Time to catch up....

I have about 10 blog posts that need to be written, but for now I'll just catch up on the highlights and then do a better job later.

Life is getting busy. Now that things have settled down, we have the holiday season upon us and things are busy. Even in Germany it seems from Halloween to New Year's is a blur.

Almost two weeks ago James got sick. We've been the Emergency Room and a Insta-Care clinic, but we decided it was finally time to find a doctor for the kids. Thanks to the great recommendation of Hailee's tutor we found a great one that is less than a 10 minute walk from our house. German health care is lovely, but definitely deserves a post in and of itself. So many fun things to learn and experience.

Hailee has now lost 7 teeth and only three and a half have grown back. 

Todd was teasing her was going to start calling her "Jackie" short for Jack-o-lantern. 

Hailee needs a post of her own as well. She is the best little girl and so helpful. It is so fun to see her growing up. Just yesterday I was at the school to pick her up. I saw her chatting with one of her little friends. They have very "serious" talks. She was inviting Hailee to her choir concert and they were working out all the logistics. She is getting so big.

James lately needs post of his own as well. This little guy is really hilarious. He keeps us laughing every day with the things he says. He is actually turning out to be a pretty good little shopper. Of course he knows when he's good he can get a donut and Fanta on our way home, it's totally worth the 3 Euros. Last Friday on the way home from picking up Todd we went to the grocery store. The grocery store we went to had little carts so Hailee and James each got their own. Hailee followed me around and we got everything we needed to make our pies and rolls for Thanksgiving. James and Todd, on the other hand, enjoyed boy shopping together. Their cart had: mango juice, lanjäger, cake, yogurt, and a bunch of other "essentials." They had such a great time "bonding" with their "guy" shopping.

I had quite a bit of help in the kitchen while I was making pie and rolls.

We had such a lovely Thanksgiving. We got together with some people from Church and had a lovely dinner and even got to watch real American football. It made us realize how much we have been was missing it. Reading about it the next day just isn't quite the same. Another thing I realized is that I need to start making more pie. Both of my kids (and Todd and I) love pie. The problem with both kids liking pie is that it makes our leftovers disappear twice as fast. It looks like I'll just have to start making twice as much pie. I have enough pumpkin in my freezer to make 5 more pies, but I think I'm going to have to buy a couple more pumpkins.

The Christmas Markets here in Germany have begun. We are so excited to begin some new German Christmas Traditions. Both kids are so excited to start their Advent Calendars. They have some of the coolest Advent Calendars here. I only remember boring chocolate ones in the US. Here they have everything imaginable. Hailee got a Filly "pony" one and we got James a LEGO one. Both are counting down the seconds until the 1st (even though advent started this past Sunday). Hailee understands that she is suppose to open one tab every day to count down to Christmas. James on the other hand really doesn't understand. The concept is just a little too much for my boy who loves legos. We'll have to see how it goes.

A morning thanks to James

 We have gotten onto a pretty good schedule...at least I thought so. Todd and I wake up before the kids. He gets ready for work and heads off to the bus. Then I have about 1/2 hour to catch up on my email, read a few blogs, or catch up on some news while the kids are still sleeping. Then the kids usually wake up and it's time to start getting ready for school. We have everything down. I make lunch and snack for Hailee while she find her clothes and get's dressed. Then it's time to do hair and eat breakfast and take the five minute walk to the bus.

Everything goes like clockwork. This morning James decided to shake things up. He woke up 45 minutes earlier than his normal wake up time. Being the best little brother he decided the best thing he could do was wake up his sister. Thankfully they both woke up happily and we got started on our morning a little earlier than normal. I knew we would have lots of time so we slowed things down and had a nice relaxing morning. Even with slowing things down we were still ready 15 minutes early.

Hailee decided to read a book, James decided to play with trains, and I decided to check Facebook. The next thing I knew it was time to leave, I looked up to find James down to his underwear again. It was a crazy few minutes. I had to get James dressed, make sure Hailee didn't forget anything, and get out the door in time for the bus.

Even with all our extra time this morning we were still running for the bus. Next time I'm just sending James back to bed. It's a good thing he's such a cute little stink.

Mondays

Monday is not my favorite day. James and I have such a hard time saying good-bye to Todd and Hailee when they have to go back to work and school. It doesn't quite seem fair to be left home after such a fun weekend together. We didn't do anything huge or big this weekend, we got a few things done around the house, ran a few errands, Todd took the kids to the park, and went to church. All in all a boring weekend compared to others, but it's just so nice being all together. 

