long time no see

mad face...

flat abby (we sent it to daddy)



right before the tantrum (see below for full explanation)

coloring her pumpkin

at the farm (pumpkin patch)

the maze

almost got them all looking (hayden, zander and abby)

waiting for the hayride

more waiting closeup

i know it has been a long time....blame it all on my gym time. i go work out as soon as abby goes to bed and then all i have time for is write to ryan, check my e-mail,and hit the sack (i get some sleep before my alarm wakes me up). on the bright side of things, i feel really good, i've lost tons of weight and gained some muscle. i have two more days of torture w/ my diet....wooooohoooooo!

lots has happened since the last time, i'll try to be brief and lets hope my mind doesn't go blank:

* thought nap time was over for miss abby, but thank God and His mercy they were only on vacation for a week days

* the two last molars she was missing are coming in, the one on the left just doesn't seem to progress as fast as i'd like

* emotions are running high between her and i...don't know if it is the teeth, her age, circumstances....i just want it to STOP! the other day i actually counted: 7 tantrums and one of them happened at wal-mart (she's never screamed like that in a store before). so after several swats, time-outs, me breathing heavily and trying to not bang my head on the wall she sighs and says: "mommy i love you" and it's all forgotten.

* today we were driving back from hayden's house (her friend) and out of the blue she says: "mommy i love my daddy" and then starts to talk about him coming back. she's got it all worked out in her head: first andrew is coming for thanksgiving, then andrew and michael will come for christmas and santa is coming too and theeeeen we go back to abby's house.

* ohhhhhhh! and how could i forget the biggest news so far: our orders to canada got canceled (about 3 weeks ago, i think). so now we got new orders to germany! our report date is april 30th and as soon as ryan is back he leaves to FL for some training and then off to germany....can you believe it?!?! i still can't...

* little miss is doing great at church nursery. she loves her class and goes right in w/ no complaining or wailing. this last sunday she even told her teacher she needed to go potty. i got paged to take her potty and when i got to her class she had a HUGE smile on her face (she was playing some game w/ all her "little friends"). so we went, took her back and off i went to "my big class". i think in germany we will put her some sort of preschool a couple days a week so she can learn german (i'll still homeschool her though)

* we finally made it to the pumpkin patch :) the place we went to is actually a rehab center for addicts who have nowhere else to go. this place is obviously in a farm and the guys there get free shelter and food in exchange for work. it is a christian organization so they also get fed spiritually. they even get grants or scholarships to go to school. public transportation will shuttle them to and from. isn't that amazing!?!? the guy who runs the place gave us a tour of the farm while we went on a hay ride around the property. we went w/ our "little friend's" hayden and zander, my mom and anna (david had a cross country meet)

* speaking of cross country meet: this weekend we finally got a chance to go see david run on his last meet of the season. apparently the kid can run like a gazelle!(you and i will never run together david). this race was the state championship. so we all biked there (abby in the buggy ~ loved it!) since it was a nice day and close. unfortunately he wasn't at his best that day. he had tried out for the soccer arsenal team and the coaches had him sprinting really fast. the muscles he hadn't used in months were really sore, so he was in pain for the race :( in any case....it was so exciting!!! even abby cheered him on: go david go! i forgot my camera that day (what else is new) so here is a link (david is number 415)http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=G2&Date=20081025&Category=HSSPORTS&ArtNo=1025004&Ref=PH&Params=Itemnr=8"

* i think part of the reason i hadn't blogged was bcs abby got sick so much on our first month here. the cold went around most of the family and i was crossing my fingers i wouldn't get it, until i could no longer avoid it. so for now we have been sickness-free for about a week and a half.

* and last but definitely not least: ryan is doing really well! he said his commander has been fantastic. he is working out a lot, volunteering, loving chapel service, reading his books, watching good movies, and is even going to start the rosetta stone program to learn german (he got it today). i on the other hand am going to wing it and rely on my acting abilities to communicate. i'll look like the hispanic mothers from the la honda school i used to work at: clueless and relying on their kids to translate.

anyway, i better get some pictures uploaded....