Laurel Elisabeth Stevens

Editor’s note: I typed this on my iPhone en route from Houston to Hannover in August of 2011.  At the end of this flight, in the Munich airport Henry ran a few steps to sit by me, but ended up hitting his head on the row of metal seats.  A trip by airport ambulance to the airport clinic added an extra stop and meant missing our connecting flight.  That’s another story.  Indulge me in reliving some thoughts from over a year ago . . . Wednesday, August 17 2011 Sitting on airplane at 10 pm Houston time. Both kids are asleep with their heads on my lap. It is picturesque, but it only happened after I refused to get Henry a snack because I had just fallen asleep when he woke me to say his movie was done. "I want something to eat!" It should come as a relief that he is hungry, but I was hoping to regain my sleep state and told him he'd have to wait. Really this has been an easy trip so far. But it started with some anxiety. We woke up this morning at 6:3...

I woke up this morning (Saturday) before 6 AM suddenly remembering "Our internet is being cut off today!"  I nearly jumped out of bed and ran to the computer.  I needed to write.  (and post).  Our computer will be packed up on Monday, so losing these two things brings me right back to where I was in those early days in Celle, except not quite.  I still have my iPhone.  But that brings up the age gap--I just don't see myself blogging from my iPhone.  But who knows.  The need to post our progress might just drive me to it.  Usually, however, it is better if I put a little bit of distance between the actual events and the blog post--it's more fun for you to read. This week has been quite an emotional roller coaster, not so much the nostalgic kind, but the kind of emotion that comes when everything seems to be going wrong.  Most of the problems have to do with leaving this house and getting to the next one.  But we have a lot of good ...

Elisabeth has been excited about playing piano in the school talent show but I just found out that the auditions are the day we are flying back to the U.S.  I wonder if this news will bring her first tears regarding our move. So far I think the kids are taking it easier than we are.  They don’t think all these big thoughts like, “We thought we’d be here longer” or “What will the transition be like?” or “Will Henry keep his German?  Will any of us keep our German?”  They don’t yet know or anticipate the ache that is left after saying good-bye to dear friends who have not only helped us through a difficult transition, but have brought a dimension to our stay that we never could’ve imagined.  The kids are thinking about the new house, returning to Elisabeth’s piano teacher, homeschooling, VBS at Grace, new gymnastics classes, friends, friends, friends.  I asked Elisabeth what she will be most sad about leaving here, and she said, “Friends!”...

This evening I was fixing dinner and suddenly Henry cried out, “You have to clean my boots!”  I said, “I have to?  I think you have to.”  “Okay, but can you help me?”  He went and got Elisabeth and I gave them a brush and a rag, and they got to work.  I thought it was a really cute scene, the two of them cleaning their boots for St. Nikolaus.  I’ve never made it a point to foster our children’s belief in Santa Claus, but the St. Nikolaus tradition somehow seemed more grounded in reality, maybe because his name wasn’t changed around so much.  Last year Elisabeth asked if she could put out her boots and I said sure.  So this year they took it for granted that they would do so again, and so did I.  I just sort of figured they knew I filled the boots. Boot Cleaning The kids were cleaning away, and I’ve never seen Henry so concerned about the cleanliness of his boots.  Then suddenly he cried out, “What if my boots aren’t cle...

Intriguing Walk I’m in love with the heath.  In the guide book this place kept grabbing my attention from our earliest arrival.  Finally as my birthday approached I told the family that is where we would go to celebrate.  So, against German custom (celebrating early is bad luck) we drove to Lüneberger Heide for my “birthday outing” as our family is beginning to term these little trips. It started out poorly.  In spite of my enthusiasm, I hadn’t planned well.  I just figured we would go exploring.  There is a large nature park that encompasses part of the heath (Heide), so during the one hour drive I was looking at the website on my iPhone and telling John where to go, continually revising our plan.  Nevertheless, we arrived in good time and parked. But was it chilly!  I guess the house was warm when we got dressed, and the sun was shining, so half the family left without coats, and only one fourth of the family had a jacket that might r...

In February when I was making reservations for an apartment in Amsterdam, I made a phone call about a canal apartment.  The owner, an American, told me, “Oh no, that’s not available.  That’s Queen’s Day weekend.  You know it’s Queen’s Day, right?” No, I didn’t. What was Queen’s Day?  The only thing I could gather from Ms. Marshall was that it would be a crazy day celebrating the Queen’s birthday, and everyone would be in Amsterdam.  Luckily, her other apartment was available so we booked it.  Later, when talking to our Dutch friends we told them we’d be in Amsterdam on Queen’s Day.  The husband’s response was exuberant: “Oh you’ll be there on Queen’s Day?  That’s terrific.  That’s awesome.  You’ll love it.  That will be great.” The wife’s response was a bit more subdued.  “Well, you could go to a smaller town where there will still be a celebration but not as crowded as Amsterdam.”  She also told us places in Amsterdam wh...

Make sure you know what your children are reading!  Here we have The Daring Book for Girls and  The Dangerous Book for Boys Finally posting this a week and a half after the fact: It was another beautiful sunny day here in Hannover yesterday.  Watch out!  Those are days of unseen adventure! We decided to stay home from church.  Henry was coughing and sneezing still and, well, frankly it is hard to be consistent these days.  So we had a nice morning at home--enjoying our togetherness, our last day together before routine resumes (see, I have still skipped the sight seeing!)  We had pancakes, and then we read a Bible story and acted it out together.  The kids were coloring pictures and I was reading.  But it was too nice to stay inside, so we went for a brisk and cold walk together.  I was so happy to be walking and having energy!  It felt good to get fresh air. We came back home, Elisabeth headed upstairs to tend to her dolls and ...