The Best Christmas Ever....

from Emily

from Mom

from the fam

from John (JD)

from Dad and Ann

Sing it like Sponge Bob.  I got the BEST Christmas presents EVER this year.  And I know you're thinking you want to see pictures of the kids, but I just have to tell how loved I felt this year.  I love presents and these are AWESOME!  It incorporated all my favorite things.  And by the way, it's only 35 days until my birthday!  So, I will stop being selfish and post pictures of the kids later today.  Although, I'll tell ya, I took those pictures with my REAL camera and not with my phone and I am so dang lazy about uploading them from the SD card to dropbox.  LaZy!  I know getting a Halloween decoration for Christmas seems a little odd, but I love decorating for Halloween almost as much as I love presents.  It's not done much here in Germany, so I can only imagine what the neighbors think of us.  The kids really loved Scooby Doo when they were little and if no one is looking they will still watch it.  So, I will always love Scooby Doo.  And I LOVE chocolate!  No surprise there!  That box is already half empty.  I let the kids have whatever they wanted yesterday.  Today the box is hidden.  I'm so mean!

So, I heard Texas got snow this year.  It was, actually, pretty warm here.  In the 50s.  It's that--the sun's never going to shine again, rainy, dreary, grey kinda weather. The sun is shining inside.  We are all getting to spend time together.  Which is precious.  John will be leaving for the summer and when he comes back in the fall, it will be his senior year.  Sniffle, sniffle!  I miss him already and he's not even gone yet.   

Better Attitude

I'm so glad I posted that last post.  Don't know why I didn't do it sooner.  I think it helped.  I woke up Sunday morning with a better attitude.  Woke up thinking...so what if we don't live exactly the same life we led in Virginia?  So what if we aren't doing exactly the same things we did in Virginia?  So what if isn't playing football?  So what if Emily doesn't do dance?  We are still the same people.  Still the same family.  We are all together.  Still healthy.  We are trying new things.  Emily still loves drama and has a big part in the school play.  She is volleyball.  Ethan is in JROTC and Loving it.  I'm not sure he misses football.  He will either go back to it or play golf.  Those two just don't seem related, do they?  But...he has to do something.  

Why is my blog centering every line?  I don't know how to fix it.  No matter.....

Where was I?

We went to Heidelberg Christmas Market this weekend.  Fun Fun!  Didn't even buy anything.  It was just fun being there.  Hanging out.  People watching.  Trying new drinks and food.  Eierpunsch.  Good stuff!  It is an egg nog type drink with rum.  So sweet.  It's almost too much.  If only it were chocolate.  I let the boys stay home and as soon as we got there (took Emily) I wished I had made the boys come with me.  

The top picture is me and John at the Christmas Market in Heidelberg.  The bottom picture is Emily in Saarbrucken at the Europa Galleria Mall.  It is a fun place to shop.  Lots of good shops.  And a life sized Build-A-Bear.  What more could you ask for?     

Stressed out!!

