Christmas is Coming!

"My 1st Christmas"

 This is a good tooth shot. :)

 

Cleaning out the "Art Box"

 These kids have done a lot of beautiful art the past couple of years!

We went through everything and took pictures and kept our very favorites.

So that we could make some room for.....

moving the storage to the garage.....

to clear the basement room.  Scott started patching the cracks on the floor and the rebar holes in the wall to prepare it for finishing into a playroom/storage room.  At the rate we are going, it should be done by summer......but I am pushing for it to get mostly done over Christmas break. :) hehe

St. Martin's Day

In Germany, November 11th is St. Martin's Day.  The children all make lanterns at pre-school or home and come together to have a lantern parade at night. 

Usually the parade is led by someone dressed up at St. Martin in a soldiers uniform on a horse.  A band follows the procession playing St. Martin's Day songs.  Then, the parade ends at a huge bonfire where the story of St. Martin & the beggar is acted out.  Then, there are little bread men called Weckmaenner or Stutenkerle to eat with warm drinks.  It's such a fun tradition.

We decided to host a St. Martin's Day Lantern parade at our house with 3 other German-speaking families. We just had a little lantern walk, the story and food.  It was great to celebrate together!

 We wanted to use our forest path for the "parade" so we did it a bit earlier than normal because it was easier to walk at dusk.

 The kids all had beautiful lanterns.

 It got dark very quickly and we told the St. Martin's Day story briefly by the fire and then enjoyed some Weckmanner (sweet bread men), Bratwurst, chicken salad sandwiches, fruit, and warm Kinderpunsch!

 My first attempt at Weckmaenner.  They tasted good, but I think I can do it better next time. 

The left is the real recipe.  The right is a dairy-free variation (for milk allergy).

 The next day, I was lucky to have my dear friend Michelle, stop by for a quick visit!  We hadn't seen each other since she was pregnant with her first baby, who is now 16 years old!

It was great to catch up and reminisce.

Happy 4th Birthday!

 Opening cards and gifts at Breakfast.
(Cora loves the Little Critter book Dan & Janet!)

We all told Cora what we loved about her.  Some of things we said were "that you play with me, that you love and take care of Ollie, that you have such big expressions, that you share with me"
She is such a fun person to have around!  We are so glad Cora is in our family.

 Timmy's homemade Pokemon Gift
(Aaron made her some too, not pictured)

 Cora got a mermaid tea set

 She loves her new dress from Aunt Robby

She also is excited about her new Tiana dress from G&G Parker, new Princess of Avalor Dress from Macha and Papa, and her new French dress and Frozen shoes from Mike and Baerbel!  

She had a lemon "Hello Kitty" Cake

....and lemon cupcakes, because that's what she wanted.

And we all went swimming together at the Workout Club on Waterslide night. 

What a fun birthday!

 A lovely Sunday hike yesterday

Late Fall

 So nice to have a good friend to play with!

 A sabertoothtiger that Aaron and Scott put together

from Mike and Barbel.  Aaron loves it!

It growls and walks!

Racing around in the basement

Post Halloween Fun

We just didn't get enough Halloween yet, so here's our dress-ups

Happy Halloween!

Due to the storm, we got 2 nights of trick or treating!
Once in Salem with our friends on Halloween night:

And tonight in our town:

 This house had the most fun decorations outside! 

We also attended one house that was a full-out "haunted house" in the whole first floor!

Some of the clever parents tote their kids trick-or-treating with a golf cart.  I have seen 3 of these type of "hay-rides" so far.  The kids have a blast riding and get front door service! 

The properties here are so large, it would really help you hit a lot of houses :)  

 This is the largest house in our neighborhood.  The kids really wanted to knock on their door! :)

The moon tonight was a true Halloween sight