Daddy's Birthday Celebration

On Friday, my loving husband Derrick turned 49 years young. And to celebrate this special day, we started off with a delicious steak dinner (T-Bone steak, asparagus, mashed potatoes and some News Castle beer) the night before. Nothing is better than to fall asleep with a full belly and wake up a year older. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, my Love!!! You are one terrific and special guy and we wish you only the best for the year ahead. Lots of love from your 3 dearest!

We didn't plan a big party or special event but rather celebrated together with our birthday boy all day long. We wanted to make the most of his special day by showing him how much we cherish and love him.  Thus, bright and early the kids woke up their daddy with balloons and a card made by Amelia.

Downstairs, we had strung a few birthday decorations and had some wrapped gifts waiting for him. 

Derrick didn't really wanted anything for his birthday except some exercise resistance bands and to spend the day with his family. So we made sure he enjoys his day with us and eats well. Nonetheless, it is no birthday until you unwrap at least a couple of gifts. Especially when a cute 3-year is helping you. 

Amelia is testing out Daddy's birthday gift. 

And I made him this special t-shirt ( I designed, traced and painted it) because Amelia loves to call him "Captain Daddy".

We sang happy birthday and Derrick blew out his birthday candle that was atop this yummy chocolate fudge cake with chocolate ganache and toffee candy Amelia and I made him.

After our morning celebration, Derrick and Amelia headed out to scoop out some boat launches while Elliot took a nap at home. For lunch, we enjoyed Chili's takeout in the sunshine on our patio while the kids played in the backyard. We spent most of the afternoon outside because the weather was just perfect. Once the kids were sound asleep, I treated my husband to a smorgasbord of Tapas-style appetizers (we decided to splurge on good food instead of expensive gifts) and a nice glass of wine and then enjoyed a relaxing evening at home.

It was the perfect ending to a perfect little birthday bash. Derrick, we are so happy that we were able to celebrate with you because you are the best husband and daddy we could have ever wished for. May this year be the best one yet. We love you!

Discovering our new hometown

We have been in Mooresville for 3 weeks now and it seems like that time is flying by. Every day seems to pass quicker than the previous one and we are always doing something and meeting new people. So far I have attended a mommy group (MOPS- Mothers of Preschoolers) that meets twice a month in our church. It is a great way to connect with other mommies while the kids are supervised and entertained for 2 hours in a room next to us. The meetings include a combination of teaching sessions, small group discussions, fellowship time, and creative activities. They also hosts guest speakers on topics relevant to mothers and plan events such as mother's night out, play-dates, date nights and family gatherings. Because of this mommy group, Amelia and I were invited for a play-date at someone's house on Monday. Due to the rain, only 3 mommies were there but we enjoyed each others company and the 3 girls were having fun playing together. 

On Tuesday, we decided to explore a nearby park (Bellingham Park). It is only a short car ride from our house and very nice. It has two new playground structures, tennis courts, walking and running trails as well as a soccer field and picnic pavilions. The entire family enjoyed hanging out there and Amelia even met one of her new girlfriends from the play-date on Monday. 

On Monday I took Elliot to the local library while Daddy stayed home with Amelia. The library offers free events throughout the entire week and I thought that Elliot would enjoy an age appropriate (birth to 2 years) storytime. I was happily surprised how new and modern the library is and they dedicated an entire floor for the children, which includes some toys, computers, puzzles and lots of books. 

They have a separate room for storytime and in the beginning Elliot was a bit shy but warmed up quickly to the other kids and enjoyed listening to the stories, songs and a puppet show. 

And on Wednesday it was Amelia's turn to go the library. She was excited about looking thru all the books and we even borrowed some. She also enjoyed her storytime (for ages 2-5 year) and was happily participating in all the activities. It was fun to have a one-on-one time with each of my children and we will make it a weekly event for sure.

A couple of weeks ago, our little family ventured out and explored a nearby State park at lake Norman. Derrick is checking out different boat launches and good spots to go fishing at. This State park is huge (1,900+ acres) and offers everything from boating, hiking trails, bike trails, a beach with a dedicated swim area, camping and picnic areas as well as a fishing pier. 

Other days we play in the backyard, go for walks around the neighborhood, discover new playgrounds or spruce up the garden. So far I have planted some flowers in the front yard and I will work on my vegetable garden this weekend. It is quite labor intense to put plants in to the ground here as the soil is red clay. But it is all worth it once we harvest some delicious veggies and strawberries in the summer. 