So, I've been a little stressed lately.  That's why no one has heard from me.....except my mom.  I'm afraid not to keep up with my mom.  She can track us down and smoke us out better than any hunter I've ever seen on TV.  We are hiders....that's what we do when stressed.  The toll that this move has taken on the kids has reached epic proportions.  Ethan, who made  a perfect score on the Virginia  Standards of Learning Test after we had only lived in Virginia 3 months, in the top 10 of his grade last year, has experienced failing grades.  He is very conscientious of his grades and this has been tragic for him, but he can't seem to rise above because he has been so stressed out.  John has been really bitter about the move and just gave up for a while.  I'm not sure if I would cal it an "I'll show you attitude" exactly, but close, and it is going to take him a while to recover.  Ethan is really trying to recover, but because he is still so stressed he has become very forgetful.  Emily struggled, at first, but she seems to have it all sorted it out better than any of the rest of us.  She has a great gaggle of friends.  Don't get me wrong, she is still swimming in the deep end of the hormonal pool, but as far as school goes, she's got it all figured out.  She is in drama, got a really cool part in the school play, on the volleyball team....nonstop.  We have taken a hiatus from dance, for now, though.  She still misses her BFF , Lauren, very much.  Having a very hard time without her.  But grades are great.  She is involved.   She is in German I and we are turning into that family that you see in the states that uses the children for interpreters.  I am trying to learn German, but if I can't count for you or tell you what color an object is, I'm in trouble.  I do have a job, for that, I am thankful.  Do I enjoy it?.........no.  It's not really treating people or taking care of them.  Not really helping people learn better how to take care of themselves.  It's doing exams and reporting what I see.....nothing else.  I'm not being stretched.  Not learning or growing in my career.  BUT, that can't last forever.  Before summer, I hope to be volunteering in the ER at the Army hospital.  So, I have had a bit of a bad attitude lately, but I have a for the most part happy family.  We do have great times when we are together, when we travel, and when we are with friends.  Not every day is a tragedy.  John really likes his job and works with some very lovely people.  The man that works at the gate gives me chocolate, so really...what do I have to complain about....come on....free chocolate??  We do love being here and learning about a culture that we have not experienced.  Emily loves the weather, who'd have thunk?  She really digs the grey, cloudy, rainy, foggy days.  When I went to get her from volleyball practice the other day the fog was thick I felt like I could feel it touching me.  She loved it.  You just almost expected Shaggy and Scooby Doo to come around the corner at any moment.  That picture up there is what my insides feel like.  I feel so guilty for causing all this stress for my kids even though I know, in the long run, they will be better prepared for college because of this experience.  I feel like everyone sees "normal Kathy" when they look at my outsides, but I'm hanging by a string on my insides.  BUT, don't anybody order me a fancy white jacket yet.  This will pass.  We have only been here 3 and a half months.  It will get better.  The kids are already doing better.  And there is hope for my career.  I just have to wait it out.  And in the end, I'll be a better, stronger Kathy Jo for it.  Just wait.  

Hey, I'm not dead

Cracked frame

Cracked frame

REALLY???????  Honestly, this is how they packed it!  

The front was ripped off.  All the screws were bent that would indicate something traumatic happened here.

Sad, sad sad    :(

Just lazy....or really busy!  Really busy, of course!  Furniture day was great except that.....I joked and joked about my piano coming off the truck in pieces......and it did.  I cried like a baby.  I couldn't believe it!  It was one of those moments when you REALLY want to say, at least we're all still breathing, but it just won't come out.  You want to take the high, but it just ain't gonna happen.  My poor piano.  I haven't even been able to post pictures yet.  It looks like they must have dropped it before it even went into the crate.  The lid was ripped off the hinges, it has deep gouges in the sides.  The metal parts of the piano are broken in several places.  John bought that piano as a special gift for me.  Drove to Atlanta from Richmond to pick it up.  Heavy sigh!  It cannot be fixed and I'm afraid to even buy a new one here just in case it happens on the way home.  I will miss it so much!  It was one of my favorite presents......

Furniture Day!!!!

I am so excited!  (I know you are all surprised that I remembered that I have a blog!)  I will catch up!  I vow to catch up!  I've been so overwhelmed.....well that's a story for another day.  TODAY--let's talk about FURNITURE....STUFF....I know "stuff"....worldly goods...is supposed to mean nothing to us, but we are all human and to me the stuff bring familiarity....comfort.  So, today, we celebrate worldly goods.  And they are coming to us today!  Oh my goodness......they. are. here!!  More to come!

Our beautiful floor (refinished) in our empty house!

Waiting at the train station on D day

On the plane, FINALLY, after a long day of travel and waiting!  It's almost midnight.  Tired.  Can't wait to see dad!

Our new "home" soon to be filled with OUR furniture

At the castle in Heidelburg

Goodbye house

I am going to miss this house while we're gone.  We built it just for us!  It's beautiful to me!  So many fun times here.  I know we're coming back, but I don't leave it to start with.  My poor yard suffered so with this summer being so dreadful.  We finally got everything out of the house and got it all cleaned.  Now we are staying in a hotel until we leave.  Saturday morning bright and early.

