Tuesday, January 20

Hello All!

I hope everyone out there is doing well. Not much went on here at our household today. We skype'd with Dustin's parents (that is the best thing out there for seeing friends and family that are far awary), got some cleaning done, took the dog for a short walk, and read some books. Brenna even decided to read to Daddy to put him to sleep :-)

Dustin had another long day at work - hopefully, he will get some much needed rest before we leave for Rome on Thursday.

I put the video up of Brenna in her tap shoes - I think these are great (but I suppose I am bias!!)
Another January birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Uncle Robert - hope you have a great day and hopefully, you enjoyed the video we sent you on skype :-)

Anyway - gotta get some sleep!
Take Care!

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=-5K_4JiAX_U

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=7fn8B9ospeg

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm4-j6Twevk - she is a little bossy though!!!

Monday, January 19

Hello All!

Hope everyone is doing well out there. Brenna and I had a pretty quiet day today. We started off with the healthy idea of carrot cupcakes - but the flavor was somewhat lacking - so our healthy snack got a good dose of frosting (where did this sweet and frosting obsession come from???).

Dustin had a long day at work, but luckily with Brenna going to bed later, he at least got some quality time with her. She got a chance to wear her tap shoes tonight which she did really great with. We made some video - I will have to try to get it posted on youtube soon. I swear someday, Brenna will be a star - she is such the performer :-)

I am really looking forward to spring (which is not so promising since it is only January!) - but the rain and snow are not so great with the dog... Although, rain at any time with the dog is a bummer...

Here are some pictures of Brenna and I playing in her room and her with her bunny ears... I got to wear the Minnie mouse ears - sorry there aren't any pictures of that!

Well, I need to get to bed - Take Care!

Sunday, January 18

Hello All!!!

Hope everyone is well! I think Dustin, Brenna, and I have been in a sugar coma all weekend from our cupcakes we made, lol :-) They turned out really well, and I can't wait to get a chance to make some more (although I think we better invite some friends over to share next time!!!).

Our apartment got a thorough cleaning today - I am done for all but the kitchen. I had hoped to get Dustin's help there, but he pooped out on me and went to bed already. Maybe Brenna and I will just tackle that tomorrow as it is getting late here. It was a very rainy day today (it actually made me miss the snow - especially when the dog came in with muddy feet on my clean floors)! The weather was nice enough yesterday that Dustin, Brenna, and Justice took a walk while I made dinner. We tried one our favorite recipes from the US and it turned out well - I think I am finally adjusting to the ingredients and food over here. I am trying to cook and bake with as many ingredients as we can obtain in Germany and France (the cupcakes were even a cake recipe made entirely from scratch!). I'm not sure how the Germans can cook without vanilla extract though - that may remain a mystery to me... I am going to try an angel food cake soon (although probably after our trip to Rome) - that should be interesting... I'm sure you all will hear how that one turns out.

Well, I suppose I should wrap things up for the evening - sorry no pictures from this weekend. I need to clean off the disc for our trip and didn't spend much time doing that this weekend.

Take Care!

Friday, January 16

Hello All!!

Hope you all are having a great day! Things were pretty quiet around here today. Brenna had the sniffles this morning and quite a lot of sneezing, but seemed way better this afternoon.

We made cupcakes and frosting in honor of all the January birthdays that we are missing - Happy Birthday Grandma Rine - hope you have a great day today. Brenna enjoyed making the icing, cupcakes, and the decoration (with sprinkles!). The frosting and cupcake recipes both turned out really good (which is always a pleasant surprise in our house when cooking something new!). Dustin and I each had several (do I have to put the actual number up - nope sorry!!) and our fridge is full of the rest (they put their shortening in the fridge here - and that is the only place we have room in the kitchen anyway!). Hope you enjoy the picture of Brenna with her "decorated" cupcakes! She kept getting ahead of me and putting the sprinkles on before the icing, lol :-) I love my silicone cup cake holders - these are the best thing ever!

She loves her book - "If you give a Cat a Cupcake" - maybe reading that so much is spoiling my diet??? Anyway, she really had fun with that activity today! She did a great job with mixing - we got the electric mixer out for the 1st time over here (boy, do I miss my Kitchen Aid). It did a good job with the frosting, but I couldn't seem to make it work for the cake - good thing that Brenna likes to whisk so much!!

