February

February was a fun month because it was Winter School Break! There was no snow, but we still had fun!

Baking a parakeet cake

One of our highlights was building a Hot Wheel Racetrack! When Elliot started school last August, one man gave Elliot a gift certificate--a wood project of his choice. The man works in a hardware store and enjoys wood projects and building. I thought it was such a cool idea. Anyway, we found this wooden racetrack online and thought it would be a great project! And it was! So much fun to drill, hammer, measure and see it come together!

Starting to paint

Papi took over and that was goooooood!!!

Boys cooked their first meal for me! Papi helped!

Backen & Basteln

Baking and Crafts

We have started a project at church for children during the school breaks. We invite as many children as we know and bake and offer different crafts. This time was amazing--the largest crowd we have ever had. Not only children come to bake and do crafts, the moms come as well and enjoy doing things as well. We had about a total of 30 guests. The building was pretty full. We try to do crafts with things that would be thrown away--egg cartons, milk cartons, toilet paper rolls, etc.

These were the grass sock heads I did in advance to show everyone how it was supposed to turn out.

We made smoothies this time.

Egg carton flowers

Grass sock head table

Sprout caterpillar from egg cartons

Bird house out of milk cartons.

Had Superman and a Sheriff for Fasching

January

 January was pretty uneventful. Nolan had the hand-foot-mouth disease but I didn't get it and we were all very thankful! A new playground opened up near us and we really have enjoyed going to it

Enjoying the balcony on a beautiful day!

We had a kids' sport event at the end of January. A man from church organized it. The boys love going! A lot of pictures were taken, just not many with just my boys. :)

December Part Two

On the 24th of December, Andre and I prepared the goose legs for our Christmas dinner with his family. It was interesting. The first time either had done something like this. It turned out pretty good. It is not something I would do every day, but once a year is possible! :) I forgot to get a picture of the finished product.

I have made our own tradition for Christmas Eve--calzones. I really like them!

Great present from my mom--a picnic backpack! We can't wait to try it out!

December Part One

December wasn't toooo stressful this year. We didn't go to one of the Christmas parties. All four of us got sick with bad colds about the third week in November and we didn't feel better until about the middle of December. I kept things to a minimum--no extra activities--just resting at home.

 

Elliot loves decorating the tree. Nolan play with Legos in the meantime! Ha!

 

Someone had given us a gingerbread house. I just had to put it together. It was quite an undertaking. Andre took the boys out to play and I sat for an hour trying to get it told together. It was a lot of fun though!

 

We took the boys to an indoor playground/trampoline place on Dec. 23. There weren't too many people there--boy, we had fun! I have never really jumped on a trampoline before. Really a neat experience!

 

Lots of fun in November

November was a busy month! I got a half of a huge pumpkin from my mother-in-law and made three pumpkin pies, three batches of pumpkin muffins and some pumpkin soup. Andre always gets enough of pumpkin soup really quick, but I like it--especially the pies! Ha!

 

 

At Kindergarten, it was Lantern Festival. All the kids, parents, grandparents and whoever else come for an afternoon of food and play. At the end, everyone pulls out their lantern and we do a walk around the neighborhood in the dark. The boys really enjoyed it!

Elliot knew exactly what he wanted to give me for my birthday. I had some really soft fleece and flannel that he had used for his Papi's birthday present. He had asked me to make a heart pillow for his Papi. He picked everything out and I sewed. He told Papi he wanted to make a heart pillow for my birthday. Papi--could you please sew it? Papi said yes. Guess who ended up sewing her own birthday present? Me! Hahaha! Elliot really put some thought in it! And his heart too.

 

 

Nolan also knew exactly what he wanted to get me for my birthday. A dress. Papi tried to talk him out of it by asking if we could color a picture for Mommy? Maybe a picture of himself? Nope--he wanted to get Mommy a dress. Okay. So he and Papi went shopping. They walked in a store and Nolan spotted his dress right away--it was glittery. He was so proud I could have cried! Such a sweet boy.

 

the dress

 

Nolan would just love to go to school with Elliot!

The Rest of October

Here's to catching up! Elliot went to a birthday party from a friend from school and I promised Nolan that we would do what he wanted. He wanted to go to the basketball courts and run around. So that is what we did. It was fun to spend time with him! And he talked so much! Without Elliot, it really becomes obvious that he has lots to say. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took an afternoon and went to the Chemnitz Zoo. It was a beautiful day! The weather was perfect and we got to see lots of the animals.