Homeschooling

Nicolas "Tom, stop talking like a British person!!!!!"
Thomas "Nicolas, I need to practice my British accent for when we go to London."
Nicolas "Well it's very annoying!"
Thomas (in his best British accent yet) "Mother, when are we going to London?"
Heather "June"
Nicolas...rolling his eyes!
Thomas "Nicolas, you're just annoyed because you have to write a story with your language and I'm invisible!"
Nicolas (in his best hill-billy accent) "I am not and YOUR not invisible!"
Heather (in my mean mommy voice) "Get back to work!"

The Sound of Sirens

I'm working on Cub Scout stuff, getting ready for the Pinewood Derby in April and the Pack Overnight Campout next weekend. Heather's sitting in a chair in the living room going over a marathon training schedule. The boys are in bed...the house is nice and quiet.

Along the road outside we hear sirens. They sound like American emergency vehicles. You can tell the difference in the sound of the sirens from American and Italian. I never realized how desensitized I had become to the sound of sirens.

I very good friend lost her son in a car accident several weeks ago. It's such a small community here that the sound of sirens outside actually gets me thinking. I hope everything's OK, I wonder if it's someone I know, what kind of vehicle was it...

We go to the grocery store and run into a dozen people we know. You can't go to Applebees for dinner without stopping at three or four tables to say hi to someone. Being part of such a small, close-knit community is comforting most of the time and worrisome at others. There goes more sirens...

Happy Birthday, Heather

Pretty bags for pretty girls...

Heather's showing off her new Reisenthel carry all tote she got herself in Germany. She says it's her birthday gift. That's Heather's girlfriend, Trisha, in the photo.

Nick and Tom got her a book and I got her some perfume - Happy Heart by Clinique.

We went to dinner across the street at Alphio's Garden. A supper yummy Italian restaurant that opened a few months ago.

I had spaghetti carbonara and fried calamari, Heather had a salad and shared my spaghetti. The boys had pasta and nutella pizza for dessert. We had a super delicious carrot cake that Trisha made.

We're tired and ready for bed....

Market Totes Galore!

Germany was fun but busy. We were in focus groups and at presentations all day. The earliest we got out was at 2:00 pm one afternoon, but then we had to be back a few hours later for a banquet so really not much time to do anything. The ski resorts didn't have night skiing and all the shops in town closed at 6:00 pm.

I was talking with one of the command master chiefs at the conference who told me the Chief's test results were available. I made board again this year...we'll see what happens in August.

We went out for dinner one night and went shopping for a new market tote for Heather. We looked all over town for those bags. I guess they're made in Germany so Heather thought they'd be in every shop. We didn't find any until we were killing time at the shopping mall in the airport on the way home! If you decide to visit the link, click on products...she got a new carrybag, a new carrycruiser and two new easy shopping bags all in baroque sand color.

We got home at midnight-30. Picked up the boys at Janell's house. They had a great time with friends while we were gone. They had made us welcome home cards.

Nick got his first merit badge at his last meeting. The Coin Collecting merit badge. We've been collecting Euro coins from all the different countries. He's still working on the camping and swimming badges. Also, he just started the cycling merit badge. Nick went with Heather and some of her friends on a 25 mile bicycle ride to Sferro and back. When Nick learned that was one of the requirements for the badge, he decided to get started.

Tom has been on the lookout for birds all week. His Webelos den is working on the Naturalist badge and one of the requirements is to bird watch in the neighborhood for one week. The boys are at the table designing their Pinewood Derby cars.

Skylar is here with us for a week. He's in Nick's scout troop. His parents are in Africa celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary on a week-long safari. So, Heather's been homeschooling three boys this week.

Our pack ordered a new pinewood derby track and I just put it together a few nights ago. Nick helped out quite a bit. We learned how useful a carpenter's square can be!

Heather's birthday is Tuesday. We're all going to Alphio's across the street from Maranai off SP106 if you want to join us...

Buona Pasqua,

Bud

It's really cold in Garmisch, Germany

We just got back from the hot tub...

We spent 12 hours traveling between planes, trains, buses and cabs to finally get to the hotel in Garmisch at 3:00 pm. Everything went fine, no glitches or anything. It just took forever! There's some funky boots at the airport and we took a couple of cool pictures of the Alps as we flew over.

Heather and I are here at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Germany for the Commander Navy Region Europ Quality of Life Conference. We were chosen as delegates to represent the Navy base in Sicily for QOL concerns to Navy personnel.

It's sort of a big deal because its the first time we've both been away from the boys for more than one night. They're doing fine, staying with homeschooling friends in Sicily and having fun.

Not much to report. We need to get to bed soon, we have an early day tomorrow...

Ciao,
Bud

Fine...I'll blog....

Heather tells me today, "You haven't blogged in forevah! I was the last one to blog on Feb 2 and I nevah blog." Her New England accent comes out when she's talking to her Fathah.

The boys and I went camping last weekend. Nick left Friday night and I met him there with Tom and the Webelos den on Saturday night. The campsite was about 10 minutes outside of Niscemi - a mid-sized town about an hour south of were we live. The boys scouts took the Webelos under their wings and they had their tents set up before we left for a 3 mile hike. The hike took us through a cork forest - trees that are harvested each year for their bark to make cork (cork stoppers in wine, cork boards, all things cork.) Good times...

Heather has been taking swim lessons. She rides her bike to the pool - about 6 miles - does her swim lesson and rides home. So, a mini-sprint biathlon twice a week. And she wonders why she's so tired in the evening.

This Tuesday Heather starts a new class...The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I took it a few months ago and enjoyed most of it. I'm looking forward to her view.

A few months ago I was asked my by boss at work if I to attend a quality of life focus group conference. I was a bit stand-off-ish as focus groups are a little to weird for me...until I found out it's being held at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort. I upped the ante and said if Heather could get selected, I would consider going. The conference was looking for delegates who are prior active duty, disabled veterans, spouses....Heather, Heather, Heather. When I asked if the boys would get a plane ticket to go with us, I was told no. So I immediately agreed! LOL! Actually, we've both never been away from the boys at the same time for more than one night, so we're a little nervous. They will stay with two or three different friends here in Sicily for five nights. We leave Sunday, March 9th (a week from today) and come home late Thursday night.

Also, we have a trip to Rome coming up next month in April...so now seemed like the ideal time to make a few investments in our family's fun vacation, memory-making electronic gadgetry. I bought a new lens for my camera (18mm - 135mm f/3.5) and a GPS unit for the car. The GPS has an internal rechargeable battery so we can take it out of the car and carry it around with us in Rome. And the lens is the perfect focal length so I don't have to lug around two lenses in a bulky bag all over the Eternal City. Also, I got Heather a new point and shoot digital camera. The one she has now is pretty bulky and she wanted something smaller to carry around in her purse.

Heather attended a birth a few days ago. The second one since she's been here. It's been kind of nice her not being busy with pregnant ladies so often. It was 27 hours! Thomas asked if doulas get special training to stay up all night long.

Alright, I guess that's it. Heather's still on the phone with her fathah in NH. I guess they have four feet of snow in their backyard! He's had to shovel the roof three times so far this wintah. They live next to a small stream that's sure to become a raging river her in a few months when it all melts.

Ciao,

Bud