1 Month Now! (Just jibber-jabber)

I can't believe we have been in Germany for one month already!! Our car, we had shipped from Washington should be here this Friday! Thank goodness! We were using someone from Erics unit while he was visiting back in the States, now we are renting a car. Rates aren't too bad, we were prepared for it though.

Now, our home, I cannot wait till all our stuff finally gets here! It is not due till the end of February!! aaarrggghhh! There is atleast one advantage of being overseas, the Army furnished our home till our household goods arrive. The couch and chairs are not the most comfortable but they are new! It was like that when we lived in Japan too! The furniture itself is fine by me, although the living room is huge, so it looks pretty bare still. My dining room on the other hand is crowded! A huge table (no leaf) and six chairs (although we we use the sixth for the desk), they are also brand new!! There is buffet/hutch in here too, it is really large and makes it squished in here! We each got our own dresser, and the kids all got their own rooms. The military gave us double bed to use. Going from our Queen pillow top to a 6 inch foam double is awful!! That would be my only complaint about the furnishings.

Charlie and I get bored pretty easily. It has been snowing off and on since about a week after we got here. He and I have ventured out a few times, but it is just too darn cold! It is weird too, the days are shorter as far as daylight goes, but the days itself stretch out!! We get up at 6am every morning to get ready for school (Eric has left already for duty). The kids catch the bus at 7am!! Their school starts here so early, 7:55!! Their last school, they didn't even catch the bus till almost 8:30! Because of their long bus ride, they aren't home till 3:45'ish!! Then it is dark by 5pm! This makes for a really long day for me and Charlie! Of course neither of us can go back to sleep!

We have managed to pick up some Legos for the kids. The only thing I packed in our luggage were the kids Nintendo DS's and some Hotwheels! I bought books too, but you can figure how well that is going!! The tv only get six channels in English! Two are news, a third is like a tv guide channel, a fourth is nothing but sports. That leaves two left, a "movie" channel and a "family" channel. Most of the movies are either old or dumb, seen a few that were fine. The family channel plays nothing but kid shows till about 6pm! We get German channels too. MTV, every once in a while I'll catch an American video, the first one I saw was Britney Spears! (Hahaha). Charlie likes to watch Spongebob in German and a few other ones. It is actually driving me crazy! At least the voices somewhat sound right. Hannah Montanna in German is awful!

All in all, things are fine. I am not used to having to go grocery shopping about every ten days. Going from a full size freezer and an extra fridge, to just one, is an adjustment. Can't store much if there is no room! Although it is cold enough I guess I could just put it out on the balcony!!

For those that don't know, Eric bought me something so very special! He bough me a 5 Star VIP ticket to the New Kids On The Block concert in Frankfurt Germany! I will actually get to meet the group that I idolized for most of my teenage years! When I was younger I had attended every show they did in Washington. Now that they reunited after 15 years, I saw them again in November of '08! Meeting them is just so unimaginable still! It still doesn't seem like it is actually going to happen! I get to spend the weekend in Frankfurt, about 3 and a half to 4 hours from here. I have met a few other Americans that are going and a few are VIPs as well! So far I am the oldest!! Eric will be alone with the kids for the weekend! This will be the first for him since before Charlie was born!

Well, I am closing for now! Nothing planned for the next week or so. Eric will be off again this weekend, so maybe we will go do something worth blogging about! If not, I'll be blogging about my New Kids weekend!

Later!

The Stocks Go Bowling!

The kids have been bugging Eric and I about going bowling since they saw there was a bowling alley on base. Yesterday, since Eric was off, we went there to bowl a few games and eat pizza. We all had a great time! Reagan is getting better at throwing the ball. Justin still sort of flings it and the ball does this ping-pong thing on the bumpers all the way down the lane! Charlie now can carry his ball (7lbs) he sets it down and gives it a good shove! It still takes forever to get to the pins but he loves it, especially since he gets two turns each time!!

We all bowled two games, I am not a good bowler and the second game all three kids beat my score!! Granted, they had bumpers on their lane and Eric and I didn't! The kids loved this! They beat mommy at bowling!

Here are some pics from last night.

Charlie and I went for a walk!

A week ago Charlie and I went for a walk around our neighborhood here in Erbendorf. We noticed that at the corner of of our little "subdivision" there is a walking trail, so this is the way we decided to go. The sign has a female and a child (looks like a boy figure), Charlie now calls the sign the "Mommy and Charlie" sign!

It is really cold and there is still snow on the ground from a week before! Right outside the neighborhood on this path we noticed that there is a Miniature Golf course!! It is tucked back a ways, and it looks like there are some other outdoor things too. Granted, it is all closed for the winter, so this will definitely be something we will go check out when it is open! Further on our little jaunt we have noticed (well I have) that there are many assisted living, nursing homes and such around here. Not very many of the younger folks that we have seen so far. I noticed that people haven't said "hi" or "good morning." Although there is a German couple that always walks through our neighborhood and they now say hi to us, especially to Charlie!

