Something to think about!

A Day In The Bavarian Forest

I have been Tagged! (Yeah, thanks Susan!)
7 random facts about me. Here goes my privacy...

1) I have this secret dream of having a really large family
(about 10 kids). I would love to homeschool, cook, bake and
play with the youngens all day long. BUT Christian got neutered,
I don't have the nerves for another adoption (at least not right
now) and Devin's daily homework almost always ends with a call
to the psychologists helpline. And homeschooling in Germany is
illegal anyway. Lucky psychologist!

2) I went to a catholic all-girls (nunes included) High School.

3) I have very poor eyesight. Before wearing contacts, I thought
Christian was a 6 foot tall African.

4) I used to be in a gang in Kansas. In a German-Women-Kidnap-Poor
Dogs-And-Cats from the ghetto of Junction City kind of gang.
(Story safed in head for another day)

5) I love to play tricks on sleeping people. I have been known to
draw glasses, red nose and a beard on a friend of mine in his
sleep. Another friend of mine and me woke him up after our
beautiful painting was finished and send him to the store. For
some reason he does not know me anymore.

6) I pray daily.

7) Darkness. I am really afraid in the dark. I will not go in the
basement myself in the evening. Fortunatly I have kids. Even
they negate my fear. But my kids and husband are deep sleepers,
so in the night I have the real problem when I have to use the
bathroom. I turn all the lights on around me with my eyes
closed. Then I go (read: doing the scared jumps) and turn every
single light on in the house (thank God we have a small house
right now) and then comes my bladders turn. It's not easy. I
am not sure how I function either.

So, there it went...MY PRIVACY. If you read this consider yourself tagged. Let's have a look into someone elses bizzare life.

Shilda's Birth Place

HAITI

Please help! Haiti was hit by 4 storms in the last 4 weeks and there is another one on the way. My heart has been so heavy for these poor people. We have not heard from Shilda's Haiti Mama yet.
Go to Licia and Lori's blog. You can donate with paypal or send a check to:

REAL HOPE FOR HAITI
PO Box 23
Elwood, IN 46036

Here is a slide show from the destruction of Chabaret Haiti, which is near Cazale where Licia and Lori live.

This might be my last day on earth!

Before I explain myself let me just say: It feels soooo good being a kid sometime. No worries!

Ok, here is the story. For the last week Devin and his friends have been coming home again totally muddy after playtime. We remember this miserable time from last year, so us mom's decided to check on them more often to get things under control right from the start. It has been raining a lot and it just started "freezing" here in Germany. In warm weather it isn't such a problem because we hose them off with everything on right outside. Nothing against some dirt, but these guys dive into every mud-hole they find, throw it at each other and have been known for putting it in their underwear so it's looks like a huge blow-out. Anyway, so today was my turn to spy on them. That's when things went terribly wrong! Of course, it was already to late to stop them anyway. So instead of pulling their ears for misbehavior, I went back home to get my camera and Shilda's mud clothes and had some fun with the nutty children.
I just couldn't resist...
And if one of you mom's is reading this (I know S. probably will), don't call me because I have a lot of muddy laundry to do now, don't come by because we have a pretty dangerous dog and don't leave me a comment because...hhhmmm aammm oh yeah, because you would have to write in english! AND btw I got pretty nasty, too. So back off...:)

The New Olympist (new word?)

Every day last week Devin took part at the School Holiday Olympics. My guess is that he wished he wouldn't have with a bloody murder screaming mother on the tribune cheering for him!

MEET OUR NEW KIDS


In Duvernard is 6 years old

Fadia is 4 years old

Mirlande is 2 years old


Aren't they just adorable?! They are siblings from Cazale, Haiti. No, we are not adopting again (at least not yet). They are our sponsorship children. Originally, Devin came up with the idea to sponsor a child. He wanted a boy around his age and was willing to share some of his allowance money to help pay for his school. Since Shilda just started to get some pocket money from my mother and grandmother also, we thought it would not hurt for her to share some of that too. So we started to look for a boy around age 7 and a girl around 5. The same day Licia in Haiti posted about this family with 3 kids looking for a sponsorship. Right away their pictures stole our heart and we agreed to sponsor all 3 of them. We are so exited! I just can't wait to go to Haiti and meet our extended family (Shilda's birth family), lots of internet friends we have there and now these 3 cuties with their family!

OUR LAST COUPLE OF DAYS
The kids are still on school break until the middle of September. I am taking them on different outings every day so they won't drive me insane at home. Honestly, we are having a great time!



Still having fun...5 minutes later Devin got biten and Mara attacked by a goat:( So what did we learn from the day? Goats suck!

we can not just walk by a fountain :)



Ice Cream in Regensburg

Dinner tastes so much better in cupcake forms

Short Haired Devin

I was almost crying the ugly-face-cry when Devin wanted his hair cut, but I had to give in and I am kind of getting used to it now. But still trying to talk him into letting it grow again!

