Flying By

{On our drive to Wurzburg}

It dawned on me the other day how fast this past year has flown by so quickly; we're almost at our year mark living here in Germany and I'm becoming a little sad. Moving here, I cried when we left family and friends and the known as we went into the unknown. Slowly, day by day, things got better. I was very homesick but not because it's horrible here! It's quite the opposite actually! But it still isn't home so of course family and friends were (and are) missed. But as John and I were driving to Wurzburg on Sunday for Mother's Day, we were discussing how it has felt like we've only blinked and an almost year has flashed before us. How our 2 years left here is going to go by just as fast, especially while we try to cram in as much as we can see and do before we have to move back to the States. And I think talking about it all, made me sad! Just as I cried when moving here, I know without a doubt that I will cry when we move back home. Germany is a beautiful country; I'm enjoying taking it all in and seeing as much as I can. Knowing that this is a once in a lifetime experience makes it all the more reason to appreciate this opportunity! If I don't happen to see anymore than we already have, I won't be too heartbroken though; I have seen more than I ever thought or dreamed that I would!

{On our drive to Wurzburg}

In other news, I am just one busy mama around here with my four young-ins. I love being the mother to my little ones - they make me laugh, they make me cry, they make me want to pull my hair out, they make me happy. But most importantly, they make me proud to be their mother and I would never want it any other way! I'll take the good and the bad if only I can see their smiles, hold their hands, watch them peacefully sleep, hear them as they learn to read, see them enjoy the food I make them...the list goes on! It's all worth it to me.

Lately, we are busy....

*getting ready for our summer plans

*spring cleaning and organizing

*meal planning

*with a sometimes cranky and demanding baby

*running and walking 20-25 miles a week. Frankfurt 10K is in less than 3 weeks!!!!

*packing and planning for our trip this next week to Garmisch - relaxation HERE WE COME!

*reading lots and lots of books - everyone has one they are reading. John: The Crisis of Islam, Leslie: The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks (my favorite author, however, not my favorite read!), Aubrey: Catching Fire (book #2 from Hunger Games series), Jocelyn: The Princess and the Frog, Andrew: Curious George, Landon: Blue Hat Green Hat - okay, so we're reading to the boys but didn't want to leave them out! :)

*catching up on laundry (it never ends!)

*craving to get the grill out and bbq!

*going to the playground just about any chance we get

*on the last days of the school year...we have a count down!! Aubrey: 19 days, Jocelyn: 14 days

*starting new chore lists - we'll see if this one will work better! one can only hope!

*at work! Well, for John that is! Lots of late night hours at the office

*enjoying a break in-between semesters (again, this is for John! But it's enjoyed by all that he's not wrapped up in studies at the moment!)

*catching up on blogging

*watching a little one toddle all around the house getting into everything! - and loving it

*wishing we could ditch our home in Virginia (yeah, we'll be wishing that one for a long time to come!)

*enjoying the sunshine and warmer weather

*dreaming about John + I's vacation to Greece! THIS is getting me through the difficult and long days. Even though I'm nervous leaving my two little boys for a week who are still attached to their mama (the girls I know will be okay)....I'm super ready for some time off!
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Be prepared to see a lot more older posts in the coming weeks. I'm trying to catch up on events I do not want to forget. Like our trip to Oregon last summer, family vacation to Virginia Beach, our time with friends before moving to Germany, our Christmas with my brother and his family. You know...a long time ago stuff! :)

My Children

Blogging about our adventures, happy moments, new memories and everyday life is becoming too far and few between. It's either I sleep or blog. Sleeping usually wins! :/ My kids keep me BUSY!

So I thought it would be good to do a quick update on how my children are doing. I only have a little window of time. I suppose I don't really need makeup on today :) ....

