I just love it when the boys do things in unison!

So, I actually HAVE been knitting, I just haven’t had the time to write about it. I finished my first pair of socks! YAY! (Maybe I already wrote that) The problem is I don’t want to wear it because I don’t want to wear them out. How sad is that? I started on a pair for Michael, and with the suggestion from Ingrid (my SP8 spoiler), I decided to do the Jaywalker pattern at MagKnits.

The sock that’s too small for Michael

OK, so it’s all my fault that it turned out horrible. With all the moving, I misplaced my measuring tape to check the gauge, so I just went “by feel”. I had no idea that the tape measures here ONLY has centimeters. On both sides! Does that make sense? I mean I know they don’t have English measurements normally, but there are a lot of British/American things in the craft world where inches would be useful. I checked several stores only to be severely disappointed. I started on the bigger size, but as I was knitting it, it just seemed too big. And based on the last sock, I wanted something tighter. So I started on the smaller one. Everything went fine. The Regia yarn that I got accentuated the zigzags, although it’s not as luxurious feeling as the Cherry Tree Hill yarn. After I turned the heel, I had him try it on and his ankle area is so big that it doesn’t fit. I got so frustrated that I stopped knitting. I didn’t want to start over again. So I figure those will be my socks and I’ll just start new ones for Michael.

My new Lorna’s Laces yarn!

I ordered some Lorna’s Laces yarn and Arwin and Joey brought them over for me. Look at these scrumptious colorways! The baltic sea colorway (the one on the right) is MINE!

Today we had all these people outside our apartment, putting up scaffolding. I believe they’re painting the building so we won’t really be able to look outside without seeing someone. Kind of irritating and embarrassing when talking on the webphone to my mom or dad.

We went to the bakery this morning, just me and the boys. No stroller. They did very well and we all felt super European going to the bakery to get the day’s bread. They are so much fun when they are cooperative and happy to be out!

Also, during their nap, the boys figured out how to open their door, so we’ll have to start figuring out a plan to keep them in! At least they can’t open the door to the outside, just the door to the living room.

Arwin and Joey got a late start today and walked around the Odeonsplatz area. I stayed at home and we didn’t do much. Just went to the playground. There wasn’t much time between their lunch and leaving for dinner to do really anything. I thought about going grocery shopping but then changed my mind. Not up to it!

This evening I got a babysitter and we went to a French restaurant in Schwabing for dinner. Since we had time, we just walked there. It was a really pleasant walk since the weather was just perfect. Not too hot or cold. The restaurant was ok, I am not a gourmet food kind of person so what I could get was limited. What I did eat was good though. I wanted to take home a creme brulee for Michael, but we couldn’t get it to go. So, tough cookies for him.

Michael went climbing all day and didn’t get home until late. Here he is complaining that he doesn’t get out much and for the past three consecutive weekends he’s had full day trips! I even count today’s one as an “overnighter” because he did camp overnight. So there! He agreed to watch the boys on Monday so maybe I’ll do the bike tour with Joey and Arwin. Still haven’t made up my mind yet.

Oh, and on a side note the CEO of SightSpeed posted a comment on my previous post about how much I liked SightSpeed. Isn’t that cool? I sent him a nice note with some suggestions on how they could improve their product. I think it’s great when a company actually reaches out to their customers. Two thumbs up again!

Today was a regular day. Michael went to work and the boys and I stayed home. We did go to the grocery store in the afternoon and then to the playground after Michael got home early. Joey and Arwin went to Oktoberfest around noon and stayed there all day/all night. I’ll get back to them in a second.

I went to the apartment management again today (this is a daily thing until I get my stuff back) and said that the movers hadn’t come with my stuff. The woman said that she will personally go today at 4pm. Did that happen? NO! I can’t believe how many times she’s conveniently forgotten about me. I mean, I would get sick of seeing me every day and just do it to get it over with. Not to mention feel bad that someone doesn’t have all their stuff for a month. I’m thinking what will happen is that someone took it or threw it away because they rented out the place or something. In which case, they will have to buy us new ones. Can’t wait to see her on Monday! She’ll probably not be there until Wednesday (since Tuesday is a holiday).