Croatia Pictures

We came home last night from our Croatia vacation. Instead of staying 10 days we only stayed 7 as we had very bad weather the last couple of days and it's not going to change for the next few days. But we had a very good time and LOVED every bit of it. The first 4 days we stayed on the island Krk in a little house with yard on the beach. Beautiful. Then we drove over to Istrien and stayed a night in Rovinij. Very, very beautiful city. Rovinij and Venezia used to be one city. It is still very similar except no channels in Rovinij. Our last couple of days we stayed on a dog camp ground in Medulin near Pula. Mara sure had fun running around all day with other dogs, never having to be on the leash.
What a beautiful country and great stories to tell. Maybe I can get Christian to write some down and post on my blog. I have to go back to do laundry again (the not so nice part after vacation).

Vacation time

Once again it's travel time at the Allen house. We are going to Croatia for 10 days on sunday. This time we did not book anything, therefore we are open to camping or an apartment or maybe we'll do both. We are planning on going to the islands Rab and Krk, Plitvicer Lakes and Krka Waterfalls. It's about 8 hours from here and a beautiful drive through Bavaria, Austria, Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. Croatia is known as one of the most beautiful countries in Europe, but many people are still hesitant to go there because of the recent ugly war. There are still some land mines and war destructions but more inside the country and not on the coast. We used to vacation there when I was a child (before the war) and I have some great memories. I realize it won't be the same after such a horrible war and over 20 years later, but I am SUPER excited to take my family to build memories like I have of Croatia. And I am sure the country can really use tourism anyway!
So look out for pics in about 2 weeks.


Well, I also just got back from a trip with my sister Nadine, her little son Luca and Shilda 2 days ago. So, where did we go???
Of course, to Turkey for one week. By now you all probably know I am totally in love with Turkey (who else goes 3 times in 1 year to the same place). I can't even totally describe what it is with me and Turkey...part the beauty, the friendliest people, the smell of herbs, the crowded markets, the music, the spicey food, getting invited to drink tea on every stand at the bazar....
I have been to quite a few countries, but no country caught me like Turkey.
Anyway, we had a GREAT time. I have probably never laughed more in my life. Great girls holiday with one moody guy only - Luca!
Despite the fun we had both Nadine and I missed our 4 guys at home and decided to come back later this year with both our families. So, our Motto from now on is: AFTER VACATION IS BEFORE VACATION!

BTW, I only took 3 pics this whole week there, but took some video which I will post when we get back.

Happy Birthday Shilda

Happy Easter
We had a fun filled day! Devin played the alarm EARLY this morning. They found the baskets and lots of eggs, got sugar highs, became nuts in the shower and out we headed to the Army caserne for a nice big fattening brunch. My sister Nadine and her family came along. After we went bowling, to an Easter Egg Hunt, to a Coffee shop and to the Movie Theater (Veggie Tales). Luckily for everyone else I fell asleep during the movie, so now they can all make fun of me for a while. I was rudely awakened by a little tickle on my chin and a big laughter from my sister.
When we got home the kids still had to look what Omi's and Sissi Oma's easter bunny left for them. Now they are beat and just fell asleep. Christian and I will start our evening on the sofa!






Yes, I know that I have bad morning hair!



Devin got up at 5 am to find his Easter Basket!



Is that candy not tasting too good Devin?

Shilda aka Pippi Langstrumpf


Shilda's 2nd Adoption Day



Mara



Luca and Shilda

True Compassion
Please take the time to watch this video. It is so inspiring!

Abra Miko

Devin made a Restaurant in his (and Shilda's) room today. He called it Abra Miko. We cooked some pretty good food and he invited his Sissi Oma, Tante Nadine, Onkel James, Shilda and me for lunch. He wrote a menue and put up decoration. It was very cute. The only not so good thing was that we had to pay before we entered the restaurant....even the cook :))

adoption by accident


You hear about accidental pregnancy but do you ever hear of accidental adoptions ???? If so, it might go something like this ….

- –Honey, sit down. I have some news for you.
- –What is it?
- –Well, I don’t know how to say this, so I’ll just come out with it. I went out to the mailbox today and … well, we got an I-171H.
- –A what?!? An I-171H? As in, we’re going to have another baby?!?
- –It looks that way.
- –But how? We’ve been so careful! I put away all the blank I-600A forms. Didn’t you hide our home study update?
- –Of course I did. But don’t forget, there was that one night …
- –What night? (Pauses) Oh, that night. But it was only once. We were just messing around. I didn’t print clearly. I didn’t even use ink! (Pauses again) But it was kind of fun.
- –(Giggles) it was, wasn’t it? I’ll never forget how cute you looked getting your fingerprints.
- –So now we’ve got our I-171H, eh? But that doesn’t always mean you’ll adopt, does it? I mean, shouldn’t you see the agency or something, make sure everything is okay?
- –I already did.
- –And?
- –I’m five documents along.
- –Five documents! And they’re all notarized, certified and authenticated okay?
- –Just great. There was one small scare when the agency couldn’t see the notary’s middle initial, but it showed up just fine under the magnifying glass.
- –Thank goodness. And you honey? Are you feeling okay?
- –I’m feeling fine. As long as I know you’re happy about this.
- –Happy? I’m thrilled! It’s always a shock at first when something like this happens, but of course I’m happy!