Trip to the Cheese Farm, Soda Factory, and Chocolate Factory

Last Saturday we decided to take a day trip to the country.  I have really missed seeing farms in Germany and the cheese from Europe, especially The Netherlands.  Europeans usually make their cheese fresh, using only the freshest ingredients, including raw milk from grass fed cows and goats.  So I was looking online to see if I could order some delicious cheese from somewhere and I found a farm about 2 hours away, that makes and sells cheese, organic raw milk, organic eggs, and local organic meat, beef and sausage.  I was excited to learn that we could visit the farm, take a tour, and see how they make their cheese.  Very cool!

DH had a men's Bible study Saturday morning so we missed the tour.  However, we were still able to explore the farm, see the cows and baby calves, which Blue Rock loved.  We saw the outside of the cheese cave, hopefully next time we'll get there in time to go inside.  There was also a large white dog who lived on the farm that was very friendly.  Caden tried feeding the calves grass, so sweet.  We also tried between 12-15 cheeses.  It was the BEST cheese I've had since living in Germany.  We saw the machines they used and the owner/cheese expert, said the equipment is from The Netherlands and he follows those methods in cheese making.  We filled our ice chest with lots of local fresh cheeses, milk, and meats. 

Next we ate at a local restaurant.  It was home cooking at its best.  DH and I each ordered a meat plate with 3 veggies.  The meal came with a drink and dessert all for $8!  What a deal!  We shared our food with Blue Rock and still had leftovers.  For a couple bucks more you could order the all you can eat buffet.  Everything is made fresh there and it was packed with locals. 

After a delicious lunch we headed to Dublin Bottling Works, where Dr. Pepper used to be made.  Now they make sodas with pure cane sugar, yummy!  I ordered a dark soda from the soda jerk and Blue Rock had his first taste of soda.  I loved the look on his face!  I asked him if he liked it and he said yes.  He tried a few more small sips then gave it back to me.  We're not big soda drinkers but we bought a big case of a variety of pure cane sugar sodas anyway.  DH said we might as well buy 24 since they'd only be $1 each instead of $1.50.

Next we headed to the small town of Hico to a chocolate factory called Wiseman House Chocolates.  Did I ever mention that Europeans also have better chocolate than Americans?  Especially the Belgians and Swiss.  At this factory, all of the chocolate is made by hand from the same chocolate from Belgium and Venezuela,  They only use fresh ingredients and leave out added sugars, glutens, sodium nitrates, and trans fats.  If you like chocolate you'd love their chocolate.  They offer tours and classes as well.  Think of episode of I Love Lucy when Lucy and Ethel made chocolate.  If you visit, make sure you bring some money because this is the not the cheap chocolate you buy at Target or Walmart.  We tasted some delicious chocolates, then loaded up our small ice chest with chocolate gifts for Christmas.

We enjoyed our day trip a lot.  I am so glad there are so many wonderful places to visit around us that are only a day trip away.

City Pumpkin Patch

October is the time to visit a pumpkin patch.  Sadly, it hardly feels like Fall in Texas since we've still been having 80 degree weather.  But that doesn't stop me from wanting to start and continue family traditions. Since we live in the city we would have to drive a ways to visit a real pumpkin patch. Thanks to one of my friends, I found out there is a pumpkin patch in town that is only about 20 minutes from our house.

I have been wanting to take Blue Rock to a pumpkin patch all year.  We went several times in Germany to a farm and it was always fun. 

The pumpkin patch in the city is actually at a stone yard.  They had a lot of pumpkins and a big bounce house with a big slide.  It only cost $1 per person to get in, you can take as many pictures as you want, and the pumpkins are pretty reasonably priced.  The entrance fee is donated to the local food bank.  Blue Rock enjoyed finding the perfect pumpkin and playing on the big slide on the bounce house.  I had fun on it too.  Here are a few pictures from our city pumpkin patch.  I think we'll plan on going there next year too.

There were several large pumpkins, some even bigger than this



Climbing up to the slide

Going down the slide

We spent about 45 minutes there having fun



We have a Preschooler in the House!

Today was Blue Rock's first day of preschool. These past three years have really gone by. I am pleased to say that his first day went great! Blue Rock had a lot of fun and I think he is really going to enjoy his time at school. He didn't cry or come after me, he went straight to the table with where the other guys were and started making magnetic crafts. He has come a LONG way! This is the child who cried and cried and cried when I used to leave him in the childcare in MOPS and PWOC in Germany. He would cling to my leg and chase after me. I never "snuck" out because I wanted him to always know I would be back for him. I think part of that had to do with the childcare workers. Also more times than not, I would just keep him with me. I could not bear hearing my baby cry out. It was if he was crying for help. So this is really new to us. Since we've moved back to the U.S. he has really loved his Sunday school teachers and now his preschool teachers. Some of the childcare workers in Germany were really good and some were not. They were all paid for by the military chapel and it depended on who was working that day.

