Saturday, February 28, 2009

Lampasas



Friday was truly a busy day from the get go. But I still decided to take all the kids to Lampasas to the park after school with having Neva over for an extra night. It was beautiful outside and the next day was already just half of the temperatures. The kids love Brooke park and also the ducks and swans at the river even Soren was a butthead and probably would have been head first in the river if he had his way. If their tummies weren't growling they would not have wanted to leave there.

It might sound crazy driving over 20 miles just to go to the park, but Lampasas is a small town with charm and flair. The people are so friendly there whereever you go. Once a while we stroll through the tiny but charming old downtown area and last night we got to eat out at Medina's in real nice company. A place we will go back to if we are perhabs do not decide just to try one we do not know yet.


Afterwards I asked myself how I even could consider going to McDonald's before? lol



more pictures from the park


Friday, February 27, 2009

Spring is coming - Paper Flower - Kids Craft


There are a few single flowers already growing out in the yard, but more were made last night inside just with scissors, construction paper and pipe cleaners.


The girls really just needed to see a flower made and came up with all kids of neat ideas.


We simply started cutting out three different sized circles out of three different colored construction paper (the circles were not even round to make it more artsy - lol).


Bend each circle gentle in half just to be able to snip a tiny hole/slit in the middle.


And then push the pipe cleaner through the holes starting with the biggest, medium to the smallest circle.

Bend the top of the pipe cleaner over in a small loop.


We twistes the pipe cleaner underneath the bottom circle to give the flower head a little bit more hold.

Here are a few more creations from the beginning, now we even flower looking like daisies and violets and so many more blooming all over the house. You never know where you are going to find one.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Die Spielplatz-Bande

All our rugrats small and big out in the park one sunny afternoon this week having a blast. The pictures speak for itself and show you what a blast they had. It was hard to get them all to go home again.









Just PICTURE it!

I know exactly what picture I want to take, butI can't. I see it every morning, but it is attached to my hand and to get the picture right I would need to step back and take it from far away so you get the right glimpse and see in focus what I get to see on a daily, every morning on a school day.


Every morning Soren could sleep in, snuggled in bed, but instead he gets up bright and early with the girls usually eats breakfast with them before 6.30 am already. Fifteen minutes later we are on the way to the schoolbus. He wears his green rubber boots and a yellow warm jacket with a giraffe (Chiara worn that one in Pre-K, so imagine how big our little guy is.)


Beside the girls there are two or three big boys waiting for the bus who gets them to the highschool or jr. high. The girls say Good Bye with kisses and hugs to both of us and hop on their bus. We cross the road, Soren is waving to Mr. Jim, the busdriver and to the girls leaving. We start walking home.

A moment later the 2nd bus comes to pick up the boys and now PICTURE it:

EVERY morning the big YELLOW BUS drives up with Mr. Jay. STOPS at the little boy with the YELLOW JACKET and waves to him before keeping on going to the bus stop. Soren is now waving back to him.

But it doesn't matter if we are almost at the house and has another two houses to go, Mr. Jay will stop the bus and wave to him or if he has five more feet to the bus stop, he will stop for Soren first, then pulls up for the boys to hop on the bus.

I wished I could catch it on a picture, but somebody has to hold the hand of the little boy in the yellow jacket walking at the road.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, William

It's time for some more pictures again and not just my talking, okay, you are not getting away from it. But you are coming voluntarily. lol.

On Monday was the birthday party of Soren's little friend. William turned 2. So the were only little boys on the party playing with blocks and cars and trucks and tools and the toy kitchen.


But soon the real kitchen got way more interesting with muffins being set on the plate ready for the table, but of course those two little butts didn't want to wait and hand their hands right their. PATIENCS, boys. I know you don't find that in the toy box, but still give the birthday mama's a moment to set it all up.




Yumm, yumm, one muffin, two muffins, three muffins, if Soren would have gotten his will he whole big plate would have been empty and probably the cheesecake, too, but luckily you can always get him with a banana two so the boys were off the table again to play and unwrap gifts.






Sunday, February 22, 2009

perspective of life can change within seconds

All the commotion in our front yard is over. It is quiet again. We had enough going on for a day.

The girls were playing outside. Soren, too. It only tool me a little bit longer to have everything inside prepped to throw the chicken on the BBQ. Yes, I picked the coldest February weekend to grill the whole weekend. But once I have a meal plan I stick to it. Okay, I try.