AUBREY...
is my tender child. Such a sweet and caring girl she is! And just turned 12 last month! And mood swings galore! Wow are we in for a ride! I really can't believe how grown up she's becoming! Oh my oh my does she love having her own room again! For a few months before we moved from Virginia, both her and Jocelyn had to share rooms when Landon was born and it wasn't an overly joyous experience for either one of them. But...they survived! :) She's doing really well in school. Pulling straight A's as always! Even placed into 7th grade math. It was a hard start going into middle school though - often times sitting alone at lunch. Which made my heart just break to hear! Meeting new friends seemed like a crazy challenge and had a big adjustment to waking up super early to catch a 7am school bus. She is taking band this year instead of choir like she did in elementary school. And so far, she's loving it! She was placed with a flute and after a few weeks of it sounding like scratchy nails on a chalk board, it's sounding really good. :) Her first practice performance was last Thursday and the band as a whole has come along way and still has quite a ways to go but I'm so excited for her and can't wait to attend more concerts. :) Because we moved here too late, we were unable to get her into Fall soccer so we're awaiting for some Spring soccer to happen. In the mean time, she's busy with homework, having fun helping to cook and bake, piano and flute practice (she's currently practicing the piano on her own as her wonderful teacher is way back in Virginia!), getting to know other girls at school and church, reading, drawing, playing games on her iPod, going into the Young Women's program at church and attending their activities and having fun with her brothers and sister. She is SUCH a good big sister too. They just LOVE her! She's even had one trial run babysitting for about 15 minutes as John and I ran down the street to grab some dinner. We're starting out small - and one day it will be great for her to watch them when I have to do quick errands. She just lost her first molar. And last Friday was her first time going to a school dance. As it was a dance to celebrate Halloween, we dropped her off dressed as Heromine and she had a fun two hours dancing with her friends and eating pizza and cotton candy. As always, she's growing up so fast! I remember going to my first middle school dance, which seems like was just yesterday! She's still missing quite a few of her friends back in Virginia & Oregon but they've become fast pen pals! :)

JOCELYN...
is my difficult child and my dear sweet 5 year old! There's usually one from the bunch that requires a LOT more work and she is it! Oh how I love her so but madly wish she was in preschool this year! How odd to go from last year with preschool 3 days a week to NOTHING this year! According to the school system, she's not in the bracket to need it and John's rank is too high for her to qualify. We were all set to go in Virginia for this year to be Kindergarten. Preregistered and all! But because her birthday falls a few weeks past the September 1st deadline, she's waiting until next Fall to start. She's keeping her Mama plenty busy here at home! Let me tell you! Haha! Always demanding my attention and getting into mischief. She's a good girl though and I'm amazed at how much she has grown in the past year - both physically and emotionally. She's a tiny little thing so she looks to be much smaller than most of her peers but she's plenty smart to make up the difference. ALWAYS keeping me and John on our toes. Her personality is a mix of sweet and high strung, fun and demanding, goofy and sassy, loving and a pain in the butt! Seriously! She's such a sweetheart though despite the challenges. Just wish she wasn't so mean to Andrew. She obviously loves him but she's bossy to him all day long and we're working on not bitting and hitting. *sigh* She LOVES her big sis and younger brothers and is such a huge help while Aubrey is at school. She loves to draw and color. Reading and writing and gearing herself up for the coming year of Kindergarten has been her most favorite thing to do. And making us all hand drawn pictures. I just love how she'll make us all notes and sign it, "Jocelyn 5." :) Just a few months ago, she signed it, "Jocelyn 4." She really cracks me up on a daily basis! She loves getting her nails painted, wearing her tutu around the house, watching movies, playing games on ds and board games, playing hide and seek, jumping in puddles, twirling around in circles, picking flowers, singing, playing legos, dolls, puzzles and dress up. While I'm looking forward to her being in school next year NOW, I'm really going to be sad seeing her go THEN! So I'm trying to enjoy each day with her. While her brothers nap, she and I usually have our time together which has been really nice. She too is looking forward to Spring soccer - which will be her first season playing yet.

