Tuesday, March 31

Hello All!!

It is a beautiful sunny day here in Germany today :-) Brenna and I are enjoying the warmth and taking time to go to the near by parks. Brenna loved the package she got from Gammy and Papa Carpenter - she stripped herself to put the swimsuit on. She loved the Tinkerbell hat and wore it to the park today.

Can you tell from Brenna's shoe selection that she was getting used to the rain, lol :-) The boots are the easiest for her to put on and her favorite with everything. She is getting to be quiet the hat girl - hope you enjoy these pics!

Brenna seems to be doing o.k. on the potty. Hopefully, we will be in underware soon - I think she is getting closer everyday!

Take Care!

Sunday, March 29

Hello All!!!

Brenna and I had a busy day yesterday (killing time before Dustin gets home today!). It was rainy again (today marks the sun shining - go figure now that Dustin is back...) so we started the day with baking some muffins. We made Peppermint chocolate chip muffins (I even translated all in German when making these - I didn't have to look anything up either :-) (why am my diet's own worst enemy?!!). We made two new embroideries yesterday as well - I've been dying to do these and I think they turned out pretty good. They are towel hangers - from one of my favorite sites - www.smartneedle.com. Brenna really likes them - I tried to get a picture of her cuddling with them this morning, but no luck! Hope you enjoy the picture!

Take Care!

Friday, March 27

Hello All!!

It is finally Friday - yeah!!! (Although Dustin isn't getting home till Sunday...)

The weather has been very rainy here - I even convinced Brenna to ride in her stroller twice yesterday so as not to get too wet (it was more about the mud at the park for me - it is hard to get us all cleaned up once we get back to the apartment). We also made a run to get new toothbrushes - they cleaned the chimney yesterday (I met a real life chimney sweep - but forgot to shake his hand for all you Mary Poppins fans). It made a big mess in our bathroom - lots of soot everywhere. Lucky for me, Brenna loves to help clean so we worked together on it and got it looking better.

We spent some time dancing around the apartment yesterday to wear out some energy - I don't know how Brenna spins around so much and doesn't fall down (although she always looks like she is about to stumble into something!!). We are going to be traveling for Easter so I'm not sure when we are going to do the whole basket thing for Brenna - I bought her colored (and already cooked) eggs yesterday - SHE LOVED THEM!!! I already knew that she loves to help open the eggs (we have boiled eggs frequently), but she really thought the colored ones were a special treat - she ate 3 of them! The colors were very bright - they sure are pretty!

Well - our pictures today are of 2 more German letters for Brenna - our D word is die Dose (can of corn) - sorry the picture wasn't very interesting - Brenna does not want to be in my pictures right now... E is for das Ei (egg - the plural is easier for me to remember over here - die Eier). Also thought you might enjoy a picture of Brenna's bedhead - she is only upset in the picture because I was taking her picture, lol!!!

Well, take care!

Thursday, March 26

C is for der Computer

Hello All!!!

Things were quiet here yesterday with all the rain...Brenna even said at the end of the day how it had rained all day (I think she is bummed that we can't go to the park and play). We played kitchen instead - tried to pretend we were on a picnic in a sunny meadow :-)

We made our scrambled pancakes yesterday - Brenna loves these and gobbled up her plate full. Upon my sister's recommendation we added sprinkles to Brenna's and she loved that! She loved helping in the kitchen after playing with her kitchen set!

We have German class this morning and then I hope we can make it out to the store during a break in the weather. We were lucky yesterday afternoon that there was a break in the weather to take the dog out - we even gave him a short walk.

Well, I need to study for German class and get ready for the day! Hope you enjoy Brenna's outer wear - she loves her boots and always picks these to wear outside right now. About 50% of the time she even gets them on the right feet!

Take Care!

Wednesday, March 25

Hello All!!

Sorry I have been MIA these last few days. Dustin left for Australia on Monday (yuck - a 22 hour flight), so Brenna and I are on our own until Sunday.

Brenna loves the nice days here as it gives a chance to go to the park. She is no longer afraid of the slide and loves going up and down it. She also loves going around to go up and saying "One more time" (although she doesn't really mean one more time...). Hopefully, we can get a picture of her on the slide sometime - the joy on her face is great!

Brenna is in love with her "girly" shoes right now. She even slept in her shoes last night - she was very excited to see them on again this morning!!! Dustin has rubbed off his movie tastes on Brenna and her favorite movie right now is The Santa Claus (any of the 3).

