Tuesday, January 26

Hello All!!

Hope all is well out there! Things are good here - Dustin is busy at work and we are working on fully adjusting to Brenna's no napping schedule in the afternoon (how I miss naps already - not that my daughter isn't always fun to have around - but an hour of really my own time in the afternoon was really nice to have - I haven't done any indoor biking at all since coming back to Germany - going to have to figure out how to get the rest of my exercise in every day). So, on our walk home today, we tried out my new shopping bag at the grocery store (I love it - I will defintely need to make more - maybe as gifts this year? they are awesome!) (it was funny at school when I picked Brenna up with the bag in my hand - she had to show the bag off to her teachers - they were a little like "whatever" (but they were good sports for the sake of my excited child) - and they are getting to know that I make stuff - the one teacher even asked if it was something I made :-). After lunch, we used our store purchases to make chocolate peppermint cookies (Brenna isn't impressed with them, but Dustin and I sure love them). Brenna had fun during our baking lining up the spices and playing with them (not sure if they were her kids/friends/puppets - she kind of lost me with her story line - but loved that she made a stage out of my one container and put all of her "stones" on top). (The dough I made was not kid friendly at all - the only thing she really could help me with was breaking open the eggs - what a bummer!). (Guess I missed my picture taking opportunity there - it would have been fun to see all the stuff she had on the counter all lined up - and her outfit was cute too - a pink heart shirt and pink tights (no skirt, just the tights for here at home)).

Well, I better get my German homework done! The upcoming school activites sound fun at school - they are planning a disco for the kids, a face painting day (that should be neat to see what Brenna comes home looking like) and a costume party (all for the week before Carnival). I really need to take my camera up to school and take some pictures of the cool decorations in the building - it is so festive inside with streamers, balloons, and ribbons :-) (I think there are more decorations for Carnival then there were for Christmas!)

Oh, I almost forgot - if you want a great laugh (and insight into my clearance shopping tendancies) - check out the posting by the Meanest Mom today (one of the links in my favorite sites). If you need some inspiration today, check out the NieNie blog - she really inspires me to try to be a better mom, a better person, and a better Christian (she is recovering from a plane crash that left her burned over 80% of her body and trying to care for her 4 young children - her belief in God and her love of family inspires people from all over the world including me).

Take Care!