Life: Idiotropic

Luci with her lantern, unlit
St. Martin of Tours was a Roman soldier who led a simple life. He became Bishop, but didn't want to, so at one point, according to legend, he hid out in a barn to escape the people who were looking for him to appoint him Bishop. A flock of geese made noise and gave away his hiding place, so the goose has become the symbol of St. Martin and the traditional food served on his day. November 11th is also the beginning of Fasching, Karneval, and Fastnacht.

A couple months ago I was standing at the bus stop talking to a few other moms and this holiday came up. I hadn't heard of it before, but the moms who had been here last year had very nice things to say about St. Martin's Day. So, even before going to my first parade, I kind of knew what to expect.

St. Martin's Day is traditionally celebrated on November 11th by children all over Germany and the Netherlands. The children walk the streets after dark carrying their lanterns and singing songs. At the end they meet St. Martin, see his horse and the bonfire, and get a special treat. Because not all horses can handle being calm around kids and a bonfire, there are only a few in the area that are used and they are shared by all the local villages. So, not all St. Martin parades are on the same day.

Last night we drove into Teveren, the small town outside of the NATO base, and parked near the school where the parade was to begin. It was dark when we arrived at 5:30. As we walked by, I could see adults gathered in a lit room at the school surrounded by bottles of Gluwein, a hot spiced wine that is traditional around here. The square in front of the school was crowded with kids of all sizes with their families all with lit lanterns of all shapes and sizes. The youngest kids carried the cylindrical lanterns like Luci's decorated in different ways. Some kids had paper mache animal lanterns that looked like they were made around a balloon form. Then the older kids (4-6th grade ages) carried beautiful lanterns in the shapes of birds, dragons, ladybugs, and all sorts of things all brightly lit and beautiful. Some had feathers and legs. Some had glitter. All had some place with tissue paper where the light could shine through. We met Luci's teachers and classmates there, so among the German students in Teveren, there were Americans, Canadians, and Italians.

A booth was set up selling hot Gluwein and hot cocoa and as it was cold and windy, a lot of people were taking advantage of that. About 6:15 a man on a megaphone told us to go to the front of the school. There, the band was assembled and began to play. They played simple children's tunes and many of the kids started to sing along to the St. Martin's songs. The walk was long. We walked all through the village in a large loop with the band in front of us and St. Martin riding his horse about 30 feet behind us. The girls kept looking back to see him. Luci had been told the stories of St. Martin the weeks leading up to this parade, so seeing him was as great as seeing Santa Claus. All along the route the police stood on the sidewalks or walked along with the crowd carrying lit torches. Some gave torches to the older boys to carry as well. I walked along with my girls, participating in this German tradition, seeing the police bearing torches, and couldn't help but feel, even among the music and colorful lanterns, a bit unsettled. People stood out on their front porch watching the parade go by. I carried Elise half-way, but the other girls walked the entire time - even Luci, carrying her Nemo lantern.
When we arrived back at the school after about 45 minutes of walking, there was a large bonfire lit in the grassy area behind the school. It was roped off, so the crowd all gathered thickly around the ropes. A man, dressed in rags (with thick socks and Tevas), sat shivering by the fire. St. Martin rode up on his horse (led the entire time by another man, lessening the drama), pretended to tear his fancy red robe, and gave the man a scrap of red fabric that he covered himself with. Then St. Martin rode around in circles about 20 times waving to all the children and the "poor man" walked around as well. It was a slightly humorous reenactment that did a good job of impressing the children.

After that we got in line to pick up our treats. All the kids got a bag with a large St. Martin bread in it and a full sized Milka chocolate bar. St. Martin's Day breads are in the shape of a man holding a pipe. They can be found in all the bakeries here and are about 14" long. The girls got very excited about their bread and ate a lot of it when they got home. Arianna ate the inside out of hers and then stuffed the hollow bread cavity with cheerios. Luci and Elise both ate different body parts and poked holes in the belly. Luci was excited because the pipes are not bread - they are some sort of ceramic that is baked into the bread so that it looks like St. Martin is holding it. She loves her pipe and thinks it's very special and wants to keep it "forever."

Anyway... it was a nice evening and a new cultural experience. On Saturday night we'll participate in the Gillrath St. Martin's Day parade since it's the one in our own village. We only did Teveren's since the preschool was participating in that one.

