The Honeymoon Phase is Almost Over

..and I'm not talking about my 6.5 years of marriage but the complete awe I've been in from living in Europe. I still love Europe, I still want to lay my head down at night in Europe, and I will go as much to say I've made a committment to Europe so I will stay until the end. However, I would be lying if I said I didn't get homesick and I didn't yearn for fast food and a trip to a local Target, but these days are few and far between. The traveling we've experienced and the culture we're immersing ourselves in is much bigger than a trip to Sonic for the beloved Route 44 sweet tea.

I make it a point to go to a town market once a week even if funds are low. It is truly a place you can attend and not need a single euro. The atmospmhere of the markets is almost indescribable. The smell of fresh air with a hint of flowers on a chilly morning is enough to knock you off your feet. Put that with the sights of the vendor's tents on a tiny Italian road, in a town center, surrounded by old buildings, and you'll be in eternal bliss. The markets are a time for my youngest and me to make mom and me memories. He loves them just as much as I do, but how could he not? The Italians have a fit over children. It's almost safe to say my children have been kissed on more by Italian women than by their own mother. Not really, but it's definitely a close running.

We try to travel at least once a month. We are only in Italy for three years. Hopefully six if we are able to ipcot to get another tour. It would be crazy if we didn't try to travel as much as we could. Our bucket list is long, and even if we did extend, I'm certain we couldn't get every place in. We are however trying our hardest. I'm going to leave you with pictures from some of our travels and plan to blog about each place, and how we did it with small children without losing our sanity or breaking the bank.

Verona
My family with the statue of Juliet (Yes! As in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet's love tragedy).
Legend says to have good fortune, you must rub her right breast. Notice how worn the metal is.

My daughter and I standing on Juliet's balcony.

An old road leading to the Verona's coliseum.

Venice
A Venetian Gondola

The Grand Canal with The Rialto Bridge

Paris
My children in Champ de Mars in front of the Eiffel Tower

The Louvre

The Notre Dame

Croatia
Unfortunately, the amount of pictures my friend and I took is a joke. I appologize, but we were too busy playing in the Adriatic Sea or lounging by the pool with our family, and therefore I only have one photo.

..

Conegliano
Only 40 minutes away. Look at these rolling hills full of vineyards.

Florence
I love this city

The night life in Florence

Vinci
This little village has won me over

Outside Leonardo di Vinci's birth house

Pisa

Moving to Italy

Boy did it sneak up on me fast! We just received orders yesterday, or so it seems. I WE love it here. A whole lot to get used to, but I like change and adapt easily to pretty much anything.

The children were AWESOME on the flights. The only tantrum we dealt with was in Germany when Noah lost her dollar store Minnie Mouse charm off her necklace. Not too shabby if you ask me. Oh, and the mini tantrum I pulled when Noah's luggage was "misplaced" in Germany that had my "just bought" boots in them. However, it turned up in Aviano so I was perfectly okay.

My first "OH YEAH, we're not in America anymore..." happened the night we got into Aviano. Our Sponsor helped us up to the room, and asked Kevin if he wanted to go to the commissary to get food to cook, and I immediately blurted out "We can just order a pizza. We are tired and it's fast and easy." A long pause from our sponsor and a "Uhhhhhh about that... yeah, no." came straight from his mouth. HA! If only there were delivery places here.

Current News:
We found a house today we love and started our lease this afternoon. It's HUGE! It ummm... has two kitchens. I know, I know... You're probably asking who the hell needs two kitchens. But, WHO THE HELL DON'T? What? You've never ran out of counter space or ovens? Because I have! It has a fenced yard, green grass, wrap-around porch-that needs hanging flowers, big living room, furnished dining room WITH a beautiful hutch, 1 kitchen upstairs, 1 full bath upstairs, 3 bedrooms upstairs, playroom downstairs, 1 kitchen downstairs, another bedroom downstairs, 2nd bathroom downstairs, laundry room, and garage. I love it, and I love that I can see the Church steeple/town clock from the front porch. It's also walking distances from the town's weekly market.

I'm picking up Italian quick. Grazie e' Dio! I have actually caught myself a few times starting to speak in Italian to Kevin. Noah loves to throw her newly learned words and phrases around, too! It's so cute! Speaking of Noah, she starts Asilo in a week or two. How fun! She's going pass Kevin and I up soon on the language, and she will have to translate things to us!

Hopefully tomorrow Kevin and I can find something fun to do. Unfortunately, there's not too much to do in this little country... I kid, I kid. Maybe Venice or Verona is in our 48 hour future. How romantic would either be?

