Friday, February 27

Hello All!!

Hope all is well out there. Happy belated birthday to my sister-in-law Karen today - sorry we missed posting yesterday (or emailing, or calling...). I don't know how I missed it as I have been watching the calendar all week and new that it was coming...

Brenna and I had a quiet day today - we tapped dance, played indoor shopping, watched Elmo's potty time (it seemed to inspire her today :-), watched Cinderella, and just played around the house. Dustin and I couldn't believe after her bath today that she counted up to 13 in English and then up to 9 in German (in the right order in both) - I wish she was as interested in her colors and letters as she is in the numbers. She is doing pretty good on her alphabet too - although if she is singing by herself she doesn't usually go past G.

We are off to Heidelberg tomorrow, so hopefully we will have some new pictures to post then :-)

Take Care!

Wednesday, February 25

Hello All!!!

Can you believe that our stay in Germany has been almost 6 months already??? Time has sure flown by already and we still have lots of hopes on our list of seeing and doing. I'm thoroughly enjoying my time with Brenna although some days it doesn't seem like we accomplish much... We went to kinder group today - Brenna really enjoyed the kitchen set as usual. There were a couple of the girls there closer to her age and she really enjoyed that.

Dustin was back to work today (of course the first day of sun in a while...but it is supposed to be nicer this week and warmer). As my jeans are all fitting snug these days - we may not be baking as much right now...I am really trying to cut back on my sweets. Brenna's new stash of candy has been tempting, but so far I've resisted :-) It is nice to have some time to get out in the fresh air and sunshine today - hopefully, we will get some nice walks tomorrow and Friday.

Dustin is off to volleyball tonight - so just us girls... Don't worry, we didn't party too hard in his absence, lol :-)

Well, that is all I can think of for today!
Take Care!

Tuesday, February 24

Hello All!!

Hope everyone is doing well out there. Things were quiet here today. We ended up staying home today and plan to go to Heidelberg on Saturday - they are forcasting sun and warmer weather - I really hope so. It is amazing how quickly they got all the streets and sidewalks clean - only a small amount of confetti remains - but it is funny to see on all the side streets away from the main parade :-)

Brenna took only a short nap when Dustin and her went out to the store. I believe she may be transitioning from her normal napping...

We are planning on going to kinder group in the morning...Other than that, not too much going on today.

Well, take care!

Monday, February 23

Hello All!!!

Today was Rosenmontag - a very big party day of Carnival here in Germany (and especially in our small town). I didn't realize that Carnival and Mardi Gras had the same origins, but my dad put the info in my head so I looked it up on the computer yesterday - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardi_Gras

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival. It is amazing to read all the information about Carnival and how it came to be. We went to the parade here in town and it lasted for 2 1/2 hours!!! It was completely crazy - I can't imagine how Mardi Gras would be. Confetti everywhere - we had it dumped on us several times - and Brenna came home with a ton of candy. She fell asleep after about 2 hours even with all the loud music (and the drinking - lots of drinking and loud people just like Mardi Gras in US!). The top two pictures are of the sidewalk and the road - completely covered in confetti - there is no snow on the ground!! After Brenna fell asleep, the ladies in front of us worked on doubling her candy bag - I think she got more candy after she fell asleep.

Brenna got to dress up in her costume (we only put the skirt on today - she loved it and her bows - although the bow didn't make it to the parade, just the skirt). We bribed her with make-up to get some smiles - she loved the make-up (she is really very girly). Anyway - I thought she looked adorable - so hopefully, you will enjoy todays pics :-) I thought even the sad face was a cute shot :-)

Happy belated birthday to my brother, Eric - hope you guys had a great day :-)

Well, that is all I can think of for today!

Take Care!

Saturday, February 21

Hello All!!

It doesn't really feel like Saturday since Dustin was home yesterday, but it is nice to look forward to several days in a row with him home :-)

We went to Freiburg today (about an hour south) - we only went to the area around their main old church. There was a nice farmer's market going on around the outside. Brenna was really funny at lunch time as she just had to have a carrot to eat :-) She ate about half of it which was pretty good for her - and she ate all of her wurst, lol :-)

We took a driving tour after that through the Black Forest south of us. It amazes me how big the Black Forest is! It feels so small sometimes living where we do :-)

Brenna didn't nap today so she has crashed early. We are just planning a day around home tomorrow - hopefully, get cleaning and such done :-)

Well, hope you enjoy our pictures from today - take care! (I loved the stone work around the outside of the church in Freiburg - hopefully you enjoy our foot shot!)

