Hannah visits Italy

Sunday April 28, 2013

Friday morning Sterling picked up Hannah Roundy from the airport in Venice.
Sterling went to work from 2-6pm. Because he came home so early we all went to Porcia for gelatto.
First we walked by the park and the old church.As soon as we walked into the pretty church an orchestra began playing a beautiful symphony. It was amazing!
It was a college student group practicing for a performance they were about to do free of charge that night.

We went and each had a scoop at our favorite gelatteria. Then went back to the church for the performance. However, it was late. Hannah, who hadn't sleep much on the airplane, and the boys needed to go to bed. After hearing the 1st symphony we left for home.

Saturday morning we packed up the car and hit the road. Road trip to Austria!
Hannah is missing three weeks of her senior year at the end of the school year. So her German teacher said she has to go somewhere in which the residence speak German. So we planned the trip to Austria.

Our first stop on the way was Bolzano, Italy. Sterling wanted to go see the iceman (the cave man) who was found in the early 90's in the Bolzano mountains. From for like 5000 years. A huge discovery for archeologists.

They eventually put him in the museum along with all the artifacts found with or on him. A whole caveman museum. It was fun. They had a bunch of hands of things for the kids. But we were in a hurry to get to our apartment in Austria. So we didn't linger too long.

We drove to our apartment near Innsbrook Austria. Our apartment was high in a mountain of gorgeous pre-Summer Austria countryside.
A beautiful little apartment with 2 bedrooms and a pull out couch for Hannah. A kitchen and a back yard.

There was a park and ridding toys the boys played on for a while. We got settled in. We ate dinner at the apartment's restaraunt. Yummy dinner and a little dessert.

We got comfortable in the apartment. The lights in the bedrooms didn't work. Stelring tried to fix that and we ended up with no power at all. I had just closed the boys window getting ready for their bedtime. Luke and Ty were in the dark bedroom and Luke decided to lock the door using the key. Ty started screaming because he was scared and then Luke dropped the key! Trying to find it and unlock the door in the dark with a screaming little brother was difficult and freaked him out. He was unsuccessful at getting the door unlocked. I had to yell for them to hear me, trying to get Luke to find the key and open the door. When that didn't work I sent Sterling outside to the window and yelled for Luke to go to his window. Eventually Luke was able to let Ster in through the window and get the boys out. What a nightmare. Luckily it didn't last more than 20 minutes.

Then someone came and fixed the power for us. We put the boys to bed. We watched the latest episode of The Office.

Then in the middle of the night Luke and Ty woke up crying. They didn't have enough light so they were scared. And... Luke was sick. Luke had thrown up. I cleaned him up while Sterling comforted Ty to get him back to sleep. I gave Luke medicine, with the help of Sterling because Luke will NOT take medicine willingly. Ty takes medicine so easy! But Luke has always fought it "tooth and nails!"

We got the room cleaned up from puke and put Luke back to bed. Luke was so sick but able to go back to sleep. I thought to myself "Well, we got Puke all over their bedding. Atleast there's no poop."

First thing in the morning Ty pooped in his diaper and then took it off. Yes, getting poop all over.
Sterling was the one who got up and had to deal with that.

We made breakfast. Sterling made eggs with sausage in it. I made toast (using a real toaster!) with Nutella on top.

We got ready for church. But before church we went to a castle near the church. We only had time to see the grounds and take some pictures.
It was beautiful and a beautiful day too. There were live peacocks loose on the grounds. It was amazing.

We went to the LDS church just for the sacrament meeting. They speak German but with a strange dialect. We tried to sing the hymns in German with the ward...extremely quiet.

It was a small branch with no nursery aged children. A tiny primary. But there were a few English speakers there. The young missionary is from Spanish Fork but doesn't know any of my family or friends there.
A few natives in the branch spoke a bit of English.
And there was a family from California living there. They have lived there two years. The man is an opera singer working there. They have three kids. Their oldest is 5 and his name is Luke. lol
Then they have two little girls.

After church we put the kids in the nursery and changed into play/travel clothes. We visited with the sister from California, Molly Lyndsey, and her children in the nursery.
Molly said she expected to live there a year and she has found they still have not planned a date to move back to America. She misses it and family so much!

