Another Awwww..... Moment

Last night, Michael was on the phone and I was getting something in the kitchen while the kids were playing in their PJs before bed. When I came upstairs again, they were both sitting squished and snuggly together in the easy chair in their room, reading books quietly. It was another moment that would have been ruined by the camera. They were so peaceful that it was calming just to watch them next to each other, so close, and yet each completely engrossed in his own book.

Awwww....

Every morning at about 6 or 6:30, the kids come into our bed until we get up for the day at 6:50. Usually Nils falls back asleep, Jay rarely. Today Jay snuggled Nils while we were showering/getting ready. It was a perfect photo moment that would have been ruined by a camera.

Potato Festival

Yes, I truly live in Germany. Today was the Potato Festival in our part of town. It isn't to celebrate the harvest- that comes in a month for the Harvest Thanksgiving Festival, of course. After church, we took the kids to check it out. Jay and Nils painted for a contest (who knows who the winners were? We just had fun). Then the kids decided they wanted no part of any of the fun (and free!) crafts and only wanted to go to the same playground that they go to at least twice a week. Oh well.

After a while, Nils started getting cranky and Michael took him home for his nap. Mind you, he never naps more than thirty minutes, so they weren't gone long. Jay and I then stood in line for an hour for face painting. If only the kids could be just as still in church as they are when they wait for face painting.... Jay decided to be a wolf since it is grey and grey is his favorite color. We actually thought he was falling asleep while he was getting painted- he was so still and calm, with his eyes closed, for the painter. I've attached a photo of him howling.

After the painting, we got the kids fries and then took a walk. At the fry stand, they, again, waited like angels. Public behaviour, right? We collected chestnuts to throw in the water and got to see a tractor collecting clippings and making it into hay bales. All very interesting for two little boys.

To top off the day, we ate stew tonight. It was Jay's second time (the first was last winter) and Nils' first- and they ate it! Well, the plates weren't licked clean, but they did a decent job. And with new veggies (daikon, jicama, Rettich- whatever you want to call it, I have no idea what we call it in English) too. Good night!

Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays

The school year has just started and we have a birthday party every week! I think we're free for the next couple of weeks, then another round (Emma's family) starts up again. Oh, and Oma's birthday is tomorrow.

Today was the first birthday party that Nils was invited to and Jay tagged along. His friend Quinn turned two and there were a lot of fun toys and (best of all!) a ball pit that the kids were jumping in.

The fire station also hosted an open house that we went to. The kids got to handle fire hoses, sit in the fire engines (and play with the pneumatic seats), and check out all the equipment. They really enjoyed it.

Argh Videos!

Oh why oh why can I not manage to use Blogger's new Video Post function??? I have tried videos of every size and even different types. According to Blogger, I was using file types and sizes within the limits. So I have resorted to going back to MySpace. (I wanted to move all my videos from there to here and then delete the account since I never use it).

I have two videos here- the first is of Jay giving Nils a horse ride to the German classic Hoppa Hoppa Reiter. Hear Nils say again! at the end when the rider goes plumps into the water. The second one is of the two guys playing after dinner. Whatever Jay does, Nils has to as well. I guess that was to be expected.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=17168303

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=17170277

Jay went to a birthday party today for one of the girls from his class. Only one other child from his class was there, I was a bit surprised. He had a lot of fun- she lives near a huge stable of horses, so it was a horse themed party. They made their own horses and did obstacle races. Tomorrow is the kindergarten's mass at church to welcome the new kids. Apparently some of the kids have been practicing songs in English and German.

Jay also started a new art class this week. It meets for two hours every Tuesday and he really seems to love it. He talked nonstop about Udo, his teacher. Apparently Udo is the (earmuffs!) sh*#. His friend Katarina is in the class and Emma starts next week as well.

Here are some photos of Jay wearing an old sweatshirt of Michael's. Some day, when he is big enough to fit in this, we will look at it, sighing, wondering where the time went. Until then, we are completely boring, suburban parents. But at least we can say (to Americans) we are cosmopolitan, multi-racial, multi-lingual Europeans!