Schluchter Family: Recent Happenings

This past month has been really crazy for us. Didier was gone for 10 days. Then he was home for a little less than a week. Then gone again for 6 days, home for 4 and gone again for 4. It's never all that fun (for me) with him traveling because I don't ever really get a break. But on top of that, the first week he was gone, the washing machine broke while I was washing the first if 5 loads of laundry. I looked in the Owner's Manuel and the code that was blinking was the only code listed without an easy fix. By the code, it stated to call customer service immediately. Needless to say, my washing machine was broken for a week.
The second week he was gone, both the car and the dishwasher broke. The car would not accelerate and was producing a HUGE cloud of black smoke. The one time I drove to the store (normally 4 minutes away), the car was shaking and stuttering and smelled like it was on fire. The drive home was even worse, and took nearly 3 times as long. Didier took it to get fixed when he got home, and 3000 CHF later, the car is completely fixed (including new brakes and a new speaker) and serviced .
When the dishwasher broke, it was even more spectacular. Generally we'll start the dishwasher before we go to bed (electricity is cheaper at night) and I started it at 10pm, so when I woke up to feed the babies at 2:30am and I could hear the dishwasher still running, I got worried. When I went into the kitchen, there was water all over the floor. In fact there was so much water on the floor that the floorboards had become waterlogged and warped. I then spent the next hour (after I fed the boys) trying to fix it, clean up the water, and eventually just trying to turn the blasted thing OFF. Nothing I tried worked. Opening the door didn't turn it off. Turning the power off worked, but it started up again once I turned the power back on. The Manuel was less than helpful because the code it was flashing wasn't even listed in there. I eventually just unplugged it. The next morning, after talking to Didier and my landlady, I called customer service (again) and someone came out 3 days later. The machine was so broken that it was cheaper to replace it. I went a total of 8 days with out a dishwasher before the new one came and was installed. Now I just have to wait for the people to come replace the floor.

Other than these annoyances, we had some good times. Here are some Pics.

You can't really tell from this picture, but when the boys look at each other, they both start LAUGHING!! It is so cute.

Liam after his nap

Dominic after his nap

Menja had her 4th birthday the day before the Swiss National Day, so (almost) the whole Schluchter family got together to celebrate at Michael and Martina's. The kids played in the swimming pool, there was lots of food and good conversation (in 3 languages). The best part was that the men took all the kids to the park between lunch and dinner so that we women could nap. Wonderful.

Liam with Grandmami

Dominic and Grandpapi

Menja, Emily, and Malena playing in the pool

Dominic and Uncle Mika

Playing with Chalk

Sitting on the patio at M&M's

Didier brought a ton of products home after his meetings and Emily decided that this box was her new favorite toy.

Here's all three kids chillin' in the living room.

I bought finger paints last week and, remembering all the fun times I had as kid with finger paints, thought that Emily would really enjoy painting. Well, she LOVED it. I on the other hand realized that it makes a HUGE mess that takes FOREVER to clean. Her she is just enjoying herself:

The finished product

Liam and Dominic love looking at each other.

The boys have gotten to the point where they will NOT sleep unless I am holding them. They don't sleep for Didier, they don't fall asleep in their bed. That Dominic fell asleep in the swing was a total fluke. He really doesn't do that often. Liam is trying to stay awake in the bouncy.

We had Kelsey over this week so that Emily could have someone to play with. I think the girls had a really great time. Plus my life is easier when Emily has someone to play with. I think she's just bored most of the time with me and the boys. Here's a small example of what they were doing.

Drawing/coloring is so much fun! Especially when there's someone to draw with you. Notice that the toys are all over the floor in the background.