Constant Beginnings

Wow, it is hard to believe 2013 is done and gone. It was such a mixed year for us. We suffered two miscarriages, immeasurable heartache and stress as we weren't certain our hopes to expand our family would come to fruition. We settled into a new house, made it our home and fell in love with our little neighborhood where our neighbors are like our family. We took our first cruise to Greece and Croatia, traveled to Venice, Italy three times, Florence, Pisa, Cinque Terra, Belgium twice, Netherlands, France, England, Portugal & Morocco.  10 countries in a year is pretty amazing! Claire learned how to read fluently and is now reading at a 3rd grade level. Mya has learned all of her letters, the sounds they make and can blend sounds to read words as well. She is officially a beginner reader. Both girls are doing amazingly well at swimming. They love the water and can front crawl like no other. Claire has developed a love for soccer and is now competing in U-7 district s...

Two weeks before Christmas, I planned a quick trip to Brugge, Belgium to visit the Ice Festival. This year it featured the movie, "FROZEN!" We saw the movie a week before we went, which was absolutely adorable. Brugge is about a 4 hour drive from our house. Our drive was filled with a mix of rain, then snow, and finally rain again. Sadly, it rained throughout most of our visit, which put a bit of a damper on our activities, but we will definitely be back again. Brugge was such a cute little city.  The Ice Show wasn't cheap. Children's tickets were 11 Euros each and adults were 15 Euros each. However, it was worth every penny seeing our kids' faces light up in delight. We wandered around the city a bit, enjoyed some Chinese food where we were amazed at the son's owner who visited with us. We were the only one's in the restaurant and he was a nice kid. As a high schooler, he knows 5 languages. Chris and I are always taken aback by the amount of languages ...

Our two neighbor girls are great high school soccer players. They are so sweet to Claire, playing with her and trying to teach her skills. This attention has catapulted Claire's desire to play soccer this year. She is doing great, having scored 2 goals in 2 games. Claire is pretty fast and a great dribbler, so when she gets out in front of the competition, she's dangerous--scoring consistently. Mya at the Opening Day Ceremony. Claire's team in the Opening Day parade. Claire. The base makes a big deal of opening day and celebrating the military child, complete with games, food and soccer fun. Mya's turn.

Claire is in her 2nd year at Ramstein Elementary. She is in the 1st grade and has a wonderful teacher, Ms. Garcia. It is a great fit. She pushes Claire academically, is creative and makes learning fun. That's what it is all about. We'll see how things pan out as they are wrapping up their first unit in math and will begin differentiated small groups in the next couple of weeks. Claire is especially proud that she's had 3 spelling tests thus far and has earned a perfect score + bonus points on each one. Claire is in the same class as her best friend, Emma though she pretty much meshes with everyone. She seems to play with different kids each day. Chris and I kid that this girl will be in politics one day. She can negotiate like nobody's business and is a chameleon, blending in with whatever group she is placed. Claire is very rule based and does her best to ensure everyone follow those rules. She is also the kindest and sweetest big sister--most of the time. This is...