Well, we are off to bath time this morning. Not sure if we are going to go out in the rain today or not - I'm sure Brenna would really enjoy kinder group though...

Take Care!

Saturday, March 21

Hello All!!

Hope everyone out there is doing well! Things were quiet here today - just working on getting the apartment cleaned up, enjoying the spring weather and running errands (before Dustin leaves for Australia). Brenna and I made it to the playground this morning (poor Justice didn't get to go as it started as a trip to the store...) - she loved going down the slide and on the merry-go-round (she calls it her truck because there is a big "steering wheel" in the middle that you can use like in the teacups to spin it). She couldn't wait to wear her new coat today - looked pretty silly on the sunny day with her rain coat and rain boots - but she has her own sense of fashion. Brenna is getting great use of her horse rain boots - they are her current favorite footwear! Brenna enjoyed our shopping outings, but didn't take a nap today - so she wasn't as well behaved as we would have liked this evening (as I'm sure all parents understand, lol). I found her a German vtech "laptop" computer - she loves it and I think it will be good for her and I on her German. Also found a book that will read the whole story aloud (the Lion King) - also good for our German :-)

No picture of our C word today - I think I will wait until I can get one with Brenna and her "laptop" - C is for der Computer in German, lol!!

The weather is supposed to turn to rain after tomorrow - of course since Dustin will be gone all week and we are on our own (not good to be stuck in the apartment too much either)...Hopefully it won't rain the entire time he is gone!

Well, that is it for today! Take Care!

Friday, March 20

Hello All!!!

Hope everyone is having a great Friday out there :-) We had a nice day today - very sunny, but a little cold and very breezy. Brenna, Justice, and I went to the park in the morning - Justice even rode on the merry-go-round with us :-) We went to France this evening for grocery shopping - so odd to take your passport with you just to go to the grocery store, lol!! We found Brenna new spring and winter rain coats - wish I would have thought to look for one for myself...

Our B picture was taken at the Cora - B is for Bus in English and der Bus in German :-) Gotta love the Canadian flag on the side (in France...) :-)

Dustin leaves for Australia on Monday - anyone want to come help me for the week, lol :-) I'll send the dog to you....

Well, that is it for today!

Take Care!

Thursday, March 19

(Good thing I have such long arms!!)

Hello All!!

Another busy day here in Germany, lol!! Brenna and I had German class this morning, followed by a "sugar" walk (I'll explain in a little bit), laundry, lunch, nap for Brenna, some skyping (such a great thing!), dog walk, another "sugar" walk, dinner, and soon bed!!! So what is a German "sugar" walk - well, we went for bread and some other needed items on our first walk and came home with gummi candy, a chocolate bunny on a stick (they gave to her at the 1st store - she carried all the way home and went straight to the table), and cookies from the bakery!! Our second "sugar" walk was for some hard candy for Brenna's treat bag - there is too much sugar in the house!!!

We started an alphabet picture project today (going through with German words) - not sure what I will do with them, maybe a book for Brenna? So A is for Apple in English and der Apfel in German :-)

Well, that is it for today! Take Care!

Wednesday, March 18

Hello All!!

Hope everyone had a great day today. We had beautiful weather here today - sunny and warm all day :-) I even put the clothes out on the balcony to dry today :-)

Brenna and I had another craft day today - finishing up things from yesterday... We made two Brenna sized shopping bags - they turned out really cute - wish I had one!!

We used the pink one today - it already has road dirt on it as we took it to kinder group too! I really like the second one I made - it is the one with the purple train and pink plane - I had to make them somewhat girly - I think they look great! I put the words on in English and German as Brenna is getting interested in letters and words and I figured more was better!! The bags are completely reversable - but the embroidery sides are obviously my favorites!! (I kind of felt like I should embroider both the inside and outside, but wasn't that ambitious, lol)! The rabbit is out of furry fabric - not sure that I will do that again soon on a applique - what a furry mess!! The pink bag has ribbon handles (I managed to melt one - had to rip it out and redo - note to self - hot iron and polyester ribbon not a good combo) which made the project super easy, but the straps I made for the second were easy too (I used the ribbon as the guide as I liked the width and length!). I'm sure going through my fat quarter stash (although Dustin will tell you that we could use a fabric purging!!) I even designed the patterns for these myself - I should have written down all my dimensions though - oops! The bags are pretty similar to our big shopping bags - only these have a lining (our real ones don't) and the size is better for Brenna. We even shopped in the house this evening!