For her part, Hailee isn't nearly as sad to say good-bye to us on a Monday morning. She was looking forward to getting back to school. Because we had some immigration stuff to take care of on Friday we had to take Hailee out of school. She was more than excited to be getting back to school today. Even more so because we did her hair in a sock bun on Sunday so Monday morning the curls were ready to go. This little girl loves her long hair and loves it even more when we curl it with a sock bun. I don't know that we'll ever be able to convince her to cut it.

 This little guy has been hilarious lately. It been so cute to hear his little personality come out with his speech. I can't believe how much he is talking now. Lately Todd has been taking the bus to work and leaving the car for us. I usually don't drive it, but it's nice to have on the day's Hailee has her tutor since the weather has turned a little cooler. Once Todd got to work he realized that he still had the car key in his pocket. So he came home and James and I drove him back to work. James was excited to see his dad this morning, but it was extra sad to have to tell him good-bye twice on a Monday. He didn't think it was quite fair.

We decided to drive Todd back to work (I guess he drove there and I drove back). It was my first time driving on real roads.  I always map out the smallest roads I can drive on with the least amount of traffic since I've been learning to drive a manual transmission. The first week I was driving I had to pick up Hailee's friend from school. After a couple of rough starts Isobel informed me that she would pay two tickets to go again. (At amusement parks here you use tickets to go on the fun rides.) After a couple weeks of practicing and having all kinds of exciting times stalling in the middle of the road I felt like I could give it a chance. All in all I didn't have any problems and made it home without stalling or getting honked at (which is no small feat in Germany). Todd has been such a good teacher. I think it helps that he just learned how to drive a manual transmission himself. I still don't know how he taught himself on the streets of Munich without any 'practice' time.

(Don't you love our car.... Todd refers to it as a mid-life crisis car. It has a black leather interior with leather with red stitching and "stainless steel" petals. By the interior it looks like it's trying to be a race car, but really it's a huge station wagon. We're hoping the lease is done soon so we can get a smaller car.)

Here are a few of the random things I haven't blogged about in the month of November...

Hailee has had so much fun with her little friend Isobel. She is from England, but her family has lived in Switzerland for the last four years so she speaks German really well. Her family lives by us and we've had such a fun time playing together. A few weeks ago when she was over we decided to make cupcakes. It's been my first attempt at baking since moving to Germany. The cupcakes turned out okay. The girls loved decorating them so I guess that is the important part. 

James has been coming a long way in the last few weeks...months. He is talking more and more and is constantly wanting to keep up with his sister. Hailee is pretty good at including him, but we've found it's just better for them to have their own set of things (water colors, crayons, books, etc...) James loves painting with his sister but as you can see much to her dismay (and mine too) he doesn't care about mixing the paint colors. But they each have their own and he doesn't seem to mind if things end up in a mess. To him, they are giant robots and all kids of fun things. 

He is also finally getting the concept of "time-outs." For the longest time he didn't understand what getting in trouble was all about. It didn't even phase him. But now he understands what it means to do something "not nice." This new realization however, had a different outcome than we would have thought. Now he likes to get other people in trouble when they are being "not nice." 

After a day of walking around Bad Tölz I was chatting with one of our friends before getting in the car. Todd was trying to wrangle the boy. At one point James tried climbing in the back of the car that have the soft cover over the back. Todd wouldn't let him and put him in his carseat. I came back shortly after and was buckling him up when he told me "Daddy's not being nice, he put James in his seat...not being nice."  

Then after one day of playing at the park I had to literally drag him away and put him in his carseat (after an hour and a half of playing). As soon as Todd got home (about 6 hours later) he told Todd. "Mama's not being nice...put James in the stroller....not the park...not being nice." 

I don't know if he is expecting Todd and I to put the other in time out or what. But is sure is funny to hear him get a story out. He's come so far with his talking and it's cute to hear him put together ideas.

So even though Monday's aren't my favorite, life is pretty good in Germany. It's starting to feel more like home, which is kind of a weird feeling as well. 

Happy 11.11.11 Day

Also knows as St. Martin's Day in Germany.

I knew 11.11.11 was coming up and I was trying to decided what we could do fun as a family. While out with our friends last weekend we saw a sign for Martinstag (St. Martin's Day). Since they spent some time in Switzerland before Germany they already knew about this fun tradition. We thought it would be fun to celebrate a new holiday. It is like the Thanksgiving of Europe (at least that is what one article I read told me.)