Here's the song that Luci learned (with the translation)

Ich geh' mit meiner Lanterne (I'm coming with my lantern
Und meine Lanterne mit mir And my lantern with me
Dort oben leuchten die Sterne, There, over the light are the stars,
Hier unten, da leuchten wir. Here, under the light are we.
Mein Licht ist aus, My light it out
Wir gehn nach Haus, We're going home,
Rabimmel, rabammel, rabum. Rabimmel, rabammel, rabum.)

St. Martin's Day parades are coming up this week, so it's time for all the children to make lanterns. At the German schools, all the children make lanterns in their classes. Arianna made hers in art class at her school. Luci's class made lanterns on Friday and parents were invited to help, so we all went. Since Tiara and Elise didn't have an opportunity to make a lantern, we got kits for them to take home. The thin paper was already glued to the bottom when we got there, but Luci got to put glue on the bottom and glue sand to it. Then we put on the top and began to trace and cut out the fish, seaweed, and stripes. Tiara and Arianna helped Luci cut. Luci did one seaweed herself with the poker. Here, to learn to cut on the lines and hand/eye coordination, children are given a thick fabric pad and a sharp metal poker. They put the paper on the pad and poke holes along the traced lines as if perforating it. Then they tear it out leaving a nice ruffled edge as if they cut it with decorative scissors. It's great for them, but takes some time and is tiring, so after Luci, Arianna, and Tiara each had done one with the poker, they were all ready to switch to scissors. Luci enjoyed gluing the most and all in all, it was a fun family activity there at the school with other families.

Lanterns can be just about any shape. We saw kids coming home from our local school carrying little paper dragon lanterns. Arianna's has colored tissue "flags" glued to the sides of hers. They all look really pretty when they are lit up.

Our first parade is tomorrow... I'll fill you in on St. Martin's Day traditions then!

This morning was another beautiful Spanish morning.

A deep fog settled in all over Geilenkirchen making the trees fade into white in the distance. It was serenely beautiful. The leaves here are all golden and the cows are beginning to disappear from the pastures as it gets colder. Yesterday was our first morning frost of the season. Today the low was 32.

I went to Joana's house for our morning coffee and chocolate fix and she made Empanada Gallega - a thin dough stuffed inside (like a calzone, but bigger and flat) with tuna, onion, chopped hard-boiled eggs, and roasted red peppers. I have a very strong aversion to hard boiled eggs chopped in food, so that was hard to look at, but it smelled wonderful. Joana said that it can be stuffed with anything. Tiara agrees that shredded flank steak with onions and peppers might be tastier. It looked beautiful - a large flat oblong pastry with beautiful rolled edges that Joana did in seconds with just one hand. She said to serve it at room temperature, so I had a piece when I got home. It tasted really great (I picked out the egg chunks), so I'll make it for my family soon... with my own variations.

I was going to take a picture of it, but Kirk ate it when he got home and there was nothing left to photograph. This is another recipe to add to my regular repertoire. With the same crust and technique and slightly different fillings, it would be a sure hit with the kids too.

Here's the recipe (as I have it in hand)... I'll translate it here in the next couple days.

EMPANADA GALLEGA

iNGREDIENTES: 400 gramos harina,1/4 de vaso de aceite,1/2 vaso agua templada,20gramos levadura,1 huevo,un poco de sal.

RELLENO: 250 gramos de atún,tomate frito (un poco),1 pimiento rojo asado,2 cebollas,2 huevos duros,1 huevo,aceite y sal.

Disolver la levadura en el agua con un poco de sal,añadir el huevo batido y el aceite,añadir la harina y formar una masa dejar reposar 1/2 hora.

Rehogar la cebolla picada o cortada en pequeños trozos,añadir el tomate frito,poner sal y pimienta a gusto.Dejar unos minutos al fuego.

Añadir el pimiento cortado a tiras,los huevos picados y el atún.Mezclar todo.

Separar la masa en dos trozos,estirar una de ellas y forrar un molde, previamente untado con un poco de aceite para que no se pegue,dejando que la pasta sobresalga un poco por los bordes(para que luego podamos cerrar la empanada con la trenza).

I am still recovering from Halloween. Here I am in a country that is just beginning to learn what Halloween is, and we are celebrating it bigger than ever. May be it is a way for the Americans and Canadians to stick together and preserve a bit of our identity over here. We are a very small population and each day that goes by reminds me just how few we are here.

