Missing Prague Today

My friend, Michael, put a smile on my face by posting this video on his blog today. That smile made possible by Michael was an amazing feat in and of itself since I am quite tired, sick and worn out these days. (And No, do not let your mind wander there....We are not expecting Verbrugge #3. I'm just a SAHM with 2 small children and 1 travelling husband).

Now, back to the video... I enjoyed it so much I had to post it here as well. Enjoy! (And thanks again Mr. Michael)



Story of the Song
The song follows a man driving through Moravia, and finding a village terrorized by a bog monster named Jozin which eats mainly tourists from Prague. The man asks the mayor of the village to give him a cropduster plane to defeat the monster, and the mayor agrees, promising half of the collective farm and the hand of his daughter in marriage if the man is successful. The man takes the cropduster into the air, and defeats Jozin, trapping him, and selling him to a zoo. (courtesy of wikipedia.org)

Aw man..... you GOTTA love the Czech Republic! There's just no place quite like it.

Destined to be a meteorologist

Lydia's weather prediction for this morning:

"It's going to be colder or warmer. OR it's going to be fally or wintery."

Hey, that's more reliable than most weather reports I get. I'm going to her from now on... good-bye weather.com. I have a NEW source!

Report from China

I received this email from Brandon. Made me smile and I had to share....

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What's going on, the sky is blue today? I wonder if the government installed a big fake sky screen way up in the air? Dude picking me up went to the wrong terminal, apparently he thought Chicago was a domestic city in China. I am oh so patient though...

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Insider's note: I'm pretty confident that the last line is loaded with sarcasm. In my experience, 18hr traveling does not generally lend itself to an "oh so patient" Mr. Verbrugge :) Poor Chinese Pick-Up Dude.....

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day........

Literally and symbolically. Today, winter came to Wisconsin. We haven't had "real" snow yet; Just some flurry temptations. But the temps are in the 30s and I am F.R.E.E.Z.I.N.G. I heard parents cheering for their soccer-playing kids on the fields behind our house and I immediately thought "Eww. Maybe I DON'T want my kids to play soccer...." On days like this I would probably win the award for "Worst Soccer Mom"... How bad would it be to just drop your kid off for their windy, freezing game and then head home to sit by a fire in the fireplace, with a fleece blanket and some hot chocolate? After a few years of counseling they'd get over it, right?

And then Brandon left this morning for another week in China. Some symbolic grey, cloudy, coldness heaped on to the real deal.

So where does the sunshine come in? Well, I stumbled across a quiz on facebook that tests one's "True Age". It asks 30 questions about your environmental, social, physical status and then provides you with your true age. Imagine my glee when the results were tabulated and I was proclaimed to be (drum roll please)................ 21 years old! Could there BE a better result?!? I was even honest about occasionally being discontent with my "job" and that I drink 0 alcoholic drinks per day (which doesn't seem very 21-esque to me!). But the results are in which makes it offical. I'm already feeling years younger, much more content and am walking with a renewed spring in my step!

So, please excuse me, but this 21-year old is heading to bed. It IS 10:30pm and WAY past my bedtime after all......

------Postscript---------
If you don't want to sign up for the full facebook quiz you can just google "True Age Test". But be forewarned..... they generally ask only about 5 questions and the first one I took ranked me at "Grandfather/Grandmother Age". Yeh, total bunk.

My heart was hugged tonight........

Dear God,
Thank you SO much for this day.
And thank you for this food.
And please keep Daddy safe in China this week.
And please make Daddy feel good about meeting the people in China.

And thank you for the animals.
And thank you for the sun and the moon.
You are a GREAT God!
Amen.

--Lydia, age 4-1/2

Fall Photo Shoot

It was a rare cooperative-Lydia day so we headed out for a fall photo shoot... I absolutely, positively, most certainly did NOT take approximately 142 pictures in five backyard shooting locations before realizing there wasn't a memory card in my camera. What kind of a scatter-brained mom would do something so ridiculous? Definately NOT me!

Take Two.
It was a rare cooperative-Lydia day so we headed out for a fall photo shoot............ ahem.

My Little Monsters

Before You

Before you, I had no idea there were so many trucks on the roads.

Before you, I didn't know sand could be embraced. By all 230 of your joints.

Before you, I thought people who put plastic down on the floor while their toddler ate were nuts.

Before you, I never knew how much fun it is to watch a big sister and her little brother play silly games together. Now I think it's the best sound in the world.

Before you, I never experienced the sheer joy that rocks, a shovel, and a toy dumptruck can bring.

Before you, I didn't know little boys could be so kissable and huggable!

Before you, I thought curbs were to keep cars from driving up on the sidewalk... I never knew that they're really there so we can jump off of them!

Before you, I thought that swinging a toddler high enough to "bump" at the top was too high.

Before you, a watermelon-juice-stained white t-shirt never looked cuter.

Before you, I didn't even know where the truck aisle in Target was!

Before you, I never thought little boys clothes were very cute. Now I think clothes with puppies, trucks and cars couldn't be more handsome.

Before you, I had never noticed so many American flags. You point out every single one!

Before you, I didn't know a $0.97 hot wheels car could buy so much happiness and contentment.

Before you, I never thought of milk as a breakfast, lunch, dinner AND snack.

Before you, I wondered if I could ever love another child as much as I love your sister. And then you melted my heart.

Happy Birthday, Marcus-y!
You have brought so much fun, craziness and love into our family. I love you loads Little Buddy.
xoxo Momma

*Note to grandmas and grandpas and aunts.... you'll get a copy of the pic at the top when you come to the big party! No need to rush out and make your own prints! Just hold tight! :-)