Week In Review - Ten Things Of Thankful (77)

I feel as if things are slowly going back to normal again. I managed to get out of bed this week, I managed to keep track of the various appointments, I managed to do some holiday shopping and ran some necessary errands, and all despite the various illnesses having their firm grasp on our family. I've been at the pediatrician on 3 out of 5 days this week, once for Calvin's shots that he couldn't get at his 3-4 month appointment due to - right - being sick, once with Lily for a stomach bug, and finally with Violet for her lasting cough, which may be related to an allergy. Yes, this poor girl seems to not be getting a break. Still, this week has been a great one, for many things. My top ten this week:

1. Violet's occupational therapist. She is such a wonderful person, with a heart of gold. the way she works with the children, how she knows how to deal with every individual personality, calm the over-stimulated kids and encourages the shy ones. She always takes a lot of time to talk to the parents after the sessions and gave me a bunch of material to better understand Violet's world and show me ways to work with her.

2. Candles.  Instead of a traditional advent wreath with four candles that mark the four Sundays before Christmas, I made an arrangement with five candles, symbolizing the five of us. As Atheists, we're not celebrating Christmas but rather, as the winter solstice and with it the longest night of the years draws closer, focus on all of good things our family got to experience, the people in our lives, and our thankfulness of getting to celebrate this time of the year without worries, in safety, and with everyone of us more or less healthy.

3. The smell of sugar cookies charring baking in the oven.

4. Our wonderful neighbors. Our dryer somewhat died on us today (definite burning smell when I came home; I unscrewed the back and cleaned quite some stuff out of there, but we're still not trusting it), and our new dryer won't be delivered for another couple of weeks, so they offered to use theirs until we have our new one. With a family of 5 with a new house that doesn't do well with the added humidity of clothes drying on a rack, being dryer-less could develop into quite a problem.

5. The first flurries of snow!!!! Yes, we've had some snow!! Lily was so excited seeing the little bit of white on the roofs, and Violet couldn't help herself and ate some snow she scratched off a stone wall (yes, I know, it's gross, but it's her way of experiencing). This morning walk definitely made me happy.

6. Hubby being absolutely sweet and buying me a poppy-seed danish for breakfast. Yum!

7. Paper tissues, butt paste, and nose spray. Yes, the sickness caught up to me, too, but I get to live in a world where all the things mentioned above are readily available to get rid off the gross stuff, keep my nose from getting red and raw, and helping me to be able to breath enough to sleep at night.

8. Sharing cinnamon hot chocolate with the girls in the afternoon.

9. Getting to dress up (somewhat) and attend our friends' holiday party with all the kids. It was a lot of fun for all of us, meeting new people and people we didn't know our friends knew as well  :-)  We did lose the bottle of hard cider towards the end of the white elephant game (yes, I know, who would be heartless enough to steal the booze from a mother of three??), but enjoyed ourselves so much, ate good food, drank some great mulled wine and fruit punch. Perfect evening!

10. My cousin getting to celebrate another birthday. Yes, his birthday is St. Nicholas Day, which always meant a certain visit during his birthday when we were children. Oh dear memories!


I wish you all a wonderful weekend and some time for yourself to reflect on the many thankfuls in your lives!

Week In Review - Ten Things Of Thankful (33)

Baking extravaganza for Lily's birthday is over, and I can tell you it's really difficult to start munching on the cakes and cookies filling this room with their delicious scent. So on to concentrating on the many things to be thankful for this week.

1. Even though it is quite overwhelming at the moment, I'm thankful to have a job that fulfills and challenges me every single day, with great colleagues and a supportive boss.

2. Getting too celebrate Lily's 6th birthday tomorrow. It feels like yesterday that we held our skinny, screaming bundle of Lily in our arms for the first time, having no idea how much joy and amazement she would bring in our lives. Happy Birthday, my little girl!

3. The smell of baked goods all over the house.

4. Sleeping in late, cuddling with hubby.

5. Violet for being a brave little girl when getting a surprise vaccination. Hubby took Lily to the doctor on Friday to have her cough checked out when the pediatrician noticed that Violet was still missing a follow-up vaccination. Richard said she didn't even flinch, what a big girl!