Europeans have learned about American culture and holidays like Halloween from American movies and television (frightening, isn't it?), so they're slowly picking up on Halloween too - another reason to have a party, and, for the businesses, more stuff to sell. There aren't costumes in all the stores like there are in the states, but the larger towns have Carnival shops - elaborate costume shops geared for the Carnival festivals, so they just get a bunch of creepy stuff in and call it Halloween. Pumpkins are sold everywhere (obvious from past posts) and Germans are buying them and decorating with them, but they don't yet carve the jack'o lanterns. The German idea of Halloween is the scary part of it. I don't like the scary stuff - my kids are always cute or pretty - or, at least, harmless. They are not witches or ghouls. Here, Halloween is only about being scared. The German kids came to my door last night only as witches, ghosts, and that "Scream" person. At the German kindergarten, they had the gym decorated like a graveyard and all the German kids dressed in black - no princesses or Disney characters there at all! Even German adults were dressed all in black with very graphic makeup on their faces. The Dutch and Spanish that I talked to didn't celebrate Halloween this year and have said that it is still starting very slowly in their countries. In Belgium it's also beginning very slowly. The Italians here had a huge party for their kids though - and they were mostly creepy things too -witches and bats.

My kids don't want to be creepy. They want to be pretty. Luci still thinks that she's going to grow up to be a princess. I had, initially, three princesses and a non-cow, meaning a potential cow who would not wear her cute little hat, her spotted poncho, or any sort of face-paint. In past years I've taken the kids trick-or-treating around the block and that has been about the extent of it. They always end up with much more candy than they need. I just enjoy seeing them in their costumes and taking pictures. The candy is the motivator for them to endure those costumes and keep smiling for the 50th photograph.
This year was different. I baked for all three older girl's classes. Luci's class had a party in the morning with a good amount of healthy food and twice as much junk food. I had to pick her up early. They had just finished painting pumpkins (so hers wasn't yet dry and got all over Elise's white sweater, so she was a Rastafarian cow), and were all in a group dancing. We walked over to Arianna's school to help her into her costume and walk with her class in the "Storybook Parade." That is the school's way of letting the kids trick-or-treat during class time. So, our costumed little ones with bags in hand walked over half of the base from office building to office building saying the well-reahearsed "Happy Halloween and thank you" to all who gave them candy. Most of the buildings just handed out candy at the front door, but several had decorated hallways that the children walked through and one in particular got quite elaborate with witches and scary music, so my tiny ones went in, but Arianna waited for me outside.
Since Elise didn't want to wear her poncho or cow hat, so she didn't look like anything other than a well-bundled toddler. I didn't give her a bag, so she was just along for the ride, but she did ok. Luci and Arianna both walked excited to go from building to building collecting treats. It was fun for them to be with friends. After the parade was the big party in Arianna's class that lasted until school's end. Then ballet for Luci and our first of three parties.

The Wilson's did a fantastic job with games and crafts for the kids, lots of creepy props, and tons of food. Elise was scared of the singing skull at first, but got over it quickly and spent 40 minutes standing next to him moving around to make him sing - again and again. The kids ate there and we hurried home to meet Kirk and Tiara and head out of neighborhood trick-or-treating. A group of about 35 American and Canadian kids came by just before we left, then we got a few German kids saying, "susses oder es gibt saures" meaning, "give sweet or give sour."

[I'd said that I began Halloween with 3 princesses and a non-cow... then half-way through I ended up with a 50's girl and a ballerina instead. Arianna remained "Cinderella," but Tiara, who'd worn my costume at school in the parade, became a 50's girl, and Luci decided to stay in the ballet clothes after class and just be a ballerina. My non-cow turned Rastafarian non-cow quickly transtioned to a chocolate-covered Rastafarian non-cow.]

A friend of mine made a map of all the houses that were participating (which were probably more than 30). We just walked a little. It was cold and we'd been heavily misted on earlier, so I wasn't up for a big trip - and we certainly didn't need the sweets. After a few houses we ended up at party #2 where we stayed for an hour or so visiting. That party was hilarious because a very young Superman that had run into Kirk earlier in the night, was there, and he believed, wholeheartedly just as a child might believe in Santa Clause, that Kirk was Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of The Caribbean. So most of the time we were at the party, little Superman followed Kirk around calling him Captain Jack and trying to convince him to go downstairs and hang out with all the other kids. At 8 we all went home to get the kids settled, then Kirk and I went to party #3 - the adults-only party.

