TGIF

What I really want to scream out loud is:

THANKS GOODNESS IT'S FRIDAY!!!

Today was fairly good, apart from just being mommy-brained so badly it annoys me. But the days before were chaos. Moving office was more stressful than I'd thought, not being able to work, stepping between moving boxes, saving my delicate orchids from the movers, being in the way, etc. My sleep wasn't the best all week, and towards the end of the week, I just became increasingly exhausted. But now, it's weekend, I get to sleep in and take naps during the day. I get to relax, and finally, finally (!!!) get that pony tail cut off tomorrow.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!  And thank you to Janine for hosting this great link-up!

Ready... Set... Bake!!

This weekend was kick-off for the holiday baking at the Powell home. The first two sorts of cookies are sitting on the counter and it smells so wonderful around here!

In the meantime, Lily was cuddling on the couch, refused to have any pictures taken, doing her best do get better again. Her temperature was back to normal again today, but she still stayed home from kindergarten just to give her an extra day to recover. She used the time to tidy up her room to a degree I have never seen before. She was so proud when we praised her for it today.  Hope her cough will get better, tomorrow's her kindergarten outing to the woods, and we're not sure yet if she should go. The temperatures are around freezing today, and we had the first little flurries of snow. Winter is coming, folks!*


*Extra credit: name the source. No cheating  ;-)

My Day Off

Do you know, it somehow felt different, waking up yesterday, knowing that the computer would stay off that day, a commitment I made to myself and my family. It was a fun day, a busy day, something I'm looking forward to every Sunday from now.

So what did we do yesterday?

We had our family pictures taken (to come soon!)

The girls and I went to the bunny show in town, where I was maimed by a panicky bunny.

We baked (and ate) banana bread.

We cuddled and watched TV.

I tried a new recipe (probably won't do it again..)

And after the girl had gone to bed, hubby and I had a movie date.

(Source)

And last but not least: I got to bed at a reasonable time.

I hope you all had a great start into this new week!

Things That Happen Around Here

Our life is fun, crazy, and sometimes somewhere on the edge of insanity. Work was extremely busy today, almost to the point of admitting myself to the next mental institution (or massage therapist) after a courier delivered a hot mess to my desk, yahoo! Hope that we're finally popping open the chapmagne tomorrow!

When I got home, the hubby had yummie stuffed zucchini in the oven, and while the goodness finished baking, the girls and I whisked up a batch of banana muffins, since the oven was already pre-heated and we had some bananas ready to be turned into muffins in our fruit basket.

After dinner, the girls and I headed downstairs for some play outside. Just after getting out the door, Violet decided that she had to go potty and went back up. As she was climbing up the stairs and took off her shoes, she suddenly let out her tell-tale sqeaking, and when I had caught up with her, I just caught her tinkling right in my shoe. Thanks a lot, Sweetie! The poor little thing was so embarrassed she started crying, I just couldn't be mad. I carried her into the tub and rinsed her off before taking care of the clothes and my shoes.

Back outside, poor Violet promptly fell and scraped her second knee, just in time for the wedding on Saturday. They will look so perfect in their cute little dresses with scraped knees and bruises  ;-)

Bath and bed time was uneventful, and I were finally able to put on my brand-new Asics and go for a run with my neighbor. Well, it did not go well. I had to stop after only about 4 or 5k because my leg was hurting and giving way under me. The game plan right now is to rest the next two days due to D&D night tomorrow and the wedding on Saturday, see how it goes Sunday, and if it hasn't gotten better, I'll be back at my doctor's office on Monday. Keep your fingers crossed that it won't be anything serious.

tomorrow  ;-)

Ready For Summer?

A major TGIF-shout out to all of you out there! I'm so glad it's weekend, read for some much-needed sleeping in and spending quality time with the family. I don't know why I'm so exhausted all the time lately, but I know I'm not the only one. Trying to get my energy back up by excercising regularly and getting fit again. I cannot believe that it's been 6 years since I've been running regularly. Today's run went great, I went further than last time, seems I'm getting back in the routine quickly. Only a little over 2 months until the day of the run!