Ms. Chiara wanted her bike helmet from the car, so she got my keys and with Bella's help she got the helmet and did whatever, but for sure not what she was supposed to and what I expected her to do and that was bring Mama's keys back inside, hang them up or hand them to me. But no, the thought that my girls are responsible with my keys was wrong beause they didn't mind that their little baby brother took off with them outside in a huge yard.

Sometime later I wanted to make sure the car was locked I looked for the keys and couldn't find them so they admitted that Soren got the keys and had no idea where they were. Thanks. Not good. And believe me. Those two were in TROUBLE. So they started searching for the keays everywhere in, out and around while the chicken bbqed.

The food was ready, the keys were missing, gone, nowhere to be found. I feed the monsters of the house, all three and we went back outside searching, it was started to get dark.

By pure luck I dumped a big container full of toys out in front of the garage and found the keys. The girls could call themselves lucky.

While they were picky it up again we suddenly saw a car crashing against the pole at the corner of our yard and flipping upside down into our ditch in front of our eyes.

I grabbed my phone and ran. More people stopped. We called 911. Another man got to the car and helped the man crawl out of the car. Luckily he could.


The ambulance came and took him anyway. The police and fire department spent another hour here.


If he didn't hit the pole it might have been the car from the man and his sons who pulled him out of his car who passed him right then and there.


I was really upset about the girls being so thoughtless with my keys, but searching for hours outside for the keys doesn't seem like such a big deal compared the scare the daughter had when she came running to scene of the accident to find it was her dad's car.



(The ambulance was gone long ago and the car was getting pulled out of the ditch.)

Friday, February 20, 2009

Don't mess with my girls!

Yes, you read right. Don't mess with my girls! Bella got bullied in school. In class. At recess. Two different kids. It's just 2nd grade, but not all kids are friends anymore as in pre-k and some are pretty rough, some are way too rough, cruel and hurt others. And sorry, you don't mess with my girls!

We try to teach them to behave right, no to fight. I admit, at home the bickering doesn't stop, sisters get into each other, but I have never seen my kids hurting any of their friends on purpose. No way that that would ever be acceptable neither their siblings without consequences . We try that they solve their problems/fights with words or by walking away. Be the smarter one, it's not easy. I sometimes I do feel helpless and do not know what to tell her how to deal with a situation. But we are always trying.

But one thing is sure - as soon as Dad is back - BOXING lessons will be back on schedule, because my girls will know how to punch and to kick. They are smart and they won't be defendless, so you better leave them alone and do NOT mess with them.

That goes for future boyfriends, too.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

"Crafty Mieschief" Or "one or the other"

It's early when our girls go to the bus in the morning, still dark, so they are days Soren is still sleeping and there are days we crawl back in bed to doze off for a little bit longer. Today was one of those. But Soren wasn't dozing off as long as me and crawled out of my bed and thought he is a "sweetheart" and bringing me breakfast in bed or perhabs was just hungry, because he came back with one of his plastic bowls from the kitchen and set in next to me in bed. A moment later he took my big water glass and tried to fill his bowl with it and dumped it all on me. I was really fast out of bed. Believe me. Walking into the kitchen I find the sugar jar sitting on the floor in the middle of a sugary mess. Thanks, Soren.
So after breakfast with the sun out we went outside. There's enough to do and we took some picture of our papermachee hearts which are finally DONE. Done.
On some we painted the string, on some we didn't and left it natural. A few all red painted hearts we covered with different colored glitter as a little extra. Now we have to see what are going to do with them, after all the work it would be a pity to hide them in a box until next year for Valentines.
Perhabs you find them in you Easter nest again? LOL
Another little birthday present is finished. It is done since a few days, but waited desperately to be filled with crayons. The CRAYON ROLL for a little boy who turns TWO this weekend.


It was so much fun making it that I made two more right away, I just ran out of crayons, because my rolls have 17 instead of 16 slots. One crayon extra. Also I noticed I have a huge stack of fabric, I have no boys fabric besides those two and the frogs are all used up now. But there is more little cowboy fabric perfect for living in Texas.

