ABCD- Auerbach, Birthday, Children, Date night

This post is loosely in chronological order and covers the past month or so...

 

One day in February Jake went to the store with Dad and came home with a new paint set.  He has been busily creating artwork to decorate his room ever since.

 

Rob and I actually got a babysitter and went out on a date for Valentine's Day this year.  Charlotte tried to take a picture of us before we left the house and this was the best one of the bunch... complete with Ami grabbing my necklace and Jake trying to climb over Rob to sit on the top of the couch. We had a lovely, quiet, romantic dinner at Lahore Palace and I didn't have to cut anyone's food, or wash any dishes afterwards.

 

Amelie is sporting a very adorable mullet these days.  I put it into pigtails three times before church one Sunday and she still managed to take them out before we got int the door of the building.  Ah well, they were cute for half a second.

 

On President's Day we took the kiddos to our favorite indoor pool - Miramar- and then to visit Auerbach castle.  We went here a few times last time we lived in Germany, and I am sure we will be back again before too long.  

 

I love the views from the top of this tower and how quiet it was here on a Monday in February.

 

I also love this tree growing out of the top of the castle.

 

The kids enjoyed it a lot, and were pretty well behaved, but this one ended up in time out anyway.

 

And this one.

 

And a special time out for this one.

 

No time out for this one though.  She's the baby.

 

For my birthday this year, Rob told me he was going to wash the dishes for an entire week!  I loved it.  I am pretty much the only person who does dishes around here.  Charlotte and Toby just started this year having one night a week to do them after dinner, and that is a great start, but they still require a bit of supervision with the whole process.  It was a very thoughtful gift and much appreciated... even if he did get a little help the evening we fed the missionaries.

 

Amelie is almost 18 months old!  She is beginning to have strong opinions about her outfits each day. (She already has strong opinions about nearly everything else.)  She is our least cuddly baby and is in a terrible hurry to keep up with her big brothers and act like her big sister.

 

And finally, my birthday cake.  I made a giant chocolate chip cookie this year, and it was great.  I have to keep checking with Rob though to see how old I am (which reminds me of my mom who once thought she was a year older than she was for an entire year.)  I can't believe I am already 37, but I couldn't be happier with my life, my family, and where I am at right now.  I am so thankful for the blessings of family and friends and new adventures.  Life is beautiful, even when it is hard...  thank you for being a part of mine!

Can you hear me now?

This girl.  We love her so much, but sometimes it is very hard to get her attention, especially if she is reading.  "Charlotte, CHARLOTTE, Earth to Charlotte!!" This has frustrated Rob and I for years now. And has been pointed out by her school teachers as well.  So much so, that at every annual check-up I tell the doctor, "we don't think she can hear us very well."  She has often had ear infections without other symptoms and we worried that this has permanently damaged her hearing. They have always reassured me that her hearing was fine... until her last check-up. 

I reiterated our concern to our new pediatrician and he said her hearing test was "not perfect" and recommended a more detailed hearing test.  At Charlotte's second hearing test, she showed significant hearing loss in her right ear (up to 60 db at some frequencies,) and a little bit in her left ear as well (up to 30 db at some frequencies.)  At this point the pediatrician referred us to a pediatric hearing specialist.  This was actually a relief to us because it was like, "finally, someone has listened to our concerns and validated them!"

On Tuesday I took Charlotte to this appointment where her hearing was tested for more than two hours. It was exceedingly long and boring, and we saw an audiologist, speech therapist, and finally the doctor.  (It should be noted that this was at the end of Fasching- the German version of Mardi Gras- and the doctor was wearing a giant yellow bow in her hair to be festive.) Her FINAL diagnosis was that Charlotte suffers from frequent ear infections- fluid behind her eardrums.  When she has them, her hearing is impacted, but when her ears are clear, her hearing is actually fine. So, in short, sometimes she can't hear us very well, but sometimes she can hear us fine.

