This week:

Second week here in Germany was pretty uneventful. Ryan has been working a lot in the “box” so we haven’t done much traveling or finished up our in processing. I probably won’t be able to get my driver’s license until he is done with this training rotation probably near the middle of the month.

We did manage to get a lawn mower and get our lawn mowed before we got citied. It is an electric lawn mower with about a 12 inch blade. I am highly amused over this lawn mower. Not quite sure why… it is just so tiny that it is cute! But our back yard isn’t that big and it works for us. Although, I am slightly paranoid about electrocuting myself while mowing the lawn.

Ryan’s birthday is coming up. From the house I have managed to get a small present for him but haven’t been able to get his “real” present yet. Between companies not shipping to APO boxes and having German conversions for everything I might have to throw in the towel and have him go with us to a store and pick it out. Haven’t made it to the PX yet. We’ll probably walk up there one day this week to see if they sell them. Right now they are my last hope of still surprising him with his gift.

Super Mario has taken over the Raben household. Me and Ryan are on the last “world” and about to beat the game. Caelyn loves to play too. Although she does stay in her bubble though most of it so she can’t “get hurt”. Basically allows her to float through the level. But when she does play she does quite well. Eli loves to pick up the extra remotes and pretend that he is playing too.

Still no word on our main shipment of household goods. It was supposed to be in Germany by August 1st. Have to call transport in the morning and see if we can figure out where my bed is :-) Oh, yeah and all the other stuff too.

No real exciting plans for this week. Just trying to get paperwork finished up and locating Ryan’s birthday present. Still not sure what his schedule is going to be like but I’m sure we will fit a birthday celebration in somewhere.

Was able to “attend” Becky’s baby shower via Skype. Caelyn loved it. But I did have our microphone muted most of the time so that she didn’t interrupt the shower. Not everyone appreciates her humorous comments as much as I do. Looks like it was a lot of fun. Also got to see Baby Jason via Skype for a bit which was nice.

Still no word yet on when we will be getting phone or “real” internet at the house. The only other company that is on post is only open Tuesdays and Thursdays for a few hours. So hopefully we will manage to get over there this week. That would be a long haul to walk down there so hopefully Ryan will get a couple of hours off one of those days. Only have prepaid cell phones so it is extremely expensive to call anyone for other than a short conversation.

Eli has been doing great sleeping on the air mattress in his room. All be it, there is nothing else in his room yet for him to play with. He has been sleeping well. He has figured out that he is strong enough to push the air mattress around to where ever he would like it. So I never quite know where he is going to be when I open the door.

For the most part the kiddos are doing great spending so much time together. Not sure how Eli is going to react when Caelyn starts school. The first thing when he wakes up in the morning or from nap “Cae?” It is adorable. He has also started with spontaneous “I love you”s. I’ll be doing something on the computer or in the kitchen and he will walk over and give me a kiss and say “I love you.” Awwwww!

I am loving being in Germany. Love the house, the area, the history (not always the history itself but being able to see the historical places and such).

Much more to come…