CIAO!

Last week

Have I ever mentioned how Noah is a big ball of energy? I realize all kids have tons of energy, but this kid could keep going and going and... going. Oh, and she talks just as much. Wednesday was her first day of tumbling and cheer. I don't think I have heard the end of it since we signed her up for it two months ago. When we pulled up to the studio I swear her eyes were as big as saucers. She was ready to go! We saw all the little bitty girls just as excited. At first, I thought we went to the wrong building because these girls were tiny. I had to ask a mom what age group this was since Noah was at least a head taller than most of them. I really don't know why I wonder why my children are huge compared to other children when it comes to their height. HELLO my husband is 6'5ish and I'm right at 6ft tall. Of course my kids are going to be giants. When I was told it was for ages 3-5, we lined up around the room waiting for Noah's coach. Of course, I brought my camera (I was the only one which I thought was extremely odd. I guess parent's only take pictures of their kids at shows? Well, not this mama!). As soon as the coach entered, she had us sign a waiver and started introducing her self. She explained how parents were not allowed in the studio when the kids were practicing because of how distracting they can be, and by golly, if my camera didn't flash right when she said that. Haha. She might have used me as the example of the distracting parent. Eh, oh well. Honestly, I was quite disappointed to see we were not allowed in there. On the otherhand, kind of excited I could leave for an hour and go get coffee and have one on one time with Graydon. After class, Noah said she loved it, she liked all her new friends, and how she was going to be in the Olympics when she was old enough. Always dream big, sweet girl!

Graydon is now 10 months old! Such a smart and happy little guy! The morning of his 10 month he showed us his new skill. (I swear he does something new right on the day he gains a month in age!) He started clapping! He has seriously been trying for months now, but just couldn't get the mechanics. He would hit his belly instead of his hands when we would try to show him, but he's got it down now! It's the most precious thing to see him get excited because he figured something out. He is also standing solo now. He still cruises most of the time, but he lets go a lot. I'm so ready for that first step. I have been trying to get him to walk to me, but he gets scared and quickly sits down and crawls instead.

Yesterday we went to the Cardinals football game with some friends. It was the first NFL game for Kevin and me. We brought our kids, and let me tell you, I have never gotten more stares than yesterday. It's like everyone acted like we took them to a bar. Last time I checked, football games are family events. Obviously not pro football games. It was still really fun even with all the looks. The kids behaved so well! Graydon clapped everytime the crowd did, and Noah sat still the whole time (which is HUGE for her). She had "her William" there sitting beside her, who is the 3 year old son of our friends, so she was definitely content.

Christmas is right around the corner!

Normally, I've finished Christmas shopping months ago. This year has been a little different. We didn't know if we were going to wait until we moved to do Christmas, have an early Christmas, or just take the kids to Toys R Us in Austria to pick out what they want. We quickly changed our minds on them having a shopping spree. There is absolutely nothing magical about picking out your own Christmas presents. There would be no curiosity what's wrapped under the tree, no running down the hall to tear open presents, and no excitement on their little faces when they see what they've opened. NOT IN MY HOME! No way, no how! You know how there are people known as the crazy cat lady? Yeah, I'm the crazy Christmas lady. I take pride in the title! I've earned it! Therefore, Kevin and I have agreed on buying their presents, shipping them, and doing our own little Christmas after we get our shipment and are settled in. As I wrote a few posts back, we are going to do one big shippment which will probably happen the end of next month or the very beginning of November. That means I have a little over a month to get my butt in gear and Christmas shop! This year we will be trying a new Christmas shopping technique. When it was just Noah, it was VERY easy to go overboard with gifts. Since I have two kids that both get to open gifts and only have a short amount of time to buy, I need a little more organization. They both will get the same amount of presents and get gifts that fall under the same categories.

Thank you fellow blogger, Kim, for posting about this a few years ago! I love this idea! Maybe it will be a hit for our family!

Here it is

Something they WANT
Something they Need
Something to WEAR
Something to READ

I also found other catagories on Google to add on to that list. Which are:

Something to WATCH
Something for DRESS UP
Something to LISTEN TO (Adele Cd for Noah. Kid loves her!)
Something to EAT
Something to CREATE (finger paint for Graydon, new paint and brushes for Noah? hmm?)

Let the shopping begin!!!

Our Bucket List.

