Sleep Talking

I’ve joked before that if Hannah is awake, she’s probably talking.
Well, I recently learned that if she’s asleep, she probably talking, too. 
You see, I’ve been bunking with her in my sister’s old room for the last two weeks.

(Shawn’s already in Europe so we’re staying with my parents.)

(It takes quite some time to ship the contents of one’s household across the ocean.)

(And there’s no need for us to rush over there to stay in a hotel while he’s at work during the day.)

Anyways.  The sleep talking.
This must be a new thing because I’ve never heard her do it before.
The first night, at about 3AM, I heard her say, “Mommy. Mommy?”
“What, honey?”
Nothing.  Sound asleep.

The second night, it was a bunch of incomprehensible ramblings followed by,
“Thank you, your Majesty.”

A few nights later?
“No, Mommy.  I don’t want my hair brushed.”

At this point, I actually got up and got a piece of paper to write this stuff down.

My favorite, however, was just last night. 
”I’m not very good at French.”

That’s okay, sweetie, because neither are your parents.

I’d Like 1, But 4 Would Be Okay, Too

Shawn sent me a text that made me giggle.
Totally worth recording for memory’s sake.

Sunday afternoon, he went through a McDonald’s drive thru, armed with his Google translator, to order a large Coke, or “Coca,” as the French say.

“Je voudrais une grande Coca, s'il vous plaît.”
I’d like one large Coke, please. 

Over the speaker, a woman recited a string of crackly French. 
Totally proud of himself and his new confidence in the French language, he assumed she was telling him his total and to pull around to the next window. 

So he did what I totally would have done and replied with the two French words that we have down pat.

“Oui. Merci.”
Yes. Thank you.

Here’s what he ended up with.
That’s four grande Cocas.
We’re not exactly sure where he went wrong, but it probably had something to do with the, “Oui. Merci.”
And the new confidence in the French language.
And the assuming.

Let’s file this under:
Things We’ll Laugh About When We Become Adept at Living in a Foreign Country.

Insta-Friday, I mean Tuesday

I’m totally late for the show this week.
I’m not even sneaking in during the overture. 
I’m basically showing up after the curtain call.

It’s been a busy few weeks.

Anyways. 
Shawn and I got to sneak away to the City of Brotherly Love for  a wedding in which he was the best man. 
College friends, two love birds tying the knot and
real Philly cheesesteak sandwiches. 
What could be better?

The plans for the Kate and Pippa’s dresses were once the 
most closely guarded secrets in England. 
And now they are available for less than one dollar. 

The movers were here for three days this week. 
Packing, wrapping, taping and loading. 
My house was in shambles.  
And my nerves kinda were, too. 
Those guys are beasts. 
I had to look away as one carried our dresser down the stairs. 
ON HIS BACK.

We have a shipment that will go via air and one
that goes on a big ocean liner across the Atlantic.
This is the one that will go to Luxembourg via air. 
We were given an allotment of 500 pounds. 
Ours totaled 487.  
That’s because my husband is a rock star when it comes to planning and packing for our family.
But for himself?

Shawn: Have you seen our dresser?
Me: Ya mean the one that guy carried down the stairs ON HIS BACK?
Shawn: Yea, that one.
Me: They wrapped it in bubble wrap, cardboard and sealed it with about a mile of tape.  It’s already on the truck.
Shawn: I’m gonna need you to run out and buy me some socks and underwear.  Like today.

 

Freshly bathed and groomed, Louie and his BFF.

Speaking of Lou, lots of people have asked what
we’ll be doing with him when we move. 
The answer is that he is coming with us!
But not until December. 
Sad face.
He is staying with a good friend until we come home for Christmas.  Then we’ll be taking him back with us. 
Happy face.

I’m linked up with life rearranged.

Still On Planet Earth

Remember when I said that this year’s 4th of July celebration was extra special to our family? 

That’s because it was the last 4th of July that we will spend in America for a couple of years.

Last spring, my husband’s company asked him to take an expat assignment in Europe.  And we said yes. 

So, we’ve got our Passports all revved up and today the movers are here loading up our stuff to ship across the Atlantic to a tiny little country called Luxembourg, which borders France, Belgium and Germany.  

Fortunately, my husband’s company offers French lessons to spouses.
Oui, I’m going to need them.

