Tournament results

I know most of you are waiting to hear how we did in Stuttgart. It was a very hard weekend. The boys played fantastic. But we won't be going on to Poland. They lost the first game 6-2. They held them off until the top of the 8th inning. Both games were at least 3 hours long. That's a lot of baseball.

The second game was really intense in lots of ways. It started off that they didn't want to let Caleb and the two other Spangdahlem boys play (it's a long story). So the game was played under protest. The Ramstein parents and coaches were so great to us. They said they were a team and those three boys were part of it and they would either play with them or not at all. The game was an incredibly great game. We would be ahead, then it would be tied, it went back and forth. Then they scored 5 on us one inning, but the next inning we came back within two runs. Everyone thought we would come back.

It was sad that the reason why the games were so intense was mostly because the other team's coach is such a jerk. We have dealt with him before and even one family who used to live at Stuttgart and is now at Ramstein said so. They just tried to find any and every reason to not let some of our kids play. That was one reason why the game today was played under protest. I told Caleb if we were here, I would not have let him play for that man. I'm sorry, but when you as a coach call your players "freakin retards" there is a problem. One of the moms from the other team told us that he does that. I'm sorry, but it just wouldn't be worth it to me. I've always told Caleb that I would rather him lose honestly than win dishonestly.

So, our season comes to an end. But he played well and is REALLY looking forward to playing high school ball in the States for Seeger next year, the same school his cousin Ryan played for. I will still try to get a picture of his team posted. But until then, Sarah is waiting to go for a walk. Blessings to all!

Allgery results

We got the result from Sarah' allergy testing the other day. It's no surprise to us that she's allergic to milk. After a friend suggested milk, I gave it a try and took her off milk. She seemed to do better until she would have a dairy product. So I asked to have her tested. Now I just have to do my research to find out just what she can't have. The list looks long. For Sarah, the results of having dairy products come out in the form of eczema and asthema type symptoms (they haven't diagnosed her with asthema yet though).

At least now we know. Now I can start adjusting her diet. Good thing it wasn't fruit or the poor girl would probably starve. She absolutely LOVES fresh fruit.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'm willing to hear them.

Rock Band - Classic Rock & egg in the middle of the bread

No, the two don't go together, I just didn't want to write two posts.

Allen got Rock Band - Class Rock for his birthday. We like this one because we actually know the songs. What is funny is to hear the boys say "Do you know this song?". Uh, yes actually we do. What is really funny is that Sarah grabbed the microphone and started to "sing" along. How she knew when to say "Yea" at just the right time is beyond me.

And now egg in the middle of the bread. Some of you may be wondering what this is. I grew up with it. It's kind of like an egg sandwich (unless you like your egg runny). You just cut the center of the bread out and fry the egg there. It's really yummy. Caleb's best friend even said it looked good and that he would like that the next time he spent the night.

What have I done?

On a leap of faith (a giant one) I have enrolled in school. Surprisingly, I'm not scared ~ yet! Hopefully I will be getting a few scholarships. One from the university for being a military spouse and another from somewhere else for being a military spouse. I have to take advantage of those while I still am a military spouse (active duty that is ~ I will forever be a military spouse). Anyway, looks like I'm on my way.

Another mishap for Sarah

Well the nurse called today and said that more than likely, Sarah got bit by a bug or spider. Her foot is looking MUCH better so I guess the antibiotics are working. He said I can call him back if it just doesn't look right.

So anyway, I decided to go to bible study today ~ it was awesome ~ and the boys went bowling. Afterwards Sarah and I met they boys and Allen there for lunch. Sarah was sitting in one of their high stools and pushed back on the bar, which of course sent her backwards. I had just stepped away so I wasn't next to her, but luckily Allen had just walked up and was able to partly catch her so that her fall wasn't so bad. She did bite her lip, so now she has a fat lip. She keeps pointing to it and saying "Ouchy. I push". She's so smart. What's next with her??

Our trip to the ER

Ok, so put this one in the "can't wait to be back in the States column". Today we were sitting on the balcony eating some fruit with Sarah when Allen noticed that her foot was swollen, red, and hot to the touch, not to mention rock hard. I called the nurse help line and she said to take her to the ER within 6 hours. Well, our lovely base has no ER and the extended care clinic isn't open on weekends. The nearest ER doesn't do pediatrics, so I took her to the next nearest that does.

The doctor looked at her and said she had an infection of some sort. I made sure she understood that she was allergic to penicillin and she said she had something else she could give her. Then she said to take the RX to the Altstadt Apoteke (which is the German pharmacy). Keep in mind that there are Apoteke's everywhere, but they all have a different name.

It took me FOREVER to find the stupid thing. Every time I would ask someone, they would send me in a different direction. FINALLY I found it and bought the medicine.

Not thinking, I just put it in the stroller and left since I really couldn't remember where I had parked. Oh, I forgot to mention that I'm walking all over this place in FLIP FLOPS!!! I finally found the van and just went straight to the base to go to at least half of the church service.

So before I go into the service I thought to myself that I would give Sarah a dose of the antibiotics. I took it out of the box and guess what? It's powder and the lady didn't tell me how much water to add and I can't figure out the directions because they are all in GERMAN!!!

Good thing our landlord helped us out by reading the directions. I was going to take her to the American doctor tomorrow until my friend reminded me that tomorrow is a family day and everyone has the day off. Just my luck!

Thankfully our little, bitty town that we will be moving to has a hospital with an ER. They may only have 2 restaurants (one of which is in the Amoco station), but at least they have an ER with doctors who speak English.

Helping herself to the lotion

Sarah got into the lotion yesterday. She has extremely dry skin. I guess she thought she needed it. Unfortunately, she got it in her hair so we had to give her a bath afterwards.

Caleb's 8th grade celebration

Learning to do the Electric Slide with his friends.

This is one of Caleb's good friends. They said they were twins becacuse
they shared the same birthday.

Hanging out with two of his friends.

This is one of Caleb's favorite teachers. He had him for seminar and science his 5th and 6th grade years. Unfortunately, he's moving to Italy so Joshua won't get a chance to have him.

Can you believe he's really going to be 15 and in high school. How did that happen so fast?

We're so very proud of him He's such a good kid.

Summer is almost here

I am so behind on posting that it's not even funny. There is so much updating to do, but I'll just put a note that we're still here. The kids' last day of school is tomorrow. I can't wait to be done with this school year.

Our unseasonably warm weather for Germany is gone. We are back to the normal German weather. I really wish it would warm up again. We had a fire in the fireplace on Saturday because it was so cold and rainy. The fire did feel nice, but it was crazy that it was June.

I will try to get the pictures posted soon from Caleb's 8th grade celebration and Sarah's baby dedication. Sorry I'm so slow ~ it happens when you have four kids keeping you busy.

Have a great day ~ God bless!