I've been tagged!

So I've been kinda behind on blogging, but I'm finally getting around to writing about Loralee's tag. I don't think my answers will be that interesting, but here we go!
Age- 27
Cool places I've been- This isn't really a fair question for someone who grew up in Germany. I've been to basically everywhere in Europe. I liked England because everyone spoke english! I went and got a piece of the Berlin wall with my family (we were there when it came down). I went to Czech Republic and Slovakia when it was still Czechoslovakia. I've been to all the major tourist cities and museums. The farthest east I've gone is Romania. Some of my favorite less-known destinations were Cinque Terra in Italy (REALLY beautiful and authentic), Rheinfels fortress on the Rhine river in Germany (we'd often go exploring through the many tunnels there), Malta, and Mallorca. Every Christmas we still go back and spend some time in Germany with Matt's mom and a week in a nice Gasthaus in Austria so week can ski and snowboard all day.
As far as in the USA, I really like NYC, Boston, DC, Niagra, Palmyra, Kirtland, the Grand Canyon, San Diego, Ocean City/NJ, Maple Canyon/UT, and Albequerque (jk-we got snowed in there once when traveling).

Places I'd like to go- Africa for sure. All of Asia.

Hobbies- I like to read, scrapbook, blog, make cards, paint, work on my book, help other people out (like making dinners), run/work out, brainstorm ways to solve the worlds problems (I'm serious), hanging out with the girls, cooking and eating, and a new favorite- karate (who wouldn't like punching and kicking things)

Favorite place- anywhere I can have a good time. Home is #1.

Weaknesses- Dessert- I eat dessert everyday. Cheesy love stories- nothing like a romantic movie. Oprah- I have to watch every show. Black eyeliner and mascara- now that I'm getting older I should probably lighten up, but if I'm gonna bother putting it on you are gonna see it! Matt in regular, nice clothes- he is in scrubs all the time!

Bad Habbits- I don't think I have any REALLY bad habbits. I like to eat the cookie dough when I'm baking. I feed too many scraps to our dog. I forget things I'm supposed to do (only since having kids). I don't always wash my hands before I eat. I leave the clean dishes in the dishwasher until the sink is full of dirty ones. I'm sure Matt could tell you a lot more.

Fun Memories- I have a lot of fun memories growing up, in college, and in married life. I try to have fun everyday, so this would take way too long to blog about.

Now I guess I TAG Anna, Kendra, and Sherrie

Halloween

The week before Halloween it was FREEZING. We were so lucky that it warmed up over 60 on Halloween day. During the day we took treats to Andrew's preschool class and later we all went to Matthew's class party. It was so much fun.

This year Matthew was Iron Man. Andrew was Spiderman. Owen was Buzz Lightyear. With all three of them trick-or-treating they actually brought home a lot of candy. Matt took the boys and I stayed to pass out candy. Our city schedules trick-or-treating from 6-8pm. They were gone the full 2 hours. Matt said Andrew and Owen were done but Matthew just wanted to go,go,go! He also said that Andrew was really talkative at every house, a good sign that he was really happy! Per tradition they came home, watched a Halloween cartoon and got to eat as much candy as they wanted. Now I'm in charge of passing out a piece of candy here and there. Last year's candy lasted almost the entire year. I guess this year we'll have to finish it before we move in the summer!

Tia's Halloween Party

Tia's adult-only Halloween party is really one of the hightlights of the year. It is such a great time. There is ton's of food, decorations, games, and of course everyone is in costume. Matt likes to pike our costumes. Last year we were superheros. This year we were Adam and Eve. Nothing like being in full spandex all night! Anyway, we had a great time and won the prize for best couple, so I guess it was a clever idea. The only problem was my leaves kept falling off! I'll have to figure something out if we ever wear these again. Matt didn't win the donut eating competition this year, but I won the huge jar of starbursts. We will definately have to keep this up wherever we end up. Thanks Tia- it was a blast!

Carving the Pumpkin

We love carving the pumkin. My favorite part is cleaning it out because the boys want to do it, but really don't want to do it. It is pretty funny. I always make them put their hand in at least once. This year Andrew was the one that was really grossed out. And this year Anubis kept trying to eat the stuff. All in all, it was a lot of fun and Matt's monster carving turned out really well!

A sad goodbye

Rudy, my family's dog, came to live with us last spring. He loved it with us in Cleveland (except the cold). The kids loved him and he loved getting lots of rubs and food scraps spilled off the table. He even learned how to tolerate Anubus. In the last month he started getting pretty sick. His siezures happened much more frequently, his joints were sore, he was having a hard time chewing, just to name a few problems. I could tell it was pretty bad when he started doing a lot of things that were out of character. He was old, but it was still a really sad day a couple weeks ago when he was put to sleep. We prepared the boys as well as we could. They were all sad. When we explained that it would be better for him because he wouldn't be in pain anymore, Matthew asked if we could put Anubus to sleep also. Andrew was ok once we said that Rudy's spirit would still be alive. When they came home from school Matthew wanted to know where Rudy's body went and could we go to his grave to make sure he wasn't still alive. So, it was overall very sad for them, but they handled it very well and learned some emotional coping skills. There were a few days that were pretty sad where the kids kept forgetting that Rudy was gone and Anubus kept looking for him also, but we've mostly moved past that. They still occassionally talk about him- especially Owen who doesn't really understand he is gone- and we all miss him. It was great to have him with us, even for a short time.

Owen's birthday

Owen started the day with Dunkin Donuts- we drive by the store everday on the way to school and he is always asking for some. He got to pick the day's activities and meals. His daddy made it home from an interview in time for his party. He had a few toys to open and he wanted more donuts and icecream for his party. I can't believe he is already 2 years old. Here are a few things that I love about Owen.

1. He is such a crowd pleaser. Everyone who meets him thinks he is so cute. He is very friendly and makes people happy.

2. When I take him to the gym day care and pick him up an hour later he always is so happy to see me and asks me, "Mommy, did you have good exercising?" He likes to know how others are doing/feeling. He is always happy to see his family.

3. He is a great eater. (Anyone who is a mom knows how great this is.)

4. He is sooooo ticklish.

5. When I'm gone he always asks where I am. He doesn't cry, he just notices I'm not there.

6. He is really smart and has a lot to say.

7. He sometimes sings to himself in the car.

8. He tries to tell knock-knock jokes.

9. He loves animals, especially our dogs. It is really funny that he is often telling Anubus what to do- "No, Anubus... Down Anubus... Kennel!"

10. He loves to snuggle and give hugs, but is also really tuff.

We love the zoo

I've realized that where ever we are going we may not be near some of the things we have been near while here in Cleveland- like the zoo. We love going to the zoo and will really miss it when we leave!