We had pizza for supper - yummy - although I'm not sure how my mom always made perfect pizza...Mine always tastes good, but sometimes the crust is better than others - today was a good pizza day - everything was perfect!

We don't change time until the end of the month - so it is really nice to only have 5 hour difference :-)

Well, I better get my German studied (the bags count right, lol...) and get to bed!

Take Care!

Tuesday, March 17

Hello All!!

Hope everyone out there is having a great St. Patrick's day (it doesn't seem like it really was that big of deal here)....

Brenna and I made her a new pillowcase today - hope you enjoy the picture. She picked out the pink fabric - it is her favorite color right now. Brenna loved playing with all the threads - they were her cupcakes today :-) I even got to eat 3 of them!

Other than that, the weather here was really nice today - we made it out for a nice walk. Hopefully, the weather holds for several more days - it is so nice to see sunshine and spring coming! Brenna loves to pick all the flowers at the park - I'm going to have to find a way to stop her before she brings them all home with her, lol!

Well, that is it for today! Take Care

Monday, March 16

"The flash is hurting my eyes Mom"

Ta, Da!

Hello All!!

Hope everyone didn't think we fell off the face of the earth - just having some relaxing family time here :-) We had warmer weather here this weekend, although not as sunny as I had hoped. We still made it down to the park and Dustin and Brenna even picked me flowers on Sunday morning :-)

Brenna and I had German class this morning and we walked to the store to get some beads as well. I only have yarn here to put them on - but she was quite happy to have it be pink! It was hard for her to put the beads on - the ends were thick and kept wanting to fray... The beads are all the same letter of the german alphabet - ü

Brenna has really enjoyed playing doctor lately - her favorite part is to have mom check for "birds" in her ears and of course there are several (we've read that Dr. Seuss story a few times..."the bird is out so have no fear, again your ear can hear my dear"). She usually just has "zwei - (two in German)", but I think they multiply as we play - there have been up to 10 in each ear!

Well, I am off to bed here! Take Care!

Thursday, March 12

Hello All!!

Hope everyone out there didn't feel like we abandoned you - we didn't just tied up with other things the last couple days. The weather has been fairly nice - so we have been out and about with some walks. Hopefully, we can even air out the apartment this weekend :-)

I've been busy trying to catch up on studying my German (is it ever possible to catch up on the language - I don't think I will ever get any of these der, die, and das down). I understand more with reading and listening, but talking is still very much a challenge... We will continue to plod on. I hope to make it to the library tomorrow or Saturday for some new material.

Brenna seems like she has had some set backs on the potty - we will have to continue to work on that one...Hopefully, we will get over that hurdle soon!

Well, that is it for today - I'm bushed!
Take Care!

Tuesday, March 10

Hello All!

Hope everything out there is going well. It was a rainy day here today, and Brenna and I suffered from cabin fever - we definetly need to get out of the house tomorrow.

Dustin had another late work day today :-( Brenna and I had peanut butter on rolls for supper - she really enjoyed that :-)

I'm trying to get more German studying in - it is slow going for me - I miss just about as many flashcards as I get (on wordchamp). Not too much else going on today!

Take Care!

Monday, March 9

CHEESE!!

No mom, I'm not sharing my cake with you...

Ta, da!!
Before haircut!

Hello All!!

Hope everyone is doing well out there....I've continued with my trend on being a day late on birthday wishes - Happy Birthday Cole - hope you had a great day!! We celebrated over here with two different kinds of cake - Angel Food and Yellow Cake (with chocolate chips)... They didn't look as great as your birthday cake though!!

I was brave today and trimmed inches off Brenna's hair - Dustin didn't feel well when he got home and didn't even notice. He is off to bed already - bummer for Brenna and I not to get any of his time this evening :-( Hopefully, he will feel better tomorrow - he is off to England on Wednesday night (just an overnight this time :-)

Brenna was a willing model in her princess crown (for pictures!) - hope you enjoy those :-)

We had German class today, I really need to focus some major attention there... Dustin is much better at talking in German than I am - I am understanding more, but really suck at talking it.

Well, that is all for today - Take Care!!

Saturday, March 7

Hello All!!

Hope everyone is doing well out there. I had a busy day in the kitchen today - I made hamburger buns, angel food cake, and taco salad (how did these three things take me all day I wonder in retrospect...). We had friends over so it was really nice to share a meal. (Although - I wish I had more freezer space for the leftovers - and we forgot to get out the ice cream...).

