Um....so it's sort of been a year since I last blogged.  The few random folks who read my blog have been a tad annoyed with me and I knew it was time to get off my butt and get blogging again when even my husband asked me when I was going to be updating the blog.  It's not for lack of things happening that needed to be blogged and much more the shear volume of things that have happened this past year.  Want a run down? 
Husband hospitalized three times,
Eldest child hospitalized two times,
New baby born, hospitalized on and off for the first two weeks.
Husband gone for training three times (nothing new but does make for fun single parenting of 5)
Travels around Germany,
Got a Great Dane,
Found Great Dane new home (ohhh talk about the guilt!),
Had a run in with Family Advocacy/Child services (meh, lead to something great in the end)
A child was finally correctly diagnosed and received help needed (this took up a MASSIVE amount of time this year)
Celebrated 6 birthdays and other holidays,
More travels,
Family visits,
Sports season,
Got Audited (dun-dun-dunnnnnn)
Took up cake decorating as a hobby/side business
and everything else I'm forgetting which I am certain there is plenty.  It's going to take me a little bit to get back into blogging/journaling again on the regular but I really, really have got to get this nonsense back on track!

Bumper Bikes

Do you ever have parenting moments where in your brain you react calmly and cooly under pressure and emergencies yet in real life you aren't nearly as.....collected? Ya, I have these moments more often than not. A few weeks ago we had one of those occasions which showcased just how awesome I am NOT under pressure. Now after 4 (soon to be 5) kids, you don't jump up and FREAK out over every cut, scrape, fall and so on. You just don't. You can't. If I were to fly off the couch or drop the laundry the second one of my kids said "MOM!!! Matty's hurt! " or "Mom! Cody's bleeding!" I would literally be running around like a chicken with my head cut off with a 1st aide kit 24 hours a day. With 4 sons someone is always boxing, climbing a tree, falling off a bike, rolling down a hill, or full on WWE style fighting one another in the bedroom. Some of those kids, get up and tough it out and don't need...as much attention as others. My Michael on the other hand tends to need a little more attention when he's hurt or ill. So that being said this is what happened..lol
My kids don't currently have bikes here and thus don't have helmets. We don't have a yard and we don't have a garage, we have a storage unit in the basement and would have to have the bikes go up and down flights of stairs every day to be used so we've for now opted not to buy them. As Michael went out to play for the day I told him "No bikes!" As I found out the day before that he had been seen riding another childs bike with no helmet and was lucky I was letting him out to play at all if he wasn't going to be safe. Less than 45 minutes later a small child comes to the door and says "Um Mikey got hurt on a bike, can you come?" sigh.... "Is mikey bleeding? Can he walk?" "Um, ya he can walk, he's not bleeding".."Ok tell Mikey to come here please"....."Ok!! Bye!" and runs off..lol So I think to myself.. DRAMATIC! The last time Mikey "fell off a bike" he had scraped his knee limped home and had to be bandaged as if he were dieing, the second someone else wanted to play he ripped off the bandage and walked perfectly..lol so I didn't worry too much. There was that nagging feeling though so I tossed on some shoes and pulled my hair up, and was about to walk out when I saw Cody running towards the house frantic. SHIT! lol
See thats why I had that nagging feeling. ARG. So in over drive I waddle down the stairs, Aidan on my hip, and hussle to where I see kids heading, a cul de sac behind us I see a cluster of children and adults around a prone figure on the ground. CRAPPPPP !!! Why can't pregnant women run! As soon as I get to Mikey's side I lean over and see what looks like a softball under his eyebrow and a cut to his eyelid and a ghastly white skin tone. Now here is where you think you react well....NOPE. All I could do was say "WOW!!! WOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW....ohh woowwww baby..." Thank GOD for another set of Mothers there who saw the accident and were able to tell me what happened and keep me calm. Evidently another child wanted to play "bumper bikes" (self explanitory) and Michael opted not too, the child rammed him anyways sending Michael up a curb and face 1st into a fire hydrant (no helmet of course). It knocked him unconcious for a good minute and then he seemed to go into shock some, stating he had no pain, and felt fine but was cold and tired. These Mom's called the mps and ambulance and kept him from moving until I got there. Talk about FREKAING OUT! Look at that eye!