We told her that if she and her family make the trip (4hours) down to Aviano before July we'll give them a place to stay and take them on the military base to experience some American things (the theater, fast food, bowling and shopping).

When we left the church we drove about 20 minutes to an unusual house...an upside down house. It's not a famous or well known attraction even to those in that ward we visited. But we thought it would be way fun.

The whole house is upside down and full of furniture stuck to the floor (which is the ceiling) and walls. The house was even slanted, making it harder to walk and more like a fun house!
We all had a blast!

We took pictures of all of us in the house in poses and places that when you flip the picture it seems we are on the ceiling.

After that we headed home. We stopped for lunch, gas and dinner. We don't usually travel on Sundays or go out to eat but this one time we made an exception.
Sterling is taking leave from work for our cruise and some travel while Hannah is here. But some of the traveling we want to do has to be done over the weekends. This one trip was the big weekend trip. The others will be day trips.

These are our last months in Italy. They will be memorable!
Love, Tiffany

Blessed with Happiness

Last weekend we went as a family to a 3D movie.  I tried to find a babysitter for Tiberias because I was not sure he'd want to sit through an entire movie at the theater. However, I could not find a sitter. A lot of the families I knew were taking their kids to the movie or had other plans. So Tiberias ended up coming to the movie with us.

The movie was The Croods.  We had a great time! The movie was much more colorful and silly than I had expected. So it was fun for all four of us individually.
Ty kept trying to grab things that appeared to be flying off the screen. And Luke took his glasses off for a while because he was scared the dinosaur would get him. It was a neat experience for them.

Ty and Luke got tired of wearing the glasses and did eventually stop wearing them. But I remember being a single adult and not being able to stand the glasses through a whole 3D one time I went to one. The glasses are not comfortable.

After the movie we walked over to the foodcourt and bought the little boys Burger King which they ate on the drive home. What a fun family night!!

Sterling works 2-10pm more often than any other schedule. So if we do Family Home Evening it has to be done in the morning. Sometimes I prepare a family home evening and sometimes I don't. But we always do family fun stuff.

Hannah Roundy comes to visit us in just a few days. We have a lot of fun travel plans while she is here. Sightseeing, eating Italian food and dessert, swimming, and a cruise! It's very exciting and will be so fun.

Our life is full of fun and joy even when we don't travel or sight see. Just doing simple things like bowling as a family or going to a movie, even going on a walk on a Sunday afternoon. These things fill us with joy. I know that no matter where our next Military base is located we will be happy. We are so blessed!

We plan to get pregnant this year so we'll have a new baby next year. I was really hoping that my sisters will get pregnant this year as well. Maybe Alissa, Eliza and Nicole. It turns out Eliza is trying. I don't know if Alissa is trying but Mom says Alissa does want more kids. She may not be trying yet because her first is still a baby.
And Nicole is now pregnant!! She's having food cravings for the first time (didn't with both the boys) so hopefully that means she's having a girl this time. I'm also hoping to have a girl this next time.

Aaron and Nicole are moving to an island. St George, Grenada. Aaron got accepted to a medical program at a college there. I guess they applied there because they love islands. They love the beach and decided if they got in they'd love living on vacation. I am only sad about this because I am moving back to America and they are moving away.
Aaron moves in August. Nicole is going to stay back with the kids. She is going to have the baby November/December. So She is staying back to have the baby near her parents.
My plan for the year is similar to hers. Sterling leaves me and the boys in August for military training. From August to December Nicole and I will be with only our kids staying with or near family. And I am hoping to be pregnant as well.

Right now my life is amazing. I am busy all the time though. I keep busy just with my family and church callings. Faith in God girls I am doing twice this month...teaching them to sew. My primary teaching position requires me to prepare a lesson during the week, be a teacher/friend to the kids, and attend the baptisms (I have the 7-8 year olds).
I am in charge of the ward bulletin board ..mostly I print updates on upcoming events and rotate those on the board. I am ward historian. So if we have a big ward event or do something in the community I attend, takes some pictures, and document it in a computer file that I turn in yearly.

Along with all that business I do photography and cake decorating. I do maybe a portrait shoot every two months and about two cakes a month.

Sterling and I are both happy people and our children are happy. I hope they grow up with happy and positive attitudes.