Anyway, Brenna had lots of fun playing with the kids - hopefully, she will sleep well tonight.

Well, that is it for today! Take Care!

Friday, March 6

Hello All!!

Hope everyone is doing well out there. Things were pretty quiet today - all day inside as the weather outside was dreadful - snow/rain mix all day - yuck!!! I can deal with the snow much better than the rain - hopefully, we will do better once it is warm rain, lol!!!

Brenna was back to her "normal self" today, although no nap today... We did some indoor "shopping" - it amazes me how much she picks up on our daily routine/lives... I think she is almost ready to do the shopping herself now, lol!!

We both had to have our red shoes on today (she loves these shoes so much that more than once she has gotten out of bed so that she could sleep in them, lol!!) - hope you enjoy our picture there... Also, she let me take a "squishy" picture of us today - hopefully it will make you smile (o.k. - it isn't a very good picture, but what can you do...)

Well, I need to get busy with the rest of today's housework and getting the apartment ready for friends coming over tomorrow.

Take Care!

Thursday, March 5

Hello All!!

Hope all is well out there. It was a cold, rainy day here today :-( We had German class this morning and then we played inside all day... Brenna is really getting curious about letters and her name (in print) - she recognizes what letters are, but doesn't recognize which is which yet... She loves the PBS show Super Why, and it seems to me that it is good when we are watching it together (we only have it in itunes so we watch that together on the computer). Brenna knows her whole alphabet and at nap time and bed time she will have her stuffed toys (especially Elmo) use the potty and then wash their hands. We always sing the alphabet during hand washing and she does too for her animals. Dustin works with her more on her numbers than I do, but overall she seems to be doing well and getting them in order.

I trimmed her bangs last night - maybe one of these days I will learn how to trim them well, but I don't think they are too bad (at least not horrible and they grow quick). Brenna had a terrible two moment yesterday at the end of kinder group - we just packed up and left since it was the end - she normally does really well there, but she didn't like not getting her way with me... Overall she had played with two of the older girls - she loves all thing kitchen and they had waffles to eat (which she also loves). Brenna refused to have her picture taken for the group shot (shock and surprise), but the other moms didn't push it (so neither did I).

It is supposed to rain here all weekend, bummer - I am ready for sunshine and warm...

Well, that is all for now - Take Care!

Tuesday, March 3

Hello All!!

Hope all is well out there. Not much going on today - Brenna and I went for a walk around the neighborhood, baked some bread (which I accidently added too much water too - oops), watched Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang (I didn't even know that part of that was filmed at one of the castles we went too!), and hung around the house. We are really looking forward to spring time, lol.

I'm really tired today and Dustin has a cold - so we are all heading to bed early... Brenna continues to do well on the potty - I told her if she didn't have any accidents tomorrow, we would try underware the next day :-) I can't believe how fast my little girl is growing and of course "doing it myself".

Well, take care!

Monday, March 2

I loved these top two pictures - they just made me smile and laugh today :-)

Hello All!!

Hope everyone out there is doing well. We had a nice weekend here (sorry no posts this past weekend) - we went to Heidelberg on Saturday (Patti - it was as nice as you said it was) and then stayed in the area on Sunday. The weather on Sunday was beautiful - really felt like spring is coming. Of course, it rained all day today, but at least it is warmer. We are even seeing some flowers at the local park and in the area :-) I saw that the tulips were shooting up as well - can't wait to see more color soon!! In the evening on Sunday, Dustin took Brenna up into the Black Forest - amazing that there was about a meter of snow there!!! I was much to happy to see sun to want to go play in the snow myself...

The tour guide at the castle in Heidelberg wasn't very child friendly - two families had to leave as the tour guide said they were too disruptive - made for a tense tour for us, but Brenna did pretty good considering it was lunch time and the tour lasted a hour and a half. The castle was pretty impressive - so enormous and what I would think of when I think of a castle.

Brenna actually wanted her picture taken today, so hopefully you will enjoy her sunglasses for today :-) She has done tremendous on the potty the last two days - we are crossing our fingers that she is almost there :-)

I just finished all the books in the Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer - wow did I really enjoy these. Now I am debating with myself if I will be able to wait to buy the movie over here in June or if I will buy it on i-Tunes this month...

Well, I am off to bed! Take Care!