Home Video | My Little Wannabe Germans

In answer to everyone's questions: YES, it is in fact super fun to be living in Germany when they win the World Cup! Though I am not an avid soccer fan per se, I still greatly enjoyed not only watching the finals, but hearing everyone in my village setting off their fireworks when Germany won!

On top of that, my girls were frequently coming home with German flags painted on their faces and hands. They also were able to enjoy soccer ball decor on everything from bonbel cheese to bakery treats.

Sometimes I don't think they know that they're Americans... and that's okay for now ;o) 

German Kindergarten Adventures | Forest Week

Well hey there BLOG! Long time no post!! 

Don't worry, I should have a routine worked out soon that allows some more frequent posts and plenty of time for studying. Right now I'm just too excited about studying for much else... plus I had two photo shoots this month! So all the sudden I realize it's been almost two weeks since Forest Week and if I don't get these pictures up now I won't get them out before we leave on our anniversary trip! 

What is Forest Week, you ask? Oh you know, just a field trip on steroids. When I first heard about it, I mistakenly thought it was a one-day thing. "Oh cool, they're taking the bigger kids out in the woods for a day, how sweet!" 

And then I talked to the teacher after translating the info page and realized it was FOUR DAYS! And they meant business because they literally took a gob of preschool children out in the woods for five hours every day. Brave, brave, souls. 

So. This is Lily after day two...

Before you judge me, I have many defenses to give for her drenched state!

First, it was pouring rain that morning. And I was kicking myself for not buying her a rain jacket sooner. I mean, it rains a lot here but we usually make do with umbrellas and jackets... and even though I didn't think an umbrella was very practical for traipsing through the woods, I had no choice. But I said to Jesse "Maybe they'll cancel it?" to which he just laughed. Of course the Germans aren't going to cancel Forest Week. 

Oh and she WAS wearing a heavy jacket when I dropped her off.

Second, it was SPECIFICALLY stated in the information paper that the didn't want the kids in rain boots. They wanted sturdy shoes. And what preschooler owns hiking boots? So I just crossed my fingers that sneakers would suffice! But I knew. I just knew it was going to be bad. 

You can't send a 4yo out into the woods on the rainy day without expecting her to return a sopping wet mess. 

I was giving our friend Abby a ride to the forest from the kindergarten each morning... so after I dropped Sammy off, I packed Lily and Abby back into the car. And when I first saw Abby's RAIN PANTS I was like WHERE DID YOU GET THOSE??? But she's five years old so she couldn't really help me out. Plus it would have been too late anyways.

Lily just had to be that embarrassing American kid who's mom doesn't truly understand the German phrase "no bad weather, only bad clothing"

So the teacher's set me straight and told me what store nearby sold them... and they were less than ten euros! The teacher's also explained that the "no wellington" rule was only for dry days... on rainy days, rain boots are completely acceptable! The next day Lily was dressed like all the other German kiddos. And was also dry! 

"That's better MOM!"

So what were her favorites about Forest Week? 

- Doing something without Sam. I'm sure it's nice to actually experience the benefit of being older sometimes. 

- Going potty in the woods. Seriously, that was the only thing she wanted to talk about the first night. Delicious. 

- Learning that ticks don't hurt when they bite you... but it does hurt a little when Momma pulls them out (x3!)

- Saying hi to the cows along the paths. 

- And jumping in puddles. DUH.

I'm sure there were LOTS of other fun things (like eating breakfast and lunch in the woods and getting to choose which path to take and learning fun stuff from her adventurous teachers) but in classic Lily fashion, she only talks when she wants to. No amount of pressing for information is going to force that girl to tell me anything! So I just let her have those memories all to herself.

I did follow the group for about half an hour on the last morning. The photographer in me just couldn't resist a few pictures!

I am super proud of how Lily handled the whole week. She's not really my outdoor-cat... she definitely doesn't like getting dirty. But I never once heard her complain about it. Not even after the rainy day without rain pants!

She's basically ready for Camp Cherith now!!!

Hi Ho Hi Ho it's Off to School They Go!

"First day of school, first day of school!" (to be read as Nemo, thank you very much.)

Miss Sammy has been SO SI-GED about starting German kindergarten at "Yiyies skoo" (Lily's school.) The countdown was a little rough for her because she's three and she didn't understand the whole "no first we have to go to the doctor's office and get your paperwork signed and THEN it's the weekend and THEN you get to go to school... but finally the big day dawned!

Both girls have their very own NEW backpacks. And gymnastics shoes. And slippers. We chatted excitedly to poor Daddy (who still, try as he might, just is. not. a. morning person) as we ate our breakfasts and I packed their lunches.