Well, not too much else going on. We had grilled cheese for supper since that is one of the things Dustin missed from the U.S. - not sure how they compare to the ones there - but they were all gone after dinner...

Well, take care!

Post 100 - Thursday, January 15

Hello All!!!

Well, I thought I should do something special for my 100th post, so I got the video camera out today and put some new videos up on youtube. Sorry if the lighting is poor and the camera person leaves something to be desired, but hopefully, you all will enjoy what you see (also, sorry the files are large - it took forever to load them on youtube too!!). I broke the video into several pieces, but it is a tour of our apartment over here - sorry for the mess, but somethings don't change even on a different continent!

Brenna and I had a busy day today - I had German class this morning (which I let Brenna sleep through), then we played school bus/school/art class/kitchen... I am amazed that she wants to "read" the books with me and she seems to recognize the letter B when I write it (I've written it enough for her - with B is for Brenna!). All colors are still pink - but what do you expect when that is most of what her wardrobe consists of, lol ;-)

Brenna got a chance to play with and tire Dustin out this evening - he and Justice went to bed before either of us!! I got a pretty good picture of Brenna and Justice today - hope you all enjoy it! I love the look on his face - I would like to think it is a look of contentment and not "is it over yet..."

We go to Rome next week - I'm really looking forward to the "warm" weather. Right now the forecast is calling for 50s :-) It will be like going to Florida in the U.S.!! Maybe I should find a beach to lay on too, lol!!

Well, that is all for now - take care and enjoy the video (if it doesn't bog down your computers!). The last video was from the fall - I thought the 100th post deserved some music from Germany - can you believe this was playing and being video taped outside our windows on our anniversary!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8uQfpXQeFw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4WIMEOK97E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibiV21Zg53s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wp-IYvvWUI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf1yihVhXvE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woGh0AnAxmg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMWcNWAVh0M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52MdgwtmJJM

Wednesday, January 14

Hello All!!

Today is post 99 - can you believe that!!! How quickly 100 has came (well, with tomorrow's post!). Brenna and I had a busy day with cleaning, baking some Moose Mud Muffins (we bought the book "Mouse, Cookies, and More" when we were in the States for Christmas - Brenna absolutely loves those stories and we just had to start trying the recipes in it), and playing "school". We walked to the store in a light snow, but by the time we had to walk Justice this evening, it was really coming down. Luckily, it didn't delay Dustin's flight.

I have German class for the first time since we have been back tomorrow - I know that my lack of studying is going to bite me back... It was just too easy to forget about studying and spend time with family and friends (sort of like the days of high school all over again). I think I have all my homework done, but this weekend (and going forward) I really need to spend some more time with my German. I'm sure that Brenna and Dustin will quickly pass me on their skills.

Brenna "read" several books to her stuffed animals today - that was really cute... (maybe I should have caught that on the camera today - but I didn't get the camera out at all). We also watched "The Wuzzles" on youtube - can you believe that you can find that show out there? Why were we watching "The Wuzzles" one might ask? Well, I have an old towel, that Brenna now has which triggered the "Let's see if we can find "The Wuzzles" on youtube". Yesterday, we even watched Floppy Dogs - I barely remember these in a cartoon, but really remember them as the stuffed animal. Anyone with a childhood in the 80s should really check out youtube. It is like getting one of those chain emails with a "remember when..."

Well, Dustin just got home, so I am going to call it a night!
Talk to you later and Take Care!

Tuesday, January 13

Hello All!!

Well, Brenna and I are slowly adjusting to our new time zone still. We are waking up earlier every day, but still having trouble sleeping at night. Hopefully, in the next month, we will be back on schedule. We got our new aprons out today and did some pretzel cooking (thanks to my sister's recipe!) - Brenna really enjoyed it (hopefully you will see from today's pictures - gotta love the flour on the cheek). We made a lobster (two actually), snakes, an elephant, a bear, and a turtle.

Dustin is out of town until tomorrow night - hopefully, we will find some good activities to keep us busy. Not sure if we will make it to play group tomorrow with our sleep schedule - we will see.

Well, I better figure out supper! Hope you enjoy her microphone picture from yesterday!

Take Care!