Friday, February 20

Hello All!

Hope everyone had a great day today. We walked around a cold Strasbourg France today :-) We visited the church in downtown and then the massive grocery store, Cora.

We found Aladdin on video (yeah) at the Cora, so that was the evenings entertainment.

Weather permitting, we are off to Freiburg in the morning.

The top picture is of a Baccarat (crystal) necklace - I told Dustin he could happily get me one of those for my birthday, lol! The next two are the enormous church. The last is of one of the two swans we saw as we were on our way to the church :-)

Well, that is all I can think of for today - take care!

Thursday, February 19

Hello All!!

Hope everyone is doing great out there! Brenna and I had an on again, off again, on again day...hmm, what does that mean??? Well, she was her normal self, then a normal 2 year old, then her normal self, and then a 2 year old....We are so spoiled most of the time with her great behavior, that the tantrums certainly surprise and tire me... Even the German teacher we have has commented how well she does most days. Perhaps we have both spent too much time indoors lately with only each other for company, maybe the winter blahs, or maybe just one of those days???

Anyway, we had German class this morning, followed by watching some of Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang (which I have never seen before), playing in Brenna's room, making edible cookie dough (eggless), Brenna's nap, playing with our new tap shoes (THANK YOU to M.E. for my great pair), finding instructions on how to use our new tap shoes (this could be one of my new favorite websites - www.unitedtaps.com we'll see how Brenna and I do first - but so far the one video we have watched has been fun to try out), playing doctor with all of Brenna's stuffed animals, dinner (poor Dustin didn't make it home in time to join us :-( , and the grocery store...Sounds like we actually got a lot accomplished today??!!

We are going to France in the morning - we plan on looking around in town in the morning and then going to the great grocery store - Cora! That place is a super-super market - and I love that the French have a better selection of food :-)

Well, that is all I have for today - have a great evening (and weekend) - Dustin is off work tomorrow for Luk shutdown (he is off until Wednesday :-) - so we are planning several day trips in the area)...
Take Care!

Wednesday, February 18

Hello All!!

Sorry, I didn't get a post up yesterday as Brenna and I went to bed early. It was a very rainy day yesterday (all day) - so Brenna and I played inside all day. We made a new recipe for eggless cookie dough (no bake) - good thing the recipe doesn't make much!!! Brenna is having lots of fun playing with her blocks and her kitchen stuff right now - those are probably her favorite and she often combines them together (did you know blocks are tea cups and cake - with frosting of course!).

The hamburger buns were still wonderful day 2 - we will see how they are today :-)

Well, that is all I have for now - hope all is well! Hope you enjoy our pictures from yesterday - I love Brenna's lips in the first one - I can't remember what I told her to be, lol :-)

Take Care!

Monday, February 16

Hello All!!

Hope all is well out there :-)

Brenna and I had a quiet day again here - German class this morning, playing kitchen and blocks, and baking a new recipe for hamburger buns :-) Brenna also did really well on the potty today - she has pretty much gotten the idea of pooping on the potty/now just to get the peeing going... My new recipe for hamburger buns was a winner :-) Dustin voted them much better than the last and worthwhile to make again! Now, just to see how they store for a day or two.
I can't believe that I am making my own hamburger buns - certainly not something a year ago that I would have had the time or inclination for :-)

Dustin flew off to England tonight, at least he will be back tomorrow. He has Friday, Monday, and Tuesday off - so I will need to get the cameras cleaned off for new pictures :-)

Well, that is all for tonight. Brenna had no nap today, but was in a good mood all day so that was good.
Take Care!

Sunday, February 15

Hello All!!

Hope everyone is well out there (and hopefully had a nice Valentine's day weekend). Brenna had lots of fun this weekend with the fresh snow - she loved going down to the park to play :-)

We just stayed around here this weekend - not too much going on. We all had Gyros for supper on Saturday. It was the first take out food since we have been back in Germany :-) We had our typical Sunday night dinner of pizza today. Today was apartment cleaning day, so not much fun there (fun was not had by all - I think just Brenna!).

