ugh.

Ed comes home today with news that we still don't have orders. and that we may have to change our pick up times for transportation. so the movers wont be able to come on our original dates. that isn't really a big deal....however, he is concerned that they wont approve travel for the kids and i to Virgina. so we will be homeless for 10 weeks? pulease. can i get a collective wtheck???!? i told him we are not going to worry. that it will work out. whatever happens we will just have to make it work.

he is also afraid that they wont send us to Germany because of the kids' EFMP's. This process is the reason for the delay on orders. (exceptional family member program) Austin has auditorial processing disorder. which means he needs lots of special resources in school to help him learn. brayden has speech delays, so he is an EFMP as well. now that he has his tubes...he is talking like a madman! he had no hearing in his left ear and only 5% in his right- no wonder he wasn't talking well!!!! it makes me sad we didn't know this for so long. its how the army works though. the universal health care everyone wants...u get what u pay for folks. and he has lived in 3 different states with prob. 50 different docs...so no one made the connection. you really really have to be your child's advocate. you have to educate yourself, and pretty much diagnose and demand that your kid gets what they need. he was diagnosed by a CIVILIAN. need i say more?

anyway...the Army will not send our family anywhere that they cant get treatment for their special needs. its a great program. however, it could keep us from Stuttgart. if it does, i will be sad, but right now, with all of the stress involved in this move, i think it would be a relief at this point if they said we cant go. i cant believe i just wrote that!

i was reading a facebook post from a new friend moving to Germany today. she was worried about her stuff getting stored. it made me think about our furniture that we will be keeping here- and it is a SUBSTANTIAL amount of stuff! it will be kept in a Non- climate controlled facility. and when people come home, their stuff is ruined. mildewed and warped, rat infested. so now I'm finding a home for our family pictures, and things that i don't expect to live through 4 years in a metal and concrete box. our home in Germany will be 1/2 the size of the one we have now. Germans don't typically have large homes. the one we are in now is 3000+ square feet. i have 2 dining rooms, 2 living rooms, 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, and they are all filled up. not cluttery full...but they have furniture in them. we have taken 1 couch, and 4 dressers to the goodwill, 4 bags of toys, 6 bags of clothes, and tons of little things we didn't use this year. uhm-including workout equipment. LOL! we are trying to minimize our things, and keep our weights low for the move. now i am thinking i should just get rid of 1 set of living room and 1 set of kitchen. but i think it may be too late. oh my goodness. craigslist maybe? on top of that our plugs don't work over there. so anything with a plug or a plug with a motor wont work. if you plug it in, and you don't have a transformer it will blow. transformers are 25 bucks for the smallest transformer and goes up to 300 bucks or more for larger items like TV's. so....its cheaper to buy lamps when u get there than buy the transformer for the lamps. ugh. again. so much to think about!!!

anyway things are up in the air to say the least and we are just taking deep breaths and waiting to see what happens. either way it will be Gods master plan- not our own, and it will be for the best. :)

Much Love
XOXOXO

2 weeks and they get our first shipment. its been a flurry of activity here. lots of trips to the goodwill. i am looking out the window right now watching Ed with his new dolly...dragging a dresser from 1946 to the back of his truck. i have been trying to get rid of that ugly thing forever. thank you Germany! seems like this whole Germany thing may not have been the smartest idea we have ever had. there is soooo much to do. so much involved...so many things to worry about. and i usually don't worry. Ed is the worrier!!! i have jumped on the worry boat..and its hard to get out of it!

the kids got their immunizations the other day. the nurse told them they had to have these shots to go to Germany...thanks lady! now they DONT ever want to go! so all the way home i had to tell them, it was the Army's fault- not the move. we got TB, and Tetanus and dtap- whatever that is. my arm is still swollen and red, and my goodness the tetanus shot hurts the next day. i feel like i went through a line of people that got to hit me as hard as they can! ugh. thankfully the kids didn't get the Tetanus. they have to be 11. Austin will get it next weekend. and i feel so sorry for him, already!

Ed and i had the future phone bill talk this morning. about how i cant run it up. and how i said i will be calling my mother. period. and how he said...as long as the bill isn't like 400 dollars or something...and i said..i will be calling my mother. period. and then he said..but we cant get crazy with the phone bill and charge up tons of money...and well, u know what i said. :)

that's about all i got for ya. Germany wise. now all the other crap going on i could write for days...but i wont..i promised myself this would only be about the move..the biggest move of our lives..and I'm sticking to it.

Much Love!
Mwah!