To start this weekend, I'm once again linking up with Kate and Janine for Finish The Sentence Friday:

The best Fourth of July I had was...  probably my first one. I'm German, so we obviously don't celebrate Independence Day. the first Fourth of July I celebrated was the year I married the hubby. It was only a few days before we were getting ready to move to our new duty station in Ft. Riley, KS. Since the hubby took the tour bus with the rest of the band from Bamberg to Wuerzburg, I took the last opportunity to spend some time with my best friend, who studied there. We were both excited to witness the first military Fourth of July celebration. And I can tell you, it was awesome. The band wore their dress blues; they were playing their music, the 50 flags were presented, the canons went off, and it all ended in a great firework.

Ever since we're not in the military any more, we didn't do much for 4th of July, especially not since we've been in Germany, but I'm planning a little something for him and the girls this year. Not quite sure yet if we can do the bbq, because the neighbors had to dig up their yard due to drainage issues. Maybe I just prepare a picknick after work at the playground. But there will be something today.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Weekend Recap

Sunday.. Again.. Why can't weekends last longer?? I can impossible cram all the necessary cleaning, baking, and spending plenty of quality time with the Mr. and the girls in 48 hours, especially since I use a good portion of them catching up on sleep as well. So, here's what we managed to do this weekend:

Friday:
The kids and I prepared the dough for the Easter cookies after dinner. Once the girls were in bed, hubby and I enjoyed our date night in with a movie (Princess Mononoke; nice movie, not necessarily for small kids); he spoiled me with home-made guacamole and did indeed find a few bottles of Corona in the small store right by our house for me. Gotta love this guy!! Got to bed not too late, which I guess was a good thing.

Saturday:
Since I went to bed fairly early for a Friday night, I managed to get out of bed with the girls around 6:30. We had breakfast together and watched a cartoon movie on TV. Afterward, we had fun coloring and I chased them around the house and caught up on the cuddling with them. After lunch we cut out and baked the cookies, followed by quiet time  for all of us. Late afternoon I ran out to the corner store to pick up some veggy goodness for dinner. I made brown rice with sauteed veggies (carrots, leek, bell pepper, zucchini, and mushrooms). Lily woke up from her nap feeling quite under the weather. She didn't eat much and retired to the couch right afterward. There we cuddled a little more before bathtime. Since Richard was having plans to play a game on the computer with his friend in the States, I retired to the couch with a glass of wine and a microwave chocolate dessert and watched "Monster". The movie was very sad I thought. I felt for this girl; all she wanted was being loved, but she was abused and failed on so many levels, it was simply heartbreaking. Another fairly early night for me; this weekend was really great on catching up on sleep!

Sunday:
The hubby and I got to sleep in, while Lily taught Violet how to play Uno. I had to go and give them extra cuddles for being absolutely adorable!! I went to the bakery near our house to buy bread for breakfast, since both Richard on Friday and I yesterday were brain-dead and therefore stuck without bread on a Sunday in Germany (absolutely EVERYTHING, except restaurants, some gas stations, and a few bakeries shut down Saturday night at 8pm). As my luck goes, the bakery was pretty much picked clean by 10am, but I still managed to buy some baguette and soft pretzles and we had a nice family breakfast. After cleaning up, the girls and I iced the cookies we had baked Saturday and I got started on my first attempt of baking with fresh yeast. The coffee cake turned out well. We vaccuumed and steam-cleaned the house; Lily was being a big girl and vacuumed her own room, we were very proud of her! After cleaning, we had lunch and the girls went to their room for some quiet time. Later in the afternoon we had hot chocolate and yeast coffee cake. It turned out quite good, even though I think I need to give my aunt a call for her recipe; it's simply out of this world!! Since Lily still felt a little bit under the weather, we tried to keep it easy, watched Toy Story 3 and cuddled on the couch. For dinner, we had some whole wheat spaghetti and tomatoe sauce and sampled a few of the Easter cookies, yum! Since Richard's friend didn't make it to the game last night they're playing right now while I'm catching up on my reading list and laundry.

Another thing to note about this weekend: Violet only had one peepee-accident during the entire weekend! Her diaper was even dry in the morning. We're very proud of our little girl. The next step is working on number 2, but so far, she hasn't been ready for it. Nevertheless, I am seeing no diaper purchases at all for us in the near future!!

Weekend Recap

And here I sit, Sunday evening already, eating microwave veggy lasagna (bad, I know), being slightly tipsy (thank you to my friend Brooke, who brought the prosecco). And what a weekend it was!

