Christmas Markets

Traditional music, gluwein, cold temperatures, warm pretzels, beeswax, festive faces, anticipatory, familial, holy, jovial, unbelievably un-Santa, distinct, packed, lit, snowy, nighttime, daytime, and uniquely German.

What a blessing to have been able to experience these wonderful markets with our family this Christmas season.

Christmas in Bavaria

Grandma and Grandpa McWatters and Aunty Quinn made the trans-Atlantic trek for Christmas in Germany. We spent a portion of their time in Southern Germany at a family-run inn outside of Bertchesgaden.

The rooms were quaint, the proprieters well... German and the meals were served family-style in the dining room downstairs. We had intended to get in more snowboarding than we did, as the snow did not arrive until our last day there, but we managed a few hours while Grandma and Grandpa kept the kiddos (thank you, Mom and Dad). On the one evening with snow, we even gave Viv her first shot at skiing.

Colorado didn't have this many T-bars, I needed private tutoring from Spouse


Shreddin' Spouse
Grandma always had to share her desserts

I think this is a vacation I would like to repeat in about 25 years when I do not have a squirming 11 month old to control in a dining room for 1.5 hours while a multiple course meal is served. But, memories were made, no question about that!

Christmas came early this year

Our Household Goods Arrived! We have been without our own beds, high chairs, plates, silverware, overcoats, bicycles, espresso machine, changing table, and more since February 7th. Seth has never even seen his bed and today, it all arrived! It all arrived into our third-floor, 1100 square foot apartment. Poor moving men.

Dance Babynastics

Daddy's work hours have been particularly insane this week. Correspondingly, Mommy's standards of what is "acceptable" sibling play have broadened. These two chilluns turn into a more hysterical combination every day.

Advent Begins

Today marks the second day of Advent, but we are pretending that it is the first because we were driving back from Paris on Day 1.

I am doing my annual best to hold the "celebrate Christmas before Christmas" societal pressures at bay. Today Vivian and I went to a German florist to buy an Advent wreath. The experience was entertaining.

So the wreath was not what I had expected - it was just plain evergreens. This meant that I would have to do all the ribbons, ornamentation and candles! by myself. The kids and I trudged into the Post Exchange and bought what we needed. It required a lot of surrender from Mommy to allow Vivian to pick out the ribbon and ornaments. Gaudy to me is "fancy" to her. Then we went back to the German florist to buy the plain wreath.

As I was paying, I innocently asked if there was "some of that green foam stuff inside" so that I could get the candles to stick. She looked at me with disgust, flipped the wreath over with her smoky, wrinkled, practiced, hands and showed me straw tightly woven together with wire. All she said was, "we make dem dis way in Germany."
Ja. Got it. So we made our Advent wreath, wrote our Advent prayers and we are off and running.

American(s) in Paris

Mommy and Viv in front of the Cathedral of Notre Dame (Our Lady)
Daddy and Viv share a walk along the banks of the Seine River
We ventured to Paris for the 4-day Thanksgiving weekend. We shared a Bohemian apartment on the outskirts of the city with dear friends and made forays into the city to see the major sites. Despite the cold, the kids held up wonderfully and the trip was one we will not soon forget.

Thanksgiving Preparations

Today Viv and I made Thanksgiving place cards in preparation for our, much-anticipated, Thanksgiving meal with friends in Paris.

This Could Pose a Problem

So the Setherator is insane. He is constantly on the move. No one can have peace when he is awake. He is pure madness. But, happy madness. So, I was tempted by the tried-and-true concept of giving him a relaxing bath to calm the high energy lad down. Well, he promptly learned a new trick that makes even that impossible. Unreal.

German bread delivered hot to your door!

My husband is very wise with our finances. Both of us are famous for our thrift - spending only on essentials. Well, fortunately, we both see eye to eye that having warm German bread and pastries delivered to our door every Wednesday (in time to lift spirits from that mid-week slump) is ESSENTIAL! At least for our time here, abroad.