Started writing this post the week before we left.  Don't know why I didn't just post it.  Anyway....we did leave on Saturday.  Bright and early.  Took the train to the Baltimore/Washington International Airport.  Waited forever in the USO.  Lovely people there.  Stood in line to get checked in.  Got through security without being strip searched and then waited forever to board our plane.  Left at midnight.  Arrived in Germany at 1pm the next day.  Without any trouble.  And now we have been here 2 whole weeks.  Moved into our rental house with no furniture, but still feel fortunate that everything is going so well.  I miss my house.

I have A new TOY!

I'm back on!  Have a new toy and I'm ready to roll!  Here's the downside....my old broken laptop is on the boat to Germany....along with all my pictures.  So we will have to use our imaginations for today, won't we?  Well, here is what has been going on in our house since we last spoke.....moving to Germany for 3 years...I think everyone knew that already.  John left today.  Dropped him off at the airport this morning.  Well, let's go back to March...Emily had a birthday....12 years old....hard to believe!  What a beautiful young lady!  Started wearing a little bit of make up this summer.  John had the BIG 16 in April!  Really can't believe that!  He has been driving us around.  We are hoping to be able to get his license before we leave.  Keep your fingers crossed!  John's driver's ed teacher went WAY outta her way to help us out with that or there'd be no way.  Thank you Ms. Mann!!  School finished.  Ethan made perfect scores on SOLs in English and Science, very close in Civics.  What a super smart boy!  Emily got perfect score on SOL in English and History and came home with a fistfull of awards for being so smart.  She wanted BLUE hair as her reward for making all As.  And I said "sure".  What was I thinking?  So, we bought blue dye and it was so messy and so dark and didn't even TINT her hair.  Completely unchanged.  Completely.  So we had to go back to the store (because I'm a mother of my word, unfortunately) and go in a different direction because we discovered that, in order for the blue dye to work, you have to bleach the hair and then dye it blue.  The blue will wash out in about a month, leaving you with....bleached hair.  Not an option!  So we went with a hairwash....one of those washes out in about 28 days jobs.  She went with a dark red color.  Looks good on her.  She was happy!  And guess what....that made us all happy!  So, what happened next??  We went on vacation!!  Woohoo!!  Vacation...ah...vacation!  We went to Palestine and saw family and then took Kristin and Nana with us to the beach at South Padre Island.  Fun filled week of sun and sand.  And a nasty rash that threatened Ethan's sanity.  Poor guy!  I really thought he was going to claw the flesh off his back before we got him some relief.  At the end of vacation, John, Ethan, and I came back to Virginia (to an empty house).  John and Emily remained in Texas for an extended vacation.  Ethan would have stayed except that, when we planned the vacation we didn't know that we would be moving and we expected Ethan would have to be here for football practice.  So, he is getting the only child experience and not sure he's liking it.  He is missing John and Emily.  An upside, though, we can eat at more expensive restaurants without the whole fam.  But that doesn't mean we don't want them home.  Please come home!  We miss you so!  I think Emily will be ready to see us.  John is trying to convince us that The Willmott Farm will not survive without him and he must make the ultimate sacrifice, and remain on the farm in Texas.  Say that with your face tilted towards the sky, a hand on your forehead, and with a heavy sigh.

So, today John is in Germany.  John and Emily are in Texas.  Ethan is at a water park with his BFFs.  And I am home, alone, with no furniture, and a chore list.  Please feel sorry for me!  I do believe I will play hookie from chores and go get a pedicure.  Later tater!

Our temporary lodging in Germany

It's really starting to sink in. I'll be more excited when the date gets closer. Right now I'm nervous and apprehensive. Taking the car to port today for shipping. Movers coming Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday to pack and it will all be gone Friday. I'm not ready! BUT.......going to the airport to pick up our rental got me excited about going to Texas in ELEVEN days! We are going to have so much fun! Haven't been back to Texas since we moved in 2007. The kids have grown so much no one is going to recognize them. Speaking of the kids, I really need to add some posts about them. I think I need to add John's and Emily's birthdays, Emily's new hair (I will leave you hanging on that one), and end of the school year details. Nothing boring in our house right now.

