gammie, fruit peels, pictures, and washing machines

Long Weekend

Above you see Cole's latest toys...kitchen stuff! He has figured out how to open the small drawer underneath the oven that houses cookie sheets, wire racks, and cutting boards. Fun and loud! He also spends time rocking back and forth on his hands and knees...crawling is coming I think.

Last week was a crazy long weekend for the Franks! The VCS staff moms came over for brunch, Gary & Shelley Brumbaugh visited from China, and we hosted a small Thanksgiving dinner. Cole held a basketball on his own on Thanksgiving Day with our neighbor, Lauren, too. Then, Gammy Nancy and her friend Eileen arrived on Saturday for this week. Chris took them to a mass to hear the Vienna Boys Choir yesterday morning, and in the afternoon we all went to the Schoenbrunn Palace Christmas Market. More adventures coming, I'm sure!

Cole also turned 8 months old yesterday. 21.5 pounds and 29.5 inches long. What a growing boy!

WANTED: Packages

Cole's entertainment can be greatly improved by a simple box sent to him in the mail. Contents not necessary. Be sure to stress with the USPS that the package is going to Austria in Europe, not Australia.
See video below for benefits.



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Ikea Bags and More

So here are some highlights from our weekend...

1. Cole enjoyed hours (well...minutes) of playtime with a paper IKEA bag. He even loved hiding underneath it!

2. Chris used tin foil to get our Christmas lights to work. Then he called our maintenance savvy friend and decided that wasn't such a great plan.

3. Cole saw a picture of me on the picture slideshow on our computer and said, "mamamamamamamamamam." Very Cool for me!

4. Cole's favorite snack lately is book edges. No wonder the make board books for little kids who eat as much as goats do.

5. Chris played in a volleyball tournament with some guys from school on Saturday and had a lot of fun.

6. I decided to give Cole a few bites of fish and a few bites of cheese to eat with his fingers. He liked them both! He's WAY into eating by himself, and almost all of the food makes it in the mouth, even tiny peas and edamame.

7. My mom sent us a box with goodies like Cheerios, but it was sent to AUSTRALIA. Yep, Sydney. Postal workers! The box supposedly left Sydney on October 26, but we have yet to see this mystery box.

Video Crazy

Cole makes this noise so often that we had to capture it on video.

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Yay for dinner! We love clapping hands!

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Friends & Family

Our friends Mike and Becky had twin boys in August. They live in Flagstaff, AZ, and used to work with us here in Vienna. Here are the McTwins...Jason and Trenton McDonald. Rebecca Morrissey came over to trick or treat the day before Halloween. She dressed up, as you can see, and Cole loved laughing at her. He really does laugh at everything. And check out the drool patch on Cole's shirt! It's a daily occurrance.
Carrington, Misi, Bubba, and Leighton at Leighton's ballet.

Dinner Last Night

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Feeling Better

We've been sick since Thursday. Yuck. All of us BUT Cole, that is. Today, though, we're back to almost 100%. Chris is at work, and Cole and I went to the Naschmarkt for sweet potatoes. Since today we're all feeling better, I decided to give Cole a few lumps of cottage cheese, like my Super Baby Food book suggests. We had a great time! More mess than in the mouth, but full of discovery. I think the next time the cottage cheese will go in the mouth with a spoon!

Cole the Cat

He's already a drumming machine. A special shout out to Grandbob!



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Joke O. Heute

Been wondering who or what "Heute" is? Maybe so. It means "today" in German.

Onward...

What does a pig put on his cut?




Oinkment.

Aaaarrrrgggggghhhhh

That's frustrating.
I was trying to be all sneaky and clever with the 15 different things I just posted. But I was thwarted. If you're willing to humor me, scroll down two thirds of the page to the post titled "Austria and more". Read that post, and then go up one post at a time.
If you read from top to bottom like normal, it won't be nearly as much fun.

enjoy :)

Unbelievable!

"That's impossible, Chris and Anne! You couldn't have made it to all of those places in 4 days. Plus, aren't you on support? I'm not so sure you should be blowing all of that money on those travels."
You're right - it is impossible. We didn't do it.
But we we did do was go to Minimundus. It's in Klagenfurt, which is in Carinthia.

Hope you enjoyed the "trip"

Last stop...

