Sunday, December 19, 2010

our angelic little lamb

Charlotte has participated in TWO Nativity plays this weekend. On Friday evening, her Kindergarten did one with all 80-100 of the 3-7 year olds. (Ambitious, huh?) Charlotte's class were the sheep and other animals. We thought she did really well, and she was VERY proud of herself. :)

Performing their first of 2 songs.

ALL of the Kindergarten children during the finale.
(Charlotte is on the lower mid-left of this photo.)

Charlotte and her best German buddy, Paula.


Singing "Hei und Stroh"
which as far as I can gather translates to "safe/warm and straw." I guess the animals would think a bed of straw a very good place for the infant Jesus to be placed? This is just the last minute of the song, I HAD to show you how Charlotte dances along when she isn't quite sure of the words. Awesome. :)

The Nativity at our church Christmas party was somewhat less successful. Charlotte (an angel) decided to have stage fright. Rob and I couldn't figure it out, but we think the difference was rehearsal time. At school they practiced all week, so Charlotte was prepared and knew what to do. At church, it was a much simpler production and the kids were just told to "act" their parts.
Now we know... Charlotte does not do improv.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

An ode to Rachel

Well, Rachel is feeling quite left out of our blog after having a glare on her face on my homemade for the holidays post, and we mustn't have that! So I decided to give you your very own post, Rachel. ;)

(A little bit of) Tom, Becky, Rob, Rachel, and Allyson in an old Anderson family photo.
We often mis-call Charlotte "Rachel" for some reason... partly because the letters are similar and partly because the people are similar we think. :)

Toby loved having private Yoga lessons from Aunt Rachel while we were in Utah.

Rachel with Toby, the Yogi Bear.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Letter to Santa

Dear Santa Claus,

I was a good girl this year. And Toby thinks he was naughty [Toby yelling in the background "Nonny! Nonny!" in the style of Animal from the Muppets,] but he tries to be good. I would like a flashlight ["FLASHLIGHT TOO!"] and Toby does too.

I love you Santa. And I like your reindeer.

I want a pink flashlight and Toby wants a blue one.

CHA

Monday, December 13, 2010

Homemade for the holidays

I decided to be ambitious and do an "all-homemade-ornaments" tree this year. That way the kids can rearrange the ornaments all they want, and if stuff breaks I don't mind so much. We already had pine cones and gingerbread men we made last year. So we just did a couple more crafts to fill it out.

These are our family tree ornaments. I picked up these mini frames at Michael's when we were in the US and cut, or printed, photos of all of our family. Then I just attached some ribbon to hang them. The kiddos really love pointing out all of their "friends" and grandmas and grandpas. I love that we managed to get everyone, and Allen is the only one repeated twice... and Newel, Karolina, and Jack's photo is a drawing done by Karolina. (Sorry Rachel, there is a major glare on your face in this photo, but I promise you look great!)

These yarn ornaments I saw on Homemade Mamas and they were super easy. Charlotte helped me do them, but she didn't like the sticky glue. Sigh. We just tied on ribbons after popping the balloons and hung them on the tree. Cheap and cute, and kinda old-fashioned looking. I like it. ;)

Shhh, don't tell Toby!
This is the quilt I made him for Christmas this year. I turned the corner down so you could see the orange backside. I wanted it to be a little bit grown-up looking for the Little Man of the house. I think it turned out really cute with the quilting done with orange thread in diamonds.

One more secret photo!
This is the quilt I made for Charlotte this year. It's hard to see in the pic, but the quilting in the center is a square spiral that "twists" a bit.

The front has ladybugs and daisies, and the back is a blue/white checked gingham & white block, checkerboard pattern. I'm sure there will be many stuffed animal picnics happening on this one.

Charlotte enjoying our Pyramiden.
The heat from the candles makes a fan on top turn and the wise men and shepherds go around the mini-nativity scene in the center. No, I didn't make this!! I just loved the photo and wanted to share it. :)

Friday, December 03, 2010

Julie's travel tips

In airports and hotels, and at tourist destinations, we are constantly asked "How do you do it?" We are also greeted with comments like, "I'd die before traveling with 2 little kids." "I don't understand how they are still standing." and, my favorite, "Better you than me." And considering that we have been in 9 countries and on 17 airplanes in the past 2 years, I've decided to take a stab at writing down a few things that have worked for us. Here goes:


* Each kid gets their own backpack. In it they have their favorite stuffed animal for cuddling and comfort, snacks (healthy ones like fruit and crackers) and treats (unhealthy ones like lollipops and M&Ms,) a NEW book, a NEW sticker/coloring book, a small box of 4 crayons, a pair of headphones (for airplane movies,) and a few other toys (Toby usually gets cars, and Charlotte some little ponies.) They carry their own bags and they cannot open them until we say so.


* I carry a diaper bag with the diapers, wipes, sippy cups, snacks for grown-ups, and also a complete change of clothes for each kid. And sometimes also pajamas for each kid, cuz you never know.


* In airports we like to: ride the escalators, have the kids race from one spot to another (over and over again,) give the other passengers silly names (like Harriet and Tornado Man- nothing derogatory) watch airplanes, and discuss workers and what jobs we see them doing.