TDY Spain #2

Last Spring Sterling went on a TDY to Spain. I don't recall if it was a 4, 5 or 6 week trip. A few days ago Sterling left on another TDY to Spain. This time he knew what to expect and was able to better pack and prepare.

Last Friday he had the day off of work.... a family day before his trip. We went shopping together as a family and played at the park on base too. We cleaned the car out and Sterling packed. We got a lot accomplished and had fun too. Saturday we went to a car wash and enjoyed a relaxing day at home. Sunday we went to church, of course, then relaxed. We watched half of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang together Sunday and finished it Monday. Monday we went bowling which both boys LOVE. We ate at the bowling alley while we played. Then Monday evening Sterling had to report on base at 5pm, two hours before his flight out. We had just spent a wonderful 4 day weekend as a family. Now it was time to say "I love you. Goodbye. See you in three weeks."

But after a four day weekend with my family I was ready for some Me time and back to the normal cleaning etc schedule.

When Sterling goes away on these trips (not very often though) I make sure I have a huge list of things to do so I can't get bored and miss him too much.
I need to organize/clean the laundry room and the upstairs spare room/storage room. I need to touch the with paint, all the walls in the house. 

Plus I have a bunch of church events to attend. And side projects/jobs.
Next week; Thursday I have Book Club to attend at the Elliott's home. I'm getting a babysitter for that. Friday I have Faith in God girls at my house. We are going to learn about what's in the Faith in God book, what's expected of them, and just talk about it. Plus we are doing a fun easter craft that afternoon. Then Saturday I'm getting a sitter because I have to deliver a baby shower cake I will have decorated that week.
The week after that I am making cupcakes for the relief society activity which is Thursday...babysitting is provided. Then Saturday is our ward Easter activity (a spiritual program followed by a potluck and then easter egg hunt!). I'm taking my camera to that event!
That Sunday (the 24th) is a Linger Longer potluck after church. Then the 28th Sterling comes home! Then it's Easter right after that so I will have the easter baskets ready before Ster comes home.

Not to mentions my boys and I are making St Patrick's day decorations for the front yard. And I want to do Easter fun portraits for my boys and hopefully one other family.

My best friend Nelli Mangle moves to England with her family this month.  :(

OH, and my sweet amazing husband surprised me just before he left with a special book. The latest in my favorit series of Princess books by Jessica Day George. The first book was Princess of the Midnight Ball was the first and the one Ster just gave me is Princess of the Silver Wood. I've just started reading it and I know I'm going to love it.
He also made and laminated two book marks for me that had love quotes on them!  He is the best!

Along with all this and my boys to take care of....I have a dog. I need to take her on a walk every day. I want to take her to the dog park on base every Saturday so she can run and socialize with other dogs.
Sterling is leaning towards getting rid of Cora when he leave Italy. It will be a hassle to have a dog when we are homeless...staying with family for 4 months. Sterling will be at school (for the Military) from August-December so it'll be me, the boys and the dog without a home to call our own. And I'm going to be pregnant (that's the plan).
But I love Cora. I can't imagine giving her away. 1)We've spent so much money on her already.  2)We take amazing care of her and love her. Would it be best for her to be with us or another family? I think us!  3) We'd have to find a family who will be dedicated to keeping her trained and fit. We've put a lot of work into teaching her to obey and be good. 

She's been an indoors dog. Beagles hate being alone. They want to be with other dogs or people all the time. But we are starting to transition her to a mostly outdoor dog now.  When she gets in trouble,for stealing food, we lock her in the backyard for hours! It really is making her use to being out there and she is transitioning.
The only problem with that is when I stay at my parents' house I won't want to keep her outside. They dont' have a fence to their yard! Unless he get a kind of fence for her.

I only have three weeks without Sterling this month and I look at all I have planned. It's insane. I doubt I'll be able to get it all done in time.

I bet I'll be more busy than Sterling this month. We'll talk on the phone every day and we email too.  He is my prince! He makes me love him every day! We are so happy and so in love. And three weeks apart just strengthens us. When he returns it will be heaven.
Love, Tiffany

Being a Mom and a friend

It's mid afternoon and Luke is on the bus coming home from school. I find myself wanting to talk. To call up my mom and talk. Lately it's in the mid afternoon I feel that urge to call a friend or my mom. But it's too early to call Mom because her time is 8 hours earlier than our Italy time. And I'm not a phone person. I don't just call up girl friends to talk. Probably because my girl friends are busy being mom's so talking on the phone might not work out very well.