New York! We were running out of time, and we were feeling pretty wiped out by this time. So we hit up the Statue of Liberty and then flew back to Vienna. What a trip!!!

Launch!

The space shuttle launch was also pretty impressive up close!

Going east

At this point, we couldn't back track to the amazing West coast, so we had to hit up the East coast. How about Cape Canaveral, FL? Cole was mesmerized by the Space Shuttle.

Literally around the world

Since we were halfway around the world, we figured we could swing by the United States.
First stop, Colorado - where the Native American cliff dwellers used to live.

G'Day Mate!

We made it to Sydney! Maybe it was the jetlag, but I thought that the harbor around the Sydney Opera House was a little bigger.

a quick stop

So on our way to Sydney, we had a layover in India. We figured we should take the opportunity and see the Taj Mahal. When else would we be in India?

Who are you kiddin?

At this point, we had only spent 2 days of our 4 day break. The beauty of modern technology and transportation. On the way back to Vienna on the Autobahn, we came upon Munich. For some reason, it occured to us that Lufthansa has cheap flights out of Munich - in particular to the land down under...

Back home to Vienna

After all of this craziness, we decided to head home. But on the way home, we realized we could just take a short trip off of the Autobahn in Germany and see Neuschwanstein Castle.

Vive le France!

Once you're in Pisa and Rome, how can you not swing by Paris? We wouldn't know. The good 'ol Eifel Tower and the Arch of Triumph.

Italia!

So, I've never been to the leaning tower of Pisa, so we had to make it there. I mean, Cole needs to experience the world right?

Back to Europe

The unrest in the Middle East made Anne a little uncomfortable (although it was nice and warm), so we headed back to Italy. Last time Anne was there, she tried to get in to the Vatican in Rome with shorts on. No dice, little one. But this time, we were properly clothed.

More travels

But then, it's not so hard to rationalize and just take another short flight over to Jordan. Carpe diem! Remember that scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? I was anxious to go there to the Rock of Petra.

and more

we thought - we're only a couple hours away by plane from Greece, why not go? So we did and the Acropolis was amazing!

Austria and more

So VCS has a fall break each year, which works out to be a 4 day weekend. Anne and I wanted to go to a nice calm relaxing place by a lake in a beautiful part of Austria called Carinthia. So we did. It was beautiful and this picture doesn't do it justice - not included in this picture is the Wörther See (a huge lake) and tons of mountains in the distance.

Winter is coming!

We decided this year to buy a small, potted evergreen tree to be our Christmas tree. Since we had a rental car for our little Fall Break vacation last weekend (more on that later...), we took advantage of the car's trunk and bought the tree early. Fun! We ventured out to run some errands today, and since the beautiful fall weather is officially over, I broke out the winter city garb. It's the thing in Austria to get a stroller sleeping bag since city life demands being outside so often. So, ours is ready to go. Cole's hat reminds me of the hat my Uncle John wore when he told the fish story in Northern Michigan. Anyone remember?

Back by popular demand

We went to the park today and knew that some of you would be anxious to see more video of the Cole meister. It's a windy day so it's a noisy video, but it is still cute. enjoy


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Joke O. Heute

What is a cat's favorite thing to read?




A catalog.

New Video!

We're trying something new with this video thing! Cole & Chris had fun after dinner tonight. Our friend Lauren was over, too, and got to see the show. In the background, we're trying to sprout avocado pits. Chris's new venture...we'll see!Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Joke O. Heute

Where do very smart hot dogs end up?




On honor rolls.

Park!

It seems like the park is our new hang out. It's close. It's free. Cole laughs at other kids doing silly things on the slide or at dogs that bark and frolic around. The weather has been amazing. The swing is Cole's favorite, especially when I make faces or jump.

A fun Sunday...and a talk on the phone

Joke O. Heute

Where do you find prehistoric cows?




In a mooseum.

Joke O. Heute

What does a chicken and a band have in common?




They both have drum sticks.

Give Us Today

Our Daily Bread...