ANDREW...
is my sensitive child. He will be turning 3 in December. He continually cracks me up! He always makes me smile about something! And even when he's in trouble for doing something he shouldn't, it's hard not to just snuggle and smile with him anyways (and usually it melts me over and he's out of trouble quicker than he was in it)! Just like Jocelyn, he says some pretty funny things like he'll call, "Oh Tooooootles!" when he needs help with something (it's off Mickey Mouse) and he hums and makes up songs like, "I want to go back to our other home (repeat over and over again)! He takes one good nap a day - for a few hours after lunch time. And we are in the beginning stages of potty training. So proud of him! I can't believe how big he's getting. I want my kids to stay little forever! LOL He is a true little mama's boy and loves to be my little helper. Whether it's wanting to dust, help sort the laundry or make meals in the kitchen. Speaking of which, he LOVES to help me cook! He drags the stool over to the counter and jumps up to see what he can do to help. So cute he is! He stays busy playing with bouncy balls, helping Daddy build things and being able to use his tools (tape measure and hammer is his favorite!), coloring, playing with flash lights, hiding in the house, running around, climbing on everything, reading stories, saying his prayers, brushing his teeth, playing legos and trains and cars, going outside and playing at the playground, watching shows like Mickey Mouse Club or Thomas the Train, and putting on his shoes (and clothes) by himself. Lately, he's been giving his Mommy and Daddy mini heart attacks by disappearing at least a dozen times since we've moved here. Runs out of the grocery store with us running after him, reappears into Aubrey's school gymnasium after her band performance in someone ELSE'S arms and crying and one time, he ran away from both John and I and the local security guard ran around with me to help me find him...he was found a few seconds later back inside our van getting into some licorice. Agh! I swore up and down that I'd never get one of those kid leashes but they're seriously looking like a good idea right about now! Wow...how scary it is to lose your child for a moment! Bedtime is pretty frustrating right now. Constantly coming back downstairs instead of being in bed and wanting his door open and the hall light on AT ALL TIMES. Back and forth we go every single night. And often times, we find him asleep in our bed. Getting a good night's rest hasn't happened, well, since we moved here! We finally got a night light which we thought would be a HUGE success. Needless to say, it hasn't been. Guess it isn't going to be an instant fix. :/ But that's okay - we're working on it. I think a lot of it has to do with him greatly missing our home back in Virginia! (And Jocelyn teasing him that there's a monster in his closet! Lovely, huh!) We're trying to find him some new friends here still. Not such an easy thing....much like it has been for Jocelyn. But we're finding fun things to do in the meantime. :)

LANDON...
is my calm child. He's now 7 months old - in a week he'll be turning 8 months. Weighs a little over 20 lbs - which puts him in around the 50th percentile for his age. I don't know how else to say it but we lucked out! He just has the cutest little personality! He's SO good and laid back and I just love how snuggly he is. He's been sleeping through the night since he was 3 months old and takes 2-3 naps a day. He can literally sleep just about anywhere. The carseat, stroller, highchair, baby bjorn, bed. And boy does this kid LOVE to eat! Wow!! Never leaves a scrap of food left. For sure not a picky eater! It could be warm or cold and he wouldn't care! The kids all love him so much! They're either holding him, playing near him, tugging on him or begging for us to let them hold him...it's very cute to see how much they adore their little brother! He of course gets cranky when overhandled but he's patient with them. He still shows no sign of teeth. Has been sitting on his own really well for about 2 months now, rolling all over the place for about just as long and for the past month or so, he has been slowly working towards crawling. It's more of a "push off the feet and plunge forward" kind of move. It's pretty funny to watch. He's getting around very fast these days which means more baby gates are needing to be put up! Whether he knows what he's saying or not, he has been babbling the sound "mama-mama-mama" lately and it is just so darn cute! I love it! :) He's got the cutest smile (and usually drooling everywhere!), hair is starting to fill in on his head more, he sucks on anything he can get his hands on, loves to listen to music, have stories read to, play with his toys, loves being rocked, going on the swings at the park, Daddy throwing him in the air, playing peek a boo, and going on walks. He really loves water so bath time is always a hit. Can't wait to watch him as he grows! I just love all of my children SO much! 

Where Have We Been?

So much has happened within the Shields family this summer that blogging sort of fell off the way side! I don't recall ever going this long without posting something on here...so I felt that I needed to get back into it before I never returned! Which was starting to feel highly possible.

