Cowgirl and the Sheriff

So, Grandma Wicker made it here safely and is even doing great on the jetlag front. I'm a little jealous, since we tend to have drawn-out kid jetlag issues, but very happy that she's sleeping through the night and feeling well. The kids are so happy to have her here, M especially. He sat mesmerized a couple of days ago while she told him stories of her youth -- horses instead of tractors, one-room schoolhouse, etc. (No, she's not that old, but she happened to live in an area that had one-room schoolhouses longer than much of the US.) He also kept her captive playing with his new "spellominoes" cards and teaching him about addition. Both kids received new sheriff/cowgirl hats which have rarely been removed for 3 days now. After family prayer a couple of nights ago, V couldn't hold it in anymore and announced, "I want to say Yeehaw!" I should get out some "cowboy music" for them to dance to.

Tomorrow we leave for a long weekend in Vienna. We're hoping to stop off in a large park area on the border between Czech and Austria on the way. 4 hours with 5 people in our Passat may be a little cramped, but Vienna should be lovely right now.

The KitcheAid is my birthday present which finally arrived! Isn't it pretty?!? Nathan imported it personally from the UK. He also picked up a toaster last week, and M and I love toast :) I'm not entirely sure why I hadn't bought a toaster yet, but when you're on a temporary posting, some purchases seem frivolous ... but maybe I just hate to spend money?

Oh, and I included the pic with the stroller because of V's shoes -- check it out, she put them on herself, so she not only has one sock, but the shoes are also on the wrong feet. She's not bothered at all, because she did it *all by herself*