Happy Birthday, Collin!!!

Wow, it's hard to believe that 7 years have passed since my first baby came into this world. What a wonderful day it was! Even after having labor for 3 weeks, hard labor for 10 hours, and finally having a c-section, it was one of happiest moments of my life when first I heard my baby cry, and then I saw his beautiful face. I kissed him just seconds after he was born, and he has a freckle on that same spot now. I tell him that is a permenant mark from his first kiss...LOL!

Well, now my first born is growing up, but in spite of the fact that this evil world has it's influence, he is a kind, caring, sensitive, loving, thoughtful and good natured kid. I am so proud of the person he is becoming. As hard as it is to accept that he is no longer the baby I once had, I think every stage has it's rewards and treasured moments.

He asked for chocolate chip cookies to share with his class today, so I baked several batches and sent him to school with them this morning. We'll have cake and presents when he comes home this afternoon, and I'll take some pictures then. Stay tuned for photos of our growing boy!!

For those of you keeping up with our news.....

It's a BOY!! That's right, we went to the doctor today, and we saw the telltale signs of manlihood! It was pretty funny because Heinz saw it first, proclaimed it a boy, and sat down to wait for the doctor to catch up. I saw the evidence as well, but it sounded and felt so much more real when the doctor confirmed it!

I'm feeling pretty good at the six month mark, and just have a couple more weeks until I'm in the third trimester. Time isn't flying, of course, but I know once the baby is here time will be non-existent, so I'm trying to make the most of what I have left.

Now we have to work on names......this could be a tough one! Any suggestions are appreciated!

Christmas 2007

Well, Christmas has come and gone already. It was a very busy month with loads of activities, parties and get togethers and non stop baking. There were even a couple of birthday parties in there! We are exhausted and in recovery now, but it was a fantastic month.

Heinz was in Denmark for the beginning of the month, and while we really wanted to go with him, he wasn't in a very populated area, so we decided to wait until he goes to a more exciting place. We got to attend a performance of Handel's Messiah, take a few trips to the different area Christmas markets, bake cookies with the kindergarten, go to a couple of Christmas concerts, including one that Collin was in, attend a couple of brunches, a cookie exchange, an advents breakfast, and inbetween all that, there were doctor's visits, playdates, shopping for Christmas presents, and meetings to attend at the school.

We had a lovely Christmas caroling party on the 22nd, and we had 32 people attending. It was quite crowded in our home, but I think everyone had a great time. We had several instruments and some terrific singers. Lots of food, fun and music, and the 16 (!!!) children played upstairs with the babysitters we hired. They decorated cookies, played Bingo, colored, watched a couple of Christmas shows, and strung beads for necklaces and bracelets. There were also Christmas stories and presents. We had several children perform at the party on their musical instruments. I was impressed at what a talented bunch of expats we are!

As lovely as the party was, that evening and the next day were spent getting past a terrible virus! Heinz and I both were flat on our backs for more than 24 hours. The kids had to fend for themselves. Fortunately, there was enough bread, yogurt and fruit that they could fix for themselves. By Christmas Eve, we were better, but ugh, what a nasty way to spend a day!

On the 24th, I headed to the doctor's office in anticipation of finding out the gender of our bun in the oven. Unfortunately, the baby appears to be a bit shy and wouldn't cooperate by showing us his or her identifying parts! Oh well, we'll try again in a few weeks.

Christmas Day was great! The kids got a nice haul of stuff from relatives. Collin is starting piano lessons in January, and so a giant piano was delivered by Santa on Christmas Eve. He was surprised and loved it. Savannah got a bed for her baby, and a Disney princess blanket from Santa. We also have the Christkind who comes and delivers presents. He usually joins up with Santa and they combine efforts. We spent the day relaxing, having a big breakfast, a LOOOOONG walk in the freezing cold, and then some hot tea with Christmas cookies once we were back home.

It was a lovely holiday season. Heinz got a couple of weeks off, and it was absolute bliss having him home every day. We took lots of long walks, relaxed and slept in, and got to talk to each other as long and as much as we wanted! I tried to make the weeks as special and memorable as possible so that when he's gone away for a long period again, we have many good times to remember and keep us happy.

Here is a web address to all our Christmas pictures. There were way too many to post here, but I hope you'll look and enjoy them. I haven't figured out why it won't let me post a direct link, but just copy and paste the address in your browser to see the pictures.

http://picasaweb.google.com/mama0wolf/Christmas2007

We got a dog!!!