I broached the subject with Hannah a few months ago.  We haven’t outright told her what is happening because we want to balance reality with the amount of information that her little 3 year old mind and emotions can handle.  She knows that we are going on a big trip, on a big airplane and that we’ll be staying in a different house, but all (and I do mean all) of her toys are going to be there.

”Remember when we went to Texas with Daddy for his work?  Do you want to go on another trip with him?  This time we’ll go to Europe.”
She cupped my face in her little hands, looked me square in the eye and as serious as can be, she said, “Is that on planet Earth?”
I told her that it is.
“Well, okay then.  I’ll go.”

I guess she’s got her limits, that girl.

I plan on recording all of our adventures on this little blog so that our friends and family can keep up with what we are doing. You might not see any sewing or crafting for a while…I’m not sure how much of that I’ll be doing once we get to Europe.  But I can guarantee that we’ll be doing lots of traveling, experiencing as much of the culture as we can soak up, and probably embarrassing ourselves a little… 

 

Talent

On the day Hannah was born, as soon as I heard my husband say, “It’s a girl!” this is what I envisioned. 
Tutus and tap shoes.

We tried that for a while and she liked it.
She still likes to twirl, boogie and shake.
But dance isn’t her thing.

This is.

Her passion is unwavering.  Her excitement is contagious.
This little girl loves horses and everything
that goes along with them. 

We went to two Mommy & Me riding classes this summer. 
She has a natural way with horses. 
(And other animals, for that matter.)
At the second class, she got to try the reigns and
she handled them like a champ.

My sweet Hannah,
No matter what you pursue or where your interests
and talents lie, I will always be cheering you on.
I’m your biggest fan.

Insta-Friday: The One Where They Lost My Luggage. A Lot.

Hey there. 
Here’s a little peek into what we’ve been up to through the eye of my celly.

Hubs and I went on a little plane ride.  We woke up across the pond and jet lagged.  Oh, and our luggage was lost. 

But it was okay. 
We sat around the hotel wearing t-shirts that the airline gave us as a consolation prize. 

They finally delivered the luggage. 
But it wasn’t ours. 
They got it on the second try. 

This little treat totally made up for the luggage debacle.  
And my lunch misfortune earlier that day. 
The one where my limited French and the waiter’s limited English resulted in me ordering a pot of mussles.  
I’m lucky that my hubs is a good sport. 
And that he actually likes those slippery little suckers.

These little fellas are just so cute. 
But where would I put my luggage?
(If it had actually arrived at my destination, that is.)

There’s no getting around the fact that Crocs are just plain unsightly.   
But this? The world’s largest Croc? 
That’s just plain funny.

The hubs snapped this one of me in front of the Grand Ducal Palace. 
What am I doing?  I never really know.

 
We said goodbye to beautiful Luxembourg for now and headed stateside. 
And guess what? 
Our luggage was lost.  Again.
This caused us to miss our connecting flight.
So we had to take another one.  
But it landed two hours from our home, so we rented a car and drove the rest of the way.
 

They delivered the luggage two days later. 
And they didn’t even give us t-shirts this time.

Go link up your cell phone pics over at life rearranged.

Sidewalk Chalk Paint

The other night, Shawn came home from work exhausted, so after dinner, I decided to find a little activity that Hannah and I could do outside so that he could rest for a while. 

We made sidewalk chalk paint!
It’s super easy and really cheap.

You’ll need: 
cold water 
corn starch
food coloring
paint brushes
dishes or containers for the paint

Mix 1/4 cup cold water and 1/4 cup corn starch.  (Put the corn starch in first and then add the water. It mixes up way easier this way.)

Add food coloring.

Go crazy. 
Mix colors. 
This is a great lesson about primary and secondary colors for preschoolers.

Then let your little artist go to town.
Or to the driveway.  Whatevs. 
As the paint dries, it looks just like chalk!

We started out with sponge brushes, but they got torn up pretty quickly by the cement, so we found some regular old brushes in the garage.

Oh, and don’t forget to wear a strand of purple beads. 

(Sometimes she’s a righty, sometimes a lefty.)

We used up nearly every drop of paint. 
Next time, I think we’ll double our recipe.

Clean up is easy. 
Hose down the driveway.  Or don’t.  Just wait for a big rain.
Toss the containers in the dishwasher and the kiddo in the bathtub. 

Happy painting!