Brenna got her new "coloring" gloves yesterday with her Valentine gift of a Princess magazine. (some people have driving gloves - Brenna sees these as her coloring gloves - hope you enjoy). Her headband is her Princess crown - she likes to say like Mikayla!

Well, that is all for tonight - Take Care!

Saturday, February 14

Hello All!

Hope everyone out there is having a great day. It snowed more here this morning, so Brenna, Justice, and I went out and played while Dustin got his hair cut and the grocery shopping done.

To celebrate Valentine's day, we made chocolate chip pancakes this morning. I think that Dustin liked them better than Brenna - she isn't much of a breakfast person. We also made a small portion of a chocolate chip blonde - didn't turn out as good as it should have, but at least I finally tried that recipe.

Brenna wasn't really feeling getting her picture taken this morning - gotta love the fake crying...But she throughly enjoyed licking the spoon when we were making the blonde.

Well that is all I have for now - Take Care!

Thursday, February 12

Hello All!!

Hope everyone is doing well out there. It snowed here this morning - I can't say enough how pretty it looks outside when it snows...Brenna really enjoyed seeing in fall as well. When we took Justice for his evening outing - I threw some snow in the air, and they both really enjoyed it :-)

I made hamburger buns yesterday - they came out really beautiful (how sad is it that I am so excited about how wonderful looking my hamburger buns came out!). My only pictures today are of the only two remaining buns! It was nice to have some American fare - sloppy joes (another new recipe) and an old favorite, mushroom burgers. Dustin still misses American bread and buns, but I will keep trying :-) I put some of the wheat type flour in the buns, so I'm sure that could have affected the flavor, but I thought they were pretty good. The consistency was good, not quite as moist as some of the buns in the US, but nice none the less. I had hoped to make my sister-in-law's recipe for sloppy joes, but I didn't find any canned condensed soups last weekend.

Brenna took no nap today and threw a fit at the end of German class, not quite sure what her mood was for today...Hopefully, tomorrow will be better. At least it is Friday tomorrow :-) We still enjoyed reading several more books this afternoon with the extra time.

Get well wishes go out to my Grandma today - our prayers are with you as you recover!

Well, that is all for today - take care!

Tuesday, February 10

Hello All!!!

Not too much to report on today. Brenna and I stayed in all day as the weather was nasty outside (rainy and windy - yuck). We watched all 3 carebear movies from the 80s on youtube.com, boy does that bring back memories!

We got some really silly pictures with her camera - I'll have to try to get those up tomorrow...

We used the rest of our egg yolks today to make more pudding - I wished Dustin like pudding so it wasn't around me so much, but at least I found that I can make all different flavors of pudding on the stove with soy milk :-)

We painted some more today - not too much, but Brenna did a good job. She didn't want to wait to put them on the fridge - she hasn't quite grasped the comment that it has to dry before it can be hung up...

Hope you enjoy our pictures from today - you will see why Brenna will be confused on what she should and shouldn't eat of dog bones!

Anyway, that is all I can think of for today!

Take Care!

Monday, February 9

Hello All!

Hope everyone is doing well out there. My waist line is telling me that I have been doing too much good baking lately - I'm going to have to cut that off soon! It seems that with all the cooking our kitchen is a constant disaster area...With as much heat as it generates, I'm sure we won't be doing much cooking/baking in the summer (unless early in the morning or late in the evening). I made the mock angel food cake (one in a 13 x 9 inch pan) - it was yummy - although Brenna didn't quite understand why there wasn't any frosting, lol. To use up the egg yolks we made pudding (butterscotch on the stove) and crepes today - I have found that both of these recipes work well with soy milk which makes me happy :-) Brenna couldn't wait for the pudding to cool all the way in the fridge, so she enjoyed it warm! Pretty soon, I'm going to have to send the food with Dustin to work or find friends to give it too!

Brenna and I painted with the Rose Art paints where you add water to them - she does really well with these, although sometimes she forgets to put paint on her brush and only uses water, lol. I'm sure we will run out of some of the colors on those at the end of this month.

Brenna couldn't wait to get another bath today - she is going through a phase where she loves getting in the tub. I didn't want her hair washed today - so hopefully, you will enjoy her impromptu shower cap! I braided her hair before bed yesterday - in case you noticed her hair when eating her cake!

Well, nothing much else to report - I need to work on her costume for carnival this week - not sure when the kids get dressed up yet, but I want to have it done in time...Brenna saw me looking at the pattern today and reported that she wanted to play in her dress - uh oh!

