from home
Moving two cars, three kids and one dog----all riding with HER of course
Moving sofas to basements because they won't go in THIS house
Moving curtains that won't fit
Moving jobs and certifications and professional development hours
Moving away from friends, moving toward new friends
Moving her most important luggage; her trunkful of memories
Often waiting-
Waiting, waiting, waiting for housing; waiting for orders; waiting for deployment; waiting for reunion; waiting for phones calls
Waiting for the new curtains to arrive; waiting for him to come home for dinner----AGAIN!
They call her 'military dependent', but she knows better
She can balance a checkbook
Handle the yard work
Fix a noisy toilet.
She is intimately familiar with drywall, anchors, and toggle bolts.
She can file the taxes, sell a house, buy a car, or set up a move, --all with ONE Power of Attorney
She welcomes neighbors that don't welcome her
Reinvents her career with every PCS;Locates a house in the desert, the arctic, or the deep south and learns to call them all 'home'
She MAKES them all home
She is fiercely IN-dependent
Military wives are somewhat hasty
They leap into decorating, leadership, volunteering, career alternatives, churches and friendships
They don't have 15 years to get to know people
Their roots are short but flexible
They plant annuals for themselves and perennials for those who come after them
Military wives quickly learn to value each other
They connect over coffee, rely on the spouse-network and accept offers of friendship and favors and record addresses in pencil
Military Wives have a common bond.
The military wife has a husband unlike other husbands
His commitment is uniqueHe doesn't have a job, he has a 'mission' he can't just decide to quit
He's on-call for his country 24/7
But for you, he's the most unreliable guy in town!
His language is foreign TDY PCS OPR ACC ABU
And so, a military wife is a translator for her family and his
She is the long-distance link to keep them informed - the glue that holds them together
A military wife has her moments----
She wants to wring his neck, dye his uniform pink, and refuse to move to Siberia
But she pulls herself together
Give her a few days, a travel brochure, a long hot bath, a pledge to the flag, and a wedding picture
And she goes
She packs
She moves
She follows
Why?
What for?
How come?
You may think it is because she has lost her mind
But actually it is because she has lost her heart
It was stolen from her by a man
Who puts duty first
Who longs to deploy
Who salutes the flag
And whose boots in the doorway remind her that as long as he is her military husband,
She will remain his military wife.

I didn't write this, but I love it nonetheless.

two months

My little man is growing, despite my heart's deepest desires to keep him this little and dependent forever. I know it sounds messed up that I'd like him to stay so tiny and fragile, but I love him so much and want (need?) him to stay like this. His brother's a lost cause...he's a toddler. I don't know how it happened, but he's so independent already. I know it's healthy and all that jazz, but seriously, who knew they grew up so fast? The older I get, the more I find that all those cliches are around for a reason and that my mother really did know it all...One day I hope that I'm that lady who knows it all. In the meantime, enjoy the twelve-pounds of delicious baby chub:

the Windy City

Last weekend we took an extended weekend trip to Chicago, my favorite north American city. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this city, if only it was warmer in the winter I think I'd settle there.

Anyway, it was a fun time. Friday we drove up there. Both boys were so well-behaved it was like they weren't even in the car at all. We checked into our hotel (DOWNTOWN!) that was a couple miles from everything. It had an outdoor pool and an amazing view of the lake.



That night we went to the Harry Potter exhibit . It was really awesome. We had a sneak peak at some of the props that they used for this film that was just released. Did I mention it was great? I know...I'm a Potter nerd. Oh well..there's worse things to be.

Then Saturday we headed to the Shedd Aquarium. It was a ton of fun. Drake didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I thought he would, but he had fun anyway. Then afterwards we decided we wanted to hit Navy Pier. We thought about walking to save some $$$, so we asked a hot dog vendor how far of a walk it was. She nonchalantly replied, "oh, about ten minutes." So we thought, "hey, we're all young. We can do it!"

Forty minutes and four sweat-soaked shirts later, we were there. James insists that the hot dog lady was all, "Hey Bob, guess what I just told those stupid tourists!" after we left. I'm inclined to believe it. Rather than brave the walk back (yes, we're all lazy Americans), James took a water taxi back and picked us up in the car. He apparently had some really great views of downtown and the area.


Once we got back to the hotel, everyone took a nap (and I mean EVERYONE!) and then we went to the beach. We asked the locals (with a healthy dose of skepticism) how far of a walk it was, but they replied "about five minutes." After ten minutes, we were at the beach on Lake Michigan. I'm beginning to wonder if Chicagoans have no concept of time? Anyway, the water was frigid, but James and Em braved it. Drake and I both dipped our toes and that was enough for us, but we both like our showers/baths so hot that we're scorched afterwards. Atleast D enjoyed the sand (and smashing sand castles) and chasing the seagulls.

I know I'm biased, but seriously, look at how gorgeous my kids are!

truth in advertising

I can't believe my little guy's already going to be seven weeks old on Wednesday. I tried so hard to keep him little through wishing and praying, but that didn't work. Bringing him home from the hospital I cried the entire way home, partly due to the crazy fluctuating hormones, but mostly due to the fact that it signified that he was already growing up. I'm not ready for him to be growing up. I feel like his brother has already grown up way too fast and doesn't need me nearly as much as I would like, so I'm really trying to hold onto this one:


Honestly, I think Link knows it, because he's such a momma's boy. He cries unless he's being held. There's points where he'll turn bright red in the face and gasp and choke on his tears, all because no one's holding him. Other times he does okay, but it always ends up in the same way: crying until he gets held. I'm trying to relish this nearness of him that it allows, all the while trying to hold him back and keep him from growing up and away from me. It's a losing battle but I just love this littleness so much that it's one battle worth fighting.

If there was truth in advertising, his shirt would read thusly (click to enlarge):

Meanwhile, the boy gets more and more independent and more ornery. He knows that when I'm holding Link or feeding him that I'll rarely get up so he knows he has a window of opportunity to get away with something he normally wouldn't. Exhibit A: afternoon snack has been thrown off the table conveniently onto the floor and Drake has mounted the table.

Don't worry, he got down later and ate the crackers off the carpet, much to the dismay of the dogs:

New Designs

I have some new designs up at my store. I'll be updating my store here shortly, as soon as the boys allow, with some more designs as well as types of designs. Check them out if you get the chance.