Planting in process...lots of gardening soil to over up the red clay

I also had the opportunity to sell some of the kids clothes at a local consignment sale. The sale happened while we were in South Carolina so I wasn't able to shop there but I did make some money selling  a few items. Consignment stores and sales as well as yard sales are very common here and a great opportunity to make some money and buy some nice stuff for way less than it would cost new at the mall. For example: I already attended a woman's consignment sale (50% on Sunday) and found an almost new pair of Lilly Pulitzer Capri pants for $9. And I stopped by a church yard sale where I filled a whole box with kids' clothes. a big electronic piano and some cowboy boots for Amelia for a total of $5. You can find really great deals if you are willing to look. 

As you can tell, we are very busy and constantly on the go. And there is much more to explore around here. Every day is a new adventure for us and we are happy to make all those memories together.

On the road again

No, we are not moving again. We actually settled nicely in to our new place and love it here. But we did go on a road trip this past week to visit my in-laws in South Carolina. From here it is only a 3 hour drive, compared to the 10 hours it took from South Florida. This makes it a quick and easy trip, anytime we want to. We will definitely visit the grandparents more often now since it is so close. The kids were excited to see grandma and grandpa and Marty, the dog. 

While we were there, Derrick's brother from California came to visit too and thus, the kids loved seeing Uncle Lee and spending quality time with him. 

Unfortunately, the weather wasn't the greatest this past week because it pretty much rained since last Wednesday here in Mooresville, NC and it was cooler and wet in South Carolina as well. But in between rain showers, the kids were able to play outside with the dog. They love throwing the ball to Marty and he loves catching it, over and over again. It definitely is a good exercise and keeps them entertained. 

We also had a little early birthday celebration for my loving husband. Grandma made a delicious fish dinner and we had some yummy German chocolate cake. But the best part was that all 4 brothers were able to be there and enjoy each others company. Lee, David, Derrick and Tony: 

Family picture: Lee with Marty, David, Pops and Mom, Derrick, and Tony.

Since it was a birthday dinner and the kids were tired (Elliot was already asleep at that point), we started the celebration off with cake. Amelia was so excited for Daddy to open his birthday card. She definitely can't keep a secret. Hugs and kisses from all of his 3 ladies in his life:

Mom and her two youngest boys:

Cake, a birthday song and a little helper to make his birthday wish come true. A perfect little party.

Even though our stay in South Carolina was pretty short, we had a great time and were happy to see everyone. For sure, we will be back soon. See you then!

Easter 2015

Our first celebration in our new home was Easter, just a few days after we moved in. Therefore, we hardly had any decorations up this year but it didn't keep us from celebrating the resurrection of our savior Jesus Christ.

We are all about teaching our children the true meaning of each season and are happy to see that Amelia loves reading about Jesus. Actually, she prefers her children bible storybook over any other book and I just love how inquisitive she is and open minded. She also watched the Easter story on DVD with her daddy and really liked it. I don't think though that she grasped the whole story yet but every year she will understand more and more.

It was a chilly Easter morning here in North Carolina, but the kids were excited to find their Easter basket filled with goodies on the breakfast table.

The Easter bunny brought them a new bucket for the sandbox, some bath tub toys, a jump rope, and a couple of music instruments.

After a yummy breakfast we headed to church. Even though we haven't been to church in a long time (we tried multiple churches in Florida but never felt st home at any of them), we vowed that once we move we will seek out a church and start going again. And that's what we did on Easter Sunday. And I'm very glad we did because we really enjoyed the Easter mass as well as meeting new people there. We saw this church when we explored the area on our trip in February and liked how the church looked (aka like a real church with stain glass windows, not a mega church, outside pavilion and a nearby playground for the kids). Once inside, we were right away welcomed and the people were genuinely friendly and open. They were happy to have us visit them and we all loved being there. The kids went to the nursery for most part of the worship service, but next Sunday Amelia will actually participate in Children's church. The sermon was well done and it felt good hearing the Lord's word. We will definitely go back on Sunday and hope to make this our regular church. Even though we are Catholics by nomination, we are open to this United Methodist Church.  I truly believe that it is not important where you hear the Lord's word but that you do hear it and take it to your heart. 