I had lots of time today to take videos of the boys. You’ll like them, they are so unbelievebly cute! Especially Elijah and his head nods. And I love his “Tshew!” I’m feeling a lot better today, or at least not tired all the time.

Arwin and Joey’s luggage was found today and delivered with everything in tact. Thank goodness! I now have my mom-cards and my new sock yarn! It’s Lorna’s Laces brand and I just love the colors. There’s one colorway that’s “baltic sea” and it’s awesome. I’m saving that one for me.

So back to the lost and found. Michael left to go climbing this evening at 9pm (and slept at the trailhead), so I was home alone surfing the web and watching old episodes of 24. Joey called me at around 11:30 kind of drunk saying “I’m lost and I’ve lost Arwin”. And I was like “Where are you and how did that happen?” He sounded so sad and lonely! Poor thing. He took the train and somehow went the wrong direction and so ended up somewhere else in our neighborhood. But I was able to direct him back and then he kind of slumbered around our apartment telling me the story (sort of) but he actually didn’t know how they got separated. We waited for a few minutes then he decided to go back out and look for her. At around 12:30, our doorbell rings and it’s Arwin and the first thing she said is “I lost Joey!” So finally I called Joey and he was on his way back, relieved to hear that Arwin made it back, and they were reunited again. It was a funny story and probably very common during Oktoberfest! So many people and beer!

The boys have been on a cuteness rampage lately with being really good about saying “hi” and “tschüß!” (bye in German). For some reason, today when asking both of them how to say “Elijah”, they just started screaming into the camera. Don’t know why that is.

This morning was uneventful. We went shopping at dm to get some diapers and wipes. The boys had their morning pretzel, I’m using that as an alternative to the “biz-kids” cracker we usually give them as a snack. They don’t carry them anymore at the grocery store! I am pretty upset about it because it was just perfect for them and we could take it anywhere. I guess they were getting kind of tired of it anyways, so maybe it’s just as well.

I sent out some “video emails” today. Maybe you were one of the lucky ones who got one. If not, you’ll need to send me an email (a LONG one telling me what you’re up to) and then I’ll send one to you! HA!

This afternoon Arwin and Joey arrived (friends from LA), they were late because their bag that had EVERYTHING in it was lost. And then Lufthansa didn’t even have a record for it to pull it up. Hopefullly they will get it tomorrow or the next day. So the day was spent calling the airlines and they got some stuff sorted out. It turns out that United has a record of it going to San Fran, and then transferred it to Lufthansa, but then Lufthansa is the problem. It could just be sitting somewhere in San Fran or it could be on it’s way here. Who knows. We’re hoping for the latter.

We went to Marienplatz with them and they bought some underwear and socks and they’ll just borrow our clothes until tomorrow, and hopefully then they will have more news about their baggage. Michael met us there and made all of us go up the St. Peter’s tower (a billion steps). It normally wouldn’t be too bad, but we had the boys. Elijah didn’t want to be carried most of the way, he really enjoyed going up the stairs. But there were some parts that were narrow and he was starting to slow down, so I had to carry him. Rowan didn’t mind being carried at all. Going up (and down) stairs are so hard with a 30 lb. moving flour sack. Then we went to the English Garden for dinner. I was really shocked that everything was kind of shut down at 7pm and it was almost completely empty. It was a nice evening too. So we went to the Chinese Tower restaurant and had a great meal. It’s always fun to eat with Arwin because she always talks about the flavor of food and drinks. On the way back, Michael rode the bike home with Joey on the back. It was quite hilarious to see them. Arwin took a picture, I’ll have to post it soon. Two drunks on a bike. Ok, so they weren’t drunk, but they had a beer.