Kevin and I have never been out of the states. We are looking at this PCS as a way to experience the world and get our kids as cultured as possible. Who knows if we will ever get stationed over seas again. We are going to take advantage. I'm going to write our bucket list for two countries at a time of places to see. If I put all the countries we are wanting to travel to, it will be too much of a read, and I may lose your interest. Please feel free to give me your input on places you've been or been wanting to go. I have a ton, but the more the better. I'll start with where we are going, Italy, and the first city/country we plan on visiting, Paris, France.

Italia
1. Go to Verona and stand under/on Juliet's balcony. (How romantic)
2. Stand in awe looking at The Last Supper in Milan. -Heard it brings tears to most
3. Be in amazement with our mouths open at the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City
4. Stand in front of the Vatican. -You aren't allowed to go in or we would jump on that experience.
5. Visit the Coloseum and take in how much history is around us.
6. Try to push the Leaning Tower of Pisa back up ;)
7. Take a Gondola ride in Venice.
8. Visit Saint Mark's Basilica in Venice
9. Take too many pictures of us in front of the Grand Canal.
10. See the real Statue of David in Florence and "try" to take a picture of it.- NOT allowed at all.
11. Go to Naples to eat Pizza from where it originated from.
12. Walk through Uffizi Gallery in Florence. -One of the most famous art museums.
13. Stand under the Tuscan sun.
14. Visit where Leonardo Di Vinci was born.
15. Make a wish in the Trevi Fountain in Rome.
16. Hike through Aosta Valley
17. Walk through Frassassi Cave.
18. Stand in front of the Pantheon at night.
19. Lie in a Catacomb if I'm allowed (more of my bucket list than Kev's)
20. Walk through/around Sassi di Matera. (ancient town. Never heard of it? Google it!)
21. Go to fairs and bizaars near and far.
22. Get fresh fish and vegtables from our town market.
23. Visit a nude beach. (that's all there is! It's Europe! What do you expect? PCB?)
24. Take a Mediterranean cruise. (starting at 399€ a person for 7 nights. Too good to pass up)
25. Lie on a beach in Sicily.
26. Walk through an Italian vineyard.
27. Try only new foods everytime we eat out.
28. Get the breath knocked out of me when I look at Cinque Terre from a cliff.
29. Pretend with my kids that we are the 'Royals' anytime we visit a castle.
30. Drink the preferred wine in every village/city.

France
We plan on driving to Paris from Aviano. 11 hours is nothing compared to what we are used to driving. Piece of cake. Plus, we don't want to miss the countryside view!

1. Think how wonderful life is when I kiss my husband in front of the Eiffle Tower.
2. Look at the Arc de Triomphe at night.
3. Stand inside the Notre Dame and take our picture with a Gargoyle.
4. Look at the art at The Louvre Museum. (Perhaps you've heard of Mona Lisa?)
5. Walk The Palace of Versailles.
6. Pretend my husband is Ewan Mcgregor at the Moulin Rouge. (Love to go inside, but probably won't happen with kids. Doesn't mean we can't go look at it.)
7. Set up my tripod and Rebel in front of the Luxembourg Gardens for family pictures.
8. Find paintings by Monet in the Orsay Museum.
9. People watch and name pigeons with my babies at Palace de la Concorde.
10. And finally, the main reason to travel to France for our first country of choice is to go to Euro Disney for Noah's 5th birthday!! Lucky kid, how many children can say they went to Paris for their 5th birthday?

Again, please add anything I'm leaving off that is a must see. I will try to do our bucket list of the next two countries next week.

Our Busy Saturday

Kevin had gotten called into work for weekend duty. Let me just say, I was NOT in a good mood. We have one car now so that means I would have to take him to work-at the break of dawn. Did I mention Saturday is my day to sleep in? I was all sorts of moody. I had a crying baby I didn't want to deal with. I had a crying child who was upset because her hair wasn't brushed. She obviously didn't notice she was still in her pajamas while we on our way to base and didn't realize we were NOT getting out of the car no matter how many time I told her. Let me just say, I'm normally more patient than that with my kids, but all mothers have their moment where they just want to scream from frustration, and I've learned to just keep quiet (or ignore) than regret my words. That's really what it all was-frustration. I had it in my mind and tired body that I was going to get to sleep in, and it all came crashing down when I heard my husband say, "I gotta go in." I could have cried. On the way to base, I told Kevin we HAVE to get coffee. I would have seriously died if I didn't get my caffeine fix. Maybe not, but still, I needed it. When he returned to the car, he told me to guess how much it was. I was not in the mood to guess. I quickly said, "No clue, with prices these days" He said, "FREE." Free? National coffee day was really the first thing that came to mind, but that vanished quickly when I thought that day should be on a Monday not Saturday when people get to sleep in. Which brought me back to why I was super pissy about the whole ordeal. He told me the cashier saw him in uniform, shook his hand, and thanked him for his service. I melted. Every bit of my bad mood, went away. How awesome! Then I realized, "Wow, I can really be an ass" I had to get up and take my husband to WORK and play with my precious kids all day. I have it SO bad. My poor husband didn't want to go (12 hours of work at that), and I was complaining because I didn't get to sleep an extra hour or two. Shame on me!