Take Care!

Sunday, February 8

Hello All!!

Not to much going on here - just enjoying everyone in the family being home again :-)

Happy belated birthday to Aunt Margee - hope you know that we thought of you all week (even if I didn't get your bithday post up on Friday!)

We've been trying a few more new recipes - I found a pretty decent blend of spices for french fries in the oven and we had a new recipe for chicken fingers yesterday. Brenna really enjoyed both.

Brenna is making progress on the potty - the worst times for her are after nap and after getting up in the morning - it is tough to get her going!

Well, that is all I can think of for now. I may try another recipe today that I have been dying to try - angel food cake in a 13 x 9 inch pan :-)

Take Care!

Thursday, February 5

Hello All!

Not too much to post today -I am tired so, we are going to call it an early night.

Brenna and I had German class this morning and then made it out to the stores. We bought poster board so that we could do finger painting this afternoon - Brenna loved that (hopefully, you all will enjoy her pictures - I just left her pull-up on to make clean-up easier - which it was!). We bought her new special treat at the grocery store - cashews - she loves them - and we had them with lunch. She keeps saying they remind her of my dad when we eat them (how many did she get at Christmas, I wonder!). We got out with Justice while the weather was nice for a good afternoon walk - he is dead at my feet now - lol!

Well, we are off to bed - take care!

Wednesday, February 4

Hello All!

Hope everything is going well out there today. I wasn't in a very good mood today - I even apologized to Brenna before bed about my bad mood...Hopefully, I will get some better sleep tonight and a better mood will prevail tomorrow.

We tried to accomplish a lot of indoor tasks today - there was one rain shower today (and lots of clouds), so we didn't make it out for our kinder group...Anyway, we painted, cleaned, and baked today...We also sang Happy Birthday to Gargee (Brenna's one year old Groundhog) and blew out a candle for her.

Hope you enjoy our pictures from today - Justice is a pathetic begger for breakfast in the morning - he didn't get any, but he sure hopes! Brenna was having lots of fun with her dancing - I told her the headband was a princess crown - not sure what happened when it was on backward, but you have to love her shoes and her moves!

Anyway, I'm off to bed - Take Care!

Tuesday, February 3

Hello All!

Hope everyone is doing well - Brenna and I are trying to keep busy on our own this week. I am working on my German in the morning with Brenna - we are watching some our Disney videos in English with German subtitles. I think tomorrow, we will watch in German with the German subtitles...Hopefully, the more exposure we both get will help. We are going to need to find Cinderella in German soon - it is Brenna's current favorite...We played some games on Nick Jr. today (on the computer) - Brenna really enjoyed them and hopefully they may help with her counting and colors. Her favorite color is pink and she says it for everything...

Yesterday, I downloaded a program to put together picture items (like on Shutterfly) for here in Germany...It is really different to use, but I think it has some neat features as well. I will do at least one book and see how it turns out. The cost is pretty comparable to that of Shutterfly so that is good, and I think the time to do the book is about the same...

Brenna and I got her paints out today - hopefully everyone will enjoy those pictures :-) I put an old T-shirt of mine on her since we started at dinner time and I was in the kitchen... She thought that it was great, so I probably just lost one of my favorite T-shirts! The one with her tongue is from yesterday - she did not want her picture taken, lol. Can you tell the caps are hard to open (which is good when you are not ready for her to play with them yet!)

We got out for about 40 minutes on a walk with the dog this afternoon - he really enjoyed it and jumped all over the walker that stopped to pet him - grrr.... I wish that it was easier to control that, but with him and the stroller, I have my hands full... The person said she didn't mind though - the people here sure seem to love dogs!

Well, I gotta put Brenna to bed!

Take Care!

Sunday, February 1

Hello All!!

Hope everyone out there is doing well. We had a nice weekend and were able to get together with some friends over here.

My eyes are really tired today - so not much writing is going to go on today. I tried another chocolate cake recipe today - it came out o.k. - the center wasn't as done as I would have liked, but the outside was done. I'm sure I need to play with the oven temperature if I make that cake again. But, our friends today enjoyed it, so that was nice to share.

Well, I will put more up tomorrow (maybe - Dustin is off to Turkey for the week and it will just be Brenna, Justice, and me)!

Take Care!