Wednesday, January 30, 2008

A new game...

We discovered a new game Eowyn likes to play last night. For a while now, its been "our thing" for me to lie on the couch and hold her up in the air over and make noises like she's flying. She keeps her legs out fairly straight and loves that little game.

Last night she was standing on my stomach, but she kept bending over at the waist. I'd stand her up, and she'd lean back over. I decided after about 3 or 4 times to see where she was going with this, when she picked up her legs and held them out straight...she wanted to play our game...not even 5 1/2 months old, and "asking" to play a certain game...

We'll have some more pictures and a video or two this weekend.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Lost Keys

So, about a year ago, Maren misplaced one of our sets of car keys. Just a key and the electonic unlock/lock/trunk opener/spasm button controller thing. Not a big deal, we'll go get it replaced.

$85!

Maybe you didn't understand me: It would have cost $85!!! to replace!

So, we didn't do it. Cost too much money. We didn't have it. Instead, we looked high and low. We looked near and far. We looked in old purses, old book bags, in seat cushions in the couch. We never found where she put it.

Well, today I put on a sport jacket I hadn't worn in a while. I usually find things like old theatre programs, candy, a pen, maybe a $20 bill or a half-eaten sandwich. But there was something different in my pocket.

Ta-da...there they were, the lost keys.

Why Maren put them there is beyond me, but the important thing is that we put this all behind us and stop the finger pointing, stop the bickering, and most importantly, stop playing the blame game.

Maren would really appreciate it.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

A sad, sad day...

Not even the attendance of the Packer greats could put Green Bay over the edge. When Eowyn woke last night following the Packers' loss, she cried for an hour. Whether it was hunger, the knowledge of the Packers losing, or daddy swearing at the top of his lungs for 15 minutes after the field goal ended overtime, I don't know. ETBU is giving me 3 days of bereavement leave.

Maren took Eowyn to the doctor today. She's not been feeling great lately. However, she's 2 chunks shy of 18 pounds.




Thursday, January 17, 2008

Long time no post



Let me just say this for those of you sending hate mail about no new posts (subliminally or otherwise)...I'm on the books for 8 classes this semester. Let me say that again (and I'm typing it slowly for emphasis): Technically, I'm teaching 8 classes this semester. Blogs may be slower this semester (I'm back to typing normal speed now) because I'm just busy. And I'nm not going tuo take away preshis family timme to blog. Or spell check. (Ok, that was really just for effect. I do spell check. I can't help it. I delete & retype until its correct.)

So while I'm eating my morning poptart, here's some new pics, beginning with great-aunt Carole, who graciously shares her anniversary with Eowyn's birthday (and gave Eowyn a Packer's cheerleader outfit for Christmas). We stayed with her (by the way, I think this blog has had WAY too many "( )" and for that I apologize) on the way back from Christmas. I'm not sure what she was more disappointed by this trip through: that she had to let go of Eowyn's chubby thighs or that we didn't take pork burgers back....









bath time is always better when you have a duck




a little something from the Packers-Seahawks game







(this is Eowyn's way of "sticking it" to the Cowboy fans)

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Happy New Year



Its been a long time since we posted, but when you forget to take your camera cable with you (or maybe we lost it...) on vacation, photos become the last thing to be taken care of.

We left Marshall on Tuesday, Dec. 11, after my last final exams, about 4:15 pm. We drove through the night because we wanted to make sure we missed an on-coming ice storm, and got to Mom & Dad's just before noon the next day. Maren drove a few hours for me so I could get a couple of short naps in.

We then flew out of Detroit to Frankfurt on the 13th, arriving on the 14th. Eowyn slept most of the night on the plane. On the 16th, I met a colleague at Frankfurt International and we flew to Poland to our sister school in Czestochowa, and then back to Frankfurt on the 19th. We then were in Germany until the 27th when we flew back (2 1/2 extra hours on the plane while the brakes were worked on...Eowyn threw a fit about the time we would have been landing, and an extra 1 1/2 hours delay in Detroit before flying back to MBS...in which Eowyn screamed--and I mean SCREAMED--for an hour...).

We've made the trip to Grand Rapids & back on the 28th & 29th, and are now here in Midland, MI w/ Mom & Dad until the 2d, when we head back to Marshall, stopping in Taylorville, IL. We'll get back in the evening on the 3rd. So that's our holidays. And now the good stuff....some photos.



The monastery famous for the "Black Madonna" in Czestochowa. In the treasury room, amongst articles given by ancient kings & queens was a US Army Chaplain's coin given by a chaplain I know...



Gelnhausen. One of my favorite towns in the world. Unfortunately, we arrived the weekend after their Christmas Market.







Maren's friend Nina with Eowyn.





Maren & her mom at the Hanau Christmas market (photo really cool on accident).



Maren's youngest sister Annika.



Annika with Eowyn.



Markus (Maren's dad) with Maren & Eowyn.



Maren's mom (Ulrike), Maren & Eowyn.



Maren's sister Kirsten (showing off her cookbook).



Uri's (Ur-Opa & Ur-Oma) with Eowyn.



The big girl in Daddy's seat on the airplane.



With Great-Grandma (who just had some major heart surgery).



With Grandpa.