In four weeks our express shipment will go out.
that will need to be 800 pounds. it will include everything we need immediately upon arrival. like pots and pans, winter clothes, a small TV, etc.
we will have 3 more shipments after that.
i have painted the walls. (touch up)
we have cancelled our utility services.
we have taken about 4 loads to the goodwill.
we bought Kay a new bedroom outfit, that can stand the move overseas.
the kids only have a few days of school left! this year flew by!
I'm so tired- already. i think i may be getting too old for this stuff! LOL!

XOXOXO

My friend in Germany just posted that as of June first, all officers will be required to live off post in Stuttgart. So- it looks like we will be living off post! its nice that i don't have to make that decision anymore. takes a load off.
but now I'm worried we wont find a house!!!!! since everyone will already be there looking for one- in the summer. and we wont be there till October 1st. we will just trust in God that He will have the perfect plan, and we wont worry about it. (hmm.)
Today has been all about my dogs. I called the military Vet to see what we have to do to get our dogs over there. there are 2 separate health certificates that they will need. one for the domestic flight over. and one for the Germans upon arrival.
the domestic will have to be gotten within 10 days of airline travel, and the German one within 4 months of arriving.
they will have to have rabies vacc. within 30 days of flying out as well.
its going to cost us, about 500 to ship both dogs and get their certificates and shots. the Army will not pay for our animals to go over. we were figuring a thousand, so in that case we are lucky. :)
they will not ship dogs in baggage between may and Sep. due to the heat. so they will be carry on luggage for us. i plan on getting them good and sedated before we fly out. i am glad they will be with us, and i wont have to worry about them under the plane afraid and cold.
i do think they will be under one of my kids feet instead of mine though. LOL!
i know there is so much more involved with this move, but for some reason i cant see beyond the flight!!!! well there are many reasons.
1. i am afraid to fly.
2. i am afraid to fly with 3 kids.
3. i am afraid to fly with 3 kids and 2 dogs.
4. i am afraid to fly.

XOXOX,
Kris

moving again

Well well well. I am still following Keri, and now i have a new friend on here i am also following. and then Sandra bullocks sister is on here too..she is a chef of pastry- and I'm addicted to her page too. so here i go. I'm gunna write again. one year later.
dads girlfriend-now wife- actually did die, and i did attend her funeral.
i saw Keri and Erin. woot woot!!!!
we visited st. louis.
we saw amelia earharts birthhome and toured it.
we went to a million outdoor malls.
we have had 3 surgeries in 8 months.
Kansas has been amazing.
family time galore! if your a military wife- u will know exactly what that means. there is no family time unless the Army issues it. and usually the Army does not. the first few months i never saw Ed, but after Thanksgiving, he was out of his hole in the basement where he goes to study. he was out of that hole, and with us. helping me clean and take care of the kids. and yes we can all *sigh* cause it was great. it IS great. we have not left yet. however every conversation is about us leaving. the plans we are making. the things we have to do and the stuff we have to throw away. how many days are left. how many weekends. what we can still do here. what we can visit. if we have time. do we have time? not so much. because moving to Germany is no small feat. and i have no small feet. (couldn't help that one sorry.)
we are not just moving to Germany. first we are moving to Virginia for 10 weeks. without our stuff. our stuff is moving to Germany in 4 weeks. bye stuff. bye blankets, and toys, and furniture. bye computers, and coffee pots. bye food, and bathtub toys. bye grill, and bye bed. we wont see you again for months and months and months. we don't know when we will meet again. it could be 6 months. it could be 3. it could be 10. as my heart starts racing faster and faster. omg. what are we going to do???!?!?!?! panic ends. *deep breaths*
we will live on post in a fully furnished town home on the navel base in Norfolk, VA. we are ALLOWED 500 pounds to come with us. i wonder how much 500 pounds is. i mean really. how am i supposed to know??!!! then they will come to VA and take that too. when we leave. ed will graduate from this class in VA on Sep 4. then we decided, the smart people that we are: we should go on a vacation after. and visit our family cause God knows I'm not flying back home with 3 kids on a 10 hour flight. so we will go to new york for about 5 days. then go to milledgeville to visit and spend a very long 3 weeks saying goodbye. the hope is- we will be so SICK of each other...that i will be looking forward to leaving for 3 years and never coming back. :)
then we will fly out of Atlanta, and my van will ship to Germany. we will arrive the next day- my van will not be as lucky. it will take 45 days for my van to get there.
right now we are learning the language, studying the international drivers licence test, and following others that have gone before us.
this whole Germany thing was my idea.
and i cant wait.
and I'm excited.
but i would be lying if i didn't say the prospect of a little (well not so little but so what) southern girl like me living in a foreign country doesn't scare the beejeesees out of me. i have always wanted to write beejeesees. but i didn't think i would spell it right. and i don't think i did. but whatever. my dream has come true.

much love- and thanks for following me. i will be here often. and inviting others to join me, it looks like the internet will be my only source of communication for quite some time.