I'll go ahead and announce what has been keeping me away for much of the summer:
We're EXPECTING baby Shields #4 in March of 2011!!!! We just recently told the kids before we announced our news to family and they were all jumping around happy and Jocelyn bolts out "I want a baby sister!" I told her that we don't know yet if the baby is a boy or a girl but that whichever one Heavenly Father blesses us with, will be fine. She then added "We can return Andrew so I can have a baby sister then!" Wow! Out of the mouth of babes, huh? I kindly reminded her again that no one is going anywhere and that all of us, including her brother, is our family. (You'd think the past 20 months since Andrew was born would give her a clue!) They sure say the darnedest things sometimes. :) I found out early July that I was pregnant so that now puts me at about 11 weeks. And besides occasional nausea and tiredness, I'm thankfully feeling great. This Tuesday I go in for my first ultrasound to see how things are moving along and to help narrow down a due date. We couldn't feel more happy and blessed to add one more to complete our family!

As soon as we knew we were expecting our baby, John received news that he will be doing another job assignment up until close to the baby's due date. More traveling is expected for him which will create a bit of a stressful period for us at home but it will be good in the long run.

This summer has been extremely HOT! And with me pregnant, going outside in that hot sticky mess just hasn't been appealing so we've been keeping it a low-key summer with occasional trips here and there and fun activities at home. One of our planned trips came a few weekends ago and we spent a few days at Virginia Beach; our family's first time going to an east coast beach in the almost 4 years we've lived here. It was hot but so much fun!

I also just returned home Wednesday from an 8 day trip out to visit and surprise my sister Erin for her baby shower. Alone. I needed a true break before John's new job started and a lot of our joint jobs at home became my full time responsibility. I have the most amazing husband to allow me some much needed time to myself. I had been secretly planning this trip from my family in Oregon & Washington for the past 2 months and it was a relief to finally see them! I think my sister was completely shocked that I came all that way to see her without her knowing but it was a lot fun. My brother in law knew that I was coming out since I started the planning and so I could get a ride to their house the night before the shower but everyone joked that he must have forgotten from the time I told him my plans to a few months forward when he picked me up because he's not known for keeping surprises. I thought that was pretty funny! I lucked out this trip and got there at the perfect week to not only attend my sister's baby shower but to also attend my cousin's wedding reception. It was so nice seeing so much family while I was there! I of course missed my kids dearly! John too of course! It's crazy that while you're with your kids all the time, you need a break but once you have the opportunity for a break, you miss them terribly! The comforting thing to me and what gave me piece of mind while I was gone was that they were with their daddy and were enjoying a full week with just him - going to a DC Museum, the park, watching movies and eating cupcakes, etc.

So that's what we've been up to in a nutshell! I had a mishap with our camera recently but once it's functional again, I will post pictures.

To Pass The Time & A Thank You!

I've been trying to reflect back on the days I could blog with much ease and wonder why it's almost impossible to do in the present moment. All I could come up with is that I have a baby that requires time and attention during his every waking minute of every single day (and I love making him smile and laugh & watching him explore and learn) and a toddler that requires entertainment as well as help remembering to try and go potty every 30 minutes or so during her every waking minute of every single day (and cuddling together in a chair reading stories & watching movies) and an almost tween that requires getting to and from school, help with homework and being chauffeured to and from sports & recreation events (and helping me in the kitchen & working on crafts and school projects). And all the in between stuff like cooking, cleaning and making sure our family is healthy and happy. I know every mother out there knows EXACTLY what I'm talking about. Lots to do. But out of love! Needing an extra hour tacked to the day to get more done sounds wishful at times but I enjoy the 24 hours I already have and don't want anymore to do than I already have committed myself to. I love my life as a mom and wife and I wouldn't change it for the world. THEY are my priority. Whenever I feel like I'm mastering balance, it then seems my balance needs to be recreated. This is especially true after having another baby. Things change and you have to move along with it. I had a thought: "As soon as this potty training is mastered, I'll have a little more free time." WHO am I kidding?? When that time rolls around, which will be soon, I'll then have a crawler and a runner. I am only speaking the truth here and surely not complaining in the slightest. This blog is something I created for my family - to document and share our life stories. It's a priority too - at a different level - and not something I need to stress over. In due time, I'll hopefully be caught up.