* On road trips we like to: make up stories (everybody can add in bits,) read books, look for things out the windows, and do the backpack thing. We don't have DVDs or handheld games in the car at all, though Santa may be changing that soon. ;)


* In hotels we like to: play ball (we bring a soft one with us,) have hot chocolate parties with the provided cups (bring some packets from home in your suitcase,) watch TV (we do rely on this pretty heavily in the evenings when we are exhausted,) jump on the bed, and let the kids look through photos on the camera.


*When waiting in lines we like to: give people funny names some more (I don't know why this is so amusing, but it works for us,) put the kids on our shoulders or backs to give them a break and a change of scenery (I'd be bored looking at people's knees for 30 minutes too,) have a snack, talk to strangers in line with you (I know, I'm a bad mom, but you can tell pretty quickly if people are toddler tolerant or not-- some really enjoy passing the time chatting with Charlotte or tossing a ball with Toby, and that gives us a mental break too.)


* At tourist sites we like to: play 'I Spy' and have the kids look for something (like 'pictures with horses' in an art museum, or 'blue flowers' in a garden,) celebrate when they are good at a "boring" place with an ice cream cone or fruit snack reward afterwards, and make sure to visit parks and playgrounds between destinations to burn off energy.


So those are a few things that we do. We are not completely meltdown-free on all of our adventures, but for the most part we have a good time together, and the kids enjoy it too. We hope they will have happy memories of all our family adventures together some day. :)




Waiting in the airport in Zadar, Croatia.

Nice playground in Bruges, Belgium.

There was a band playing in a pavilion nearby, so we got to listen to music too.

Bedtime stories in Grindelwald, Switzerland.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

New York, NY

After Utah, we flew back to JFK and had 24 hours before our flight to Germany. We checked into a hotel, got some sleep, and decided in the morning to have a mini-trip into the city for some holly, jolly fun. (And to wear out kids- very important before a red eye flight, stay tuned for more of Julie's travel tips.)

First stop- Rockefeller Center to see the (in)famous Christmas tree. This place was insane! Silly me, first Saturday after Thanksgiving. The kids were not terribly impressed by the Swavarski crystal star, and it was daytime so the lights were not thrilling either. But oh well, we tried. ;)


After Rockefeller Center we peeked in shop windows and strolled to the Carnegie Deli.


Here we had a traditional New York lunch.

Rob and I shared a Reuben the size of my head and a meat knish, while Charlotte and Toby split a foot long hot dog. Then we decided we all needed a little cheesecake topped with chocolate mousse.

Oh. My. Goodness. This place is good.
(No wonder it is so dang crowded.)
After lunch we had to work off those calories by trekking back (via Subway, train, and shuttle) to JFK airport for the long flight home. It was a good little mini-break though. :)
(Really, for the cheesecake alone I would do it again.)

Utah is the place...

... to see Nichols/Anderson family and old college friends!
We had fun visiting in Utah as well, but I'm afraid I didn't take very many pictures here either. We just enjoyed relaxing and spending time eating, and playing games, walking in the park and Big Cottonwood Canyon, and talking with each other. I have a few photos to share though, and Rob's cousin-in-law(?) Marissa put some on Facebook if you're just dying to see more!

Grandma and Grandpa Anderson were enlisted to read many, many books to Charlotte and Toby. "One more, peease."

While we were in Utah, we all went to the dentist and had cleanings.
Charlotte gets the gold star for best dental patient under 5 years old! Turns out her baby teeth have "malformed enamel" and she will have some problems with them (including 3 cavities filled on this trip.) Thankfully, the pediatric dentist assures us we are doing a good job with brushing and her adult teeth should be fine.

We spent a day at the Children's Discovery Museum in Salt Lake, thanks to Cousin Annie. The kids loved playing here in the pretend construction zone, house, grocery store, and farm.


Annie's little girl Emma is done grocery shopping. We went to church with the Wolfes as well, and Toby loved being in Nursery with Emma while Charlotte was in Sunbeams with Annie for her teacher. :)


Can't make a trip to Utah without showing the kids Temple Square.
They were still in the process of setting up the Christmas lights, but we saw all of the Nativity scenes and talked with Charlotte and Toby about families being together forever.
Thanks to everyone that we got to spend time with...
and we hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Sweet home Pennsylvania

We had a nice time visiting the Kaufman side of our family in PA. :)


We started off the festivities with a group hike at Hawk Mountain. Uncle Dan, Eddie, Max, Charlotte, Leah, Toby, and Connor all made it to the top! (Although we did carry Toby quite a bit.)


Melissa, Dan, Pam, Dad, and Me- Julie. ;)

The views were really pretty with the Fall leaves,
and we did see a few birds.


We also got to meet BEN on this trip... my nephew Allen's son.
He is adorable and likes cookies a lot.
We went trick or treating at Ben's house but I managed to take those pictures on my sister's camera. Pam, please email me those when you get a chance. :D

Our kiddos really liked playing Aunt Pam's piano.
We got to visit with just about all of our family in the area, and also went hiking on the Appalachian Trail one day, did a LOT of shopping, and ate cheesesteaks and chocolate milkshakes to our hearts' content. Thanks ya'll for taking the time to hang out with us!