It's Raining Packages, Alleluia, it's raining packages

My mother loves her only two grandchildren very much. She wishes the Army would keep us within several hundred miles of her instead of several thousand. So how does she make her love known?

PACKAGES, of course. (WWII-style bomber hat on Seth courtesy of Grammage)

Letter Cookies

This was one of those ideas that was better as an idea than as the actual cookies. They were gross, but they make cute photo ops.

Why it is Great to Live Adjacent the Thrift Cottage

$4 for everything but the tights, folks.

Oh ... and the child. I assume she costs more than that, the Excel sheet is still running on that one.

All Souls' Day Brunch

This year we celebrated All Souls' Day with a very special brunch. The kids and I made cardboard frames for the pictures of loved ones who have died, we placed them on a special table with flowers and candles in their honor. We served the favorite dishes of several of our loved ones who have passed on. The celebration began with a prayer for the souls of the faithful departed. Then, we enjoyed delicious food and drink while Daddy and Mommy shared stories and memories of those whom our children will not get to know. Thanks to Aunt Hiku and Grandpa McW for their last minute help getting the photos together

Daddy's work never leaves him alone, here is shot of him enjoying the brunch in business casual, taking a call.
Dear Seth took advantage of Daddy being on the phone and Mommy taking pictures to steal buttered toast off of his mother's plate and spread the butter in his hair.

How Big Is That Dang Baby?!

He is still pretty much a one-trick pony at this point, but we think he is cute nonetheless.

Kurbis

That is the German word for pumpkin. The way Viv got to pick out her pumpkin this year was so cool. German farmers just leave them in carts alongside the road. You pick your pumpkin and leave your Euros in the locked cash box.
Such trust! I would like to think that such a system could work in the States but I am not sure. The German farmers even leave it up to the customer to decide whether the kurbis is "gros" or "klein" (big or small) and then pay the correct amount accordingly. Cool, ja?

Lest you Fear Seth was left-out

Oh no. Grammage included extra beads and cow fabric for Viv to decorate her pet poodle, but, alas, a younger brother is much more fun than a stuffed dog.

Rudesheim

We visited this beautiful, vineyard-surrounded, town on the banks of the Rhine River.

However, Daddy was not with us so we won't say much until he can return there to enjoy it with us.

Best Grammage Ever

Vivian loves the Fancy Nancy books. We read this one several weeks ago and she began earnestly asking for the identical outfit to Fancy Nancy for her 4th Birthday.:


I was torn. On the one hand it was great that she wanted to mimic this literary character instead of some Disney princess, on the other hand, how in the world could I deliver this getup. Then it hit me...... GRAMMAGE. That's right, my mother is a fantastic seamstress, totally creative and only has one granddaughter at this time. So, yes, you can imagine what this led to.

The world's most unsurpassable, unforgettable fourth birthday surprise.

A Touch of the Everyday

Indellible Sibling Moments

Mommy came upon this from the other room and was a bit concerned.
still concerned
Hmm, he seems ok.
How can one argue with this?

4th Birthday

Tonight we celebrated Viv's 4th birthday with some of our most fun new Army friends here in Germany. Everyone came, played, and partied, making the occasion a huge success for the birthday girl.

<-- Making our own pizzas Seth's role throughout the partay---->




Overly ambitious cake ----->




All worth it when you see this:

German Pumpkin Farm

Today we joined a bunch of other Army folk in a visit to a German family farm about 20 minutes from the airfield. The family has been running the farm for over 300 years and it was rather entertaining to see them interacting with us Americano tourists. I mean, this is just their everyday, brow sweat in the soil life and there we were -- taking pictures in the cornfields and asking if turnips were parsnips (I think that was lost in translation anyway.)
They were selling everything pumpkin. We saw everything from pumpkin pesto to pumpkin wine and sampled much of the fare as our lunch.The afternoon consisted of 1) a lunch of fried pumpkin slices which you dipped in garlicky sour cream, pumpkin soup, corn on the cob, and pumpkin wine 2) face-painting 3) showing the kids how crops grow 4) hayride with no hay
5) playing in the hay to make up for lack of hay on hayride