Happy Birthday!

I can't believe little Vincent is five years old already!!!!! I hope his "no girls" party is a great success! Wish we were there (oh, but I guess I wouldn't have been allowed to come, anyway!). We are thinking about all of you! Mom-Donna

Snake at Portman Park

That's interesting...

I often find myself using this phrase: "that's interesting." The thing is, I hate when I say it because quite honestly I often say it whether something is interesting or not! Which makes it virtually meaningless.

I had a great trip to Seattle this week. My event went well and I had good meetings with the dean of the business school. But I am glad to be back home!

I know Mom and Dad saw this on facebook but I will share it again anyway. Last night we had a dinner appointment at the Seattle Golf Club, which overlooks the Puget Sound. We were a little early so before our hosts arrived we had a drink on the terrace. It was so incredibly beautiful. We saw a submarine sailing (not sure if that is the right word but I can't think of a better one.) When our hosts joined us we remained on the terrace awhile longer and a bald eagle flew by. It was just amazing, pure and simple. I know my job can be very stressful but in that moment I felt grateful for the opportunities it gives me that I may not otherwise have. And the couple who were hosting us are the nicest, loveliest people you can imagine. Ultimately it is great work that I am doing and today I feel very proud of it. I don't always feel as confident and capable as I did when this trip was over so I savor it when I do.

I am very happy to be back at home though. I miss Seth and the dogs when I am away! He got a lot done: the plumbing for the bathroom is finished (and tested!) and now he is putting the sub floor down. The HVAC people came early in the week and we are very close to having all of that finished as well.

One weird, weird thing I will conclude with: Seth met the previous owner of our house this week. He owns the neighboring house and rents it out (which we knew but not until after we closed on our house). Now he is thinking about moving in to the little backyard house. This, to me, is creepy. I am not a fan! But what can you do but make the best of it? At least Seth said he is nice.

Very happy for the weekend!

Kilian and Vincent

It sounds like the boys have had some great adventures! Peter and Kili's camping trip sounded like loads of fun. We are proud of Vincent for meeting his bike riding deadline with time to spare! The Halloween decorating adventure sounded like lots of fun! We miss those Kolbs!

Vincent Paul, a True Kid of His Word

Our Vincent has jumped the gun on his fast-approaching self-set deadline.

Last week, he told me a few times that he wanted to ride his bike, and that he was ready to do it. But the weather didn't exactly play along, and on a deep gray morning without rain, Vincent and I came to an agreement: he would ride his bike to kindergarten on the condition that if it didn't go well, he would walk the rest of the way. Deal.

Only, as Vincent was gripping the handlebars and ringing the bike bell, and I was rummaging for his helmet, a bawling Kilian came stomping up the road in the opposite direction of that which I'd sent him minutes before, with a headless Tigger umbrella in one hand, and Tigger's sundered plastic head in the other. That turned into a Fiat escort morning, and Vincent didn't get another chance to try the bike until Friday afternoon.

Vincent has been suffering in the shadow of his big brother just a little lately, and needs to be able to do things that make him feel important. So when Kilian set off for chess on Friday afternoon, I asked Vincent if he wanted to ride his bike to the pumpkin patch with me to get pumpkins and gourds for our doorstep. He readily agreed, clicking the chinstrap on his little silver bike helmet.

To avoid traffic, I took Vincent on a fairly long route. He did so well, and he was really proud of himself, too. He was fairly wobbly at the outset, but the bike he's using was formerly his balance bike, so he was able to just push himself along when he felt unsure.

The pumpkin patch isn't really so much a pumpkin patch as it is a pay-as-you-go pumpkin pile. I think Vincent picked out about twenty gourds. At 70 cents a pop, that adds up! When I told him we'd have to thin our selection, his main criterion was whether he had picked the gourd (keep!) or I had (toss!). We still had a lot of fun. When we got back to the house, I told him that he could arrange the gourds. The first thing he did was to place a little yellow one high in the pine tree. I told him it wasn't Christmas, and I'm pretty sure that Vincent's decorating was the neighbors' afternoon entertainment.

The bike that Vincent has been riding is the smallest of the bikes in the garage, and would have been the right size at the other end of 4 years old. He is really excited to be riding a bike now. This afternoon, there was a mass of children clattering up and down our street on just about any set of wheels that you can imagine. Vincent joined in with his bike. It's much too small for him now. His knees and elbows poke out; it's like a clown bike. We have a bike that's the right size for him, the one Kilian got for his fifth birthday. I asked Vincent when he'd start riding it.

„When I'm five, Mom.“

Sad!

Why do I look like some poor lost tourist looking for another family in this photo? Didn't I know I was getting my picture taken?

osu game ugly

That was one ugly game. Mom and I have tried posting with no success. So this is a test. But anyway that was a hard game to watch. Love, Dad

Camping out

Now this is my first blog too. This is exciting, but yesterdays events were even wilder...

We had one terrific late summers day on Thursday, and the forecast was the same for Friday and Saturday. Since about two years, I wanted to take Kili out for a big adventure and spend the night in a somewhat roomy 'rain shelter' in the forest that I found while hiking one day. Now this might have sounded a little lame, but it is next to a beautiful creek on the one side and a really big waterfall to the other side, there is a table with benches out in the back of the thing and little wooden deck with benches on the front side. Everything is all wood, the inside does not have anything except a wooden floor and benches around the sides of the wall. The floor is big enough for 4 grown ups to sleep on. There is a doorway without a door, and a window that is just open. A pretty cool place...