It was hosted by some friends and held in an old farmhouse. The living quarters are only on one side of the large complex. They set up the party entrance over on the side of the building where the old milking sheds were. The room was long and narrow flanked on either side by old green stalls where the cows were milked. They had candles lined up along the sides to light the way and all sorts of cobwebs and creepy things hanging above. That room led into the huge courtyard - about 4 times the size of ours. It was decorated as well and all the party guests were outside - huddled around a large iron fire pit. It was nice to be out, but a bit cold to be sitting outside. That was the end of our Halloween. Sitting in the misty cold rain around a fire with friends.

The other day Elise and Tiara were laughing hysterically together in the girls' room. There are open backed bookshelves right next to Elise' bed (part of Arianna's bunk bed), so Tiara was laying across one with her head sticking out and Elise was on the top shelf hanging over looking at her sister and they were playing peek-a-boo. It was just one of those sweet sister moments and Elise was having a ball.

A couple days later Elise and Luci were playing happily pawing at each other like kitty cats. Seconds later, Luci was screaming. She now has 6 dark red scabs by her eye - nice stripes. She looks like she got attacked by a cat. I've had several people ask me if our cat got her. No, it was her sister.

Elise may be cute, but she is the youngest and has learned to take care of herself... she is not to be underestimated. Now, she certainly didn't attack Luci in a vicious manner, but she isn't all cuteness and cuddles either.

I'd planned on carving out pumpkins this weekend and thought it would be fun to share that tradition with our friends, so we picked today and invited some people over for some good ol' fashioned pumpkin carvin'.

An American family came over and two of my Spanish friends came over with their husbands and kids. Halloween is just beginning to be celebrated in some parts of Spain, driven by commercialism. In Mallorca, squash are traditionally eaten more than in other parts of Spain and they do have special occasions when they carve different kinds of squash. But none of my Spanish friends had ever carved pumpkins before. We had our long plastic folding tables set up with big plastic bowls for the guts. The adults cut off the tops and the kids all got their hands messy cleaning out the insides. The kids drew faces on the pumpkins with sharpies and the adults cut out the pieces. It was fun. I think everyone had a good time. Kirk cleaned and roasted batches of pumpkin seeds with different seasonings. I'd made hot apple cider and pumpkin cookies. Everyone stood around the table of food and talked for a couple of hours.

Tiara's pumpkin (not yet photographed in completion) was completed in stages. She kept up, but she really wanted to do it all herself, so it came out one way and then she changed it, and then a little later, she cut more out of the mouth and changed it again. It was the first time that I'd let her carve it completely by herself. And she did have fun though it is not evident from the oh-mom-just-leave-me-alone-and-stop-taking-so-many-pictures expression on her face. Arianna drew a traditional face - triangles and a big smile. She did a great job cleaning it out and was all smiles in the process.

Luci and Elise took a bit longer. I ended helping both of them clean out the insides, but they had fun drawing on the outside. Luci drew a great face and Kirk did an excellent job cutting it out exactly as she'd drawn it, so hers was the most unique of the bunch and got a lot of smiles. She was compared to Picasso or Dali. It's definitely Luci - she never accepts the status quo. Elise scribbled all over hers, so Kirk carved a simple face into it. By then all the kids (there were 10 of them) were upstairs running around playing and the adults were all standing around talking. It was one of those pleasant days when I seemed to be able to speak in Spanish fairly well which felt good. I wasn't tripping all over my words today as much as usual.

I shared my recipes with my friends. They didn't know what allspice was (I use it in my mulled cider), so I looked it up in my dictionary. The Spanish word for allspice translates to Jamaican pepper. I wonder if allspice really comes from Jamaica. It certainly doesn't seem like pepper at all to me other than it's shape.

Until tonight I'd never been to an NCO induction - a really had a very hazy idea of what an NCO actually was, but still, a nice dinner with friends and a reason to dress up and go out with my husband doesn't happen very often.