Friday:
This Friday was a TGIF-kind of day. I had done some overtime, it's a busy time in the office. And my special co-worker needed to make quite sure that I will NOT miss him during the next three weeks! Richard had prepared meat-loaf with roasted root vegetables and a mushroom gravy, perfect for a snowy day! Unfortunately, we had to postpone our date night, since hRichard expected a friend over to prepare for a game scheduled for Sunday.

Saturday:
Richard and I got to sleep in (yay!!) until about 10am. We planned to take a trip into Erlangen (again!) to pick up a few things, until the girls decided that they rather play with the twins from downstairs. The weather was quite fair again and the snow of the last days was melting. We adults used the child-free apartment to do some cleaning and one-on-one time. Later on, we had one of the twins over for some play time. I prepared raw vegetables with a sour cream dip, grilled meat-loaf (cheese for the pescetarian in the family) and brown mushrooms in balsamic dressing, perfect spring dinner just a day after a winter meal. Crazy German weather! After the girls had gone to sleep, Richard and I enjoyed some home-made tiramisu and a movie for our date night and went to bed early since we had plans for Sunday.

Sunday:
We got up earlier, around 8am; I baked some bread rolls and enjoyed breakfast with the girls. At 9:30 we had our bags packed and headed off for the indoor pool. Since Lily decided that she didn't want to continue her swim class, we are trying to go to the pool at least every other week to keep her in practice; and Violet enjoys the water, too. We had lunch at home and the girls took some quiet time until my friend Brooke and her family arrived at our house. We had cake, coffee, beer, and prosecco and just enjoyed ourselves. Come dinner time I was not feeling so well, so we just baked some pizza baguettes. The kids went to bed early, they were just SO exhausted. Richard is spending the night playing with his friend on the computer and I just try to relax a little and prepare for yet another week. Just two weeks to go until I have a week off!!

Weekend Recap

Oh dear, it's Monday already! That means, one day closer to another weekend. Last weekend was a lot more busy than we had planned, but we enjoyed it nevertheless.

Friday:
Richard and I had a cuddly Friday night date on the couch after the girls had gone down for the night. The movie changed on short notice (from "The Illusionist" to "Burke & Hare"), and the wine came from France, not South Africa (note to self: don't wait buying the wine Friday night after work). I really enjoy our new "tradition" of spending the Friday nights without computers and enjoy each other's company more.

Saturday:
The plan was to go on a short trip into Erlangen to buy a new music stand for Richard and check out shoes for the girls. Our trip ended at the corner store, where the car decided not to move any more. Luckily, our neighbors are mechanics and helped out. Obviously, the battery had lost it's charge over the cold winter and only driving very short distances most of the time. So we spent the afternoon outside with the girls enjoying the spring weather. I cooked spaghetti with shrimp, red onions and olive oil, yummie. We're really glad that the girls are good eaters and love sea food. The evening until bed time was spent playing games, Lily telling us a picture story, and blowing bubbles on the porch. In the evening, Richard played computer games with his friends in the US while I called a friend of mine and spent some time working on my blog.

Sunday:
The morning was spent with some cleaning. Around 10:30 we headed out to collect a signature on our building application; luckily, the battery in our car had recharged and everything went well. After lunch and baking a bunch of muffins, we headed out to visit a friend of mine. We relaxed and talked while the kids played; after the rain had stopped we even got to go to the playground for a while. Yes, I'm definitely ready for spring! On the way home we treated the girls to some BK (the "My Little Pony"-toys were a hit!). After coming home I went to collect another signature on our building application; when I came home, Violet had already gone to sleep; I helped Lily with her shower, read her a good night story and cuddled our little girl to sleep. The evening was spent quiet, doing some laundry and preparing for the new week.

Weekend Recap

And another weekend has passed; we were trying to keep it low-key as I am having another bout of physical depression and am very tired at the moment. We started out with a nice date night at home Friday, watching Russell Crowe's "Robin Hood", that Richard mercilessly disected towards the end. It's really difficult to rent movies to watch with him, you never know what he may like or not like.

