When in Rome...

Do you remember that time when we were in Rome and driving to Pompei and I had to go to the bathroom? Really, really bad? And we'd been looking for gas station signs for miles and miles without any luck?

When all of a sudden we saw a guy pulled off to the side of the road peeing against the guard rail? And we were like, maybe we should pull over!

And there weren't any good bushes so I had to hide behind the guard rail while Julie held a blanket up around me. So no one could see me. Peeing.

While Diane took pictures, capturing the whole event forever on film?


Do you remember that? Yeah. Good times.

Aliens among us.

"Are you an alien?" my 5-year old nephew Ben asked me today.

"Nope," I replied.

"I think you're an alien," he insisted, his twin brother Tim shaking his head in agreement.

Trying to change the subject, I asked them if they knew who would be arriving soon.

"Who?" Ben and Tim asked eagerly.

"Diane is coming!" I told them.

"Is Diane your dad?" they wondered.

"No, she is my sister," I clarified.

"Are you sure she isn't your dad?" Tim wanted to know.

"Yep," I answered.

Tim and Ben turned to look at each other and Ben said, "I bet she's an alien too."

The Swiss Nursery ROCKS!

On Sunday I went with my sister to the nursery. I'm in the nursery at home, so I thought it would be a fun way to maybe get some new ideas.

To my surprise there were very few things the same about our two nurseries. Yes, we both have snack time. My sister baked bread (in an oven inside the nursery) and sliced up various fruits and veggies. Making the stale animal crackers we have, seem even more lame.

One more thing we have in common is play-doh. Well, I did try play-doh once. But one little boy kept eating it so I put it away and never tried it again. Here, they do play-doh every week and just let the kids eat it.

But that is where the similarities end.

Can I just say two words? Sand box. Yes, in Switzerland, they have a sand box in the nursery. How cool is that! My sister bought it and put it in there. If I were to bring a sand box into my nursery at home, I think they would completely freak out.

But the best part is the bikes. They have half a dozen bigwheels and baby strollers that the kids climb on and race down the halls when they take a "walk." I can just imagine how well this would go over in West Virginia.

I'm seriously thinking about trying out some of the great ideas I've seen here. Maybe a sandbox and a few bigwheels...Because, as my sister says, "The kids love it!" And that's all the reassurance I need.

And it may even ensure a speedy release from the nursery.

Feeling a bit jet-lagged, but loving every minute.

I think the second I landed in Switzerland, Julie's five-year-old boys started asking me questions. Wow, I've missed them.

"Are you my mom's brother?"

"Were you little the same time my mom was little?"

"Were you in my mom's tummy?"

I had thought we finally got it figured out when they declared: "Oh, so you are my mom's sister!"

But then I wasn't so sure...

"Are you a boy?" Tim wanted to know. "Because when you came to see us in England, you were a boy."

Julie left to pick up the older kids from school and Ben reached up to grab my hand. "So, I guess you're the boss now," he informed me.

I asked him who the boss usually was. "I'm the boss of me, Tim is the boss of Tim, and George is the boss of everyone," he answered.

And then the conversation changed. Which is one of the things I love most about these guys.

"Who made the world," Ben asked standing inches away from my face as I was trying to use the bathroom as discreetly as possible.

I told him that Heavenly Father made the world. "Did he die?" he wanted to know.

I reminded him about Easter and how Jesus was raised from the dead. "Oh yeah," Ben nodded his head, remembering. "That's when the Easter Bunny came to raise Jesus from the dead." Or something like that.