NCO stands for "non-commissioned officer" - the upper ranks of the enlisted. Everyone was very dressed up. The military all wore their dress uniforms. The women were almost all wearing black. It was the basic military function... cocktail hour with mingling - always my favorite part, introductions and pomp of various kinds, little speeches, dinner (chicken, potatoes and broccoli - nothing stupendous, but it had flavor), and the never-ending speech by a guy who I'm sure has something to say, but just didn't know how to get to the point and needed serious editing because he could have gone on forever and I think that it seriously pained him to stop at all when he really just wanted to spill every story of his 25 year military career right there in front of us all and neatly tie it together with cute little quips and lessons learned. Get the idea? Yeah... it was painful. But, it was fun to dress up. The dinner was ok. It was great to see friends and to be out with Kirk. And, the highlight for me - really - was the singing.

If I could have recorded it someway, I would have. It was fabulous. Part of the introductory pomp included the color guard. After they posted their colors, and before the twangy off-tune singer painfully belted out the Star Spangled Banner, a German man got up and sung the German national anthem. His voice was like something I'd pay to hear on stage - clean and pure and just beautiful - professional with a hit of operatic flare, but nothing so over-the-top that you'd want to gouge your eye out or anything. And though I've sung the hymn put to that same melody in church, I'd never actually heard the German anthem. It was even the first time that Kirk had ever heard the complete song. Really, it was something special. Next time I'll try to record it.

This is about the only time that I can photograph Elise without blurry photos... she runs and jumps and moves and bounces all day long until all at once she just crashes and sleeps so hard a 50-piece orchestra could march through our house and she wouldn't wake up. I know this to be true because her three sisters often make noise as loud if not louder than a 50-piece orchestra and by some kind miracle, she remains asleep. I love this picture though - it is a classic - Elise and her old bunny, the critter that goes wherever she goes.

Update - I just made my first Spanish Tortilla and I put turkey bacon in mine - sauteed it with the onions and it turned out fantastic! Kirk and the girls all loved it! I think you could put just about anything in this - peppers and taco meat with salsa, ham and cheese, roast vegetables... it's so yummy!

And for the fun... a friend put this video on her blog and it made both Kirk and I laugh - it's so funny! So, here it is! Enjoy it!

This morning my Spanish friends came over and it was my turn to share a recipe with them. Since we're right in the middle of pumpkin season, I decided share my pumpkin bread recipe with them. That was going to be it, but while making the coffee and setting the table, I realized that I didn't have any chocolate cookies and after countless Friday morning coffees with my friends, I know that you can't serve coffee to Spanish without chocolate. I'd set out my mini-Lindt bars and my pumpkin bowl filled with orange and black MnM's, but we needed something else, so Tiara volunteered to make chocolate chip cookies - another American classic. She just used the recipe off of the bag and they were a big hit. Then I showed them how to make pumpkin bread - an easy recipe - and made them in my mini-loaf pan for them to take home. The recipe is quick and easy and very yummy, so here it is! Enjoy!

Pumpkin Bread

Mix together in a large bowl:
15oz canned pumpkin
4 eggs
1 cup of vegetable oil
2/3 cup evaporated milk

Mix in another bowl:
2.5 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups sugar
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. ground nutmeg
1 t. salt
2 t. baking soda

Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Pour into two greased bread pans and bake for 45minutes in a 350 degree oven or until a toothpick comes out clean.

OPTIONAL TOPPING: Mix together 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup chopped nuts, 1 T flour, 1 T melted butter, and 1/8 T. cinnamon. Spread over bread batter in the pans and then bake as directed.

We're still teaching Luci how to walk. Of course, Luci's been walking since she was 14 months old and she is great at skipping, running, hopping, and, her favorite pastime, climbing bookshelves, but she is LAZY when it comes to walking and would ride in the stroller all the time if we let her. I've endured way too many sidewalk meltdowns when I've said, "No, I'm not going to carry you" or "No, you can't ride in the stroller. You need to walk." So, this pumpkin season has been an especially good excuse to get some practice in as we have a wonderful stand just a little walk away.

And it's a challenge for Luci. Last time I made her walk the entire way there and then only let her ride a little back. Today she walked about half each way, but didn't whine nearly as much as usual. That is progress.

We love our little veggie stand. They are so nice there and always have a really beautiful display. The girls each picked out a nice orange pumpkin for themselves and I picked out a nice sage green one for me and a big white one for Kirk. We also got a few little ones to turn into pumpkin vases for teachers and neighbors. The pumpkins come in orange, red, white, sage, and tan. Some little ones are darker green and some have orange and white vertical stripes. They are all really fun. It's tempting to buy more, but I don't eat enough squash to warrant it.