I have this desire to need my girl friends. To need to call and talk and have their help and support. Really I have all the love, friendship and support from Heavenly Father and my husband to keep me going. My life is so together and has been for over 4 years.  Being a mom is not easy but I can handle it.

Luke is so responsible...I love all the things he can do for himself and his little brother like get a drink of water from the sink and get dressed. The one thing that drives me crazy sometimes is his potty training failures. He was doing so well to keep his underwear dry. But a month ago he started peeing in his pants after school/before bed.  It came to be sometimes twice a day.
So I created a sticker chart; promising Luke a present if he can go 7 days in a row with no accidents. At the end of each day if he's stayed dry all day he gets two M&Ms. He couldn't make it two days in a row! And when I gave him his candy right before getting dressed for bed he pooped in his underwear! I was so mad I made him throw his sticker chart away, saying he doesn't deserve a chance to get a present. I bought some cool gifts that I'm hiding away.

With Ty I have such a hard time. He does not listen. He's in his terrible twos and it's hard to handle. But if I need a break I just have Sterling watch the kids and I go shopping (for myself or for the family) alone. Sterling watches the kids when I have a cake to decorate or a photo shoot. I do a lot for me, to keep my sanity. 
I usually don't have problems to talk to people about because I have things under control...and Sterling makes me so happy.  But now that I think about it...it's the perfect time to try calling a friend just to talk because I actually have problems! Nelli is my favorite friend because she's my most supportive. She comes to parties and events I throw...even if NOBODY else comes. She's so sweet and awesome...her family too!

I have friends...Melanie Archuletta, Susannah Butikofer, Missy Robinson, I feel Kara Hamburg is finally becoming my friend, Nelli Mangle, and friends who've moved away from here. But I don't feel they think I need them. Sometimes I wonder if they think I'm really their friend...not that they shows signs of it but that I feel I'm not that good at letting my friends know I NEED them. That's a good idea...I should write a special note to each of friends letting them know how much their friendship means to me.

Ha! Who needs a therapist?! I figure things out by typing journal and talking to loved ones!
This has been very helpful emotionally! I think I'll start calling Nelli or get her to come over this weekend so we can hang out and talk about our mothering problems.

Love, Tiffany

This Amazing Life

Yesterday we held a special play date at our house. I've tried to hold play dates throughout the last few years we've been living in Italy. I have invited many and had few people attend. Usually one family shows up. This time I planned an Unbirthday party for my little boys who loooove to have parties.
An Alice in Wonderland themed Unbirthday party. The people who came: Indira Sumner with her daughter, Ashley Stewart with her daughter, Melanie Archuleta with her son and daughter, Nelli with her youngest Megan, Megan Sanders with her baby and boy, Missy Robinson with her youngest Henry and Darcy Ferguson with her two little ones!

It was held at 10:30am and Sterling works 2-10p. So he was home. I had made and decorated a Alice in Wonderland cake for the event. And I had cleaned the downstairs the night before.
The morning of the party Sterling helped out by taking the dog for a walk and loading the dishwasher. The kitchen had been all clean except for the dishes in the sink that we had put there that morning. I said I wasn't going to load the dishwasher ...so Sterling did it. I was surprised but...he is wonderful like that!

Ster played on the computer upstairs during the party. We pulled out the bouncy house after everyone ate cake. It was such a fun party. Ended at 12:30.

Lately I'm working on preparing the Blog book for 2012. Preparing it to be ordered. I had to read through the entries so of course I read about our anniversary in August. How I could not think of anything we need to work on in our marriage. I have not been able to think of anything since then! I could not think of anything Sterling needed to try better at.

He now tries to get me flowers once every month! How amazing is that?!  I did work on trying to get him to buy me flowers once in a while but I never expected he'd go as far as to make it a goal to do it every month. He is so sweet! It's one way he shows his appreciation for all I do at home and with the boys.

Sterling is not perfect but his flaws are few. He has become such a perfect husband for me since we got married just 5 1/2 years ago!