I tried to make it as easy on myself as possible by doing as much make-ahead prep as I could for this week.  I've got breakfast burritos and muffins in the freezer and hard boiled eggs and yogurt in the fridge.  I'm trying to avoid the peanut butter and jelly sandwich rut as much as I can.  We'll see how it goes.  

My my my look at those big girls! When we moved here Sam was about three months old! Oh how fast time flies. I'm so proud of these sweet monkeys!

Then we got home and were all like "NOW what do we do?" and the answer was "WHO CARES???" :o) It was so strange and ABSOLUTELY AWESOME to have a quiet house all to ourselves in the morning!

Frau Beker (I think her last name is pronounced "Beckah" but I might be saying it wrong) said Sam did great... and then chuckled as she added "she talks a LOT!" to which I nearly peed my pants laughing.

Yes, yes she talks a lot. The apple doesn't fall far from that tree. She is her Momma's daughter.

J had to leave early in the afternoon for PT so I decided to capitalize on a *relatively* warm winter day by walking to go pick them up. Then I reminded myself that one of my New Year's goals is to SLOW DOWN. So I resolved not to care how long it took us to walk home.

See, it takes me 15 minutes to walk to their school. If I push them, it takes us about 25 at their pace. But I had no reason to rush! In fact, MOST DAYS, I have no reason to rush. Hence the need for a "slow down" reminder to myself.

So they explored. They ran up and down the winding path that Lily calls "Rapunzel's Hair"... they climbed on things... walked up and down stairs that weren't technically part of our route... jumped over stuff... and otherwise giggled and chatted as 3 and 4yo's typically do. It was actually very relaxing! Never once did I say "hurry" or "come on" or "keep up"... we just... meandered our way home!

It took us an hour to get home! Part of that was a detour to the playground that's on the way home. It was a great walk... by the time we got home everyone was still in a pleasant mood. It was a great end to the school day!

Happy first week of kindergarten Sammy-girl. 

Like Butter Scraped Over too Much Bread

We made the decision that it would be best for our family if we sent BOTH girls to German Kindergarten starting this month.  And I'm even more excited about it than Sammy... which makes me feel guilty.  

[This is a confession post.  A reminder that I'm not "supermom".  It's not that big a deal, I'm just thinking out loud.  I'm having a bit of writer's block (and photographer's block) lately, so I just decided to sit down tonight and write what I've been thinking... no need to bombard me with encouragement about "how great of a mom I am"... again, just thinking out loud.  I know I'm exactly the right Momma for Lily and Sam.]

So starting on Monday, I'll be taking Double Trouble to preschool each morning and they'll stay there each afternoon until 2pm.  This, for those of you non-mommas out there, is an unfathomable amount of child-free time for me.  Like, I just can't quite wrap my head around it.

But I won't be jumping into any new hobbies or catching up on any big projects.  I won't be spending hours and hours growing my photography business or starting new creative ventures.

In fact, I'll probably be curled up in front of the fire next to My Love.  Because this month, mornings are his evenings, and that's the main reason Sam is going to school.

But there's something else...

It's not easy to admit you don't want your kids around all the time.  

I mean DUH even the most patient mom in the world doesn't want her kids around ALL the time.  But we don't usually say it out loud.  We say things like "I totally love being a stay-at-home-mom!" or "I can't WAIT to start homeschooling!" ... when, at least for myself, it would be more accurate to say "some days most days, my kids make me want to gouge my eyes out with their incessant preschool-ness" or "maybe... maybe I'm not cut out to homeschool my kids after all if I'm jumping up and down at the thought of them going to kindergarten for five hours...?"

Sometimes being a mom sucks.  Sometimes you wake up and realize you are doing a terrible job at balancing your priorities and everyone in the family is suffering for it.

Just keeping it real here ladies.  I post a lot about how much I love my kids and how much fun we have and all the cool projects we do and trips and blah blah BLAH... I don't post about the days I hate myself because I let my kids zombie out in front of 5 movies just because I didn't want to answer one. more. question.

In the spirit of this blog having a LOTR title theme, I'm going to agree with Bilbo... "I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread."

I need to be a better best friend to my husband.  A less cranky, impatient mom to my girls.  And if German kindergarten can help with that, so be it.

I haven't completely given up on homeschooling... I sure do LOVE the idea.  But I've embraced the fact that homeschooling would be a bad fit for me right now, and therefore a bad fit for my family.

Also, let's be honest, kindergarten is essentially organized PLAYTIME and the girls are going to LOVE it!  The cultural exposure is going to be awesome for them.  EVERYONE wins in this situation!  Time to embrace outsourcing and let my kids drain a bit of energy out of someone else M-F.  It will give me some seriously needed time.