We got a couple of things today that we’ve been waiting for - a network drive to move all of our files to since we’re running out of disk space on our machines and also a workout watch that Michael wanted to make the most of his workouts. We’re such gadget freaks.

Michael went to the Wies’n today at lunch to ride the rollercoasters and other rides. Geez, I had babies to watch and a house to clean. Hmpf!

Rowan catches up on some sleep

This morning I tried out SightSpeed with my mom and dad and it worked great! Although my parents didn’t have a video cam hooked up, so I still have to test it out with both sides having a camera. I think it would work fine. I highly recommend this app over Skype anyday. With Skype we always had dropped calls at around 3 minutes so we had to frequently call back and it was annoying to say the least. On the first try of Sightspeed, it worked perfectly and it didn’t cut off until my power went out, which took out my router. My mom really enjoyed just watching them play and run over and say hi. Elijah would come over, look at himself on the computer then hide and laugh. It was really cute. I tried to get them to say “grandma” but Rowan said “ma-neigh” and Elijah said “mama”. For grandpa, they both said “papa”. Another feature that I like about sightspeed is that you can send “video mail” pretty easily. Instead of sending a huge file, they save the video on their servers for the person to “get” or it gets sent to their sightspeed inbox. It plays as a flash video and it’s fun to make! Two thumbs up!

The battle with T-Com continues. I got a letter in the mail saying that I signed up for “call & surf T-DSL 2000″ and couldn’t get someone to talk on the phone about it. I went online to see if I could do something about it, but then ended up signing up for the “call & surf T-DSL 16000″ package which has really high download and upload speeds, I think double or more than what we have now. Hopefully this change won’t cut out our internet service. We’ll see I guess.

Since I was still feeling sick today, we didn’t do much. In the afternoon, I had a babysitter and had my hair done. It took 4 hours again and this time he didn’t even flat iron it. I’ve decided to go somewhere else. When I came back, Alex told me that the power cut out at 3pm and she sat in the dark! Ack! I forgot to tell her how to turn it back on. I think the work that they’re doing in our building is making our breaker flip and we had to turn it back on like 6 times today.

In the evening, Michael came home at 6 and took over for me while I vegged out. He really enjoys being with them and they have so much fun. Hardly any tantrums anymore, let’s hope that trend continues! For dinner I had chicken noodle soup. Michael is feeling better but I’m definitely not. I hate being sick! Our friends were supposed to come this evening but their flight got delayed and so they missed their connection. They’ll be here tomorrow.

This morning the boys had a new class to go to. It’s a montessori class called “Die Kleinen Selbermacher” (The little do-it-yourselfer). I was a little scared because Michael couldn’t come with me this time and the class was 2 hours long. At first, they were scared and clingy, especially Elijah. Rowan sat quietly for a little while, then started exploring everything. When Elijah saw Rowan running around, then he wanted to get out too.

This class is the best thing that I signed up for. There are only 3 other kids in the class, so it’s not too crazy and overwhelming. One of the kids didn’t come today, so it was just 2 others. All the things that she put out interested the boys. Simple household stuff like junkie CD’s put onto a wooden spoon or buttons put into a metal can with a slot in the top like a piggy bank, little wooden and plastic balls, cardboard rolls of all sizes, keys, etc. And she brought them out in a way that was progressive and it kept them engaged the entire time. She also brought out some foam mats for them to climb all over, which the boys loved. It was hard for me to talk to the other mothers since they spoke mostly in German and I had a hard time following and/or speaking. The most impressive part was the “brotzeit”. We took out a round table and chairs and everyone sat down. The teacher cut up some bread and offered everyone a piece. The boys took theirs and then she gave them a pat of butter with a knife and had them spread it themselves. They couldn’t do it completely by themselves, but I was surprised at how behaved they were. Like little gentlemen! I also liked that when the kids push or hit or whatever, the teacher intervenes and does her discipline, rather than relying on the parent. Amazingly, my kids were probably the least aggressive, which is kind of shocking. Even when someone pushed Elijah, he just looked at me and cried and didn’t do anything back, which I was happy about. She had a few rules like the “toys” needed to stay in this one area and they couldn’t take them out. After a few times, I think all the kids understood. I was so proud of my boys in the class, they did so good and enjoyed it so much. I just liked the structure of the class and I really felt like they are learning. We read somewhere that Montessorri classes are really good for boys and this class has proved it to me!

