Collin's first day of school

On September 5, 2007 our son began his first school adventure! We are so proud of him, and I must say, he is pretty proud of himself. After much deliberation, we decided to send him to the European school in nearby Waldstadt. While our village primary school has a great reputation, since our children are growing up bilingually, it just made sense to us that they should be learning from the beginning in both languages. Some of Collin's courses will be in English and some in German. In addition, the school has what they call European hours where the kids from all the first and second grades can play together. They hear all the major languages here, and surprisingly, some of them are already picking up bits and pieces. My son now greets me with "Bonjour."

Here is Collin with his schultüte. This is a wonderful German tradition where the parents give the child a large cone shaped package filled with candy and other goodies.

Waiting to go into the classroom for the first time
Inside the classroom with the other students (the poor girl who is so sad has adjusted nicely, and she and Collin have become good buddies) There are only 12 students in Collin's first grade class, so he will get a good deal of individual attention.
In the auditorium waiting with his teacher. Mr. Fitzgerald is from Ireland, and he works really well with the children. It is clear that he has many good ideas and is very commited to his profession.
And it has gone really well so far. (apart from my putting him on the wrong bus last week!!) On Tuesdays and Thursdays, he attends school until 3:25pm, so he's pretty bushed by the time he comes home. The upside to these long days is he will get a longer summer break than the regular German schools so that we can take more time to go on holidays. My boy is growing up right before my eyes, and while it is a wonderful process to watch, it makes me tear up to think that the time goes so quickly when they are young. I couldn't be more happy with the great gifts God has given me in my children. They make every day fun, interesting and worthwhile. To see life progress through their eyes makes it truly an incredible journey.

Collin loses his first tooth!

After having a loose tooth for over two months, Collin came to me and said he thought it was ready to come out. I examined the tooth and saw he was right, it was very loose. So loose in fact, that I was afraid if we didn't pull it out right then, he might swallow it in the night. Heinz had to leave the room, being a bit squemish, but good old Mama yanked that tooth right out, and lo and behold the tooth fairy brought a WHOLE euro!!

Collin graduates from Kindergarten

It's hard to believe that it's been more than three years since my boy started kindergarten, and now he has already graduated! It was a wonderful day, and the kids had a little party complete with kinder champagne and little gifts. I know Collin will be sad to leave his kindergarten teacher, Frau Bachmann, but he will go on to have wonderful new adventures in school.


A toast to the school beginners....There were four school beginners in Collin's group.
Breaking through to the next phase of life.
A wonderful teacher, mentor and friend. Our whole family will miss having Frau Bachmann in Collin's life. We hope Savannah's kindergarten experience is just as rewarding and fulfilling as what Collin enjoyed.
As a graduation gift, Oma brought Collin these lederhosen from one of her trips to Bavaria. They are wonderfully practical, comfortable and almost indestructible! He loves wearing them, and I love not having to wash them. Just a quick brush and they're good as new!

Summer updates

Well, summer has come and gone, and honestly, we didn't do very much. The weather here has been awful, rainy, cold, windy and just blah. We only got to the swimming pool twice, and although we did do some great bike rides, we were pretty limited in how far we could go before it would start to rain again. Now in September, we've had a couple of nice days, but it is clear that fall is here to stay, and I've already had a couple of fires in the fireplace to keep us warm.

Here are a few pictures from our summer.....

Here is Collin in a little play of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs they did at the kindergaten.


Party for the school beginners. Notice the head dress Collin has on. There was an Indian (native American) birthday party the day before, and he just did not want to take off the feathers.
Our family was invited to a party at the Klondike.....a little place in the forest where Heinz and his buddies used to get together 20 years ago and whoop it up. All the old guys were there with their families. It was really great with all the kids hanging out together and just relaxing with friends.
The old guys.....
On Sundays after church, we try to go on bike rides and walks when the weather permits. Most of the time we cannot convince Savannah to get into play clothes, nor can we convince her to actually walk very far without having to get on Daddy's shoulders. But admittedly, Heinz loves his Daddy's girl!




Me, also enjoying our walks......
Here we are on a bike ride to the next village to get some ice cream. What you see here are Collin and Heinz on the bike path next to the road. In the next picture they are on a little narrow street that leads to the ice cream shop. What you don't see in these pictures is me on my bike hauling Princess Savannah behind me in her little carriage. She loves riding in the bike trailer! She brings toys and books and of course directs me to go faster, slower, please put the wind breaker down or roll it up, etc. We do have a lot of fun on our little excursions.