What to watch when you have no TV.

To be honest, having no TV is pretty awesome. I am a closet TV addict, and if we had cable I'm pretty sure my children would grow up with out their mother. I can spend HOURS on HGTV alone! We do have a TV and VCR/DVD thing to play movies on, but most of the time I watch TV on the computer. My faves are House, Project Runway, and until I finished the last episode of the last season last night, the Australian show called "McLeod's Daughters." And, I have to include this. I'm sorry for those of you that have a picture of a highly intellectual Faith in your mind (Mom? Mom? that's still you, right?) but I love, have loved, and will always love America's Next Top Model.
Ahhhh. Feels good to get that off my chest.

So anyways.... I was wandering around on Youtube last night and there was this list of period drama movies. we're talking 300 period drama movies. Now, you will never convince me that "Pirates of the Caribbean" is a period drama, but she had lots of movies I had never seen before, and some that I have seen and love. So I made a list and for the next 50 days will try and watch one period drama a day and reveiw it here! If I can't watch it for free on Youtube or Netflix then I'll have to bypass it, but I think this will be really fun! Let's go to the movies!
Watch along with me and post your comments! I'd love to hear what you think!

Another post about poop...

You know how young moms are always obsessively talking about their kids' poop? I usually try to avoid that merry go round, but here's one I have to tell:

The other day LB was playing outside by himself. I went outside to check on him:
"Wat're you doing LB?"
"I pooped Mama."
"Oh you did? Where?"
"I show you!"
He was really excited about showing me and took off towards the big pines that line the highway in front. Now in our side yard, there are aformentioned pines, right next to a walled drop off bordered by the sidewalk and the highway. When you are standing on the side walk, the wall reaches to about eyelevel, and then stretches into lawn. This is an important fact- the person standing on the lawn by the wall is at the perfect eye height for passing motorists.
LB takes me past (Oh no, Oh no thinks the mortified mother) the pines. There before me is the deed, right on top of the wall. Basically LB gave every passing driver a show he or she will never forget.
"I think maybe it's time you came inside now, LB."

Training

Training Training Training. It seems like that is all I am doing lately. Training children, training a teenager, training puppies.... It is so hard sometimes to feel like all I am doing is holding the line, disciplining, sticking to my guns, administering consequences. Bleck!
I think that's why the Germany trip stands out in my mind so much. It was a completely self indulgent time. I loved it! I drank and ate what I wanted to while it was still hot and cold, I was inundated with so much beauty without one interuption of my taking it in, I had long and thoughtful conversations with some of the people I love the best, I was touched by God's lovingness during train rides, in castles, on city streets, in one of the coolest apartments I have ever stepped foot in. It was just awesome, Which brings me to my last day: shopping in the more modern sections of Munich and the opera. I really liked the stores we went into- there was a very graphic and fresh feel. I found a mirror that fit exactly into my "bavarian deer acorns and oak leaf" desires. Despite the handle breaking and it tumbling end over end when I was running to catch a bus, it arrived home safe and sound.
The opera was something else entirely! It was a good thing Matthew looked up the story line ahead of time because it was all in German, but the voices, oh the voices... I have been to one ballet and while it was very cool, I think I am more of an opera type girl! The music literally filled the entire building. Amazing.

So that was basically the nutshell of the trip.

Jane Austen's Anne says: "My idea of good company, Mr. Elliot, is the company of clever, well informed people, who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company."
"You are mistaken,' he said gently,"that is not good company, that is the best."

How fortunate that I was able to share my Germany experience with the best company I know, my family. And now I have the summer to look forward to!

Day 5

And we come to Sunday- possibly the most mind blowing of all days. We did a lot of train travel on this trip, but I must say that as long as I was facing in the direction of travel, it was pretty pleasant! Well, it also helps to have two guides saying, get off here, it'll be 15 mins, get on here, would you like some of my mom's homemade bread?
The castles. How to describe the castles.
Picture: watery sunlight, fresh but not cold, the alps- tree covered mountains just that much closer to heaven, two pristine mountain lakes-cobalt blue, and perching in two lordly poses above you, two castles. One a buttery yellow, one a swan like white.
Howenschwangau (I'm sure I am spelling these wrong) Beautiful murals, furniture that people actually lived with, ruled in, had their babies in, faced life in. I love castles that help you to imagine what life was like in that time, and this was perfect for that. Lots of small rooms with windows that looked out on breath taking views of mountains, lakes, forests etc. We had a great guide with a perfect dry sense of humor. I liked this castle better than Newschwanstein. It was more real, less of a wild fancy and more of a real home. Well, as real home as living in a castle can get.

