Sept. 3 and its already 65 degrees in the day!!! Harvest time is in full swing-apples are being picked, pumpkins are everywhere. I even turned the heat on yesterday because it was 55 degrees and I refuse to be cold.
Here's the latest on everyone
Chris-settling in with work. Says he likes his new job. spent last week with his boss from the States and they hit it off very well. One thing about he new company (must be the American PC rules) is that they don't seem to party as hard as the Danes! If
Chris' old boss were in town, they'd go to dinner at 8 and stay out until 3-4 a.m.!! Chris was always the first to leave, trying to get home by 1 a.m. Now, when the guys are here from the States, it's 7 p.m. dinner-home by 9:30!!! Chris says he's too old for the late nights and likes this better.
I'm sure he'll make up for it when he sees his colleagues in Reno in a few weeks.
Layne -doing much better in school.
PYP is VERY similar to Montessori in that their is a lot of "freedom" in the classroom. The structure focuses on a lot of
sensorial work-which she is a bit beyond, but I feel as long as she is happy and having fun all is well. I have the Montessori room set up at home and both kids tend to gravitate there in the afternoons. Layne and I read for
at least 1/2 hour daily and she and Chris also read for
at least 1/2 hour before bed. She is learning to be part of a community and that she has to take turns. It's been positive and she says school is "great".
Luke- if he's asked, he'd say he wants to
home school but he has an amazing teacher, good friends, and is quite popular. He has lots of freedom of movement in the classroom and its project/inquisitively based so an extension of what he's used too. He's using his German quite a bit. Luke is very much enjoying his football on Tues/Thurs and still enjoys the time with his German friends.
I'm glad he has this exposure to a different group of kids than the ones at the school.
Me-I have been to, and skipped many, Newcomers Coffees at the school. This school is very very social and most of the families are here for 2-3 years so center their lives around the school. There are even activities on the weekends. For me, I find it way overstimulating and have to opt out often. I am involved in my
children's classroom but not much with the
PTG. I told the president
I'm happy to help when she needs it, but
I'm not much of a "coffee" chit chat gal. The school is 30%
Americans and of that Id say 90% are from Detroit with G.M. These women all hang out together and I suppose I just don't have much in common with moms from Detroit who have never been out of Detroit before. That being said, I do have a friend, Natalie, who is awesome and we have a good time being the loners. I also have a neat friend, Jessica, who is from my beloved Richmond. Jess and I have lots in common and her husband and Chris get along very well also. Luke adores her 2 boys ( Layne too). Natalie (who went to
MSU!) has 3 kids ( one of which is
Luke's buddy in his class) and her husband went to U.of M. This makes for great banter between he and Chris. So, we have a little tribe-6 adults and 7 kids!!!!!!!! We are going to dinner this weekend -a place where the kids can all run and play. We're blessed to have met such neat people. I have to say that last weekend there was a Welcome BBQ at the school- we were the last to leave as we all drug our husbands out of the beer garden-yes there are even beer gardens at school picnics!
Looks like
I'm getting a contract to teach yoga at the complex for the embassy families through the Community Services group. This will involve a 30 min. drive into Frankfurt but will get me out and I will get to see my buddies Susie and Patti!
Angel is adjusting better; Gerri the cat loves the big house and is often up with us sleeping under the dining room table. she is much more social here than she was in Bahrain. She seems very happy.
Last thing, I miss my international mix of friends. I am being stalked by
Americans!!!! In Bahrain, I had 1-2 good friends from the States but everyone else was from somewhere else-Australia, Pakistan, England. Seems everyone here sticks to their own which is strange to me. I'll have to work on that. More soon with photos!
So.....what else??? OH, I filled his company car up with gas at $9 a gallon and just before turning it on realized--his car is DIESEL!!!!!!!!!!! So, 5 German guys, thinking Im a heinous American, pushed my car to the side so I could leave it ( the gas tank must be drained and cleaned before we can move forward on this) AND I even had Angel with me! We ( 2 kids-with fevers, Angel and I) took a cab home. 
Luke with his class (his buddy, Seth, is the one "posing" with him)
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