Break!

My German class + two little boys have been keeping me so busy, I haven't felt like I've had time to blog. This week I have the week off for Fasching (i.e.. Carnival, Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday and all that stuff), so I'm finally getting a break! James still has Kindergarten Wednesday-Friday this week, so David and I are getting to spend lots of time together. It's been cold and snowy outside so most of our time spent together has been indoors. This bad weather reminds me once again how grateful I am for this apartment. A year ago we were still in the terrible blue apartment with the spiral staircase, and days spent inside because of cold weather were just miserable!

My German class has finally started to go pretty well. After about 2 weeks of tears, David decided he was totally happy in his little class, and he leaves me every morning without any fuss at all. I've even stopped sending him in pull-ups, and he'll use the toilet for his teachers. I find the class to move a little slower than would be my preference, but it's actually really good because it means I don't have to do a lot of studying at home, and I don't find myself having a hard time keeping up. I still do try to study at home, but helps to not feel like I have to or risk falling behind.

It's very interesting though, learning a new language. I probably speak the worst, or close to the worst of anyone in my class, my vocabulary isn't very good, and I'm just not that comfortable rattling off sentences. However, when it comes to being able to learn the material we're given, I'm definitely near the top of the class. I usually don't make a lot of mistakes on assignments and tests, and usually get the answers right when the teacher asks a question. Often my classmates don't really seem to understand at all what we're supposed to be learning. And yet, when they're relaxed and chatting with each other, they do really well. I'm hoping that in the long run, this will pay off for me, and I'll eventually be able to speak German fairly well, and have a good concept of the grammar rules. I also think I'll have an easier time taking the test at the end of the course, since in general I seem to have an easier time with tests and assignments. However, in the short run, my general ability to communicate is definitely not as good, and that can be frustrating.

We've made a big decision in the last few weeks. As much as we enjoy riding the subway everywhere and the freedoms that come with that, we really miss our car, and the freedom that comes with being able to drive wherever you want to go. We've decided to pursue buying a used car, with the idea that we can sell it in a few years when we leave without loosing too much money in the process. Tomorrow we're planning to head in to Munich to see about trading our drivers licenses for German ones. As Coloradan's, we're lucky that we get to just trade our licenses rather than having to endure expensive tests and driving classes that people from some states have to deal with.

We've been around the house a lot lately because of snow and cold weather, so we've been doing lots of "projects." Here are some pictures the boys playing with bath-tub paint and homemade play-doh!

Snow on the mailbox!

Bath paints

They had such a ball with this!

James requested orange and "teal" play-doh