So, with wagon loaded with pumpkins and just enough space for one small child, we started the walk home. Elise walked or ran the entire way back home with no desire to ride for even a moment. She was keeping a pretty good pace too until she decided that it was time to learn to walk backwards. Then we were down to a snails pace - or slower. She was having fun though and made it look so enticing that both Tiara and Arianna started walking backwards too. Luci pretended to be a pumpkin and hid in the wagon for part of the way until her sisters started having races and she wanted to join in. Then she was walking, running, and picking dandelions from the edge of people's yards.

After a little rest I made salt dough and let the girls play for a while. It was quick to make and kept all the kids busy for at least an hour. Arianna made a ghost and the word ghost. Tiara made her name and the word BOO and a couple pumpkins. Luci made about 30 little moons and a scary pumpkin that she liked so much she put it in her pillowcase when she went to bed. Elise just kept putting cookie cutters half way into her dough, then squishing it all up again, so I ended up making one for her that she can paint later. These are the same dough ornaments that I made as a kid. We'll paint them this weekend and lacquer them to save.
Here's the recipe: Combine 3 cups flour, 1 cup salt, and 1 cup water. Mix well. Turn out onto floured surface and knead until it is smooth and stretchy. Make into 3-D shapes or roll flat and use cookie cutters. Make holes if you want ornaments. Bake on a foil lined cookie sheet at 275 degrees for 1 hour (longer for thicker pieces). Paint with acrylic paints and use a sealant to prevent molding. Store in a dry place.

Annoying things about my two year old...

• Her obsession with my sewing machine thread. Elise loves to pull the end of the thread and run around the legs of my office tables creating a very nice yellow thread spider web. Just a minute ago, she finished spinning her web all around the table legs, then went over to tie up the cat. Misha tolerated it pretty well but ended up looking more like a mummified fly in a spider web than a old grey cat. A minute later Elise was standing next to me with her arms pinned to her sides. "Mommy, help me." She'd wrapped herself too. May be that will teach her the perils of sewing.
  

• Her need to use REAL water in her play kitchen leaving a soppy wet trail from the bathroom sink to her play sink in the playroom. Last night she also managed to create a 1/2" deep lake covering the entire bathroom floor. Ahhh... I've always wanted a water feature. This house has survived two world wars, but there are days when I am really not sure it will survive my children.
• Her ambition to be the next world record cheerio thrower. She takes pleasure in throwing cheerios - smiling brightly, with enthusiasm, as if she were throwing confetti or candy in a parade. She could be the president's wife, tossing candy to the crowds as proud as she looks when she tosses them. May be she'll reach Olympic fame for her feats. Elise - the next gold medalist in the Cheerio-put.
  
• Her spit gargling talent. She's just recently learned to gargle her spit while screaming - a sound that every mother just loves to hear - it's great when throwing a full fledged temper tantrum and pushing away the full cup of milk that she just asked for, thus spilling it all over the floor. (I think my kids are conspiring to buy me a maids uniform for Christmas. They'll get me the waitress apron for my birthday. Did I say that I love to clean? Oh, yes... it's my sole purpose in life! shiver)
• Her desire for thoroughness in everything. This sounds good? No. Not really. Elise is thorough. If she wants to throw cheerios, she will not stop until the last one has been tossed randomly about the room. Her new favorite is "making the beds," a feat that she proudly achieves by throwing every last pillow, blanket, and stuffed animal off each bed in her room (there are three) until the bed is completely cleared. Unfortunately, this desire for thoroughness does not translate into cleaning up a messy floor afterwards.

But... for every annoying thing - thankfully - there is something sweet.

• The way she wakes me up in the morning, cuddling up next to me, whispering "mommy, it's time to wake up," and rubbing my hair or my shoulder like I rub hers at night
• The way she runs around the house on her tippy toes half teetering over like a ship in a storm with her pig tails bouncing up and down
• The way she comes up to me asking, "Can I help you mommy?" and will do just about whatever I need her to help me with (except picking up cheerios)
• Her smile when we play peek-a-boo
• Her crazy laugh (will get that on tape one of these days)
• Her obsession with balloons of all kinds and the look of pure joy on her face when she sees one
• The silly way she talks, dropping the Rs off of the end of words giving her an unusually adorable Jersey-esque accent. It's not car, it's caahee. It's not star, it's staaee. Etc.
  

