St. Nick Day 2014

Growing up my mom celebrated St. Nicolas Day with us. It was slightly strange in our greater community but I sure didn't complain about extra chocolate and little gifts. Now, living in Germany, the whole country celebrates.

PJ got really into it this year, even insisting on wearing the Santa outfit that I got out for Matilda. He wore this for the first time in 2011.

My long and lean boy squeezes
into 6-9 month costumes.

The morning of, we all discovered how good we had been when we were all greeted by full stockings.

Jelly Bean instantly found her chocolate and then ignored the rest of the stuffers.

Priorities. Chocolate.

PJ, however, really dug in with great excitement. He discovered chocolate and Lightening McQueen socks. He jumped up and down, yelling with joy. That. Was. Awesome.

He instantly had to put them on his feet, while Jelly Bean remained fully focused on the chocolate.

Priorities.




xo

Mommy's Birthday 2014

I had my birthday! This year I was trusted (PJ stressed that word to me) blow out my own candles. I guess this year I finally became a big girl.

I also recieved a lovely silver chain from my husband, a bag of chocolate from my daughter,

and a self-drawn picture of Lightening McQueen from my son.

They know me so well.

When I first moved to Germany, I didn't quite understand this cultural obsession with birthdays. There are so many rules:

• One must NEVER wish another person "Happy Birthday" before their actual birthday day.
• One may NOT wait until after their day is done either.
• Should one see a birthday boy or girl on their special day, one MUST shake their hand or give them a hug and declare "Happy Birthday!" before anything else. Even if you are about to pee your pants - take that moment to greet the birthday kid. Trust me. Better to pee your pants than delay the birthday greeting. That wisdom was learned the hard way.
• Should one not see the birthday boy or girl on their day, Facebook will do, text message is better, and a call is the best.

Yet, now, over 30, married, mother, I've come to treasure having a day that celebrates little old me just for being me. There is something important, something supportive about taking a day to remember that we are all people and that life is worth celebrating, savoring.


xo

Christmas with Eritrea

This is a long one - feel free to skip to the pictures and videos!

For almost a year, I've been volunteering with a group of mostly male refugees from Eritrea. Before I met them, I didn't even know there was a country called Eritrea. I had to turn to Google to learn more about the country, customs, people, and why one would give up all of that to flee towards a new life.

Turns out there are quite a number of good reasons, also these good reasons, especially for men. If you have a lot of time, here is a remarkable essay with historical and current data as well as personal viewpoints and experiences of what refugees undertake for a safe life with freedoms.

Over the past six months, I've slowly built up and been welcomed into a group of other volunteers who support this group as well as others. Including one amazing woman with Eritrean parents who grew up here and knows both sides and language.

Since I've gone back to work, I sadly haven't been able to spend as much time with my friends. Getting to know them all personally is a challenge due to the language gaps as well as the cultural gaps (on top of the time and stress gaps we all face, including that my house is constantly dealing with some sort of kindergarten virus/cough/stomach bug). It is most certainly a goal of mine.

Just spending an hour with them once a week - if we are lucky - is a joy for my soul. We exchange foods and stories as best we can. They ask questions and I ask questions and together we somehow make a bridge of friendship.

So when I learned that they were excited about Christmas - for the most devout celebrated on January 7 - I decided to finally host a party for us all, including the other volunteers that are very involved.

First we just all got around and made space for each person.

In advance of our party, I spent a few weeks contacting individuals about donations. My buddies have a lot of basic needs (and aren't allowed to work), so I was hoping to also make them sort of "wish list" possible. In the end, people overwhelmed my expectations -- a  butcher even donated all the meat! -- and we ended up with a wonderful pool of donations to surprise each person in our group with something that they needed and wanted (mostly warm clothing).

Our wonderful German-Eritrean angel took over collecting the wishes, organizing the budget, and then buying all their Christmas wishes. She even wrapped the gifts! She. Is. Amazing.

Our Angel right there in the middle

Using the donated meat, my friends prepared Eritrean foods for us to all share. It was super super super yummy! 

These are three seriously talented cooks.

So yummy, yummy, yummy, yummy foods!

While we were eating, the kids started to play with each other. Costumes, legos, and loud laughter were included. 

After we ate, we talked.

We prayed&sang. The song below is one of the Christian faith's prayer for Christmas and for giving thanks. Not everyone singing along or in the room is that type of Christian. As one of the men said after the singing was over, "We are one people with different faiths, living peacefully."

The wonderful German teacher right there in the middle.

This couple is remarkable. I couldn't tell you what they don't do.
Living proof that we can move mountains.

Then we danced. We picked up the feet pretty quickly - as did they kids - but I don't think any of us had an easy time with the shoulders! With the kids right in the middle, like they want to be.

Honestly, this was THE highlight of the evening for me. Not just because I love dancing. It was remarkable for me to see some of these men and women relax and show little glimmers of free joy.
These people who were forced by a situation in which giving up everything and assuming great danger and, sadly, many traumatic fleeing experiences so that they could have a chance at a safe future with basic freedoms and opportunities made sense. In fact, was their only options. I saw them smile. Laugh. Joke with each other and me. I saw them stand up and dance. I got to be a part of a celebration.

This volunteer gig is a actually quite selfish because what 'they' say really is true: she who gives, gets the most.

THANK YOU to the wonderful people who chose to sponsor the party and the gifts. THANK YOU. Those smiles, that joy: you made that possible.

Thank you to the wonderful group of individuals who chose to donate, making these moments of joy possible. Thank you for making it possible for each person's smallest wish come true. Your gifts were very appreciated and they make a difference.

Thank you to the amazing volunteers who share in being an active part of stretching our culture so that we become enriched from our newest members, our friends, our future. Thank you for being on the ground, active, raw, open. I'm honored to know and volunteer with you.