Saturday:
I got up early-ish with the girls around 7:30. I celebrated the weekend morning with a giant cup of cappuccino made with Starbuck's espresso (sorry, but love it a lot!!). The girls were playing and I got to leaf through an IKEA magazine to get inspirations for the house (yes, I know, they haven't even started building it yet and I am already obsessing). Richard got up later and we did some cleaing around the house. The weather was nice for a change (the past months were one of the darkest winters in recorded history in Germany) so we took a walk to the bakery next town to pick up treats for our afternoon snack. The girls really enjoyed being outside and ran some of their energy out. On the way home we stopped at the grocery store to stack up on some things for the rest of the weekend. The remainder of the day was spent playing with the girls. I cooked bread dumplings in a mushroom sauce for dinner, hands down a family favorite. After dinner, it was bath- and bed-time for the girls and relaxing for us grown-ups.

Sunday:
I had promised Lily a few weeks ago to take her to a nearby water-park. Today, it was that day. Richard was not too happy to go, but warmed up to it once he was there (can't decline a jetted hot tub). Lily and I had fun going down the big slides and we swam a little bit together to keep her practice up since she is not continuing her swim classes (the reasons are for another post). Violet was very scared being in the deep water with her floaty but started enjoying it very quickly. She was getting bold enough to jump into the deep end without her floaty, not such a good idea! But luckily, she just got back in with the floaty and was happily paddling around. Coming home, we had lunch and the girls had some quiet time (no naps, I can't believe it!!) in their rooms. Since I was not up for any more activity, we watched "The Rescuers" while my pot roast was cooking in the oven. Dinner was pot roast in a balsamic reduction and pan-roasted vegetables. This one will probably not become a family favorite, but I felt like playing in the kitchen a bit. After dinner, it was bed time for the girls; it took me maybe 2 minutes after story time to cuddle Lily to sleep, yes, these two little girls were tired! I will probably try and watch "The Virgin Suicides" and do some laundry while listening to Richard giggling while watching some "Venture Brothers" (sorry, can't do that one!).

As I embrace myself for another week of work I am looking forward to picking up our building application tomorrow and handing it in at the town hall sometime before Friday. Very low on the things for next week is dealing with the questionnaire I received from the finance department, trying to extort some more money from us. Yes, sometimes I really curse myself for getting out of my comfort zone and going on such an adventure, but by this time next year, when we're (hopefully!!) in our new home, I'll know that it was worth it!

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!!

Weekend Recap

It's Monday already, first day of this week completed again and one day closer to the next weekend (which will be a 3-day!!)

Saturday:
In the morning, I had a nice mother-daughter breakfast with the girls. Hot chocolate for them and cappuccino for me. I had treated myself to some goodness from my second home (i.e. Seattle) and gotten a pack of Starbucks espresso, so instead of the usual espresso, I had a taste of home early Saturday morning. I got the girls ready and dressed and took off to IKEA. I had broken a wine glass a couple of weeks back which needed replacement and Lily still had her birthday coupon. We arrived shortly after the restaurant opened, and boy, there was a crowd!! But we got our breakfast and even found a table to eat it!! The girls had fun at the Smalland while I browsed the store buying some spring deco and checked out potential desks for Lily. Picked up the girls around 11:30 and headed back home. We had lunch an planned a quiet day at home when I got a phone call from a friend who asked us to babysit her two daughters for a few hours. Well, here went the quiet afternoon to relax before the D20 Modern game at night; instead, fun mayhem at the Powell house!  Around 7:30, after my friend had picked up her girls and ours were getting their baths, stories, and good-night kisses, our friends arrived for the game. Richard has a really good story going; I have to admit, I expected nightmares because I'm a wimp. Only one member of the group died (which is good, given Richard's history of TPKs).

Sunday:
Since Saturday was a late night for us, we allowed ourselves to sleep in after Richard made breakfast for the girls and plugged in a movie. The girls went back and forth between playing and cuddling with me, which I really enjoy. I got up late and prepared breakfast for me / second breakfast for the girls. Richard got up about an hour later and had to get ready for another game he had set up with friends, so it was an all-girls day for us. I baked some raising bread and got some work done in the afternoon. After having a snack, Lily wanted to do some crafting, so I showed her how to make little pom-poms with a fork (for a caterpillar) while Violet drew a picture. Lily later wrote me a very cute letter; the text changes a little each time she reads it to me, but it's still mega-cute!! I cooked some pasta with zucchini cream sauce for dinner. Afterward, we played until bath time. Once the girls were safely deposited in their beds, I plugged in a movie I had rented from my work's employees' library and got some laundry done.

Sunday breakfast: Violet's Nutella face