It's the small things ....

It has been a very busy week. I spend many, many hours planning, organizing and writing emails for our co-op. Mostly I like it and it is such a great reward to hear moms say that they really enjoy it and it honestly helps them in their homeschool journey. That makes all work worth it. Though I don't know if my kids would agree with that, since there were a few days when they had to have peanut butter sandwiches because I was in the middle of something and couldn't stop without completely loosing my train of thought. Well, we are almost done and ready to start. I just need to finish writing the contracts for the teachers, send emails to the parents, ..... well and few other things   :)    BUT, we did take a day and just went to IKEA. I really like going to that store, always have. When my son was little - we lived in Berlin at the time - my sister, her son, my son and myself used to meet at IKEA, shortly after they opened that day. We would bring our little guys to the play area and go upstairs to the cafeteria and have coffee and talk for a very long time. Since it was early in the day we could leave the little tykes often for about 1.5 or 2 hours in Smaland. That was a nice, inexpensive break for us :)    Now my little guy isn't so little any more and even though he'd like to go, they won't take him at the play area anymore. Though we all still like to go to IKEA. We went last week and had a fun time. I found a "Wäscheständer"! I am so happy about that! Coming from Germany, it is quite normal to hang up your washed laundry on a clothes drying rack since dryers are not as common as they are here in the States. We are living in an apartment where we have to pay for the wash machine and dryer, which makes doing laundry expensive. In order to cut some cost I tried to hang up my laundry to dry on the regular clothes drying racks. However, they are pretty small and a little wobbly and just don't last very well. So I often put the laundry in the dryer because I couldn't hang it up anywhere. Then we went to IKEA. There I found IT!  A beautiful, fairly sturdy Wäscheständer!  Yes, in Germany many are much more durable, however, this one is pretty good. I can now hang up to three loads of laundry and let it dry in the sunshine on the balcony. It smells sooo good. I suddenly like doing laundry again. Sometimes it is the little things in life that make a difference :)

Summer where have you gone.....

It seems that everyone I talk to finds themselves almost at the end of the summer and is wondering how we got here so fast. Though we didn't travel this year, it was a busy summer. Well, actually each one of the kids went to camp, so I guess that counts somewhat for traveling :) The summer started off with Nina becoming a lifeguard. The training was tough and the job is tough. She has worked very hard this summer, often 40 hour weeks. For someone just starting out to work, this is quite an adjustment. She also had to be extra careful, because her skin color is rather fair, though you wouldn't think so now anymore. Much to her delight she has acquired a deep tan, though not without having a second degree sunburn first. Of course this was the hottest summer in Minnesota ever - at least that is what they said on TV. It was pretty strange at first to have to drive my daughter to work. How did she grow up so fast? I remember very vivid when we brought her home from the hospital, her fist steps. When she took her imaginary dog for a walk with Oma and Opa, her fist day at school and now her first day at work......what a bittersweet season. What a learning curve for me.....so many tears, some filled with sorrow and heartbreak and other with joy. Okay, I can do this - oh, Lord help me. I am very proud of my all my kids, though Nina is the oldest and hence the guinea pig ;-)  I know a little better what to expect when the other two get to this age. Not that it will be any easier...... but I am very proud of my sweet oldest daughter. This is a little scary for her as well, these first steps into the adult world....I love you Nina :)

Coming home from her first day at work this summer......

with a McFlurry as a reward after saving three lives the very first day at the pool.......