The doctor's recommended course of action was in two parts.  First, she will grow out of it- probably sooner than later.  And secondly, nose balloons.  Charlotte and I looked at each other when she said this, like, "did she just say what I think she said?!?"  Yup, she wrote us a prescription for nose balloons.  Charlotte is supposed to blow up a balloon with her nose, twice a day, for 5-7 days when we think she is having an ear infection.  We are not to give her any antibiotics!  (In our experience German doctors are much less likely to prescribe antibiotics in the first place, but this was a new one for me.)  This, from the lady with the giant bow on her head, after weeks of hearing tests, was just too bizarre and comical. 

 So anyway, Charlotte can't always hear us- this is true, and we feel reassured that she is not just ignoring us.  And she will grow out of it.  And does not need tubes in her ears, or a hearing aid, or anything else.  (Just nose balloons.) Pretty much the best possible outcome we could have hoped for from this situation.

Garmisch and Linderhof

This past week we took a trip to Garmisch, Germany for a long weekend.We stayed at the Edelweiss Lodge, which is an American Resort there.

 

For our friends who used to live in Germany with us- look where the firetruck from the Food Court ended up!!  Charlotte and Toby used to ride this every time we went to visit the food court on base until it was finally replaced by a Lightning McQueen ride.  Amelie loved this so much. She made a beeline for it every opportunity she got. We also enjoyed the hotel pool, hot tub, gym, buffet breakfasts and dinners, and American amenities.

 

We also rented sleds and followed the rental guy's directions to a cow pasture where we could go sledding.  We started out on the hill right by the side of the road.

 

 The snow was perfect!

 

 I taught the Bear about snow angels.  He's a pro now.

 

 King of the Hill!

After a while, we decided to trek across the field to the opposite hill. Rob and I pulled the kids on the sleds.  This hill was much steeper than it looked from a distance.

 

 Rob braved it first.

 

But his sled didn't make it to the bottom of the hill with him.  It was really steep.

 

I made it down with my sled once, but only because Rob made a pretty good track for me first.

 

 On sleds or off, it was a fun day.

 

 The next day I stayed at the hotel to hang around the pool with Jake and Ami, while Rob hit the slopes with Charlotte and Toby.  The kiddos had a lesson and loved their first ski trip.  Over dinner I was told that it was harder than it looked, and that they were sore and tired.  When we told them next year it would be easier, Charlotte burst into tears that she wouldn't get to go again the next day.  That really surprised me! Toby told me that now he has five sports he is good at- soccer, t-ball, swimming, reading, and skiing.

 

The next day it was time to go home.  But not without a side trip to Linderhof!  So, maybe it was snowing a ton, and maybe it wasn't exactly on the way home, someone who stayed at the hotel all day the day before wanted to go see it and so we did.  The drive was a bit treacherous, but I think it was worth the trip.

 

 The kids were not super happy about the hike through the snow to the palace, but they made it. King Ludwig II was a bit of a nut, and loved building castles.  He built three in Bavaria, but this was the only one finished before his death.  It is kinda like a little kingly bachelor pad in my opinion.  Some of my favorite Ludwig craziness?  He slept during the day and stayed up all night.  He also dined alone, but had the table set for four and carried on imaginary conversations with the deceased French king Louis XV and Marie Antionette. He never married- shocker, right?  They don't allow photos inside the palace, but if you'd like to know more about it and see pictures, you can read the wikipedia article here.

 

Beautiful gardens, even in the snow.

 

Amelie liked it.

 

 On our way out, the swans came up from the pond to pose for photos in the snow.  We then headed home and nearly experienced death by gps.  The road we were directed down was fine until we hit the Austrian border.  Then there was a snow gate and signs for vehicles that had chains on their tires only, and started heading up into the alps.  We had to turn around and add an hour to our drive, but we made it home safely.  It was a fun weekend away.  Jake is still talking about the hotel, and how he would like to live there instead of here.  Poor Bear has spent too much of his recent life living in hotels!

reflecting on 2014

Christmas came and went at our house once again. I love Christmas!  I also love when Christmas is over and we can take down the tree and reclaim our living room, put away the heavy foods and return to eating like normal, make resolutions, read a good book, and get back into routines.

 

A couple of days after Christmas we even got our first snow!  We had that (not) fabulous ice storm in Georgia last year, but this was REAL snow... perfect for making a diminutive snow person.

