Samantha's 17!
6. April 2008, 13:47
It’s true. My first baby is only a a year away from legal adulthood. Where did all the time go? I remember those first days with her so clearly – like it was only yesterday – and it’s hard to believe that 17 years separates the past from today.
In the wee, small hours of the morning, Samantha dragged everyone to her small pile of gifts and insisted on digging in. She’d already gotten one gift from Nana and Grandpa – an official ‘Simple Plan’ fan club membership – and received a pair of beauty and fashion books and her favorite “ghostly” foundation and powder, as well.
Aunt Barbara got a little insane with the tape, as usual, so Samantha spent several frustrating minutes searching for an overlooked edge to pry loose before grabbing a tiny straight pin and poking away at the tape until it finally gave way. Inside, she found piles of American candies and a little, black velvet box with a gorgeous little diamond ring inside.
After that, she headed off to school and birthday greetings from her friends.
Later, in typical teenage fashion, she decided to breeze in and share a homemade pizza dinner with the family then jet off to a fabulous party with her school chums. At her age, though, most of those “fabulous” parties involve standing around with girlfriends watching the teen boys drink beer. Not much has changed in two decades, though I’m quite sure I watched a lot of the girls drink to the point of blacking out when I was her age. Oh! How different things are when the drinking age doesn’t make it forbidden!
So, she made her curfew with plenty of time to spare and woke up the following morning to spend six hours in ACT test prep. Yea!
We had a special Mexican dinner with her friend, Rachel, and Clint, Carole and Lena in attendance. This is when we were all subjected to the sugar bomb, also known as Funfetti cake and frosting.
“Happy Birthday, Samantha! We love you!”
Snow Fun!
28. March 2008, 21:21
Since our winter has been a bust, we conspired with our friends, Jason and Sanija, to give the kids a little taste of snow. We gathered our sled and discs, snow pants and jackets, spare socks and blankets and piled into two cars to drive about an hour south-west to a sledding area near the town of Altenberg.
Mitchell’s energy seemed endless as he alternately climbed the hill and slid down it over and over until we were dizzy just watching him.
Philip and Jason took turns on the sled jetting the kids down faster than they could go on their own and Mitchell challenged his daddy to a race to the bottom.
Egg-Coloring Isn't Just For the Kids
11. March 2008, 14:23
Karina arranged another fun Friday Tour for us – this time to an Easter Egg museum where we learned how to color slightly more sophisticated eggs than we’re used to making with our kids.
Another Field Trip
10. February 2008, 12:05
My friend, Karina, organised another Friday Tour – this time to visit a workshop specialising in a traditional German handcraft called Blaudrucker. Essentially, the artisan creates a resist pattern by stamping a toxic paste of chemicals onto fabric then, on an annual schedule, dips the finished fabrics into a tank of indigo dye until the desired shade of blue is achieved.
Additionally, they create less expensive fabrics by stamping fabric paints onto cotton or linen items and this is what they taught us to do after our lecture and tour. Each of us chose an item to decorate – small potpourri bags, shopping bags or napkins – and we were given free rein to use any of their stamps in our own designs.
Since Hannah was off school for her winter break, I brought her along and we both decorated cotton napkins. She took to it quickly and had her napkin finished quickly then spent the rest of the time scampering after the resident cat – a squat, fat, comical creature constantly seeking a tactile experience.
To see more pictures, click on Photo Albums on the right and select Blaudruckerei Folprecht.
Berlin - Reichstag
1. January 2008, 17:39
My cousin, Kevin, shared this with me. It was done by a good friend of his and he’s even featured in one of the pictures.
Haunting, isn’t it?
Happy Holidays
26. December 2007, 19:05
Christmas morning started with a phone call waking me at 5:30 – though I didn’t get to the phone quick enough to answer, so I don’t know who was calling. Then, another call at 7:30 from my sister ensured that I wouldn’t be getting any more sleep.
I took a moment to light the tree and take a picture before chaos ensued and the kids started stumbling in to see what Santa had delivered. They indulged me with a photo before they tore into their stockings and they were thrumming with barely-restrained excitement as they waited for their dad to arrive home from work.
The wait wasn’t long, though, and soon we were all reaching for gaily wrapped gifts. Santa brought Samantha a pair of white Converse Chucks, while Hannah got her own acoustic guitar and Mitchell got the jumbo-deluxe tub of Legos – 1800 pieces!