I hope the little boy will like it as much as I had fun making it.
Do you think the water and sugar incidents were enough mieschief for one day? Then you don't know Soren.
He knows how to open doors since a few days. Fun. More fun he had today whenI changed him in a department store restroom and that stinker locked himself in the stall behind me while I packed my bag again. He and DOORS and LOCKS. Luckily he loves to lock and unlock them, too, because I really did not love the thought crawling underneath the door into the bathroom stall.
Now he is in bed and no more mieschief for today.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

I got mail from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection or Spannung, Spiel und Schokolade

It was not time for the school bus yet and I heard a knock at the front door. Nobody usually knocks at my door. I already had an uninvited guest in form of an big german shepard coming running up at my front door when I was busy outside earlier today. Back to the knock. The postman was standing there and wanted signature. Fine. As long as you bring me a package you can have an autograph anytime. Nope he had a THICK letter from the U.S. Customs and Border Control with the information that the seized

6 ea. Kinder Chocolate Eggs with toys, domestically valued at $6.00.



#1. I was stunned. What did I do?



#2. When? What? How? ------> We got several xmas and a birthday packages from Germany and one was MIA for a long time. None of them had extra tape on that it was opened or custom tape as far as I remember, none had Kinder Eggs inside neither.



#3. Why do they want to keep our chocolate eggs? I understand they are yummy. The best chocolate you can think of.

The slogan for the Kinder Eggs already says everything and why everybody loves them from the littlest to the big ones.



Spannung, Spiel und Schokolade
(in German of course)


Excitement,
(you shake the egg not knowing what's inside)



Fun
(you put it together and play with the toy)



and Chocolate
(the best part ever)



I learnt something today again. America might be known as the country of freedom, but they don't always know what's good in life. And Kinder Eggs are.




This information is from Wikipedia.


Kinder Surprise, also known as a Kinder Egg (Kinder being the German word for "Children"), is a confection originally intended for children in the form of a chocolate egg containing a small toy, often requiring assembly.

Kinder Surprise originated in 1972 in Italy. The manufacturer is Ferrero. The toys are designed by both inside designers and external freelancers (for example the French artist André Roche based in Munich) and manufactured by many companies worldwide (such as Produzioni Editoriali Aprile, a small company based in Turin, Italy, run and founded by two brothers, Ruggero and Valerio Aprile).
Kinder Eggs are sold all over the world excluding the United States, where the 1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act prohibits embedding "non-nutritive items" in confections. Additionally, the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall on the eggs in 1997. Kinder Egg-like confections are available, but only in a plastic? form filled with small candies and/or stickers. There are some stores in the United States that sell genuine Kinder Eggs, often in conjunction with other imported British or other European sweets, although their importation is technically illegal due to the 1938 law and 1997 recall.[1]
In Europe, their popularity has spread beyond their intended market, and they have become a minor cult phenomenon among adults. There is even a thriving collector's market for the toys. This is especially true in Germany, where the manufacturer includes higher-quality toys than those available elsewhere (more details below). There are many types of toys available, but some of the most popular with collectors include the ever-changing series of small hand-painted figures (some have to be assembled), which are said to be in every seventh egg (ad slogan: "Jetzt in jedem siebten Ei"); cartoon characters (sometimes called "stick figures", which is a mistranslation of the German "Steckfiguren"); metal figures and jigsaw puzzles. Seasonal eggs are introduced around the holidays, such as the limited-edition creche collections (featuring such characters as the three kings, baby Jesus, and assorted barnyard animals) found around Christmas, and the huge ones found at Easter (extremely popular in Italy).

Hop, hop, hop



What do you say? I actually started early for once. The first EASTER decorations are done on time. That alone is an acomplishment, but the little felt egg shape ornaments with beaded hearts are also not breakable, I didn't say undestroyable for toddler hands, but I am realisitc and know we do NOT need to blow out real eggs for painting and hanging up. The girls would have a little fun and lots of creativity painting and decorating and we would have LOTS of DRAMA and TEARS and BROKEN eggshells. So, that has to wait another couple years or decades.



I just played a little around before and made this little heart ornament out of felt, but I like the egg once more. Those I fill a little with and it gives them some volume.


Here is a photo of the little gift for my secret valentine Jerrica. She received it on Saturday, so now I can show it to you, too. I send her a notebook with a fabric bookcover and of course it had to have hearts on it, it was a Valentine gift exchange.



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