My trip to Washington DC

At a pharmacology conference in DC this weekend and this is my view of DC. It seems so sad. Also, after a brazillion dollars for this conference, what kind of goodies did I get??? A highlighter!?! I feel cheated. John and the kids came with me and they ate out seeing the city so all is not lost. Break is over.

My.....

What big ears you have.....

Going to miss the lake

I can't believe the kids will swim in the lake this early. Ah to be so invincible again..... What a beautiful day! Celebrating John's birthday today since he is leaving to go to Germany next Saturday on his real birthday.

Just how many bottles does it take??

Really?? Can u tell I go a little overboard with the sunscreen?? No sunburns for us. My kids detest the sunscreen routine I put them all through before we go to the pool or beach. At least it will give them something to talk about at family gatherings when they're all adults.

Germany?????

What??  Yes, it's true.  We are moving to Germany.  Being dragged, kicking and screaming is more like it.  We will live right where the little airplane is under Frankfurt.  John is being transferred there for 3 years with his job.  It was a shock at first, but, we are starting to be a little intrigued by it all.  What an adventure it will be!  Like a 3 year vacation!  John is the only one we haven't really won over yet, but who could blame him??  He is a sophomore, so he will graduate in Germany.  Emily is already planning a birthday trip to Paris.  John still gets to play golf, Ethan still gets to play football, and Emily still gets to dance.  Whew!!  They will go to school on the Air Force base there.  I am most excited about going back to a 10 point grading scale.  Woohoo!  Here 94 to 100 is an A, 88 to 93 is a B and so on.  So much pressure on the kids.  And it's ridiculous!  So, my timeline is that we will be moving at the end of July.  It makes sense to me, BUT this is a government agency we're talking about here.  May take a while.  Well, that's all I've got for now, kids.  Need to get back to cleaning out closets and whatnot.  THAT is a good thing about moving.  Purging all the junk that you collect over the years.

OMG

It's almost Blue Bell......almost

Pretty flowers

Doesn't that just make u smile?

Erlichiosis

Trooper had a doctor's appointment yesterday and we discovered he has this disease.  From a tick.  So sad.  Can be acute and chronic.  I believe that Trooper has the chronic version.  I think he probably contracted it last year.  Seemed like we fought ticks all summer even with the preventive treatment.  Poor Trooper.  It can be something that just coexists with no exacerbations.  Hopefully he have nothing more than occasional joint pain.  I played the piano for him for about an hour yesterday.  He loves to lay under the piano while I play. It so sweet.  Doesn't even twitch when I miss a note. 

Also worthy of note.....

My St. Augustine grass is coming back.  Hip hip hip hooray!  I'm a happy girl!  Could be that we had such a mild winter. I prefer to believe it was the TLC. Hopefully it will take over the whole yard this year.  

Impulse buy....

A new front door.  I just love it!  Can't wait to see it up!  Have to paint it first.  It came in a crazy maroon color.  Only a few crazy people in Texas and one in Virginia like that color.  ;)

Feeling sorry for myself

I'm sick and I have to work.  No fun.  I need sympathy. 

If you'll recall......about a year ago.....it was John's birthday to be exact......he was filling his aquarium and it overflowed.  His carpet was ruined so we pulled it all up. And then the great debate began.  To replace it with carpet?  Wood?  Tile?  And if we do tile, do we do heated flooring?  Well it took us a whole year....almost....to commit.  But we've done it.  John decided he wants carpet.  So carpet will be installed on Tuesday.  Hippy skippy!  I cannot wait.  I feel like a bad mom every time I have to go into John's room and see his bare floor.  

Stay tuned for more thrilling updates from the Thompson.