Time to reconnect with my husband, when he's home.  (Lunch dates!  A quiet house!  WOOT!)  Time to reconnect with myself, when he's not.  (Photography!  Reading!  WOOT!)  Time to grocery shop without stressful interruptions.  Time to cook and clean and otherwise be a domestic goddess... so that when my monkeys ARE home in the afternoon, I'm ready for them.

I want to be ready for story time and play dough and crafts and Mommy's-actually-available-for-you time.  

I'm hoping for less statements like "No, Momma can't play with you I need to finish the dishes before dinner prep" and more PLAYTIME because the dishes will be done and the dinner will be in the slow cooker.

I'll still feel guilty sometimes.  It's probably a mom-thing.  We sure do beat ourselves up over the decisions we make, don't we?  Even though we know sometimes our expectations are unrealistic and cause unnecessary stress on the family... we still feel like we disappoint (ourselves, if not them) when we can't be supermom.

So hey if anyone out there is feeling 50% excited and 50% guilty about a parenting decision that's going to make your life so much easier, I'm right there with ya.  Right now, I'm re-learning that making my marriage a priority over my preschoolers is going to benefit them far more than any homeschooling awesomeness I could come up with.  And I'm reminding myself that it's totally okay that I can't keep up with the energy level of a 3 and 4-year-old right now!

What are you learning or re-learning?  High-five to you tired moms out there.  Hang in there, you're doing great.  Need proof? just look at the way your little one lights up when you're around.  Those suckers totally love us, no matter WHAT we decide to do about preschool!  

St. Martin's Parade of Lanterns

On November 11th, when Americans are celebrating Veteran's Day, Germans are celebrating St. Martin.  Julia filled me in on all the details and helped me sort out some of Lily's kindergarten celebration.  It was super fun to have her and Pedro and Chase join us.  

St. Martin is a famous Christian saint.  He was a bishop known for his charity and good heart.   Every November, the children in the German villages have a parade of lanterns on the day St. Martin was buried.  

The legend is that when St. Martin was a soldier, he was out on a cold winter's night and saw a poor man with no cloak. Martin took his sword and cut his own cloak in two so he could give the freezing man something to wear.  This scene is re-enacted each year (the bigger kids in the kindergarten did a short play) and it is the act that St. Martin is famous for.

So in honor of St. Martin's charity during winter, the children walk around the village singing songs and holding lanterns to light up the darkness and remind everyone of St. Martin.  In the legend, the children of the village saw Martin cut his robe for the poor man, so they ran back with their lanterns to tell the tale.  The lantern-walk celebration is meant to remind us to bring light to the dark, charity to the poor, and warmth to the cold.  It's a super heart-warming night.

Lily made a lantern at school, and my friend Rebecca told me I could buy the little lights and a lantern for Sam at Globus. Fun fact: Julia said when she was a kid they used real candles inside their paper lanterns!  I can't even imagine the peril we would have all been in had Lily and Sam been entrusted with fire!

As we walked through the part of the village near the kindergarten, everyone in the group was cheerful and some were singing the St. Martin songs.  One old man who lives along our path had set up his own lanterns in the walkway and was out front greeting everyone!  

When we got to the kindergarten, they had a huge bonfire set up right in the middle of the playground!  The firefighters were keeping everything really safe, but we joked that this was probably not the best example to the kids ;o) Lily was pretty impressed that there was a fire in her playground!  

We also all joked that it was kind of a funny/dangerous tradition... the whole "hey let's get a bunch of small uncoordinated children together in the dark and freezing cold and give them pointy lights and breakable lanterns... surely nothing can go wrong there!"  All in all, though, Sam only tripped and crunched her lantern a few times.  All's well that ends well?

"Yook!  My school!"   Lily was super pumped when she realized our walk ended at the school.  We had recently taken Jesse to give him a tour, but she still excitedly grabbed him, as well as Pedro, Julia, and Chase, to show them her classroom!

The woman in the bottom left corner is one of Lily's main teachers, Sarita.  I'll get a better picture of her sometime... I didn't actually realize it was her when I was taking this shot!  We also ran into Lily's other teacher, Katya... Lily ran right up to her for a hug!

This tent is where they were selling gluhwein and other hot drinks and snacks.  The "glowing wine" or spiced wine, is always super cozy on a cold night.  They also had some non-alcoholic gluhwein for the kids... Lily and Sam were pretty excited about their "yummy juice!"

The other tradition of St. Martin's evening is to have special St. Martin pretzels.  They are made from a slightly sweet dough, and taste super awesome with the wine.

This is such a super cool German tradition.  I was so thankful that we were able to participate.  