After a long drive to the ER he was admitted for 2 days and spent over two weeks on bed rest, broke his orbit at the eyebrow and had a severe concussion.
Day 2

My poor kid. I really felt so bad for him. 2 weeks of bedrest usually means a lot of tv, xbox, games and books....but with the headaches and his eye needing to be rested he wasn't allowed more than 1 hour per day of reading OR tv. So he was bored to tears! Thank heavens we own 6 of the 7 Harry Potter audiobooks on my ipod! He listened to all of them! He's doing really well now, still having headaches and his pupil is still bothering him when he constricts too fast so he has to wear sun glasses outside all the time and isn't allowed to watch too much tv or xbox. All of this over a dangerous bike game I didn't even know exisited! At least my son was smart enough to say no to playing, I just wish the other child had listened and that Michael hadn't been on someones bike without a helmet! HELMETS!!! Guess I better buy new ones since it seems my kids are going to ride with or without them!

Happy Fathers Day My Love

i hate when you have to buy someone a gift early on in the month and can't hide it and then comes their birthday or holiday and you feel like you didn't have anything special to give them on that day..lol Matt and I are wretched about giving one another gifts too soon, we have zero patience when it comes to good things..lol the kids and I got him a bbq grill and colonge (Unforgiven by Sean John....OHHHH yum!!!!) Since he had to lift the grill I couldn't very well hide it from him, and once he got a hint about the colonge he was dieing to have it..lol. On Fathers day he got breakfast in bed I cooked, since Michael and Cody's sweet Mothers day breakfast caused me a few gastro issues I thought this best..lol Mind you this photo was taken mid way through his breakfast, he wouldn't let me get a picture until he put a shirt on..lol so it DID have fried eggs, bacon, french toast, coffee and water but of course all that the photo shows is some french toast..lol making me look uber lame in my "breakfast in bed" skills..lol

I even made coffee.....ya,ya, who can't brew coffee...I just prefer my coffee as sugar and cream with a hint of coffee where as when Matt drinks coffee it's black most days with a rare hint of sugar..lol

Looks like my version of Coffee was a tad sweet for him...HAHAHAHA

As a part of Fathers day we asked him what he wanted to do and mostly it was just be home with the family but we opted to hit the park for a bit since we all were having a bit of cabin fever.

I love this picture we took down by the little lake.
It shows what kind Father he is...he'd prefer to spend it spoiling the kids than himself and I love that about him. He learns and grows everyday as a parent and although neither of us are perfect parents we are perfect for each other and this family. Of course we (he) grilled for us later that day, I don't know why men do this...lol I was all ready to grill it up for him but he wanted to be the grill master, evidently it's off limits to estrogen..lol which I am soooooo ok with...Who wants to labor over a hot grill in the sun? Not this gal..lol so Daddy cooked us dinner which was sweet but I would have love to cook for him to make his day just a little more special.

Mommy and Leland...29 weeks.

This one makes me giggle...
Beer VS Baby....jk ok so he had to push realy hard to get that gut but it was funny!

I had to stick this one in there because EKKKK look how sweet Cody is with Aidan.


I wish I could have gotten some better ones of Matthew and Michael but they were both really fast and bolting around the park.

Marriage Retreat At Eidelwiess Lodge And Resort

OH MY GRAVY it is beautiful in Garmish!!! I can't wait for family to come visit so we can use them as an excuse to go back! lol I'm sure we can come up with some reason to go back between now and then but I would love to share this with family!
Marriage retreats are an amazing perk we get being military, to help strengthen and grow your marriage in a career field that can at times be very taxing on a relationship. I say utilize the tools given to you! Why not go and learn how to make your marriage stronger and get to see and do awesome things on someone else's dime? I am ALL for free, or deeply discounted!
Next time however we will be DRIVING, NOT riding the bus. Wowza. Who knew that in the 7th month of pregnancy I would suddenly develop motion sickness?!?! I have never in my life had motion sickness....what the what! Ya, so now in a car, in a bus, or whatever I am nauseas, trembeling and headachey. Ew! No fun! Definatly no fun when the German bus driver locks the bathroom on the bus, doesn't turn on the A.C. and a 3 hour drive bus ride turns in 4 1/2 between traffic and stopping at the McDonalds along the way, all the while your VERY vocal toddler is refusing to sit with anyone but you, and sharing his wonderful tantrum self with all the people on the bus....AhHHH..what a lovely ride..lol Next time we go....we are paying for gas and driving..lol

The views on the ride there were gorgeous. When the Alps came into view Michael leaned over my seat with tears in his eyes and said "I've never seen anything this beautiful, thank you for shareing this with us! We are so lucky Mom!" and I have to agree. We are so lucky to be here experiencing this as a family!