I do see my flaws a little easier than I see Sterling's. I could be selfless more often.
Sometimes I notice that Sterling is thinking of me and I am thinking of me when I should be thinking about Sterling.
I am with the boys all day and then with Sterling and the boys. I have a constant responsibility to be selfless. So throughout the day I will take time for Me. I will tell the boys to go play while I work out or watch a show or play on the computer (editing pictures or blogging).  Then when Sterling comes home I want to spend time with him and feel a responsibility to be selfless for him.

I guess, when I am with Sterling sometimes I just want to let him take care of me and think of me...because so much of my week I am alone with the boys and they are as needy as children are.

This month instead of getting me flowers he got a gift. He saw it online and wanted a reason to buy it for me. So he did ...in place of flowers. A cupcake tower. I have been wanting to get one lately! This means I need to start doing cupcakes more.  :)

Sterling and I have so much fun together. I mean, we do go on hikes and sometimes sight see. Being here in Italy with my husband and children is amazing! But Sterling and I have so much fun just being together at home. Sterling likes to be playful and I have learned to be more playful because of him.  He will pick me up and throw me over his shoulder...maybe spin too. He will attack me....but never tickle me. I won't allow him to tickle me. He knows he will be in trouble if he does it...so he doesn't.

We know how blessed we are to be so happy in marriage after 2 kids and 5 1/2 years. To have improved our marriage so much in five years! To not be sick of each other or falling out of love.

I can't help but have the thought sometimes...the fear that our life together might be cut short. If we are so perfectly happy and have made our marriage so wonderful so early in our life...
Doesn't it take a lifetime of marriage to perfect the relationship?  I am hoping that by putting this fear out there...it will turn out to never be true. But I will enjoy every day of my amazing life.

Finances

Last year we ate well! We ate a good meal together about every day. That gets expensive even though we eat at home (don't go to fast food or restaurants much).
So in December we decided to cut that in half. Every other day we eat a cheap meal like Mac and cheese, ramen, sandwhiches, etc. Not too many cheap options but oh well.
We have also made Friday our shopping day. We try to never go grocery shopping other than Friday so we'll spend less money. I think it's saving us money so far.

Mood

Two days ago Ster and I started talking about where the kids and I are going to live in the summer while he is training in Mississippi.

The plan for the year is : March Ster leaves for a TDY. May-ish Hannah comes to visit and travel. Hopefully in July we'll all go to America as a family (move away from Italy). Spend a month visiting our family together. Then Sterling will spend August 28-early December in training.

Recently Ster was told that even though we'll be given a new base assignment when we leave Italy it may not remain the base the Air Force wants us at when Ster finishes his training. So if I were to find a house in our next assignment and have our stuff there and set up house while Ster is in training...we might end up having to pack up and move again. Plus, I would probably want to visit family off and on during those three months.  

So two days ago we started talking about where the boys and I will stay while Ster is in training. Yesterday I called my mom and talked to her. It seems the best option is to live out of suitcases for four months, hopping from one relatives house to another. Mostly spending time at my parents house and Ster's parents house.

I think I won't enjoy living in their homes, especially that long. But what are my options?

And the boys miss their grandparents and will love getting to know their cousins etc. But I worry the kids will also start to lose their minds or have problems being homeless and bouncing around for four months! That's a long time!

Another issue...we have a dog! We'll be taking a dog around with us. And my parents don't have a fenced in yard.  

Anyway, thinking about wanting to visit my family now and spending too much time with them later kind of made me a little depressed. So yesterday I was blue and I have a cold.
Yesterday evening I started decorating a military cake and it really cheered me up! Last night my amazing husband came home from work (10:15p) and gave me a gift. He had helped translate for an American couple getting married and they insisted on giving him a $50 gift card to the BX. Ster thought about what he might want to buy then decided he'd rather give it to me. What a prince!

So this morning I left the kids with Sterling and went out for a girl clothing trip! Listening to my Wicked Soundtrack in the car and shopping for clothes alone was amazing! SO fun!  I shopped all clearance and was so happy to see the BX was selling tons of adorable dresses on clearance! I ended up getting three Sunday dresses, one fun party dress and a shirt all for $50! 

My Little Boys

Today the boys and I made a paper chain. One each link is written something fun to do together. i.e. build a big blanket tent in the living, have an outdoor picnic, learn a fun joke, search for a treasure using a treasure map. 16 chains of fun! Fun a day! Starting tomorrow.