And then there was this beauty. Unfortunatly all I caught was this least impressive side. It got too dark too fast for me to catch the other sides. This was a mad king's flight of fancy and it was truly incredible. Part of me wishes that we could have taken pictures inside, adn part of me realizes that there is just no way to capture the feeling of it without being there in real life. Anyways, google it because its beyond my description. All I can think of is a truly lame WOW!

The gardens at Hohenschwangau. Don't we all wish we were as fashionable as this girl?

Oh wait! Some of us are! This is my incredible mom, posing with some German royalty. It's amazing who you run into in out of the way places!

Days 2-4

After our Christmas shopping extravaganza, we jumped on the train for a trip to visit Marissa's family. The more I travel, the more I appreciate hospitality in all it's forms. Marissa's family was so hospitable to us! They fed us incredible meals, took us on walks, let their children smash us in games like memory, and showed us different aspects of their lives. It was a lot of fun and helped me not to miss my own family as much over the biggest holiday of the year. We were treated to different German traditions, including a candle lit Christmas tree and a flaming, rum soaked sugar cube that melted into a pot of hot spiced wine. Glorious, but I had to be careful with that one! We also took in a candle lit Christmas Eve Service and probably the highlight of my trip, the village of Bad Wimpfen. Bad Wimpfen is medieval, Bavarian, castle architecture at it's best. People are still living in this village from the 1300's, which is so cool, but I think I got the best feel for life in the dark ages from this place. I love medieval warfare, and I felt like I could understand it best here.
If only all American kids could take a field trip here during their Dark Ages lectures. I think it
would last in their brains forever!

It doesn't rain but it pours!

WOW! This last week has just about blown me away! First my incredible trip to Germany, then a day of shopping in Billings, then home for a New Years party at some awesome friends, then home to a kennel full of surprise puppies! It's enough to make a girl's head spin.
First off, Germany.

This my friends, was the trip of a lifetime. I'm not even exaggerating. it was awesome! Everything that I had wanted to do in Germany we did and then some. I'm going to have to go day by day or it will take until next Christmas to upload them all.

So I had two day of travelling to get there, and as soon as I left the US it got nightmarish! Because of a mistake I had made on the tickets, I was stuck in Amsterdam feverishly running around trying to get on a flight to Munich. By the grace of God I was able to fly standby on a flight or I might still be waiting there today.

As soon as I stepped foot in Munich however, the fun began. Mom and Matthew were there to greet me and we hopped on a train to Matthew and Marissa's trendy apt. in down town Munich. I got my second wind after we arrived and I unpacked and kissed my Dad so we headed down to a pub for a beer. The pubs in Germany are everything you want them to be: stepping from cold damp air into a warm friendly atmosphere, sitting down to a table flanked by tall thousand paned windows amidst a wood panelled room. The feeling is cozy, and talkative, and there are an embarrassment of good things to eat on the menu!

All I wanted on this trip was to eat soft pretzels, sausage and sour kraut and I did myself proud!

The next day we hit the outdoor Christmas markets. Munich is such a beautiful city with stone buildings built with grace and cobblestone roads that are narrow and winding. Tucked into various courtyards throughout the city are these markets. If it's Christmas, it's sold at the Christmas market!


Mom and I stocked up on ornaments and we were sure to stop at the outdoor sausage stand for some bratwurst and sour kraut.
Then we toured Matthew and Marissa's schools. We walked around town some more, Mom and Dad shared a coffee while Matthew and
I toured the medieval Christmas market. And that was the first day!

A day at the zoo

In October I picked a weekend to take the boys to the zoo. I LOVE zoos and neither LB or Chubzie had ever been to one. Of course, Billings zoo has a reputation for being kind of small and dingy, but I thought it would be a fun day out. As the Saturday of my choice drew near I started to get really nervous about taking both boys the 3 hours to Billings. What if they screamed the whole way? What if I had a complete meltdown from being overwhelmed? I was really freaking myself out!

I shouldn't have worried, the boys did great. The day was perfect- warm and sunny, and with stroller and latte in hand, we got a map and made the rounds. The Billings zoo is greatly underrated! They had pretty areas for gardens and although most of the animals aren't really that exotic, they did have a tiger and a pair of gorgeous red pandas. The most perfect thing was that right about the time Little Buckaroo got tired of walking around we ran out of exhibits. I have to say the otters were my favorite. They were having a ball, sliding down their grassy slope and wrestling each other until they saw us through the glass. They scampered over and checked us out. It was so cute seeing LB and the otters "connecting". What a great day. It was really worth all the planning and by the end of it I felt so relaxed. Delightful.