Fun at the Burg Nanstein Medieval Fair in Landstuhl, Germany

Our Family Names, Embellished with Japanese Mythological Symbols (2002)

A Thousand Miniature Get-Well Wishes from Lvov

The second week that Phil was away, I caught a cold (compounded by allergies). To keep me company, Lvov sat at my desk next to my bed tinkering away for about an hour and a half. This is what she was making, instead of playing outside or watching a movie or playing with the hamster...(please click on this picture to see the little notes!)

My children are so wonderful, they even make being sick joyful. They are my joy, every minute.

Manga Madness

The kiddos are taking a Manga cartoon class at the youth center this summer, and as we were researching Manga online, we found this funky site that transforms your photos into Manga pictures:

Lvov

Akychame

My Flower Children

Please click on the mosaic to enlarge

Almost every day my girls bring me little wildflower bouquets and heart-shaped rocks and 4-leaf clovers. There are always flowers by my bed, on the windowsill by the kitchen sink, and on our dining table. Their sweet bouquets make my heart so light and ecstatic. The girls even bring me breakfast and coffee in bed now and again and give me foot rubs! Akychame and Lvov, you are my heart's delight!!!

Wir Lernen Deutsch Zusammen!

Here's our wonderful German Level 4 class, minus a few people who are on holiday. Even the dog is an honorary student - in Germany, you take your dog with you everywhere! 

It's such a great opportunity for the kids to be in this class. Technically, since it's a college-level adult continuing education class, everyone is supposed to be 18 or older. Our teacher Briggitta suggested that I buy the kiddos textbooks and bring them to every class with me. So we do! Every Tuesday and Thursday night from 5-7. The girls participate just like anyone else in class, and their comprehension is dynamite! We have just one year left before we leave for England-we really want to learn as much German as possible before we leave!

Meine Töchter sind Genien mit Sprache! Sie lernen schnell, aber ich lerne sehr langsam. Neben ihnen, Ich fühle leider wie ein echte Dummkopf! Ich wunsche, dass ich konnte als gut als ihnen werde.

Daddy's Goodbye Pillow

How I'm Feeling Today after My Boy Left for Korea

Artwork by the wonderful Etsy artist Amy Earles.

Goodbyes & Kisses

Goodbyes June 2008 - Leaving for Korea for One Year

Goodbyes are hard. But we've been through this before and we know what to expect. When Phil left in 2005, we were kind of floundering. I didn't speak very much German, Phil was in a potentially dangerous area, we never knew when he would be able to call us (and when he did, he had to wait in line for up to an hour, and even then there was no privacy), we had absolutely no support system here (I cannot stress that enough!) and we didn't have many friends. Phil had to live in a tent with several other guys (absolutely NO personal freedom or privacy) and he had to walk across an unbelievably hot and dusty base just to take a shower.

It was hard for all of us.

This time around, we're more rugged! We've been there, done that. There are so many reasons why this time will be easier than the last, even though this separation is twice as long.

Goodbyes December 2005 - Leaving for Afghanistan for Six Months

Top Ten Reasons Why this Year Will Fly By:

1. We know from experience that we can make it.

2. Phil will become NCOIC of the armory at Osan, and he hears that it's a great shop.

3. Phil has his own room.

4. The girls and I speak and understand much more German this time around, which makes us feel much more comfortable and capable here.

5. We've lived here for 4 years already, so Kaiserslautern feels like home. We know our way around, we know what's what. It's rare for a military family to feel at home somewhere.

6. The kids and I have many more friends.

7. Akychame is old enough to babysit, and Lvov is legally old enough to be home alone anyway (though I insist that they be home together). This is great because I get to avoid mom-burnout! I can have fun on my own, then be 100% present for my kids the rest of the time. The happier I am, the happier they are. So true!

8. Unlike the last separation, this sacrifice has two major pay-offs: Phil won't go to war in Iraq for at least a year and a half! And during that time, the Presidency will have changed hands. We're hoping that this madness will come to an end. But for now, our boy is safe! That alone is worth a year apart.

9. Here's the 2nd benefit: as you all know, as a reward for living apart from his family for a year, Phil has been assigned to a dream base in England! It's a tiny, laid-back base with a very low deployment schedule. And...it's located right next to Oxford, England!!! Oh my, life will be sweet. Major pay-off.

10. This one came as a shock to us all: military dependents who are not command-sponsored (that's us) are allowed to (and welcome to) get a visa to live in Korea for up to a year so that they can visit their sponsors on the weekends!!! So next week I'll be sending out our passport info and applying for visas...it'll take about 2 months for it all to process...then we can take a free military flight to Korea! Phil is excited to start looking for apartments for us near Seoul. We'll probably stay for a month or two. What an adventure! We're also pretty psyched about it because it's just a hop, skip, and a jump from Korea to Tokyo. Even though I remember Tokyo like the back of my hand, the kids' memories of Japan are unfortunately a little faded. Maybe we'll celebrate Christmas in Tokyo. Who knows?

Even though a year is a long time, we're actually very lucky because Army families have to be on their own for 15 months at a time while their soldiers are fightinng in Iraq - and once the soldiers reunite with their families (if they still have families by the time they return) they only have about a 3 or 4 month grace period before they're thrown back into the fire. We Air Force folks have it easy compared to all that. Kudos to all of those struggling families!

So, time marches on. Before bed every night, the girls will have a Hershey's "kiss" from Daddy. Each kiss brings us a day closer to being together.

Akychame, the "Dog-Gone Good" Entrepreneur