We finally got to the "town" part of Erbendorf, we really went on this walk to go to a German bakery (Backarie) for some doughnuts. We have discovered that we really like them here! While looking for the bakery we saw lots of neat stores! A toy store that carried many familiar toys, Legos, Barbies, Spongebob Square Pants (in German it is Spongebob "schwarmkopf" if I spelled that right) and a few others. Also we have a Woolworths here! I didn't get to go in because they were closed, but I will soon! We saw the Poleizi station (police) and the Fuerhaus (the fire station "fire-house"). There is an Italian pizzeria down the road too. I found a craft store also that I will have to venture into when we haven't walked as far!

I found the churches that we can see the tops from home and I got some pictures!

Did I mention that there is frozen snow everywhere?? It is very cold and poor Charlies cheeks and nose are turning pink! Also I don't remember exactly where the walking trail had put us in downtown? So we just started walking to what looked familiar to me from the times Eric had driven us through town. Charlie and I are feeling a bit frozen and wanting doughnuts!! Walking back on the sidewalk since I can't find the trail! We finally made it home and we did not find the bakery!

Of course, talking to Eric later, I found out that the street we live off of comes to a "T" intersection and it is right across the street! So walking back if I had looked behind us I would have seen it!

That is ok, Charlie and I curled up on the couch with blankets, got warm and fell asleep!

The kids are back in school!

The kids are at their new school now! Their first day back was Jan. 7th, so they only missed two days of school due to having to finish registration and for the school to place Reagan and Justin in classes. The class sizes are small here and it is a brand new huge school! It just opened this school year, grades are from K thru 8th! They even have a computer lab that the classes rotate through every few days!! Great! My seven year old will not only help with any electronics in the house, he'll be a computer wiz too!!

I met the kids teachers yesterday too. I am really excited about what the rest of the year has in store!! The kids are riding a bus to school again! A lot different this time around, first, the bus is red! It looks like a cross between a city bus and a tour bus, high backed seats and two doors to enter (although only the front one is used). It also does not have the arm that swings out in the front that prevents a child from not being seen and hit. Here if a child needs to cross the street it happens after the bus has passed. Luckily, the kids bus only has two stops and they are in neighborhoods with plenty of parents around! Yes, only two bus stops, so there are a bunch of kids! They are on the bus for about 35 minutes! The school hours are a bit hard to handle and probably will be for a few more weeks till the kids and I get used to the hours!! School starts at 7:55, but with the bus ride, we get up early! It is also still very dark outside when they are waiting for the bus!

That is another thing we are all trying to get adjusted too! The sun don't rise till a little after 8am!! Then it gets dark really early! Sunset is at about 4:30pm!! Of course it is difficult for the kids when they want to play outside when it starts getting dark so quickly! It is also wierd for all of us to have to get up when it is pitch black outside! It'll change though! The other have of the year we will be dealing with the sun rising very early and not setting till late! From what I have been told by other residents here, we will have sunlight for a good 14+ hours a day!

Here are some more pics! These are what we see from the kids bedroom window! One day we will head over there to get a closer look! I will also see if I can find out what type of buidings they are too! the second pic is zoomed!

Amberg, Germany

Today The Stock Family spent the day in Amberg Germany, about 35 miles from where we live. It was pretty cold today, so we are bundled up! Amberg is very beautiful, after doing some research online (couldn't find anything in the town in English print)! It has been around for centuries! Online is also where I found the names of the places we went and saw!

The Market Square, full of all sorts of stores, shops and two very beautiful buildings.

The first place we stopped at is the late-Gothic Parish Church of St. Martin. Inside is very amazing! All the stained glass and the sheer awe of this church!

There is also inside the Market Square is another building, this one is the Gothis Town Hall, built in 1358!

We stopped in a candy store and tried a few pieces of chocolate (schocolate, pronounced "shock-oh-lot) and the clerk gave the kids a sucker, it was more like a sweet tart on a stick! It was cold, so we all were kind of cranky! We then decided to go to a department store in Amberg called Real ("re-al"). What a great store! It has an escaltor inside to go to the second floor, that does not actually have steps! You can even take the grocery carts on them! There are rivets on it and on the wheels of the cart with little rubber stopper type things so the carts don't move once you are on the escaltor! I kind of scared Charlie when I let go of the cart and said "Look, no hands!"

It was neat seeing a few American food items in the store too! Such as Uncle Ben's Rice, Hershey Syrup and Pringles, to name just a few! We did notice that if it was American, it was very expensive!

The funniest thing I noticed in the parking lot of this store was the billboard advertisements! Does this guy look familiar?

Yup, that is George Clooney!

We also went to McDonalds for dinner! It didn't taste any different at all and they also sell the same size of servings! Although we have noticed that CocaCola does have a different taste! I think it is sweeter here.

Our Neighborhood

We all went for a little jaunt around the neighborhood. There is a small playground for our little subdivision of sorts, called Bischoff-Strassel Strasse ("bish-off, straw sell, straw say"). Reagan, Justin and Charlie are making friends fast! Trying to meet parents as well, which will happen once the kids start school after winter break! School starts back on the 5th, however, there is still a bit more registration I need to do (did most online), so the kids start on the 6th!

Here are some pictures of the kids playing! All pictures were taken on Dec. 30, 2008.

Here is some of the neighborhood itself, and of Erbendorf!