Everyone got wonderful gifts that reflected their interests – iPod Nano, Happy perfume, Simple Plan guitar music book and Gossip Girl books for Samantha, Junie B. Jones books, Baby Born clothes, Diddl accessories, boots, fake nails and make-up for Hannah and Bionicle, Optimus Prime, Legos and art supplies for Mitchell. Aunt Barbara sent wonderful gifts including a pair of pearl earrings for Samantha and calendars geared to their tastes. Nana and Grandpa scored a Christmas homerun when the kids opened up first the Nintendo Wii, then a Costco-sized box of Starburst and then a jumbo box of fruit roll-ups. Their cheeks were packed with sugary goodness within moments of opening those gifts. Then the kids were over the moon when they found the gift from Uncle BJ, Aunt Linda and Amanda – a second Wii controller and Super Mario game!
Philip got lots of clothes that he wanted, a new winter coat, scarf and hat, an electronic weather station and a really cool universal remote. And once he hooked up the Wii, he learned just why it was the best family gift ever – bowling with your kids on Christmas Day is incredibly fun!
The kids shopped for my gifts without any help and I was so touched by their thoughtfulness – a real cashmere sweater that actually fits, a moleskine pocket notebook and a scrapbook made by Hannah. My sister sent a book of poetry I’ve been wanting for a long time – and a Beverly Hillbillies DVD. From Philip I got a digital picture frame, a couple of movies I’d never seen or heard of and a new camera kit – a Nikon Digital SLR.
Everyone had a wonderful day and the Wii was voted the best gaming system ever and the best gift ever – who knew video games could actually leave you with sore muscles?
We’d like to take a moment to thank everyone who kept us in their thoughts and prayers this holiday season and wish you all Happy Holidays!
Love,
Philip, Gina, Samantha, Hannah and Mitchell
Fröhe Weihnachten
Christmas Greetings
25. December 2007, 00:15
November Begins the Whirlwind!
13. November 2007, 14:23
November is a big month around our house. Both Mitchell and Hannah have their birthdays – exactly two weeks apart! Hannah’s isn’t until next week, but Mitchell had his last week. The day before his big day, I walked into his room to find him laying across his lower-bunk bed, staring into space and apparently doing nothing. This is quite unusual for Mitchell, as you well know.
So, I asked him what he was doing and he told me, “I’m waiting for 6!”
Well, the day finally came and I made him his cake and we had the kids in the house over to help him celebrate. It was lovely and Mitchell was very patient and well-behaved – such a relief!
He received lots of Legos from Mommy & Daddy, and Hannah and Samantha contributed to his collection, as well. Nana and Grampa sent him some goodies from home, including yummy edibles, socks and Season 2 of Happy Days. Aunt Barbara sent him the new Transformers movie in a special transforming case, a really cool dinosaur T-shirt, a Color Wonder coloring set and a new Backyardigans video. She also sent snacks, the cake and some really cool Jeff Gordon drink cups. He also got a beautiful story book in German and some cute toys from his friends.
Fall is already on the way out. Last week I had a dentist appointment and as I walked there I saw a gorgeous tree that I wanted to photograph but I’d left my camera at home. Not a problem, I thought, I can bring it on Wednesday when I bring Mitchell for his appointment. Nope. By Wednesday, gale-force winds and driving rain had beaten nearly all of the glorious foliage off the trees!
That’s what happens if you wait for a photo opportunity around here. You blink and the scenery has changed. Now, the weather is flirting with winter. We’ve already had a little bit of snow but nothing that sticks. I had to drive almost an hour away to see snow still on the ground.
Comment [2]
Daylight Savings Time!
28. October 2007, 10:29
Last night marked the semi-annual 1-hour time change celebrated by people the world over – except back home in Arizona. Man I miss not having to deal with this. It’s such a silly concept.
Anyway, it’s not possible to be a holdout and still send your kids off to school on time or show up for a dentist appointment on schedule, so we set our clocks back one hour last night.
Comment [3]
On the Road Again!
2. October 2007, 13:09
On the last Friday of September, we resumed our Friday Tours with Karina Tillig and our first trip of the season was to Burg Scharfenstein in Erzgebirge.
Karina had planned this particular trip for last May but our intended tour guide had fallen ill and was unable to give us our historical overview.