6. Dark chocolate pudding with whipped cream.

7. Nurses who are good at drawing my blood.

8. The potential this world has. Even though so many people are still barred in their own minds and worlds, it's been proven all over the world that it is possible to change that. People who would have never met stand side by side on the Majdan, protesting for their freedom. The Alhambra in Spain, for centuries a place where people of many different religions lived together in peace. If it's possible on the small scale, why not on the big scale? Why not respecting people for who they are? Why look at class differences, different skin colors, different religions, different nationalities instead of each other's hearts?  I know it is possible.

9. Snow in Germany! Yes, it has actually happened. By the time the girls got outside, there was more water than snow left, but when they came back in after an hour or so, they were so, so happy (and dripping wet).

10. Getting to watch the girl sitting side by side, playing with Violet's princess castle. So adorable!

Wordless Wednesday - Holiday Edition

Won't be on next Wednesday, so, Doctor Who says Happy Holidays today. Stay away from snow men this winter!!

Birthday Weekend Recap

Today, I celebrated my 29th birthday. The weekend and today was everything I could ask for and more...

Friday:
Got off work late; not the best start into my birthday weekend, but as I opened the door, Richard was pulling his over-yummie stuffed shells out of the oven. Strike!!  After putting the little beauties to bed, we had our friends over for Friday night gaming. I did not get killed; actually no-one did and everyone had a great time.

Saturday:
Baked raisin buns for breakfast and took the girls to Erlangen later to have Lily's glasses fixed and Violet's adjusted after having to get it fixed on Friday. Afterward, I took them for a hair cut. Violet got her cute bob again and I had mine cut off a bit to have the back at the same length as the bangs. Still not sure where I want to go from there. Suggestions are appreciated! After doing some grocery shopping, we headed home.Started to watch an afternoon movie with Richard while the girls napped or rested, which we later finished after the girls had gone to bed. We had a nice family dinner of fresh vegetable soup to warm up after the snowfall of the morning.

Sunday:
That was my surprise day!! Richard and I took the girls for a winter walk in the woods with their sled. Later, I baked the mandarin cheese cake for my parents' visit the next day and some raisin yeast bread. After Richard left for a game of Eberron with his friends, I took the girls to pick up some stuff from a friend's house, planning a quiet afternoon with a movie at home. 4 hours later I left after an awesome girls' afternoon. Lily and Violet got to play with another little girls and I enjoyed just hanging out with 3 wonderful women drinking champagne (not me since I there with my car), trying on clothes from the yard sale, chatting, and just goofing off. I did not expect this day to happen like this at all. I made new friends and can't wait for a repeat and getting to know them better. Leftover dinner after a totally giddy me arrives home just minutes before Richard. We got the girls to bed and had a fairly early night ourselves.

Monday:
Yes, a three-day weekend! And mother nature gave me an awesome birthday present as well. Snow, snow, snow!! Loved it. Barely got the car out of the driveway to get Lily to kindergarten, but we made it. We decided not to drive to the store but to get the necessities in the nearby store and took off with Violet on the sled. After getting home and shoveling some snow, Violet and I enjoyed lots of cuddle time and I even got a lttle nap in. Later, I picked up Lily with the sled as well. My parents came over and took us out for lunch to a nearby 50s-style diner which we had wanted to try out for a while. The food was awesome, we'll definitely have to take our American friends there! The mandarin cheese cake for dessert at home had turned out well, not bad for a completely imporvised first! We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon at home; Lily did a jigsaw puzzle with her Oma while Richard, Opa and I played a game with Violet. Richard took off not long after my parents left for home; since he is playing 1st bassoon at the upcoming concert he couldn't skip tonight's rehearsal. So I brought the girls to bed by myself (Lily sang "Happy Birthday") and am now enjoying some SATC and recapping the weekend. I couldn't have asked for anything more and am very thankful to my wonderful husband, daughters, friends and family to make it so special for me!!

When The World Goes Silent...

Folks, we finally have snow again! Indeed, I am one of these people who, even as adults, are still excited about snow. Since mid-December we've been waiting for some more white, and last week, we finally woke up to the finest layer of crackling, sparkly frost covering the ground. I tell you, I was happy as a small child walking to my bus stop and everything glittering around me like star dust! Later that day, it started to snow.Whenever I was looking outside while I was at work, I saw those fluffy, white flakes fall.

Besides the obvious joys this powdery goodness provides to children, big and little, I love the silence that arises when the white blanket covers the landscape. Everything seems to stop for a moment, traffic seems to slow, and the world goes peaceful and quiet.

I do enjoy the awakening of spring, the buzz of summer, and the crispness of autumn, but nothing compares to the silence of winter!