On St. Nikolaus Day, we got our new dog! This day is celebrated in Germany by putting out shoes at the door so that St. Nikolaus can fill them with goodies. Well, the kids got a huge surprise on this day with our new dog, Cali. She is a 3 year old Golden Retriever, and she is an absolute love! She knows several commands, obeys and listens well, and just adores the kids. She gets loads of attention, and she is very thankful for every pat on the head she gets. We are more than thrilled with her. She is the dog we've been waiting for, and she is a great addition to our family.

She has a bed that the kids gladly share with her!


Savannah loves to snuggle up with Cali.


Savannah dressed up and ready for St. Nikolaus Day at the kindergarten. He actually visits them there. Savannah's teacher, Frau Bachmann, also has a Golden Retriever, and she gave Savannah a lovely book about the breed.


Cali has brought us all a lot of happiness and joy. She came from a family who didn't have as much time for her anymore. The husband is being deployed to Iraq, and the wife works full time and starts night school in January. They truly loved her, and it shows in her personality and all the tricks and commands they taught her. She came with lots of toys, leashes, a house, brushes, shampoo, and even a seatbelt! We have had a great time with her, and she has inspired us to get outside every day for a little exercise and fresh air. We look forward to a long and rewarding relationship with Cali. Stay tuned for more pictures of our new dog!

St. Martin's Day

When Americans celebrate Veteran's Day, people in Germany are celebrating St. Martin's Day. It's a really nice little holiday commemorating the man who ripped his cloak in half so that a poor man might have some warmth. The children all make lanterns at kindergarten. Then after a reenactment of the actual ripping of the cloak, the children walk through the village with their lanterns singing really nice songs about lanterns and stars and so forth. Afterwards they get a free giant pretzel and the adults get to eat cake and drink mulled wine. I love this holiday here, and I was glad the kids got to participate again.

View of the church steps and all the lanterns.


St. Martin himself!


Savannah with the lantern she made, and Collin with one from year's past. It rained that night, so the picture was better taken inside.

Guy Fawkes Day comes to Germany

Interesting holiday to say the least. In order to be 'fair' to the English section at the European school, there is a Guy Fawkes celebration every year at the school complete with fireworks, bbq and hot spiced cider. Those of you who are not British might need a small explanation of this holiday. There was a guy, Guy Fawkes to be exact, who tried to burn down Parliment some many years ago, and now every year there is a huge celebration whereby people stand around a giant bonfire and burn an efigy of this man. Yes, and some think Halloween is an weird holiday. For the complete story, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes

Well, I took Collin to the celebration, and it was fun. We had some grilled bratwurst, cider and got to watch the fire. There was also a contest to see who made the most authentic Guy Fawkes dummy. That one got to sit on the top of the fire. Click on the pictures for a better view.


Before the fire was lit


I really loved the commentary before the fire got started about how much 'we' hate Guy Fawkes, and so that is why we do this year after year. Yes, lovely holiday with so much cheer and good feelings. There was a raffle afterwards, and we won a couple of trinkets, so Collin was quite impressed with that.

The Binky Fairy comes to visit

So those of you who know Savannah well, know that she's had a love for her binky more than anything else! With Collin, it was pretty easy to break the habit, I just told him we lost it and that was it. I knew I would have to be more creative with Savannah. So enter Binky Fairy!

I convinced Savannah that if she put all her binkies in a plastic bag and hung from the door outside that the Binky Fairy would come and bring her a lovely surprise in exchange for all those binkies (and we had plenty!). Willingly, but not happily, Savannah complied and gathered up all her binkies for the occasion. She was overjoyed with the results (with a little encouragement from Mother and Daddy). She got a laufrad!! For those of you non German speakers, a laufrad directly translated is a 'walking bike' or basically a bike with no pedals. It's a wonderful idea as a child can learn his or her balance first before graduating to learning how to pedal. Savannah loves her new bike, and is already cruising the streets of Obergrombach with great speed.




A beautiful day to ride a bike in Obergrombach!

Collin plays soccer (or football for those of you non NFL fans)

Collin started playing soccer with our village team this year. He is really enjoying it so far, and while he doesn't have a firm grasp on anything other than kick the ball into the goal, no one else does either, so it makes for a pretty fair game. During the winter months, the team practices inside the village school gym, and the boys have loads of fun. Here are a couple of pictures of Collin in action. He's number 3.