Bilingual life and more

Oh, what a wonderful weekend we had. First  we had a great night on Friday with the Grassos here. Emily was so excited to see Maya again – her bestest friend in the whole wide world!!!! She had been bugging me, when she would ever get to see Maya again – with a bit of a dramatic expression. She puts her whole body in it. It is great to watch her during one of her episodes, though it backfires when she really clinks out…  We all enjoyed having  good friends here again. It is just very relaxing, rather than being stressful!

Both girls went to bed so easily that night and slept in Saturday morning to use up all the energy at a birthday party in the morning and at the pool in the afternoon. While they were wrestling with Papa in the pool outside, I swam inside for half an hour. I used to swim a lot. It is so serene! Unfortunately, I have not done it for a while, and the first few rows were tough. Then, I got back into my rhythm and all was great. It felt really good …. until today, that every little muscle in my body is letting me know they have been worked. Did I not know that swimming is a great all-body work-out? Michael got his fair share of getting exhausted by wrestling the girls and a couple of their friends in the pool.

Sunday was a lazy day. Michael made yummy French Toast for breakfast. What a treat!!! Anna read and thus got to watch TV – Americas funniest animals! She loves animal shows, books and animals just in general. She loves the dogs and cats of many of our friends and family. She totally goes gaga over them to the degree of leaving her friend standing and trying to just play with the animal at a play date.

It also was Matthias’ birthday today. So after trying to reach him and leaving him our usual serenading message on his answering machine, Anna and Emily drew pictures for him and we sent him a koala e-card. It is a preview of the present still waiting for him at my mom’s house. So, we scanned in pictures – we got to use our new all-in-one machine – and e-mailed them to him. He is currently up to his ears in learning for a test he is writing on Tuesday, but at least he can look at his e-mails! He did, and LOVED it!!!

The rain started in the afternoon. First came the thunderstorms and then a nice light steady rain to soak into the ground to give our parched plants and earth a break. Michael went outside with the girls for a walk in the rain. They were wearing their rain boots and good rain jackets. I remember doing that a lot when we lived in Germany. Sometimes we just did not have a choice, if we wanted to get out a bit, and truly, the kids love running and jumping in the puddles!!! I was preparing dinner for tonight, had taken a nap, read and wrote some e-mails, the usual stuff!!!

I also went through my pictures, as I was trying to find some pictures to send in for stock photography. Turns out, all pictures taken with my new camera are all a bit fuzzy. I could scream. I thought I had gone a step up from my Canon, Powershot S45, but, even though the pictures look good on my screen, they are fuzzy and grainy when looked at 100% the size. I cannot believe it!!! I am very disappointed with my Canon Powershot S3 IS and will have no choice but to send it in.

Today, Monday morning rolls around. Another day of school. They are both doing well. Emily says good by and runs out the door. Anna takes my hand and holds it all the way to the school cafeteria. Such different girls. Amazing!!! My good friend Anita came over later this morning and left just before the girls got out of school, meeting grandma and grandpa who arrived just in time to pick them up from school. I tell you – it was a wonderful morning!!!

The afternoon went well, even with Anna’s homework and reading, as with Emily’s. They enjoyed having grandma and grandpa here, who they have not seen all summer. Grandma and Grandpa got to meet Kathrin, who only has 1 1/2 weeks left. I am not sure of her plans for that time, but I hope she enjoys herself.

I have a busy week ahead with curriculum nights, work meeting and work and am looking forward to nice, relaxing weekend.  We seem to be back in the groove of things, until Emily’s soccer schedule starts, but until then, we will enjoy some fun time together.