Over daytime, it warmed up nicely and so we had a little Easter egg hunt for the kids in the backyard after nap time. They enjoyed finding some plastic eggs filled with gummi bears and little chocolate eggs. 

Afterwards we had a little picnic on the patio (we don't own patio furniture yet) and since I didn't had time to bake something, we enjoyed a store-bought vanilla cupcake.

When I grew up in Germany, we always had an Easter fire at church before or after the Easter vigil (a bonfire where the priest lit the paschal candle - the burning candle symbolizes Christ as the light of this world). So I thought it would be great to continue that tradition here and have our own Easter fire in our backyard (and use that fire pit).

Once the fire was lit, we decided to have a little outdoor dinner and roasted some hotdogs and marshmallows.

The kids enjoyed their second picnic of the day on the patio. And the adults enjoyed a cold beverage.

Despite the fact that our Easter was very low-key this year, it was just perfect and I couldn't have been happier - because I was together with my loved ones celebrating that He is risen. I hope you had a blessed Easter too.  

Our Move

For the past few weeks we have packed lots and lots of boxes, loaded up the truck, drove roughly 750 miles, unloaded the truck, cleaned the new house and unpacked (well at least most of it). It was quite a busy and stressful month. But overall, it all went great and the move was very manageable.

The truck we rented was 26 ft long and seemed huge, but believe it or not we filled it to the brim with our stuff and even donated our china cabinet, big dining room table with chairs. black leather sofa, TV stand and lawn mower. Those items definitely wouldn't have fit in.

We had 2 days to load the truck ourselves and on Monday afternoon, March 30th 2015, (a little delayed but still on schedule) we waived bye a last time and turned our back on Pembroke Pines. Luckily, we decided to split the drive up North in to 3 legs. On Monday we only drove 2 hours up to Ft. Pierce, the next day was our long drive and we made it all the way up to Walterboro, SC (8 hour drive) and on Wednesday we had another 3.5 hour drive to our new home. A couple of times we got stuck in traffic, but luckily the kids slept right thru it. We noticed that lots and lots of snowbirds made their way back home after a long cold winter, just in time for Easter. 

While Derrick drove the big moving truck (the largest one he was allowed to drive without a truck license), I had the kids in my car. Our cat was hubby's co-pilot and did very well on the whole trip. Since I couldn't feed them or help them when they dropped a toy, I had planned to stop every couple of hours. But in reality we only stopped every 3 hours and the kids did very well during the long drive (partial thanks to the Ipad). 

At night, we stayed in a (cat friendly) hotel. The kids thought we are on a vacation trip and were excited about eating in a different local each night and staying in a hotel. Amelia was my big helper during the trip and took care of her little brother when I drove or unloaded the car. It was heartwarming to see them hold hands at the hotel and she leading him like a big girl to the room. 

And finally, we made it to our new home in Mooresville, NC.

We hired 2 people to unload the truck and they just did that in 3 hours. That way, the furniture were all set up by nightfall and we all were resting peacefully in our own beds. Of course, even after a week of being in the new house, we still have some boxes to unpack, items to store, pictures to put up on the wall, and to rearrange things (the kitchen is much smaller and I have to be creative to store all my kitchen gadgets). It will take some more days till we finish these projects. 

First thing we had to buy was a refrigerator and then a kitchen dining table (we found both items used in a great condition for a great price) even though the kids thought a picnic indoors is fun. 

We also needed a new lawn mower for the big backyard and a patio set so that we can start eating outside. Our backyard before Derrick mowed it. You can see the house in the background and the fire pit.

There is still lots more to do and it seems like that we are almost every day at Walmart to purchase something we need for the house but it is all coming together nicely. By now the kids rooms are completely done. Once the house is all set up, I will take some pictures and post them on the blog. 

On Friday while walking thru our neighborhood, we discovered a park with a playground only minutes away from our house. It is so nice to be able to walk there when the kids get tired of just playing in the backyard. Plus, the weather has been really nice since we have been here. At night it was between 30 and 40sF and during the day around 64F. Just perfect and no need for an A/C. But we are on the upswing and it got much warmer last night (high 50sF) and daytime high today was 79F, which still felt good in the backyard.

So far, we are really enjoying our house and making it our home. The people we have met are all very friendly and on time (unlike in South Florida where being late is the norm). We had a great start in Mooresville so far and I think that this town will really grow on us and we will be very happy here.