How can I make this move easier for my girls?

This question has been on my mind ever since we decided to pull this off. They are the most important part of my life (besides Peter that is, but I know he will be fine) and they seem to be so vulnerable at times that I feel I need to protect them from any harm this move might cause for them, mostly emotionally and psychologically. Their initial reaction was "Mommy, we are NOT moving with you!", which was pretty much what I expected. Then they started to get excited once they got more and more information, pictures, descriptions and all. They started to ask me questions, like "do all houses in Germany have basements" or "what else do you like about Germany, besides being able to walk everywhere?" or "can we take uncle Benny with us?" or "what if our toys sink to the bottom of the sea?" or "do they have French Toast Sticks in Germany?".
So I am trying to answer most of the questions to the best of my knowledge and with lots of optimism and fun. I reassure them that they will be fine, that everybody around them will try to make their live happy and healthy (Laura said the other day that her life was "perfect" before she heard the news about moving, now is is just "kind of happy"!).

When I wrote that I am "trying to answer the questions with optimism" I mean that sometimes I have to force myself to sound upbeat and excited about the whole adventure. Like when we went trick-o-treating at the marsh walk and the trunk-o-treat event on the way home, I almost wanted to say "Girls, this was great, lets do that again next year!" but then the sentence got stuck in my throat, once I realized there will be no more trick-o-treating next year, no more pumpkins to carve or neighborhoods to be roamed for treats and sweets. Natalie even asked if she could be a hamster next year, and I answered a short "Sure, pumpkin!", not going into details of mardi grass as the only time for kids to dress up in Germany, the non existing tradition of Halloween and how she would have to dress a lot warmer than this year, because Mardi Grass is usually at a time of year where the day time highs are barely above freezing point!
To make it short, the last few days I realized that some things we will be experiencing for the "last time" now. The count down began and most likely this was our last Halloween, it will be our last Thanksgiving (even though I plan to keep it up once there) and the last Christmas season in the US!

When ever I feel blue, I start a project :)

So when Laura showed some some items from one of her favorite toy magazines I got all excited and thought that this might be a great idea: Building a 3D model of our new house, so the girls would be able to visualize their new home a little better, so they could play pretend and decorate it a little bit, with landscaping and all.

So sure enough, after school the other day we went on a quest to find some empty cardboard boxes at the dollar store and the lady there was super nice and gave us a whole bunch:

As you can see by the light, the cutting, glueing and assembling took way, way longer than I expected and it he wasn't until after the girls were asleep that the house finally took shape:

No front windows yet, no stairs leading into the house ...

still would like to make the garage on this side, add the little bathroom window...

wait till you see this:

the roof opens up to reveal the interior of the second floor, ha, ha. You can see the big bedroom to the left, that lead to the roof top terrace, that Laura has picked out for her. And then there is two smaller bedrooms on the right, one of which had that ugly vanity. The tiny little room in the front of the staircase/hallway is the upstairs bathroom, that will have a little shower, sink and toilet.

again, with a little bit more light!

the bedroom to the upper right has no heating yet, but will get a radiator in a few weeks as part of a general renovation of the heating and plumming system.

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enough for the night, time to wrap it up and go to sleep

I am not sure if my enthusiasm for this project will last, but I will try to finish the first floor, cut the windows and put the whole house on a piece of cardboard property :)