Tiberias started potty training this week. He's 2 years and five months. Monday I tried a few hours of Ty in underwear. He has some accidents. I told him to go use the potty one time and he said "no" then pooped in his underwear.
Tuesday we tried no underwear/pants. He did awesome for a few hours and would go sit on the potty when he needed to pee. But as the evening went on I think he got sleepy and started peeing on the floor a lot more. Today we took a break from potty training.

Moving Cleaning

In December we cleaned up the attic. We plan to move in July and want to be organized and get rid of stuff. We are buying giant storage bins and filing them up as holidays pass. Almost all our Christmas stuff is packed up now. Today I went through all the baby clothes Ty has outgrown and decided which few to keep. I'm going to give 7 brown paper grocery bags of good baby clothes/shoes/jackets to the Italian woman who lives on the street over who collects for the poor. She drives on our street to see what the Americans are throwing out and we like to give her useful things.  I'm sure in June we'll have a bunch of more stuff to give her as we prepare to leave here.

My life is amazing. We are so happy!

Talents

Good morning Mom!
This could be the last Christmas season I spend away from the states! I was recording myself sing Mary Did You Know? For your Christmas Eve talent show and it's kind of difficult how I'm going to get it to you. Videos are too big to send through email and it takes a while through the postal delivery. The thing is that my whole family is practicing It Came Upon A Midnight Clear to sing for your talent show! The boys know the words already and love singing it.
But we want to practice it until Christmas week. If we were ready now we'd record it and send a disc with both performances, hoping it would get to you in time. But we need more time to practice.

Anyway, I was thinking it would be so much easier if we were able to even skype sing...if we were in America and our time difference wasn't so drastic. I dont' know how my little boys would do if I made them get up and do it early in the morning. If your talent show were at 7pm then it would be 4am here.

If we don't get to move back to the states next summer I am NOT going to do any overseas travel. All that money will go to going back to the states EVERY YEAR.

Back to singing...last night our relief society did a "Women who knew Jesus" night. Filled with scripts read by women and musical numbers all by women from the military ward and from the Italian ward! It was combined wards event and was so awesome!
I sang Mary Did You Know at the end of the event.  And the reason my family is learning It Came Upon A Midnight Clear is because I was planning for us to sing in Sacrament as a family. I'm not going to do that now.

I offer a lot to the members of the ward; photography & cake services, my musical numbers at church. And after my most recent photo shoot the sister I was photographing said that she was talking to some other women in the ward and they agreed I make them feel like they don't do enough to develop their talents when they look at all I do. I then realized that I do too much. Not too much for me but too much for the other women to handle. That's why I decided not to have my family perform in sacrament.

Another example of how I do too much...For December's visiting teaching I have put together a gift for each sister. I have three Christmas tins and have filled them with Swiss chocolate we bought we went to Switzerland to the temple last month. I also made Christmas ornaments to put in the tins. I made an owl, a snowman, an angel and a gingerbread boy out of modeling clay that I cooked, painted and covered with clear nail polish to make it shine. They look awesome!

And last night for the event, I had to take my little boys with me (they supplied child care) but managed to make 20 mini (homemade)cherry cheese cakes. it was my first time making cheese cake and they turned out delicious! I made fun individual servings for the event and they were a hit.

With all the stuff I do to keep busy and enjoy myself I don't usually let those take time away from Sterling. When I do a photo shoot Ster has to watch the kids for me but that's good for everyone and I'm usually gone from the house only 1.5 hours or busy at the house for up to that long. And when I do a cake it might take a little time of me in the kitchen when he is home.
But mostly I do it all while he is at work.

Yes, that means my kids get less time with me. But I still do something with them every day and I govern them so they don't kill each other. I supply them with things to do.
I have not been teaching Luke to read since the summer but he is so ready! He is starting to sound out words by himself. So I'm going to start making time to teach him to read and teach Ty some things too.

In the summer when I was homeschooling I tried to teach Ty colors but he was NOT getting it. Now he knows them! My boys are really smart.

Currently we are all healthy and happy. Our biggest problem is Ty's habit of screaming when he is frustrated. That started before he turned a year old...only back then he did it because he thought it was fun.
7 screams a day is a problem.

Anyway, I hope the holiday season is wonderful for you and the whole family!
Love, Tiffany