The Lorax

Unless someone like you cares an awful lot, nothing's going to get better, it's not.  Famous quote from the book.  I read this book over and over and over to the kids when they were smaller.  So, the movie came out this weekend and it was AWESOME!!  Loved it!  Could not have been more perfect.  Great family time, great walk down memory lane for me.  To my family....buy me the dvd for Mother's Day.  Thanks for going with me tonight without whining.  The boys didn't really want to go, but they were all glad they did after the movie.

It's amazing what a new pair of shoes can do for ya.  and a new dress, 2 new pairs of pants, and a new belt.  ;)  Even if it is all to wear to work.  It feels good to look nice.  And those shoes are SO comfortable.  I may still be slightly grouchy by the time I get to go home, BUT....I'll be grouchy in style, right???  I drove the salesman at that shoe store crazy.  I believe they will lock the doors if they happen to see me coming back.  I tried on 8 pairs of shoes and wore these around the store for probably 30 minutes before committing.  They really aren't shoes you'd wear out on a date, but it is so hard to find shoes that you can stand in for 12 hours that don't look like grandma shoes.  These are a nice balance.  They make me feel tall.

OK....so let's talk about work.  I haven't been posting on here very regularly because I have been very busy working.  And getting used to my new job that is also a new career for me.  I'm really very happy that I did this.  Started on Christmas day.  And it has been a HUGE adjustment for me.  So many new things all at once.  New career, new job, new computer system, etc., etc., etc.  And on days I leave the place thinking I'm doing well, I can just bet on the next day being rotten!  There are moments when I'm reassured that I really am smart and there are moments when I wonder how I made it through school and feeling like the biggest idiot.  But I still love it.  I'm learning a lot and I have great support there.

And I have the best fans ever!  It's good to be loved.  John and the kids have been very loving to me when I come home depressed and mad.  Even when I come home happy.   Emily puts notes in my lunch.   and ...........

HEY!!  Guess what!  There are only 118 days (they make an app for that) left until we go to TEXAS! Woohoo!  We are all so excited!  Haven't been since we moved to Virginia.  Going to spend a couple of days in Palestine and a week in South Padre on the beach!  I cannot wait!

WHAT......

a BeAuTiFuL day!!  It was 80 degrees.  A little windy, but still lovely.  Emily had a doctor's appointment today, so we went shopping afterwards.  Had lunch outside in the sunshine.  Found some excellent bargains at Dillard's and Justice.  The boys went to West Virginia this afternoon and Emily and I have the house to ourselves.  We went to the grocery and got ALL kinds of junk food.  Watching TV and lounging.  Priceless memories!  Tomorrow we go back for more shopping!

Catching up

John's a member of the Science Club.  We went to the Richmond Science Museum before Christmas on a field trip.  Not a very big museum, but we still had fun.  We got this fun tree in the gift shop.  We put it together in the little stand and added water.  The tree sucked it up and made a fun and made a fun little Christmas tree for us.  Fun to watch.

WHO is that cute little girl???

Well......it's meeeee!  It's my birthday!  Let's talk about me for a change, shall we?  From humble beginnings in Anchorage, Alaska....  I do believe I gave myself that haircut in the top picture.  Shoulda been a hairstylist!  I can't believe that hair in the middle picture!  Good golly!  It was taken in Texas, after all.  It has been a great day!  Spent the evening with my lovely family, wouldn't be anywhere else. Thankful for all my blessings and for all the wonderful people who are my family and friends!  Yep, 39 is a great age!

That's my baby.....

A little late but let's celebrate the birth of middle child syndrome in the Thompson house.  He did get to enjoy being the youngest for 2 years before Emily arrived and killed all his dreams of remaining the youngest forever.  I can't believe he is FOURTEEN years old!!  It seems like just yesterday I was climbing into the playground at McDonald's to help him find his way out!  He is a thoughtful boy with a tender heart, who quotes movie lines, loves to tell jokes, and  yell at the TV to help his football teams out.  We call him the Great Debater.  He would argue with a fence post!  In that way, he reminds me so much of John's dad.  (It's like having a little bit of Tom with us still.)  He's an awesome kid!  So glad he's ours!  (Picture me tearing me up here and dabbing my eyes with a tissue!)