I think Julia said it best:  "It makes you thankful for what you have, to share with others that don't have as much, like St. Martin did."

She's right.  And it also made me ponder the things that bring warmth to this cold time of year... Light.  Fire.  Hot cups of warm drink.  Memories made with family and friends.  As we come into the winter months, take some time to think of the light and warmth of this time of year, not just the ice you have to scrape from your windshield or the snow you have to shovel from your driveway.

What's your lantern?  This parade made me think of winter as a welcoming time, rather than a dreary time.  High-five Germany!

St. Martin's Sneak Peek

First, sorry times a million for the terrible quality of this video.  It was one of those moments where I realized too late that "figure out the proper settings for HD video on your camera" had been a forgotten to-do list item for a loooooong time ;o)

Second, how cute is Lily singing her St. Martin's Day song???  

We went last night with some friends to the kindergarten's St. Martin's lantern parade.  It was adorable, and a very fun tradition that I will of course be telling you all about (soonish)... needless to say it was a magical  night.

In case you're wondering, I'm pretty sure this is the song that they're singing.

First Day of School! First Day of School! (I've Had Nemo's Voice in My Head All Week.. You're Welcome)

You guys.  I feel like this just happened.  And it was about this time of year, too.  I was a big pumpkin belly for Halloween the day I was in labor with Lily four years ago.  And now... NOW..

SHE'S THIS BIG!  I can't believe it!  MAKE IT STOP!

And she's all "let's walk to German kindergarten and hang out without Mommy for 4 hours and have a complete blast and be in the best mood EVER."  No big deal.

I did a really good job holding myself together and being the cool mom who will not cry, I will not cry, I will not cry. At last not until AFTER I dropped her off ;o)  I was feeling pretty nostalgic on the walk home.  

It takes us 20 minutes to walk at Lily's pace, down our hill and into the village, then up the hill that the kindergarten is on.  I can see the location from our living room windows.  (At my pace, without a child or a stroller, it only takes 15 minutes)  It's a nice walk!  I look forward to doing it often, as long as the weather allows.

Sammy was less bothered by Lily's morning absence than expected (read: not obnoxiously clingy) but I think it helped that Aunt Steph was here and that Mommy made cookies :o)

I'm so thankful Steph's still here for this transition because the Mercedes is down for the count again and on the days I need to drive J to work so I can have the car, it's so nice that I don't have to hustle BOTH kids downstairs to the car at 7:30am!

It'll take some time, but we're slowly getting the hang of having quicker breakfasts, packing lunches, and starting the day earlier than usual.  I think I'm going to like this routine!  I have to arm myself with some pinteresting ideas for easy and healthy "fast food" breakfasts/lunches.  But all in all, we're figuring it out.  And it's fun!  

Lily LOVES school.  I'm so glad!  Even if it makes me a tiny bit sad that she's so big now!  I guess growing up is the whole point, after all. 

She's So Ready for School (and I'm Trying Not to Hyperventilate)

Look out world, this chick is ready for kindergarten!  I know I owe everyone pictures of my new haircut (yes to the facebook stalkers, I know you saw that Steph posted some pics and YES I will post more soon.  I just haven't gotten to it yet but I promise it's in this week's queue) and I know that I want to show you vacation pictures from the Canary Islands, BUT I'm busy this weekend and the true excitement around this house is that Lily-bear starts Kindergarten on Monday!

She is modeling her new "gymnastics shoes" by doing a 4-year-old version of a yoga pose ;o)

We aren't quite sure what gymnastics will entail, but she will have it every Wednesday and her teacher told me to get her these special shoes with rubber on the bottom.  I didn't know what she was talking about so she grabbed another kid's bag to show me.  And Globus to the rescue! because as soon as I saw them I recognized them (I almost bought them once on accident as slippers for Lily) so I was able to get her HER FAVORITE COLOR and everything.  Win.

PS how wonderful that her teacher (Frau Becke, don't quote me on the spelling yet) not only speaks awesome English, but is the sweetest lady ever and totally put Lily (and me!) right at ease!  Lily didn't want to leave after our visit a few weeks ago :o)  And I don't blame her, the place is downright magical.  More details to come after I get comfortable enough to bring my camera in!

So that's that... my big girl is off to school this week!  I'm really excited for this season... I think it's going to be good for all three of us.  Lily is SO PUMPED to be going to school "all by mys-self" for a few hours a day.  And Sam and I are pretty dang excited to have one-on-one time for the first time in her life.  It's going to be weird, but good.  (And short, because Sam is registered to start in April!)

Who wants to place bets on how soon before Lily speaks more German than me? ;o)