 

At the beginning of last year I posted some resolutions... yeah, I didn't accomplish any of those.  I did make progress on all of them- I memorized about 10 scriptures, I am down a little bit of weight, with some more yet to go, and the kids have learned a few more life skills- loading the dishwasher, vacuuming, cleaning the toilet, etc.  (No, they are not indentured servants.) But I am totally fine with that.  I suppose I could feel defeated, but I choose to see it as "practice makes progress."

Other progress we made in 2014:

Moved out of our home in Georgia, spent 3 months in transit, and moved into our new home in Germany.

Rob was called to serve as the Secretary in the Elder's Quorum of our new ward and is enjoying his new job and getting to exercise his language muscles.

I was called as the Primary President a few weeks ago and am adjusting to my new responsibilities.  (Or trying to, anyway.)

Charlotte has become an avid reader, was baptized, and has made new friends and adjusted well.

Toby is a beginning reader, a Super Mario aficionado, and loves going to Kindergarten.

Jakey is adjusting to having his own room, being the big brother during the school days, and is the cuddliest three year old ever.

Amelie is walking, talking, loves stuffed animals, and still doesn't know she is a baby. She spoke her first sentence during the New Year's Eve fireworks the other night, "I want Da!"  (Apparently Daddy can protect her from scary noises better than Mommy.)

Plans we have for 2015:

Travel, travel, travel!  One of the main reasons that we love living in Germany.

Charlotte and Toby are beginning piano lessons starting next week.

I am starting an artist's group in our home.  This is inspired by Charlotte's request for an art class- which, since I have been unable to find a suitable option, we are creating our own.  More about this after we have met a few times and see how it is going.

Rob and I are planning something special for our 10 year anniversary next Fall. Stay tuned.

Jake will be starting German Kindergarten.

Amelie will begin going to Nursery at church in March.  (February if I can sneak her in!)

We are going to have a rocking garden this year.

And we are all going to learn more German!  Really this time.  Santa brought Rob and I Rosetta Stone, Toby and Charlotte get German and Spanish at school, and Jake will begin to learn German at school.

 It may not work out perfectly as planned, but that is okay, there will be more progress made.

December days

Life is as busy as ever around here. Here are some glimpses of what we have been doing this month...

 

We went to get our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Around here you see these people made out of hay bales.  One day, as we drove past a female one, Rob said, "Hey girl!" And this has become a family joke.  Every time someone spots one they yell at it, "Hey girl," or "Hey man!" And once Jake even yelled "Hey marshmallows" at some wrapped in white plastic still sitting in the field.  We all find this very funny, even though we realize it is completely silly and dorky.  Actually, that might be why we find it so funny.

 

It is also Christmas market season here in Germany.  Christmas markets are a magical place where you can eat many, many yummy things, ride rides, listen to music, drink a lot of hot wine (if that is your thing,) see the lights, shop for souvenirs, and just generally feel the magic.  The kiddos like the rides and anything involving chocolate or Nutella the best.

 

At our local market Amelie and Jake rode in the stroller.  It was pretty cold out, but we were sufficiently bundled up.

 

We also revisited one of our favorite medieval cities- Michelstadt.   Is it half-timber homes, the easy parking, the old city walls, the ice cream shops in summer, the bakeries in winter, the CUTENESS?

 

I can't put my finger on exactly why, but we just love this place.

 

This trip, we found one more reason to love it.  A little old German lady stopped us along the way and asked us if we knew about the toy museum.  Ummmm, no, we did not know about this! She told us she had four children as well and then gave us directions and as it started to rain outside we found ourselves in a free museum with antique toy displays, interactive play area, one floor of local history, and an entire floor of working model trains! We love you, Michelstadt.

 

Spinning in the toy museum.

 

Then back out to the Christmas market for more bratwurst, pommes, kartoffelsuppe, crepes, mandelbrot, kinderpunsch, and so on. Yum!

 

Visiting the Christmas markets was one of the activities in our advent calendar this year. Another one was making gingerbread houses out of graham crackers.  Some of the other fun stuff, that I didn't photograph, included: hot cocoa and Christmas books night, decorating the tree, a candlelit dinner, Christmas movie nights, making paper snowflakes, having friends over to make ornaments, and delivering treats to neighbors. Each day also had a scripture that had to do with the Savior's birth for us to read together.