Burg Scharfenstein sits above the town of Erzgebirge in a deep valley. The area surrounding is described as dunkelwald, or dark forest. The day of our visit was rainy and the valley was shrouded in mist. The leaves are beginning to show distinct signs of autumn.
We began with an uphill climb – why do these always begin with strenuous exercise? – and entered the courtyard of a charming, small castle. It was pouring, so I haven’t many pictures but a description should suffice. The courtyard was circular and paved with smooth cobblestones and it surrounded a tower that was built into a solid rock outcropping. Doors lining the interior walls led to various shops and restaurants as well as the toy museum housed there.
Our first stop was at the top of the castle in the lace-making studio where we all took part in creating multi-colored “friendship” bracelets in the method of Klöppel, which involves interweaving threads attached to 8 wooden spindles. It’s rather simple once you determine the pattern but I can’t imagine the concentration required to complete a piece made completely of one color. Our pieces were riddled with mistakes, but we each took home our project to commemorate the visit. One of the ladies said the lace-making was similar to tatting.
We met our guide, Karl Stülper, for a short tour of the castle and a lesson in it’s history. Amazingly, the castle remained in the ownership of one family for 600 years before a fire in 1921 bankrupted the last owner and he was forced to sell in 1931. Soon after, the castle and its contents fell into the hands of the Russians and little remains of its fixtures and furnishings.
The drive wasn’t too long, though the highway accident we saw on the way in was still causing significant delays when we left a few hours later.
Comment [1]
Another weekend, another festival!
27. September 2007, 20:32
This past weekend I took the kids (Hannah and Mitchell) to the annual weinfest in a small village in the neighboring city of Radebeul. We went with Clint, Carole and Lena on the local train, which was a big hit with the kids. Clint discovered that the coin slot for operating the multi-train model railroad setup was jammed and figured out how to let the kids operate the trains. They had fun making them stop and go and adjusting the speed. It certainly made the wait for our own train easier.
The train ride was relatively short and our final stop put us within only a couple of short blocks of the entrance to the festival. As usual, it’s all about the food and drink, but this time we saw actors on stilts walking about and joking with visitors, lots of street performers and some locals dressed in period costume. The kids begged for food as soon as we arrived and Hannah immediately tore into a Langos – basically, fried bread with various toppings like cheese, ham, herbs, fruit, sugar or cinnamon. Mitchell had an Icee that tasted like a liquid SweeTart.
Carole, as is often the case, ran into friends and separated from us for a while so Clint and I tried out a couple of wines while waiting for her to catch up and the kids found an abandoned counter to “sell” food and drink from. It was hilarious when Mitchell attracted a young man over and proceeded to try to sell him some very pricey beer and bratwurst! It still amazes me that my kids can converse fluently in a foreign language and no one suspects that they aren’t native.
Soon, we found the carnival area for the kids and they all rode the swings then Hannah and Clint rode the “Break Dance” – a ride that looked like it could easily cause me to lose my most recent meal.
We found some really nice wines and a couple that I’d prefer never to taste again, had some great bockwurst and bratwurst and had some fun with living statues. Not a bad day out.
Let us know what you’ve been up to!
Tschüss!
Comment [3]
Are We There Yet!
8. September 2007, 11:46
Last weekend (the last weekend before school started) I took Hannah and Mitchell on a riverboat cruise to Sachsische Schweiz (Saxon Switzerland). We went with Clint, Carole and Lena. We started out with enthusiasm but when Hannah began to realize just how long 4 hours on a boat would be, she began to complain.
Mitchell explored the boat and soon found the engine room where you can see the giant pistons pumping endlessly. They’re so clean and well-maintained! They smelled strongly of engine grease and the heat in the area was welcome after particularly cool breezes. Beside the engine room, there are windows to the wheels that paddle and propel the boat forward. We watched as the water splashed in the wheel-well until the engineer explained that the low water level of the river made it a bit dangerous to spend too much time in the area because they could hit rocks which would be propelled into the interior.
After about an hour on the boat, we arrived at Pillnitz and most of the passengers debarked to tour the famous castle, Schloss Pillnitz. It’s a beautiful location and Clint and Carole had their wedding pictures taken there last year. This time, we got a different view…
Nearly three hours later (Mitchell took a long nap, thankfully) we arrived at our destination – Sachsiche Schweiz. Our goal was to climb to the stone bridge overlooking the Elbe Valley. We walked through the gorgeous town at the base and found the path to the summit.