Walking upstairs to preschool with my cute backpack

His teacher said he did really good today. The only problem he had was keeping his shoes on. Welcome to my world. He takes his shoes off everywhere we go. We don't wear shoes in our house, we carried that tradition from Germany and I think it really keeps away germs. But we would like him to wear shoes out in public. If he's up walking and playing around he keeps them on but once he sits down at a restaurant or at church, for example, off they go. Hopefully his preschool teacher will be successful. She said she told him he couldn't play if he wasn't wearing his shoes and she said he was pretty good about putting them back on. Sometimes a little positive peer pressure helps.

Blue Rock said he had a lot of fun. The kids played outside, read stories, played with play-doh and did some crafts, and he said his teacher made him a boat. I asked if the boat was on water and he said no. Maybe it was a paper boat or something, I'm not sure. Meanwhile, I went to a doctor's appointment, had a date lunch with my hot husband, returned a faulty item to the grocery store, went by Lifeway, and enjoyed 45 minutes at home to get some work done before picking Blue Rock up. It's amazing how fast I can shop and return items when I am alone. I love having Blue Rock with me but I think he had more fun at school. I'm hoping this will help my stress level. Spending nearly every minute of over three years with your child is a lot of parent/child time. I have loved it but am a little run down and am looking forward to hearing stories from Blue Rock about his time in preschool.

Blue Rock and his teacher

Blue Rock with his art and music teacher

Meet the Teacher!

He wasn't interested in having his picture taken

We decided to send Blue Rock to preschool.  It was a tough decision but I think it will be a nice break for both of us.  I've been homeschooling him since he was born and will probably continue in elementary school.  However, since returning back to the States and because we do not have anymore children at the moment, I feel like he'll enjoy the social aspects of preschool.  He'll get to play with kids and I'll be able to get a few things done at our new house that I have not been able to do having a 2 now 3 year old around.  It can be tough having an only child, there are many days I wish I had more than one so someone could tattle on the other rather than me discovering the messes made, and have someone besides me to play with.  But it's all in God's timing.

On our picnic at the park

Today was Meet the Teacher at his school.  Ms. Susan is his teacher and was really nice.  She has a Bachelor's degree in teaching and a Master's degree in early childhood.  She has four grown children, a single and set of triplets!  Is she prepared or what?!  

We decided to send him to the accredited Christian preschool at our church.  It's less than 10 minutes from our house and he is familiar with the building, classrooms, and some of the kids.  There are only eight kids in his class and I love everything that they'll be learning.  Blue Rock loved exploring his new classroom today and meeting his teacher and some of the other kids.  Afterwards we went on a picnic before shopping for a lunch box, sneakers, and a few new clothes.  Here's hoping his first day goes really well. 

Strong wind!

Friday night we got a lot of wind at our house.  My husband and I went on a date and when we came home we saw this. 

The wind was so strong it picked up our trampoline from our backyard and cleared it over our 6 ft. privacy fence into our front yard!  I didn't think this was possible.  It flew quite a distance!

I'm so thankful our trampoline didn't tear down our fence, hurt anyone, or cause any damage.  We were very lucky.  Blue Rock thought it was neat seeing his beloved trampoline in the front yard the next morning.

Birthday Party Traditions

Blue Rock just turned 3!  These past three years have been truly life-changing and amazing.  I love being a mom and I love my son!  Now that we're back in the States and he's getting a little older, I wanted to start having birthday traditions that will make his birthday really stand out from the other days of the year.  Here is what we did.

I stole this first one from a friend.  The night before I cut out number 3s from construction paper in various "boy" colors.  My husband and I hung them from the ceiling while he was asleep.  When he woke up he saw all these 3s hanging from the ceiling and loved it.

Mom, look at all the 3s!

 

I also blew up a bunch of balloons and put them all over his floor.  He loves balloons and thought this was really cool.

Lots of balloons!  I love them!

Husband and I hung streamers from his bedroom door while he was sleeping.  Blue Rock loved running through the streamers in the morning.  Next year we'll probably make it where he has to tear through them.  I just wasn't sure if he'd like them or not and I didn't want him waking up and possibly being scared or thinking he was trapped in his room.

Tons of fun! He ran through the streamers a bunch before starting to tear them down.

I bought a helium machine ($20 at Walmart).  In the morning I blew up a few dozen balloons and let them fly to the ceiling throughout our house, including his room. We took a lot of them to his party.

Will I fly away?

More balloons

We also hung a Happy Birthday banner, I made pancakes for breakfast, and we threw him a nice party at Chuck E. Cheese's.  Overall he had a wonderful birthday and enjoyed all the extra special touches we did.

A special treat, breakfast with Daddy

Happy birthday to my amazing, handsome, and smart son!  I thank God everyday for you.  Dad and I are truly blessed to have you in our family.  We love you!

Birthday party

Update

It's been a while since I've written.  We have been extremely busy since moving back to the States.  We bought a house and I'm still unpacking boxes.  Which by the way, I LOVE our house!  It was not one of the original choices.  It's a new construction that is closer to my husband's work.  We had my side of the family over for Easter and that was a lot of fun.  I signed Blue Rock up for gymnastics, have joined a MOMS Group, hung out with friends from church, and met up with new friends.  We also go to the zoo about once a week.

