Kids say the funniest things!

Tonight we went over to one of our good friends home for dinner. We had so much fun, but it felt a little sad because it is last time we will see them for a while. On the way home I started to get teary and Hadley asked me, "What did Daddy say to make you cry". Both Alan and I couldn't stop laughing. I rarely cry and I can't remember the last time I cried from something said by someone else, especially my sweet Alan.

We are now spending the last night in our first home here in Columbia, MD. We brought each of our children home here from the hospital... We have so many great memories that have been made right here. I am sad but excited about the adventure to come : ) I will keep everyone posted on the upcoming move to Germany!

Mother's Day Questionaire

Hadley filled out a questionaire in Primary for Mother's Day. These were a few of the questions and answers!! How cute is my sugars. She was so excited for Mother's Day this year.

What do you love most about your mother? She loves me

What makes your mother beautiful? makeup

What would your mother do if she had a few minutes by herself? do dishes

How old is your mother? I don't know

helpful in their hearts

We were cleaning house the other day and my little ones wanted to help! I usually keep at least 2 bottles of Windex for just this purpose. Alan came home and asked me if they helped. Well, yes I told him, they were helpful in their hearts! I had to go back and redo the windows due to little fingerprints.

April Fun!!

This month we have had two fun birthdays. Cooper turned 3 years old and Grant turned 1. Below are a few fun pictures from the festivities. Cooper so wanted some "fire-boots" and couldn't stop talking about them for the week before his birthday. He was all smiles until we wanted to take a picture. At the last minute he decided he wanted a purple cake. Well, I had bought everything to make a german chocolate cake for his birthday. Back in the pantry I found a white cake mix and icing. Alan was in charge of coloring it purple and it turned a crazy gray/purple color. Oh, well Cooper loved the fact that we tried to make purple for him : ) We went to the carrousel with friends during the week and did our best to make his happy day very special.

Grant turned one this month. It is so hard to believe that he is one year old. Time flies when you are having fun! He is such a joy in our lives.... Such an even tempered baby. He loves to play, take naps, get into toilets when left unattended ( YUCK), eat anything ( he likes sweets like his mama! Cooper is not seduced by a sweet treat like the rest of us). He got a few fun toys for his birthday and loved his chocolate cake. I would honestly take 10 if they were just like him. That is minus the first few months of his life. Those who were around understand what I am saying. : )

A couple of other things happened this month. Hadley had her preschool class pictures. Could our little sugars be any cuter!! She has really loved her preschool this year. We look forward to both Cooper and Hadley going to a German preschool in the fall. There is one that is walking distance form the house we will be renting. I am hoping that the more of the language they know the more comfortable they will be with their surroundings. We also had a fun visit from Grandma and Grandpa Hersman early in the month, and Grandma Hersman came again later for a couple days due to a conference she attended in D.C. We love it when we have family visit.

Last but not least our home is under contract now !!!! We were on the market for 2 weeks and 21 showings. YIKES!!! If you know me that was 2 weeks of stress. I have total empathy for anyone selling their home. Granted I was a little neurotic about how everything clean, fresh flowers, no clutter etc. We close on May 28th if everything continues to go well. Our furniture etc.. is being moved to Germany on May 18th. This is all coming really fast! We have been really blessed that everything has gone really smoothly so far.

Update on our move to Germany!!

I just wanted to give a short update on our move to Germany. So much has been going on that it is hard to know where to start. First thing on our list has been getting our condo on the market and taking care of the details involved with that. After 2 weeks on the market we got a good offer and went under contract a few days ago. Hopefully, everything will go well and they won't flake out on us. Alan, is meeting with the transportation/moving office later this month to go over the moving of our goods. We are scheduled to have our belongings moved around the 18th of May. We will be without virtually everything until all head to TX for a couple of weeks. Alan, is taking a work related class in San Antonio for two weeks and his parents are good enough to take the rest of us in during that time. The children are really excited about visiting Grandma and Grandpa Larsen. Whe will come back to Maryland for 3 more weeks before leaving for Germany on or close to July 1st. Lost of changes are coming for our little family, and we are busy, nervous, but most of all excited!

Cherry Blossom Festival 2010

We made our yearly trip to the Cherry Blossom Festival last weekend. We had talked enough about it that Hadley and Cooper were very excited. We left at 0530 to beat traffic and get a good parking spot. We were walking around the tidal basin by 0700. We only took a small umbrella stroller for Grant so Cooper and Hadley had to walk the entire way! By the end we heard more than one complaint of their bodies hurt because of too much exercise. I think they had the most fun at the Roosevelt memorial. It is a series of waterfalls and fountains. Water is a big hit with my bunch. I am going to post more pictures soon from the festival and Grant's first birthday.

February happenings

This month I have to say has been an adventure. We had ~ 4 feet of snow in one week, Hadley turned 4 years old, we took a fun trip into Washington D.C., and we ended with a bought of gastro!!! We also found out that we will be moving to Germany..... Change is a coming in our neck of the woods. Alan is set to report on July 15th. We will be moving sometime in June. Hopefully, all of our family and friends will start a see Europe fund and come to see us as well. After the news has had a week or so to sink in I am getting more and more excited. I have loved Maryland more than I can say. Such a wonderful place to live and wonderful friends we have made.

This is a fun picture of most of us on Hadley's 4th birthday on the 20th. She still loves princess things and we spend a lot of our days dressed in princess clothes and shoes playing with polly pockets or "poppets" as we call them.

One of our good friends gave Hadley a couple pair of new butterfly wings, which was genius. Cooper couldn't wait to put a pair on and express the desire to fly up high. I am a little worried he might be jumping off the furniture soon.

Grant loved his first cupcake!!! We have a 41/2 minute video of this adventure. Way to cute to miss.

Cooper couldn't wait to have his own cupcake. This is weird because he really doesn't like sweets. Not motivated in the least by potty treats. Not at all like Hadley and myself, but exactly like Alan. Like father like son.

Hadley in her new dress, shoes, wings, and jewelry! Couldn't be any cuter. That's my sugars.

Hadley has a day just for her. We had pink pancakes for breakfast, pink cupcakes with pink icing for her party, pink paper to wrap the presents etc.... Pinkalicious was the name of the day per her request.

This is the "zoo" of the mall. Always a must see when we are there. We sent to the carousel on her birthday and on to the pet store.

This is the wonderful old carousel at the mall near our house. One of the favored things to do on a cold February day.

On our trip down to D.C. we visited the museum of natural history. This is actually the jewelry that Alan is getting me for our anniversary in April... haha I am just hoping we can go out on a great date. Bing would be a wonderful surprise or maybe a new van.. Alan are you listening : )

Hadley and Cooper at the museum. They loved seeing all of the animals!!

We went to the butterfly exhibit and saw the largest butterflies I have ever seen. Isn't Cooper the cutest getting as close as he could without hurting the poor thing.

How often do you see the national mall covered with snow and empty! Once in a lifetime.

Our family at the end of our wonderful adventure living so near Washington D.C.

King of the Hill!!!! Cooper on a mound of snow. This was part of the parking lot at our condo complex. He didn't want to go inside. Hadley was done in just a few minutes.