I'm grateful for those of you that enjoy my posts, stories, pictures, feelings, adventures, etc. Thank you for still holding out hope for me to continue writing. While they may be scarce at times, the posts will still go on. Just when the time is right for me. So until I get more time to type out some more stories, I thought I'd pass on this cute green apple stationary printable note set from Creature Comforts. (Click on the blog name for the download. SOOO cute!) ENJOY! :)

Some Changes

{Just got home from PJ night at the church for a primary activity.}

The great thing about being the author of your own "book" is that you can make corrections, changes, revisions ANYTIME you please. So this is what I am going to do. Change isn't all that bad, right? A little while back, I made the decision to halt my "weekly pictures" because I returned to blogland and was staying caught up and didn't see the need of doing it anymore. I unfortunately didn't have my crystal ball with me at that time to predict the busy times ahead. With three active children and many different needs to be met, things can become hectic pretty quickly and I am now finding that more of my time is away from the computer on most days. I take so many cute pictures of the kids and never seem to find the time to display them so I feel that this change to go back to what I was doing before is needed. For me anyways. I treat our blog as our family journal so I'm trying very hard to stay on top of things and keep things current. I'm sure most of you won't have a problem seeing more pictures of our family adventures, right? :) Love to you all!

So Far Behind

I'm not quite sure what's been going on over here in this little corner of the world of mine. I just haven't been inspired or energized to blog lately. I partly blame Spring for this as we have been out and about a lot lately with various activities: library, play group, soccer, etc. Being behind in writing has been a little frustrating to say the least because I seriously have AT LEAST 20 blog posts sitting in the "pending" status. And that's even after I've deleted a few that I didn't remember why I even started the post to begin with. Sad. I know. But knowing that I'm that far behind doesn't help motivate me either. So here I sit. Tap, tap, tap. Not sure what to do. Catch up on each individual post? (which could seriously take me a month) OR make one long, and I do mean long, blog post? Hmm. Will my OCD even LET me delete each of those 20 posts I've started? Doubtful.

It doesn't help that my mind has been mush these past few months. Having a 4 month old, 2 1/2 year old, and 9 year old will do that to you. Thank goodness I'm not currently taking my college courses. That would be a nightmare. I forget things all the time, drive to the WRONG park for playgroup, mess up recipes I've made before with no problem and get overwhelmed too quickly. Please tell me I'm not the only one here that this happens to!!

Will August just GET here already?!? I'm in desperate need of a vacation. Road trip with three munchkins in the backseat...here we come. Hopefully I won't end up needing a vacation from the road trip itself. :) The count down MUST begin. 97 days until we get to go here and here. Wahoo!! I can not WAIT!

P.S. To defend myself for this said lack of blogging, I have been quite busy. Can't imagine why? Check here for a sneak peak:

{Of course he's a big part of what's been keeping me busy & not blogging. He definitely has me wrapped around his little finger!}

{A portion of the strawberry freezer jam I made this week. As it was my first time doing so, we shall see how it turns out! :) Hopefully it's as good as it smells!}

{I have the church nursery to blame for this. hahaha Totally kidding. But man oh man does she LOVE to paint now. Practically begs to paint almost everyday.}

{Aubrey at play group during Spring break. Between soccer, piano, school & church activities, she stays plenty busy. And these activities sure do keep the WHOLE family busy too! :)}

{And of course I must account for sleeping at some point, right? Don't you just love his recent pose? Sleeping with the hand on the head. How cute is that!}

{So as you can see now, these people (and the person behind the camera) are doing quite well and staying busy! Which equals "out of trouble" in my books! For now anyways. Andrew isn't crawling or walking yet. THEN we're in for trouble!!! :) To be continued... }

Now I need to go make myself some lunch before I end up forgetting something else. Oops. What's my name again? :/