 

I put the lights on the tree, but then let the kiddos decorate it this year. I thought I would rearrange ornaments after they went to bed, but I didn't.  It was fine, they had fun, and I think all Christmas trees look pretty.

 

Especially when a cutie like this so lovingly hangs her ornaments.  Of course, she took them off and rehung them nearly every day this month, but so it goes.

 

The big kids are off of school for two weeks now and we started it off by doing a very smart thing.  I found this lovely 12 year old young lady (in the picture) who is willing to come to my house and play with my children (for a reasonable fee.)  She came over on Monday and helped us decorate cookies.  I was also able to make a double batch of cinnamon rolls, do the dishes, and take a peaceful shower without any children killing each other.  She also helped clean up and we had a productive happy day.  I will likely have her come back again after Chirstmas.

 

And finally, Miss Ami would like to remind you to love the baby Jesus.  (The piece from the Nativity that she is holding to her face.)  We love the ribbons and bows, the lights and the gifts... but Christmas "does not come from a store," Christmas DOES in fact, mean a whole lot more.  

Merry Christmas from the Anderson family.

Stitch Fix- an early Merry Christmas to me

My first StitchFix came in the mail today!!!  Woo-hoo! I had told everyone I would share how it went, so here goes.  I received in the mail a necklace, a sweater, a blouse, a dress, and a pair of jeans.  Shockingly, everything fit.  (I expected to have some fit issues, but I guess I did a good enough job of giving my sizes and shape.) Here is a quick look at the items...

 

First off, we are not talking about my Christmas cookie belly, it will go away soon (I hope.) 

This top was $54 from Skies are Blue.  The necklace was $28 from Bay to Baubles, and the jeans were $78 from Liverpool.  I didn't like the chest pockets on the top, or the sleeves. And I think the necklace looks cheaper than it is.  The jeans were kinda awesome.  I wore them around the house for a while and debated them much.  In the end I didn't keep any of these three items- though I was very close on the jeans.  I just have enough jeans that fit and I wear regularly, that I couldn't justify it to myself.

 

 

This sweater is $48 from Market and Spruce.  Same necklace and jeans. I kinda love this sweater.  It is soooooo soft.  And comfy.  And I love this color. And the sleeves are different than anything else I own.  The v-neck is super deep, but great for layering.  I kept this one.  :D

 

And then there was this dress.  

$48 from Papermoon.  I was very tempted to not even post a picture of it, but here ya go friends.  This is not a good look for me.  High neckline = giant orange box. Also, you can't see the hem in the picture very well, but the pattern there had a similar effect of cutting me off and making me look shorter and squarer.  Even Ami is like, "What is THIS?" No bueno.

So, I went on Stitchfix.com and gave feedback on each item and paid $28 for the sweater (48-20 styling fee.)  The other items will go back in the prepaid postage envelope they came with.  There was also in the box, a styling card showing different ideas for wearing each item... somewhat helpful for the style-challenged like myself.  I signed up to get another box in January.  I liked trying stuff on at home, the quality of the clothing seems high to me, and it was a pretty fun shopping process.  I do think the prices are higher than I would normally spend, but I am willing to spend a bit more for staying home and letting someone else put outfits together for me. Also, if you purchase all 5 items, you get a 25% discount on your order.

Stitchfix. If you decide to try it out and go through my link, I get a $25 referral credit when you receive your first box. 

a taste of 20 questions

When we are driving in the car seems to be when I have some of the most interesting conversations with the kiddos.  I don't know exactly why this is.... maybe the lack of other distractions for them, maybe because they feel they have me cornered?  I don't know, but that is the way it is.  Unfortunately, I don't always have the resources to answer all of their questions while I am driving, and, while I appreciate their curiosity and want to encourage it, I am driving a car, in a foreign country, and do need to focus a little bit on what I am doing.  So, I asked Charlotte to write down some of their questions and we would talk about them at home.  This morning she handed me a list:

1. How many planets is there in space?
2. What is every single thing in the world made of?
3. What are different kinds of rocks called?
4. How many mountains are there on the Earth?
5. Who is the oldest person on Earth?
6. How big is Earth?
7. What is a space black hole?
8. How do people tell the future?
9. How do bodies work?
10. How do some people make movies?
11. How do you make a book?
12. How many Navy guys die once a year?
13. How are toys made?
14. Have any hunters once got killed by a wild animal?
15. When was money first made?
16. When was air conditioners first made?
17. What flower was first discovered on Earth?
18. When was gravity first discovered?
19. When did jobs get invented?
20. What was the first kind of bird found?
21. How do you make paint?
22. What was the first fairy tale?

Some of these are easy enough to answer, or to Google the answer... others will require more thought and discussion.

Also this weekend, Toby made his first restaurant menu... independently. He has just begun reading and sounding out words, and I LOVE this stage!  I love the head-scratching puzzling I get to do when deciphering the words he writes and getting a glimpse into how his mind works.  I spelled 'chocolate', 'shakes', and 'cakes' for him, but otherwise it is all his work.  See how good your kindergarten deciphering is...

Shakes and Cakes

Dinrs
Csis
Sbgede and Mebals
Posd wif Niutle

Dsrs
Chocolate Smeoe
Tere Cnes
Adl cnes smveoe (this one has an extra trick to it)
Owrd Tere on Bed
Vere Tasd Caec
Cnes Chocolate Smveoe Tasde
Ovr Tasde Tere Smveoe

I will try to post a translation to this in a day or two, but would love to hear your guesses in the comments.

Bacharach

On Veteran's Day we decided to make our first sightseeing day trip, and drove to Bacharach. It is a town located on the Rhine river which we had seen from the Rhine River cruise, but had never before explored on foot.

 

On the way there, we passed this rest area, which Rob and I had giggled about in the past, but our big kids are just now old enough to find truly funny.  The sign is a bit blurry (you can drive fast on the Autobahn, don't ya know,) but it says, "Raststätte Heidenfahrt."

 

 Anyway, we arrived in Bacharach on a grey German autumn day and it was empty.  Like really empty.  But that is just the way we like it.  See that misty castle on the hilltop in the background?  That was our goal for the day and the walk there was full of medieval German cuteness and many, many stairs.

 

They don't know exactly how old Bacharach is.  The first mentions of it as a town in documents date from the early 11th century, but based on some of the evidence found there, it may have been a place people lived as early as the 700's.

 

Climb those stairs little bear.

 

This is the view from our first stop on the path at the Liebesturm, or Love Tower.  There are these towers remaining from what was originally the wall around the town, and they each have a name.  Others include: Thief's Tower, Market Gate, Post Tower, Tithe Tower, etc. 

 

Our little squirrel with her treasures collected on the hike.

 

The view of the Rhine from the top of the hill.  It is hard to tell, but this was around 1 pm.  It stayed misty and grey all day that day.

 

Rest stop.  But not to Heidenfahrt.

 

 And finally at the top of the hill- Burg Stahleck.

It was originally built in the 12th century, then partially destroyed in the 18th century.  It has been rebuilt in the 1920s and is actually now a hostel.  In other words, anyone with 20 Euros can spend the night in this castle if they so desire.

 

Another shot at Burg Stahleck.

 

We took a different route back down into town in order to pass the Wernerkapelle.

It was to be a church and construction began on it around the 13th-14th century, but it was never completed, and still stands there today as part of an unfinished cathedral.

All of that took us about an hour and a half to see.  On our way back to the car we were getting pretty hungry and only then realized that most shops in town were closed.  We hadn't realized that Veteran's Day coincides with St. Martin's Day in Germany. St. Martin of Tours was known as a friend to children and the poor, and his feast day celebrates the beginning of the harvest. In Germany, it is celebrated with bonfires and children walking the streets with lanterns made at school and singing and sometimes asking door to door for candy or donations for a charity. We saw some of that in our last village we lived in here, but didn't see any of it in our new town.  

Anyway, THAT is why Bacharach was such a ghost town.  But we loved our quiet, foggy Fall day.