Ex Ex Pat Scheiners

Here is a photo of the first time we went into London as a family a few days after we arrived to begin our ex-pat experience as well as a photo of the last time we went into London as a family a few days before we ended our ex-pat experience.  The kids all look so much more mature and worldly.  What an amazing 5 years and 8 months it was. I remember feeling anxious and unsure about what to expect, but even more than anxious, I felt excited and grateful for the chance to experience living in a different country and the opportunity for the kids to understand the diversity of the world. Moving back here to Louisville has been different than any of the other moves.  For the first time, I moved to a place that was familiar and already like home.  Although we moved into a different neighborhood, I still know where the closest Kroger and Target are; I know the schools that the kids will attend; I know which doctors to call for appointments.   While Louisville is m...

The struggles I have are very minor compared to many people out there who are struggling to pay bills, sort out childcare, mourn the loss of loved ones.  And I have so many reasons to be thankful! Being here in Louisville with my mom is what I am most grateful for right now.  She is mourning the loss of her dear friend who had a long battle with lung cancer.  I am so thankful the kids and I can be here to distract her and spend time with her.  She came over last week, and brought some tulip bulbs for us to plant, which was good.  The dirt here is SO full of clay, I got a great arm workout with the bulb planter. Here are few thoughts from me today. The struggle to get out of bed everyday, because my bed is so warm and cozy and it's dark outside.  Thankfully, I have a dog who greets me with a wagging tail and lots of kisses and I have coffee to help me welcome the morning.  And a husband who does not usually leave for work until after 8 AM. The struggle ...

 NTI.....Non-Traditional Instruction (aka the kids are all back at home to learn.)  Apparently it also stands for Nuclear Threat Initiative, as in there is a threat of WW III in my house at times!   I will say I am enjoying being able to sleep in, as I don't have to wake Drew up until 7 AM now because his day starts with a morning meeting at 7:45 AM.  Drew has periodic lessons with his teacher over Google meet and then they do assignments either on line or in their books and then re-convene later.  His teacher always starts the meet a few minutes early in the morning so they can get all their chatting out, which is a great idea for 8/9 year olds.  And she always starts the day with a riddle. The girls get awoken around 9, as their first meet us not until 10.  Alison made an interesting comment yesterday that she didn't recognise one of the boys in her class because he didn't have a mask on.  How strange that they have never seen each others s...

It is now 6 days post election day, and the votes have finally been counted, and the right candidate has been deemed the winner.  It was so powerful watching Kamala Harris' speech.  Here are a few snippets of her inspiring speech: You chose hope, unity, decency, science, and, yes, truth. Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities. And to the children of our country, regardless of your gender, our country has sent you a clear message: Dream with ambition, lead with conviction, and see yourself in a way that others might not see you, simply because they’ve never seen it before. And Joe Biden spoke the words you expect from a president about uniting the nation, healing the racism and the racial divide that has become the norm in our country. It is no surprise that the current president has not conceded, and is demanding a recount only  in the certain states where he thought he would win.  How could people have voted for someo...

 Late October....hard to believe this crazy year is nearly over.  We had some fun in the last few days of October! David turned 40 on October 29, and we hosted a family party to help him celebrate.  I am so thankful that we were able to celebrate his birthday in person!!!  We had Taziki's (Greek food) that was super yummy and we did Jackson's favourite thing: Kahoots!  Since he is just starting to read, he types random letters and it is anyone's guess.  It works out best because then Jackson is in control and doesn't have to worry about coming in second, and it's an even playing field for everyone else.  I totally love entertaining! David and Blair had a weekend away in Paris, KY and Jackson stayed with my mom for the weekend. Friday, mom and Jackson came over before Drew came home from school and it was nice because Drew got to spend some time with the girls.  He was enjoying watching Lauren play SIMS.  Alison and Mum Mum did some work on he...

 Last weekend, we had a couple more firsts: our first houseguests and our first family dinner!  And Brad's first time using his Komodo Joe. David, Blair & Jackson came up for the weekend.  They were officially the first people to sleep in our guest room and on the trundle in Drew's bed.  Drew and Jackson had a big time playing Rocket League on the Xbox, playing with David's disc golf outside, and playing football with our neighbour Bennett.  They were so happy to have each other!  I am so happy to see them playing together. For our first family dinner, we had David, Blair and Jackson; Mum Mum; and Andi, Christian and Levi.  It was so nice to have some of the family in our house.  I made lasagna and my mom made a salad.  After dinner, we used our firepit for S'mores.  We need to work on our first starting abilities, but everyone enjoyed the s'mores.  I remembered why I kept a few of the kids old toys: for Levi!  He had a big...

The kids are fully into their activities now.  Drew is enjoying his new soccer club, Elite FC.  He has practice two days a week, and games on Saturday.  The park where they train is massive!  It reminds both Brad and I of Richmond Park.  I even saw deer there yesterday!  They do teams by year here, so Drew is on the 11 team as he was born in 2011.  Which means that he is one of the youngest, and also one of the smallest, but he doesn't let that deter him. And Alison has said that she enjoys her new gym more than her old gym, which I am so happy to hear.  She wasn't so keen at the start.  She has her first practice meet next weekend, so they have been learning their routines.  She has now decided that bars is her favourite apparatus, but she still really dislikes the vault.  They keep the springboard a bit far from the mat for her liking.  It makes me happy to see her back doing what she loves. We are hoping to find a drama clas...