 The first and most important part of St. Martin's Day is making a paper lantern. Thanks to Hailee's German tutor her and Isobel made adorable turtle lanterns. Traditionally you are suppose to use a real candle, but this year we went for easy and just bought light sticks. Maybe next year we'll get more adventurous.

 Isobel's school did a St. Martin's day parade and her family invited us to come along. I really didn't know what to expect, but it was a lot of fun. All the kids carried their lanterns and sang the St. Martin lantern song as we walked in to the woods that are close by.

 We didn't make a lantern for James (next year we'll be a little more on the ball), so I just bought him a pre-made one. But in the end he didn't want to use it. He preferred just the light stick. He thought it looked like the "Ghost Light" and enjoyed pretending to be Mater and the ghost light before we went to the parade. It worked out because I'm not sure he could have kept the lantern on as he was running around.

Once we got to a certain spot in the woods we came upon a man who was acting as a beggar. Then "St. Martin" came up and shared his cloak with him and handed out traditional St. Martin's day cookies to the kids.

St. Martin was a Roman soldier. The most famous legend from his life is that he once cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snow storm, to save the beggar from dying of the cold. That night he dreamed that Jesus was wearing the half-cloak Martin had given away. He then was baptized and became a monk.    

Another story of St. Martin leads to the next tradition of eating a goose on Matinstag. According to the legend, Martin was reluctant to become a bishop, which is why he hid in a stable filled with geese. The noise made by the geese betrayed his location to the people who were looking for him.

 As part of the St. Matin's day feast people eat a goose. I decided when am I ever going to have the chance again to make a goose. Can you even buy them in the US? I found a great Matinstag recipe for stuffed goose with apples, chestnuts, and raisins. Hailee and James were not too sure about eating a goose. Hailee loved helping me cook our Martin's Day feast, goose and all. But she was also excited it included mashed potatoes so she would starve.  As we were sitting down to dinner I asked James if he wanted some goose. He quickly responded, "Nope, I'm eating mashed potatoes."

 I was a little worried that our Martinstag dinner would be a failure, but once the kids tried it they liked it. Hailee didn't eat a lot, but James was the last at the table asking for more "Goose."

 I probably need to learn how to cook goose a little better. It was a little tough, but the flavor was really nice thanks to the apples, chestnuts and raisins. It was fun to try something new.

I think everyone will be excited for Matinstag next November 11th.

Finding a Rhythm

It seems like we are getting into a good rhythm these days. On our way to school today Hailee told me, "Mom I am so happy." She really seems to be settling in and doing so well. She is making friends, starting clubs with her friends, and thoroughly enjoying school (just don't talk to her about PE....she is not a fan of Cricket as a sport.)

James and I have had our ups and downs since Hailee has gotten back to school, but it feels like we're getting into a good rhythm as well.  The problem we've had is naps. He decided that he didn't want to take a nap anymore. Which is fine because he'll just go down earlier at night, but the bigger problem we were having is that he would fall asleep at 4:00 when it was time to pick up Hailee. We have about a 10-15 minute walk to pick her up and that was just enough time for my tired little boy to fall asleep. Then he'd take a short nap (less than an hour), be cranky the rest of the night, and struggle to go to bed on time.

We needed an intervention. At Todd's recommendation (funny how he understands the mind of a little boy), we implemented the "tire James out" program. And so far it's working like a charm. We get an early lunch and then go run around the park for over an hour. The boy so far is loving it and now we can't leave the house without his soccer ball. After running around, climbing, and playing as hard as he can he is more than happy to go down for a nap. It's been lovely. He is such a better boy when he has released some energy and gotten some sleep.

He is such a great little guy. His latest favorite phrases are "This is so AWESOME!" "Great Job!" and "Thank you SO much." He'll also show his approval of things by giving me a thumbs up and saying "Big Thumbs UP!" thanks to Super Why and Alpha Pig. He really is a pleasant guy to have around.

Bad Tölz

Bad Tölz was an absolutely wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon. We spend the morning cleaning and getting ready for a realtor to come through our apartment so it was especially nice to have a nice relaxing afternoon that we didn't have to plan. Some friends of ours invited us to Bad Tölz, which in the winter is a lovely little ski town, but in the summer and fall they have a great little Alpine slide.