On the balcony to our room.....Yes, Matthew is licking Michael's arm. What on earth kid? lol

The lobby of the lodge

Look at that view!


One of the great things about marriage retreats is the childcare, they give "couples times" and Matt and I took that oppurtunity to go see the Linderhoff Palace. I saw it long ago as a child but I had forgotten how...tiny, it is..lol. And I mean TINY! The tour was less than 45 minutes, there were no pictures allowed inside, which stinks but the tour was fun and I really liked it! Here are a few photos of Matt and I on the tour.



Matt and I at the back gardens, 7 months preggers.


And this one....just because he's so darn cute!

Heidelberg, Oh, Heidelberg!

There were a few places that stand out from my childhood as the "Princess Castles" to me, Neuschwanstein, The Schwetzengen Castle and The Heidelberg castle. Heidelberg always held a special place in my heart because this was very close to Hockenheim where we lived. It's one of those places you rave about and hope to some day share with those you love. The day we went to the castle this time and I got to share it with my family I had tears in my eyes. Ok, so the pregnant hormones may have played a part in the misty eyes..lol I was getting to fulfill a dream and that was a little emotional for me. I loved that the boys were in awe the entire time. I can say that it is worth it to pay for the English speaking tour! There is so much history here! You can take a tram up the mountain to the castle or park where we did and hoof it down....the down part is no big deal....back up is rather grueling..lol





The winding staircase on the tour.

The smaller of the giant wine casks

Michael has set a goal to do the "shuffel" at each castle we visit..lol






The Fountain in the courtyard.



Matt and I on the tour with the kids

I love this picture of Michael.

Cody did an amazing Job of following Aidan around when we waited for the tour.
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p197/cutesassafrass/more/055-1.jpg
I can't wait until we go back and spend the day exploreing the city. We only had time for the castle the day we went because we were on our way to Kristy's house in Stuttgart. Hopefully soon! Oh Heidelberg, I love my Heidelberg!

Cody Is 11 And Freaking Amazing

I wish my kids would stop growing up already! Everytime I turn my head my kids go from being new borns, to toddlers to little boys to pre teens. Gah. I need things to slow down a little.

My sweet Cody. I'm always afraid I over look him. He's such an easy child, mostly so complient, gets good/great grades, is responsible and funny and I can count on him to watch Aidan any time and do a great job of it. I'm always afraid that while dealing with the younger ones or the ones who need a little more attention that I may over look how fantastic he really is. I don't but I'm afraid he may FEEl over looked being one of our middle kids. I hope we work hard to show him how special he is, how much easier he can really make my day and what a funny, charismatic child he is. He used to be so gangley, always tripping over himself, my little "bull in a china shop" and now he's this young man, capable of careing for his little brothers and being an example to others, watching out for Mom and bonding with his Step Father over funny music and dance moves, a terrible flirt and uber confident.
Have I mentioned how understanding he is for his age?? We kinda forgot his birthday.....OK we didn't FORGET IT!!!! We ....mixed up which day of the month we were on. No, seriously! I filled out my planner by hand, and I had MONDAY the 10th filled in when SUNDAY was the 10th. We kinda felt sheepish when Cody's Dad called to skype and asked what he'd done for his birthday all day and Cody said, "Uh Dad, my Birthday is tomorrow" and Jon said "No, I'm pretty sure it's the 10th all over the world" DOI!!!!! OMG talk about feeling AWEFUL! I mean...wow, lower than low. Esp since we were at Kristy and Adams house watching my neice and nephews until the next morning and hadn't brought his gifts with us since we would be celebrating the next day, and had no cake.....WOW. EPIC PARENTING FAIL! Ya....so here's what we did for his birthday...a day late..lol We planned to make a wicked cake with fondont and monsters/zombies on it but he opted for just picking out his own cake mix at the store and having a boxed cake. We skyped Nana and got to have her sing happy birthday with us. He got two large posters he's been begging for, and a movie he wanted, we ordered him a cool jacket online but it's STILL not here yet...lol and he got lots of cash and gift cards which he bought xbox games and treats with. At least he understood that we already HAD his bday prepared it just had a day mixed up on the calendar. Sigh..I know..I'm awesome!



I have to add this, because it's just hillarious.....Cody was told to go do his chore of dishes one night.It's taking longer than average and I hear him giggleing to himself in a maniacal manner. I called to him, asking what he was doing that was taking so long and was very funny about his chores....This is what I saw..lol