And to my Eritrean friends, thank you for being open to the craziness that is me and my family. Thank you for welcoming me and opening my eyes to a part of the world I didn't know. Thank you for making Germany that much more interesting.



XO

Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving - my favorite holiday!

This year I got to host again. I love hosting Thanksgiving; it feels like an honor.

We spent two days getting all the shopping lists and the shopping itself done. On the day of, everything was going great until I tried to slice my finger in half. Thankfully, my dear friend the surgical nurse was already in my kitchen. I got to spend the next two days with this fabulous accessory.

I look brave here but panic and tears were involved.

As a child I remember my nana chasing me out of her kitchen on family holidays. I never understood what her problem was, I just wanted a spoonful. Well, this year, I learned just how challenging it can be to cook while little beggers are hanging around.

Two of my beggers.

Thankfully somebody came up with the idea of entertaining the kids with costumes. Suddenly we had a SpiderMan and a Buzz Lightyear fighting off 'Bad Guys' in our living room.

PJ and the Watcher

Of course, they had support from Mommy's Little Turkey.

 

 

As well as another SpiderMan.

 Needless to say, we were totally Bad Guy free rather quickly.

Bad Guys beware!
 

And, yes, we permit jumping on our couch. Because we both loved it as children and childhood is too short for us to prioritize our dirty couch above that freedom of catching some air.

As more guests arrived, we got down to the eating. Though, it took quite a lot of convincing to get the kids to the table and wasn't always successful. We tried a kids table, which lasted about 7.5 minutes.

Professor Lambert Jr. was ready to play.

And Jelly Bean acted like a slinky:
up, down, up, down, repeat, repeat, repeat

While Bad Guys were eradicated from our living room again (who knew we had so many!), the adult shared in the traditional round of giving thanks and oh-so-scrumptious food. And wine. The wine was superb this year!

 

And another feast came to an end. Can't wait for next year!

A huge thanks to the Mr. who took all of these pictures without me thinking of it or realizing he was doing it until I downloaded them. Thank you, honey.


xo

Generations 2014

I went through all of our pictures from the 2014 trip to the US and found these un-used gems. There is no "red thread" to this one. Just moments in time that make smile.

***

This actually deserves a full post but hardly any of the pictures came out :( Here is PJ and Grandpe riding the tractor. It started with PJ getting to ride on Grandpe's lap in our first few days in Ohio. Naturally, it quickly progressed to PJ steering the wheel like a professional race car driver. While each ride was meant to last a few minutes, they all lasted at least half an hour.

At least.

 

PJ was so proud of those moments and how he got to drive a tractor. I was proud watching my stepfather be with his grandson right where his grandson wanted to be. Its a funny thing to welcome someone in your heart as an adult and then watch that piece grow and stretch over many years.

 

Grandpe, I'm glad we've got you.

 

Although I must admit that learning to steer the tractor made PJ a bit of a back-seat driver in the car. I often heard "Mommy, don't smash that tree, okay?"

 

***

 

Growing up I heard frequently that a mom's lap grows to include all her babies. I recall once, right after my sister was born, that my brother sat on one of my mom's legs, I sat on the other, and somehow we all three held our newborn family member across our shared laps. A mom's lap grow to fit all her babies.

 

Turns out that is also true of a Granny. I often discovered them like this:

 



Now as a mom, I know its true for me as well: my lap will always grow to hold all my babies. No matter the age or the number.

***

This is my Nana, my grandmother. Sadly, my only living grandparent. In many ways she is 'grandmother' like: she sews, she cooks, she orders her family around. In many other ways she goes beyond that 'grandmother' role: she was one of my earliest role models of a because-I-want-to working mother. She remains open to new experiences and opinions because 'age isn't important, life is' while building in her garnered wisdom. She is both a practicing Catholic and supporter of equality (she will now explain to me again how those two things are complimentary, not contradictory).

In short, she is someone who both inspires me and infuriates me. Often in the same hour. I'm positive (because she told me) that I do the same for her.

So, family.

She is also the template for my little girl. Check out how much these two look like each other. I must get a baby picture from my nana; the intense resemblance is both creepy and comforting.

Creepy because: Whoa. So similar.
Comforting because: The family thread continues.

 

On our last day together, my nana braved the drive down (no joke) to my mom's house and we managed to catch a four generations picture.

Check out that face on Jelly Bean. I saw that one frequently from both my nana and my mom, starting very early and lasting until this very day. It reads, "Just what are you doing?"

See? The thread continues.



xo

Jelly Bean Enters DayCare

When we got back from our trip to the USA, our little lady entered day care for the first time. We are familiar and quite satisfied with this one since PJ was a member of this group for a year. We looked forward to Jelly Bean joining the group and it went better than any of us expected.

Since I was already back at work, the Mr took over the process of integrated Jelly Bean into her new group. Over here in Germany, they take transitions very seriously. The first few days, the parent and the new child stay in the group for about one hour together. The next weeks, the parent *maybe* leaves the room shortly. And four to six weeks later, the child is totally integrated into the group.

In Jelly Bean's case, it took about four weeks. These days, she is a critical member of the group and she loves going. Just check out these pictures and you'll see why she loves it so much.

First there is an awesome climbing area in the main room.

And great care providers and little friends.

Tables and chairs her own size.

And super yummy foods.

Super yummy foods.

It was strange not to be a part of this big moment of transition for my little lady. Yet, it also felt good to know this guy was running the show. Cause, honestly, this man is taking modern parenting to the next show. Check out this hottie:

That's the Jelly Bean on the Mr's back, PJ with a batman umbrella, two kindergarten bags with healthy foods inside of them, and a stroller for when PJ got too tired or bored to walk.



XO