We're studying the Lord's Prayer in elementary chapel at VCS, and above you see today's lesson. The VCS elementary drama club did a great skit about how God provided food for thousands of people from a boy 's meager 2 fish and 5 loaves. Then, I shared about how God provided manna, quail, and water for the complainer Israelites as they traveled in the desert led by Moses. Two great reminders of true ways God provided for his people many years ago. I tried to communicate to the kids that when we feel like God will leave us hangin', we can remember these stories of God's provision, and trust that his promise to provide for us IS really true.
The kids at VCS have few visible needs, so it's hard to communicate to them about God as a provider. So we makeshifted. Instead of a need for lunch, maybe they need a good friend. Instead of a need for a winter coat or a backpack, maybe they need help with their multiplication facts.
All in all, the point of teaching in chapel is to fill kids' brains with truth from the Bible, and give them an opportunity to understand more about this Almighty God who, out of love, sent his son to die, so that WE could be free.
Chapel is such a fun way for me to still be involved at VCS this year. My 20 minutes make me the most part time staffer there is, but it's worth it.
Thanks for making it happen that the little Frank family can live and work in Austria. Your support is priceless to us.

Learning Central

Behold the changing table in Cole's room! The missing left bin on the bottom holds toys.

The bottom right bin holds extra diapers and wipes. The bare necessities.

When the toy bin used to emerge from it's home, I would take out a toy or two for Cole to play with. I'd put those back and pull out news ones based on Cole's disinterest factor. Little mess. NOW, though, Cole pulls out each toy one by one. He holds it in his right hand, and he bangs it with his left. If sound comes out, he plays with it. If not, he tastes it. If it's chewy or satisfying to his ever teeth cutting gums, he gnaws it. If neither option is successful, he reaches into the bin for the next victim.

Chris and I continue to wonder and marvel at the fact that Cole learns and discovers so many new things every day. He knows now to tip the cup up and lean his head back to get water. He knows now to pick up the food on his tray and stuff it into his mouth, albeit he still doesn't know portion control. He knows how to bang Chris's drum to get sound to come out, and most often while playing with a spoon (since no eating happens unless we each have our own spoon) he knows which end brings food to the mouth.

Cole chooses his next victim from the toy bin.

The toys return home. We haven't learned yet how to return the toys to the bin. Another day, another lesson, I guess. For now, it's nap time.

Joke O. Heute

How do mules open locked barns?



With a don-key.

Joke O. Heute

Why did the little mouse run away from home?




Because his father was a rat.

Crispy's New Deal

Chris got a new camera for his birthday in August. My mom brought it over a few weeks ago when she visited, so now we have some new shots to reveal from the last couple weeks. Pictures are coming...

Joke O. Heute

What is an owl's favorite school subject?


Owl-gebra

Rechargable

Batteries here in Vienna are a lot more expensive than in the US. This didn't really bother me cause I hardly need them. All of a sudden, though, we have a growing stash of little kid toys that require: (you guessed it) batteries. It seems like every couple of weeks we're needing new ones and just letting some toys go without the batteries. It makes me think - "Hey, Cole won't notice that this fire truck is supposed to honk and make noises." Maybe he's smarter than I think. So, I'm realizing this might push us over the edge of disposable ones into rechargable.

But then again, maybe the recharger and fancy schmancy batteries will be too expensive.

For Bubba

Bubba (Chris's dad) gave Cole these wooden animals before he was born. We put magnets on them, and they've been sticking to the top of the door frame to Cole's room. UNTIL TODAY. We pulled them down, Cole loved pulling the magnets off, and I had fun teaching him the animal sounds that go with each one. Meow, quack, moo, ribbit, oink...you can imagine the BIG fun we had. Makes you want to come over, huh?

curious cole

Cole & Omi

Catch Up

We have a lot of catching up to do. The BIGGEST event in our lives recently is that Omi came for a visit. We hung out a lot, played at the park, cooked, and shopped. Chris and I had 3 DATES in one week. We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary and Omi's birthday during her visit, too.
Now we're back to regular old life around Vienna. Yesterday we went to the Prater park, and today we went to the mall for a quick errand. This Friday night is Fall Festival at VCS, a HUGE event each year. All VCS families are invited to bring food from their countries, and enjoy games, hang out time, and a musical performance by the kids, K-12.

Happy 8th Birthday Leighton!!

We hope your birthday is WONDERFUL and full of special things!

We miss you!

Cole played a birthday song on daddy's drum for you this morning!