There was no easing into this climb. From the start, we climbed uphill and never really leveled off. Mitchell found me a sturdy stick that I could use as a staff and that helped tremendously. As we climbed, I thought it was a good thing Philip wasn’t with us because he’d begin feeling sick and insist on returning. I wouldn’t know how to get emergency medical help in that event.
In the end, the strenuous climb was SO worth it! The colossal stones that appear to be balanced precariously, one atop another, are more impressive up close than I could have imagined. The bridge is 150 years old and so beautifully built! Attention was paid to every detail and it was designed to capture the glorious view in every way possible. There is an outcropping halfway across, reached by a small bridge, that allows one to sit and view the scenery. You can look back on the bridge and out over the canyon where we could hear the lines of a play being recited in an open-air theatre.
Mitchell exhibited a fear of heights that was new and Hannah was fearless as she blithely leaned over railings to see views blocked by fellow tourists.
Our return trip was shorter as we paddled downstream toward Dresden and we arrived in time to make a quick dinner of fried chicken then fall into an exhausted sleep.
Leave a comment to let us know you’ve been here!
Comment [1]
If a tree falls in the forest...
31. August 2007, 14:15
So, does anyone even visit our site? Jamie’s the only one commenting and she’s busier than anyone I know! Anyway…
Samantha started school last week and Hannah and Mitchell go back in just a couple of days.
With the recent cold weather, the kids needed to dress a little more warmly than they have been thus far and it soon became apparent that back-to-school shopping is going to be a high priority this weekend. Hannah’s pants are much too small and Mitchell’s bony ankles are exposed in the pants that used to be just a little long. We must buy pants!
A couple of weeks ago I took Hannah and Mitchell to the Dresden Stadtfest. Like all the BIG celebrations in Dresden, this one spans the river and closes the main historic bridge between them. Makes traffic a bit hairy, but everyone’s at the festival and who needs to drive?
There was a HUGE children’s area with sponsorship by ToysRUs and Playmobil as well as some other names I wasn’t as familiar with but the kids were pretty excited to jump in and play.
We met up with Clint, Carole and Lena by the river’s edge and explored emergency vehicles on display. The kids loved it – Police boats, hose trucks for crowd control, fire trucks, search & rescue mobile headquarters – really cool stuff! Mitchell tried on a few fire helmets and climbed aboard a truck and the boat. He looks a bit like Luke Skywalker, doesn’t he?
Leave it to my little monster to find the one panel on the boat the Polizei did NOT want anyone to touch… Yeah, he found it and started pushing all the buttons!
Leave a message so we know you’re visiting!
Comment [1]
We got a Hamster!
12. August 2007, 07:13
Last weekend Hannah decided that if she was extra conscientious about cleaning her room she’d deserve to get a hamster as a reward. Apparently, Philip agreed with her so we took a trip to the pet store and came home with Zoe, the hamster, and all the paraphernalia required for a small rodent.
But, the story doesn’t end there. Oh, no it doesn’t.
Because 3 days later, our baby hamster had babies. Two of them! Apparently, our little mädchen wasn’t a jungfrau. Now we’re trying to avoid scaring her into eating the babies (because that’s what hamsters do, you know) and making sure she’s eating and drinking.
Samantha’s been in Spain with her friend Missy’s family since the first of the month and she’s due home later today. Mitchell can’t wait to see her and I’m happy she’ll be back, too. I really missed her.
I’ve been working on a project to display some of the kids’ art work and after a trip to IKEA and a little painting and trimming, this is what I came up with.
The ones with colored mats are Hannah’s work and the others are Mitchell’s. Samantha didn’t want to dig out any of her stuff, but I’ll keep working on her.
Leave a comment to let us know you’ve visited!
Tschüss!
Comment [1]
Busy, busy, busy!
25. July 2007, 08:05
I’ve been very busy learning Photoshop and all the different effects you can achieve with this powerful tool. I’m hardly an expert and sometimes I have no idea what I’ll end up with when I select a new tool or filter, but it’s been fun playing. I found a site with great tutorials yesterday and after picking and choosing, mixing and matching… I made a bunch of layouts. Wanna see?
Here they are:
So… what do you think?
Leave some kind of note just to let us know you've been here...