Last week I found out I was pregnant.  We were super excited and I immediately called a doctor to get an appointment.  When I went in two days later my hGC levels were very low, 19, and my progesterone levels were extremely low as well, 1.2.  This was not a good sign.  Sadly, we ended up losing this baby too but I was a little more prepared, since I knew what my levels were.  My German doctors never told me the numbers so I had nothing to compare too.  Even though I was more prepared mentally, it has still been extremely hard.  I have so many mixed emotions and feelings. I went back and actually met the doctor on Wednesday and I really like her (I met with a nurse practitioner last week).  The doctor is going to run 18 tests on me.  I go in and have 17 tests done next week.  She has a lot of high risk pregnant patients and works closely with specialists.  Since this was my third miscarriage, I told her I just want to know if I can have anymore children.  If I cannot have anymore children, then I don't want to continue trying because emotionally I am not able to continue this.  She is pretty positive that I will be able to have more.  Since we know I have a thyroid disorder and a blood clotting disorder, we're going to try and balance all of that out.  Also, I have very low progesterone levels, so there's a good chance I'm going to have to have injections in a future pregnancy.  Once I have the blood tests done, she wants me to take one baby Aspirin a day with food and later start progesterone supplements.  A lot was said and I'll know more once I have the blood tests and we get the results back.

I hope you all are doing well.  I will update more as I know more.  Eventually I will post some fun and interesting posts of things we're doing.  Because overall, we really are enjoying being back home.  It's nice having some grandparents around.  Blue Rock loves his extended family and we are enjoying all of the American amenities.  We feel so spoiled after living in Germany to be back here and Germany is a very nice country to live in.

A 2-year old and a Christmas Tree

I leave the room for two minutes and come back to find this.

Thankfully Blue Rock was not hurt and this year's Christmas tree is fake.  Otherwise that could really hurt having a Christmas tree fall on you. 

St. Nikolaus Day in Germany

Christmas in Germany is a lot of fun.  There are so many traditions and activities to do during the month of December.  On December 6th, Germans celebrate St. Nikolaus Tag (St. Nicholas Day).  The night before, children leave their boot outside the front door or outside their bedroom door.  While they are asleep, St. Nikolaus comes and leaves goodies in their boot if they were good.  If they have been bad they he leaves sticks.

Blue Rock left his rain boots out.  Thankfully he has been very good so he got a few goodies in each boot.

What's in my boot?

It's Gummy Bears!

Emptying the boot is fun!

Fun bendable track to go with my train set!

Our Town's Christmas Market

You can see the rain falling

This past weekend we got a lot of rain.  Friday evening I volunteered at an event called Holiday Magic, where my MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group sold soup, bread, and gently used children's clothes. Santa Claus comes to this event, children from the schools sing Christmas songs, and different organizations set up booths to raise money.  It was raining and I had Blue Rock with me so I didn't take any pictures at Holiday Magic.

This weekend was also our town's Christmas market.  We went with our next door neighbors last year and we decided to go again with them this year.  We truly are super blessed to have such fantastic neighbors on both sides of us.  I brought my camera with me to this market and took pictures, even though it was still raining.

Our neighbors made pork sandwiches and European beans (kind of like baked beans but not really sweet) for dinner.  Then we walked downtown to the market with them.  Thankfully Saturday night it was just sprinkling.  Sunday, when Santa was suppose to be there, it was pouring rain.  So we didn't even attempt to go back to the market.  One difference between Germany and say Texas is, typically things you do in your town you walk to.  There is limited parking downtown and it's really only about a 5 minute walk.  Even though Santa was going to be inside the concert hall, we decided not to go.  Santa doesn't bring that much to our house but he is coming for St. Nikolaus Tag (St. Nicholas Day) tonight.  We'll put out a boot and see what he brings Blue Rock.  If you want to participate, leave your child's boot outside the door tonight and he will leave a treat, usually something sweet, in the boot if they have been good.  If they have not been good, he will leave twigs.

Here are a few pictures from our town's Christmas market.

Blue Rock enjoying the swing ride

My cute husband standing with our neighbors cheering Blue Rock on as he flies by on the swing

Me and our town's lovely Christmas tree

Jana and I enjoying a hot drink

Mannheim Christmas Market

Christmas in Germany is really nice.  There are a lot of Christmas markets.  After the visit to the specialist in Mannheim the other day, we went to our first Christmas Market this year.  Mannheim is a large city and their Christmas market takes place downtown next to the water tower.  It was a really nice Christmas market with lots of vendors, rides for the children, and food to eat.  We're going to try and go to several Christmas markets this year and I'll post more pictures as the Christmas season continues.

Beautiful water tower in Mannheim

Daddy showing Blue Rock his hat

Lots of people and lots of vendors

One of the toy vendors

Lots of stands to look at

Look at that sad face!

Riding the ICE train ride

Candy vendor

This time our family rode the carousel together

Mannheim Christmas Market