I was a little nervous about the kids when we got there and realized that it was just a ski lift to the top, but they both did amazing and I was nervous for absolutely no reason.

 I did let Todd go up with James just in case he got a little too excited about going up. I wasn't worried about him being scared, just wild.

 To get down they had a really fun Alpine slide. They let the kids ride on the sled with us, so Todd went down with Hailee (because she wanted to go fast) and James came with me because I was fine going slow. As it turned out both kids loved going fast. James laughed and screamed the whole way down. It was so fun. It is definitely on the list of things to do again.

 After we finished at the slide we decided to go into the town and walk around. The kids first wanted to go down by the river. James quickly turned it into a great time to throw rocks into the river, which the adults quickly turned into a competition of skipping rocks. I'm still not sure who won, but I do know for sure the kids got bored of the river long before the adults did. (Except for James, he could throw rocks all day too.)

After the river we walked around the town a bit and got ice cream. It was a beautiful day and a lovely evening and we still got back before it was too late. It was a perfect Saturday for our little family.

A day in the life….

After a week of fun with Sissy and friends James has had a rough time getting back to normal. Today I finally feel like we might be getting there. That is not to say that life is perfect. James has definitely hit his terrible 2's. He isn't horrible, just pushing his boundaries to see what he can get away with. 

One of his latest things he is doing is being very demanding. "Get me some Mango juice....NOW!" With emphasis on the "NOW" bit. It made me laugh the first time he said it because he says it in a deep grumbly voice. After a couple of days of his new demanding call,  I decided to try and tease him out of it. I wasnt really liking where he was headed. I't worked like a charm with Hailee so I gave it a go. The next time he demanded something of me I responded with "I need a hug....NOW!" in the same deep grumbly voice he used. He just stopped instantly and started laughing. It hasn't completely solved his "demanding" phase, but it has significantly helped. 

The other day I needed to run a few errands so as I was getting him out of the bath I was telling him it was almost time to go (meaning "you will be getting dressed after the bath"). He asked me "Time to get Sissy?" It was only 10:00 am so we still had quite a few hours before it was that time. I told him that it was "Time to ride the train." He responded with "Oh....I miss Sissy." Those two are the cutest little pair. He misses her so much while she is gone. We're all looking forward to a fun weekend together and if Google weather is right it should be a lovely weekend for being outside. I can't wait.

We're still trying to decided if this kid is ever going to get hair. Just the other day Todd and I were commenting on how much thicker it was looking, but after seeing these pictures of today I'm not so sure. He should have hair by kindergarten right?

Königssee in the Fall

I didn't think Königssee could get much prettier than the previous times we had seen it. But Königssee in the fall was absolutely stunning. Todd took the day off on Friday to come enjoy some of the nice fall weather we were having.

It was honestly the most beautiful day, the pictures didn't need much editing. It was really that beautiful. The best weather since Louise and Adelaide came and I'm so glad that we got to enjoy it in Königssee.

Deutsches Museum

We have been heard so many things about the Deutsches Museum, but up to this point we hadn't made it there yet.

We decided to check it out on our rainy Wednesday afternoon. We really didn't know what to expect, the only thing I had heard was that it was kid friendly.

Getting there was a little bit of an adventure. I found a "better" way of getting there, so we decided to take the U-bahn. It wasn't long after catching our train that an "announcement" was made and everybody got off the train. Since my German is less than amazing I had no idea what was going on and thankfully a kind man took pity on the foreigners and helped us find a bus to Marienplatz. From there I was able to find our way. It just took us a lot longer than it would have, had I gone the original way I knew.

 Once we got there we discovered that a lot of other people had the same idea we had. A rainy day is the perfect day for a museum. It took us a minute to figure out the floor plan of the museum. We found they had a "children's kingdom" in the basement. The big problem was finding an elevator to take us down to the basement. The main elevators only went up. In our wandering around we got to see some of the museum.  James was excited to find the model train room. Hailee was a little ahead of us and came running back to tell us that James was going to love the next room.

 Hailee was right. It was a robot room and James was in heaven. She loved taking him around and showing him all of the robots. I think James could have spend hours in there. The next room we found was the airplane room. Which James also really loved until he found out that you could just look inside the planes and not actually get in the planes.

Luckily after the plane room we found the stairs and elevator to the "Kids Kingdom." It was like our Children's Museum in Portland. It had so many hands on things for the kids to do.

The kids had such a great time playing with everything. I think we'll be going back again even if it's not raining.