Monday, November 08, 2010

Iceland... continued


Just a few more photos I want to share from Iceland, and then I promise to move on. ;)


This was the last waterfall that we went to see, Skogafoss. It is at the base of that volcano that was causing all of the mischief over the summer with flights around Europe. You can see the ground is completely black with volcanic ash here.

The view of our car in the parking lot from the top of the waterfall. Rob is the only one who hiked to the top because it was a loooong way and it was super cold and windy out. The kiddos and I watched from the car and ate M&Ms. ;)

There are massive wide open spaces in Iceland. We spent a lot of time driving around on gravel roads in the middle of nowhere. Sometimes we just had to stop and stretch our legs with a quick game of tag in the "highway." (Those resourceful Icelanders are hauling that same volcanic ash around to make these roads.)

We returned to Gulfoss because it is just that amazing.
That is Rob and Toby up on the cliff overlooking the waterfall.

On our last day we went to the Blue Lagoon.
This hot spring was a great way to spend a few hours before a long flight. They have buckets of silica mud on the banks that you can do "mud masks" with and waterfalls to stand under. Rob and I took turns enjoying steam rooms and saunas. The kiddos had swimmies on the whole time and loved splashing around.
Note: We realize it's rather unusual to bring two small kids to a spa in Iceland, but if we didn't, then we couldn't go either, and they really seem to like traveling too. It's just the way we roll. ;)
Below is a bonus video of the Geysir going off.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Iceland is coooool (part 1)

Last week we went to Iceland- which is one of Rob's favorite places in the world. I was so excited to finally go to this amazing place with him! I'm going to attempt to be brief and just share a few of my favorite photos and give you a general idea of what our trip was like....



Our first stop was to Reykjavik. We spent our first night in the City Hostel... which was not the best hostel I've ever been in, but we had a family room with private bath, and it worked out just fine. There is this cool Viking ship sculpture near the bay. We also saw the cathedral and went up in the tower to look all around.






This is the cabin that we stayed at in southern Iceland. It was very nice down by the river, and we even saw the Northern Lights the last night that we were there.








Don't try this at home. You are not supposed to stick your hands in the geothermal pools near the geysir. It's hot. (Just ask Rob.)








They have a lot of rocks in Iceland. Rocks and water. And volcanoes. And glaciers.










And waterfalls. We love waterfalls.
This waterfall is called Gulfoss and is awesome.













Rainbow over Gulfoss. Notice that there are no "safety precautions" to keep you from falling down the waterfall. We were very, very careful with the kiddos here.

Playing tag in the continental rift. This valley is the division between the North American and European continental plates. It's also a significant place for Icelanders because their first Parliament was organized there around 900 or so.

If you look closely at the rock in the foreground, you'll see a red door painted on it. This is for Trolls. Charlotte loved looking for these Troll houses out her window as we drove all over the countryside.


Seljalandsfoss.
This is a cool waterfall because you can hike behind it.


Charlotte and Rob hiked behind it. And then I went by myself, it was a bit slippery and too dangerous for Toby we thought.
Well kiddos.... more to come soon. ;)




Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Vier Jahre alt

Charlotte turned four yesterday around 9:30 pm. :)


At four years old, she is as energetic, wild, and fun-loving as ever!

She can write all of the upper-case letters of the alphabet and knows them by their sounds. She is also able to count to 20 in English and German. Going to Kindergarten has been a really positive experience for Charlotte. She has made some new friends, has learned how to cope with people not understanding her (a new thing for our loquacious little one,) loves the social interaction every morning, and just generally is more cooperative when she is at home.


Right now her favorites (per our chit-chat) are...
Color: white (the color of polar bears and vanilla ice cream)
Food: cheese tortellini
Vegetable: green beans
Treat: ice cream
Movie: Gummi Bears (the old school cartoon we watch on Youtube)
School activity: lunchtime with her friends
Best friend: Cousin Leah


Some of OUR favorite things about Charlotte are her incredible imagination and dramatic personality, her excitement about travel and meeting new people, when she is kind and loving with Toby (this doesn't happen all the time but usually,) and how she wants to be "just like Daddy" (she may look like me, but they are two peas in a pod!)

Happy birthday Bubba!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Let's Party!

Over the weekend we celebrated Charlotte's FOURTH birthday with some of our friends at Halli Galli Kinderwelt.

Charlotte got to pick out a cake at the Commissary, (which she has been wanting to do for 2 years,) and I put some My Little Ponies on it.

Dinner time! Pizza, chicken nuggets, and french fries, oh my!!
Do you think Charlotte's having a good time being the center of attention or what?

The kiddos also spent a lot of time playing.
Toby, of course, located the Legos.

Here comes Cameron!

A little sensory overload for the adorable Miss Kate,
but she found some fun stuff to do too.

Girls in the ball pit- Sarah Jane, Ella, and Aubrey.

Oh man, this was a serious party!
Charlotte was so completely overjoyed the entire time. Even after tucking her in bed at night, I heard her singing Happy Birthday to herself. She cracks me up. ;)