After that, we met Michael at Karlsplatz and got some lunch and then went to the toy store to get more cars. The boys have lost some of their cars, so we got some replacements. Elijah was really attracted to this “emergency” car set with a police car and a tow truck with another car on it. I guess we got them hooked on police cars and ambulances, since that’s what they are attracted to. Then we went home and they took a nap.

I am also happy to tell you that the rules we set in the kitchen wasn’t broken today until Michael came home (which was right before bed). He said that there was a different feeling in the house today. Just because there was little stress and we were all in the kitchen and no one was screaming/crying/yelling. And also probably because the cleaning lady came. I really feel like the boys “grew up” today and made really big positive strides in how to follow rules. They are so awesome about cleaning up. Rowan will make sure the bobby cars are “parked” before coming in and will also make sure that the pot tops that he took out of the cupboard are put away. Elijah is really good at putting away all of his toys and books. Cleanup time is so much better now that we have that new storage area, I am so glad I bought it!

I forgot to mention yesterday that whenever Rowan does something wrong or bad (like hit Elijah on the head with the car), all I say is “oh no” and he starts crying and knows he did something bad. Then he is really upset that he has to go into timeout. Elijah, on the other hand, will gladly take my hand and almost leads me into the timeout room and happily walk in and stay. We’ll have to get the crib out again to make timeout more of a consequence to him.

This evening we cleaned up the upstairs since our friends are coming tomorrow. It’s in fairly good shape. Good enough! :)

This morning we all went to the boys’ Kinderturnen class. They had their first class last week, and they did pretty good. It’s in a building that’s right in back of Michael’s work, so it’s convenient for him. Elijah is pretty aggressive with the other kids, but we keep a close eye on him. It’s good for them to be with other kids and have to share everything. But since they are probably the oldest and biggest kids, they are kind of like bullies. We keep them in check though. There are maybe about 8 - 10 kids in the class, and it’s all in German. We sign German songs and they play with all kinds of stuff. Lots of big fitness balls, blankets to get pulled around in, small balls, some foam mats to play on, a tunnel to crawl through, and a bench to balance on. The boys really do have a lot of fun with everything. They don’t do so hot with the songs though. We don’t either, we have to learn it.

After their class, they are usually tired and hungry from all that playing around and luckily there is a Richart bakery in the train station that we use to get them pretzels and a apple pastry for me. Mmmmm….

In the afternoon, I went to the apartment management to remind them about my stuff and for the first time, the woman acknowledged that she forgot about it. I think she forgets about me every time, but she always says tomorrow. This time she admitted to it. So, I have decided to bother them every day until they get all my stuff to me. I’m sure they are so sick of me now.

For lunch I made some hamburger stew (beef with campbells veggie soup) and had the boys eat it with spoons. It’s the first time they ate their “main dish” with spoons. They have eaten jogurt and quark with spoons, but never their main meal. They did pretty good. I had to help them get bigger scoops and at one point Rowan got frustrated and just started eating with his hands, but mostly they did good. It sure was a big mess though.

I wanted to take them out in the afternoon, at least to go shopping or something, but my energy was so drained. We are all sick, kind of mucusey and have sore throats. Michael and I are both so tired, but the boys show no signs of that!

A couple of friends are coming from LA this Wednesday to stay with us, so we have to clean up. They will probably sleep in a very messy room. We’re so terrible!

Here is Elijah having a hard time deciding how to go down the slide. I love all the craziness behind him adding to his stress!