The kids and I came back home so Noah and I could pick the house up and for all of us to get ready. Noah had her teeball meeting at 12:30. When we arrived, I realized the meeting was held at a preschool with TONS of toys. Guess who didn't pay attention to the meeting and all the coaches? My child and the other 60 children. Parents were handed the rule book, picture packets, and game and practice schedule, and we were done. I bet they will think twice about having a meeting at a play area again. haha. Therefore, all the parents have to go over the rules with the children which is fine by me! It was a loud, loud zoo in that small area. I was glad to get out. I love like children. Really, I do. But...they can be quite annoying when there are dozens of them. Especially when the number of boys dominate over the girls, and we all know the amount of energy boys have...

When we left, both kids were fast asleep in the car. I hadn't been to Target in FOREVER so I wanted to go check out the clearance isle. Both kids were in an okay mood for not getting their naps out. Surprisingly, the only thing I found that I needed was a pencil pouch. I've been wanting one for my PCS binder to hold our passports (Which work wonderfully if you are wondering). When we left Target, I thought we would make our way to ROSS. I've been looking for Noah gymnastic wear and heard they sometimes get leotards/unitards in. Nope, didn't find a thing that had to do with any kind of sports. I did, however, find Noah a pair of OshKosh skinny jeans for $7 and OshKosh sweater for $5! Score! We've been trying to stock up on the kid's winter clothes so it is easier on our bank account than going all at once for everyone's winter wardrobe. Italy winters are a little more intense than the mild Arizona's winters so we need heavier clothing than a wind breaker jacket.

We went home for lunch and quiet time. Graydon naps. Noah reads with her Leappad/plays in her room until Graydon wakes up, or I come get her so we can have one on one time. I catch up on house work if there is any, or read or watch Netflix on my Nook. Works wonderfully. I absolutely love it. After the household started moving, I decided it is too nice out to be cooped up in the house. We are at home all week because again, we only have one car right now. We deserve to get out. Plus, it's not too healthy in my opinion. Where did we go? On base. There is something about base, any base for that matter. Meeting and learning about other military families is so exciting. Everyone is so alike, but different. I decided to head to the BX (base exchange- Kind of like a taxless walmart/kmart for us military folk) since Kevin should be getting off soon. I came across the CUTEST outfit for Noah. I played my cards well or so I thought. "Ew Noah, look at that outfit." Normally anything I say I like, she hates. I've said it before, I'll say it again, we butt heads ALL the time because we are SO much alike. Reverse psychology did NOT work. I changed my attitude toward this awesome outfit. "Well, I guess we could dress it up with a cute bow and some black maryjanes." Still didn't work. "Man, this child has to have this outfit" is what I was thinking. "Noah, just try the shaw on. You may actually love the way it makes you feel in it." "FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNE," She said. I felt I had an audience. Yep. I did. Three other moms with their children, were looking. After it was on, she hated it even more. She was whining, crying, and screaming about it itching. That is always her excuse if she doesn't want to wear something. If she saw someone else where it she would absolutely love it. It's because her Mother liked it. I pulled a "Mean Mommy" and bought her two! muahaha. A red/black/white one and purple/dark purple/beige one. Here is a picture of loving it WHEN her Daddy said how pretty the outfit was...

We officially have

A CRUISER. I've been meaning to blog this for about a week now, but with family coming out, and Noah having all her extracurricular activities, it's quite difficult to find time. About two weeks ago, Graydon FINALLY started crawling! A few days before that, he figured out how to pull up. Please don't tell him he wasn't the coolest baby ever. Haha. He would get so excited and try to clap for himself and in the process would fall down. Not just any fall, a fat man's fall. Yes, he wouldn't fall on his butt, it would be on his hip with a roll and legs in the air. HILARIOUS! For a few days after he started crawling, I didn't see him pull up much at all, actually. He had better things to do. GET PLACES with his new skill! Then, about a week ago, I walked downstairs and saw him going around the furniture to nearby toys. Exciting! He has even been brave a few times and let go for maybe a second, but quickly grab back on to find his balance. Not too much longer until we have ourselves a little walker!