So on Thursday, the plan was made, that the Papas (Peter Aigner , the guy from the Fairytale park and me) take their older kids for a sleepover there) Well, we did ask our kids if they wanted to do that, and they were excited (despite the 30 minute walk, that turned into a 50 minute hike).

It was really nice, with a camp fire at the creek, Smorres included (thanks to Mara, who made sure that we bring the right stuff), chatter and talk amongst the little and the grown up ones. The kids went to bed really nicely after marvelling at the stars for at least an hour. After a really quiet and calm night the murmur of the stream woke us (and the gobbling of a whacky animal) in our cosy sleeping bags. After a quick (and actually not too cold) breakfast, we headed for the waterfall, and explored a little there. Everybody had a great time - it was a wonderful experience!

The rest of the day, the Kolb family was getting the wood for the winter in place. Bummer. But it feels good to know that we can be cosy when the weather turns gross.

Love you all!

Bathroom Design and Other ThingsThat Might Kill Me

My first blog EVER!

Sooooooo we've been in the new house for two weeks now. Triumphs: new garage roof, new washer and dryer, tuck-pointed porch (mostly) and LOTS of garbage removal and demolition. We are now choosing a color scheme for the upstairs bathroom, which also means choosing tile for the floor, shower floor, shower walls, etc. I find this stressful! It is just hard to envision exactly what I hope it will look like when it is finished. I know it is not a big deal in the scheme of things, but you people know me better than anyone and know that making decisions is hard for me. I am excited about the bathroom overall. We've designed the floor plan and will have a nice big walk-in shower and a dual vanity.

Work is stressful too. I have a big event in Seattle next week and will be traveling with the dean of the school of business. Lots 'o pressure for everything to go smoothly. I am mostly just looking forward to it being over.

This is kind of whiny for a first entry, but what can I say, that is what I have going on right now! I am very, very, very happy to be in our house. It turns out I am a lot more forgiving of things that aren't perfect about it because it is MINE!

Mara, this was a great idea. I've made it a personal goal to post a little something at least once a week.

Love to all of you!

Enter Autumn: A season of firsts

Fall is coming, marking a round of new beginnings. Vincent went back to Kindergarten on Monday, marking the start of his school preparatory year. Kilian started the second grade yesterday, and in the afternoon, he had his first guitar lesson. My classes begin at the end of the month.

With all of these new beginnings, I’ve decided to start this blog. My intention is to create a space where we can share the events in our lives, our day to day experiences, our favorite recipes and random thoughts. We can use it more or less frequently, but my hope is to facilitate sharing within our family that's more direct than Facebook. I want to use it to let you know what’s happening over here and what the boys are doing, and I want to enter all of you as authors so that you can post about the goings on in your lives, too.

The posts don’t need to be lengthy or profound. They can be unedited, chatty postings, and I don't want to ask for too much of your time - I don't mean to create a burden with this thing. Just a few shared words here and there to bridge the distance and keep us close. It’s just a blog – no masterpieces necessary!  I hope you’ll give it a try. I’ll go first…

Love, Mara

p.s. Please send me your e-mail addresses so I can add you as authors.

A Semi-Seamless Start

This week, Vincent started his school preparatory year of Kindergarten, and Kilian started the second grade.

Yesterday was Kilian's first day of school in the new school year. He had a list of supplies that took an entire page, and I spent the better part of a day organizing, labeling, and sorting them all for the big day. And then I got everyone out of bed on time, breakfasted, groomed, and dressed in cute outfits. Cut apple slices and packed freshly baked chocolate ricotta muffins. And then I rounded up the three bags - the backpack, the gym bag, and the cloth bag of school supply overflow (and house shoes!), and herded the kids out to the car.


I walked Kilian up to his room - no seven year old could manage that load of school stuff alone - and met his teacher in the coat room. Kilian's friend Nils sought him out right away, and they went to the teacher together to ask if they could sit at the same table. I'm really glad about this, because Nils is a lot like Kilian in that he is one of the quieter kids, and actually likes doing school work.

I was pretty pleased with myself for getting Kilian off to second grade with all the required goods and in plenty of time, but when I went back to the car where Vincent was patiently waiting, I realized that we'd left his Kindergarten backpack at home. It only dawned on me later that I'd neglected to take an out-the-door picture on Kilian's first day of school. I did take one of Vincent on his first day of Kindergarten.

Kilian is happy to be back in school; he didn't even gripe that much about the homework on the first day. With Vincent, things aren't quite as straightforward. He has told me every day this week that he hates Kindergarten and wants to stay home, but he also goes into the room without drama when I drop him off in the morning, and I have caught him playing happily out in the garden when I picked him up on Monday and Tuesday. So I'm not taking the Kindergarten-hating too seriously. And the kids there like him. When I left him today, he was surrounded by girls! I'm sure he will have pretended to hate it.

Kilian also had his first guitar lesson yesterday, where he learned to pick a single string. He was delighted. His teacher may well be the most Bavarian lady I've ever met. I'm glad Kilian can understand her.

And so begins another year of Kindergarten and school... I'm excited for the boys, and looking forward to sharing it with them.