That list could go on forever...

There is a new family living just a few houses away that have a little girl Arianna's age. Her name is Ria and she is in Aria's class at school. They really enjoy playing together, and since Ria is an only child, her mom enjoys having my girls over to play with Ria and keep her busy. Like most girls, they all like to be princesses and luckily, Ria has 4 Disney princess costumes!

So, here they are in all their splendor.


Arianna, Ria, and Luci in one photo and Elise as Snow White in the other

Sometimes (quite often), my children are not the only big mess makers in the house. We are all learning that messes are best handled with humor... and a quick clean up. Today I heard Kirk yell from the bottom of the stairs, "Tiffany, at the risk of years of ridicule, if you want a good photo op, get your camera!" I ran for my camera and dashed downstairs thinking that the cows were being cute again, and instead, I found the my husband was being, "cute." He was nowhere to be seen, but the evidence was there - sloppy chocolate "health shake" gook all over the previously spotless stove. Where was my husband? Upstairs changing out of his chocolate gook splattered clothing. And yes, he did clean up his mess.

Today was a rush of chores and errands and I was feeling lousy which didn't help, but I woke up this morning with the smell of coffee brewing and the good news that our cows were back.

It's a little thing, but it always makes us happy to look out the window and look at our three beautiful cows. They are not ours really, of course, but we feel like they are ours. And they watch us just like we watch them.

When I open up the rolladn in the morning, they hear it and look up at the window. The girls sit in their playroom window and watch them. They are fun for us because they are so full of personality and act more like puppies than cows. We watch them play and run. They cuddle up close together when they sleep. They come to the fence and let us pet their noses. I love my cows.

The other WONDERFUL thing about today was tonight! Our weeks go by so quickly and our days are packed. Kirk has work and I fill my time with all sorts of things and it seem that we never get time just to sit and talk. Tonight when the little ones were all asleep and Tiara was happily checking her email, Kirk and I walked over to Il Genios - our pizza place - to have a glass of wine together. We could've had a glass of wine here, but it's nice to get out of the house. It feels good to go there too. We've found our Cheers. They know us. We walk in and they all smile and greet us. It's our nice local neighborhood hang-out and it's within eyeshot of our house... so we can go now knowing that Tiara can call my cell if there is a problem and we can run home almost just as quickly as we could run upstairs from the basement.

Having children - especially four of them - made it hard for us to connect for a while. Kirk's time in Korea didn't help that either, but kids do throw things off a bit sometimes. I feel like we're finally getting into a rythm. I'm finding "me time" to balance the kid time, and Kirk and I are finally making time for each other. It's taken almost a year now to find that balance - it's been almost a year since we were reunited as a family, but it's nice. We're growing up - together.

Today I had coffee with my Spanish friends as usual. We sat and enjoyed our hot coffee with warm milk and lots of cookies and cake. I think Elise ate 10 cookies.

Afterward a little time to relax and chat, Maria showed me how to make a Spanish tortilla. It's nothing like a tortilla that you'd buy in a store. This one is made of potatoes and eggs, but is served for any meal. They were having theirs for lunch. Her kids eat it with ketchup, but she serves it also with alioli - an eggless mayonnaise. In Spain, mayonnaise is illegal to serve in the summer. Restaurants cannot serve it at all in the hot months because of past problems with salmonella poisoning. But, alioli, is even better. The recipe is below. Enjoy!



Tortilla Espanola

1. Peel 6 medium sized potatoes (we used those thin skinned ones), then cut them into thin slices like you would for scalloped potatoes. Put into large microwave safe bowl.
2. Mince one small yellow onion and cook over med-high heat until tender in 3T. olive oil.
3. Mix oil and onion into potatoes.
4. Cover and microwave for 15 minutes or until all the potatoes are cooked through and soft.
5. Beat 6-7 eggs well.
6. Pour eggs over potato onion mixture and mix well. It is ok if the potatoes break up a bit. Salt to taste.
   
7. Heat a deep non-stick smooth surfaced pan. (It has to be big enough for the entire batch)
8. Add 3-4T olive oil to pan.
9. Pour potato egg mixture into pan and cook over medium-high heat for 3 minutes.
   
10. Using plate or a pan lid, flip tortilla onto the plate or lid, then slide it back into the pan gooey side down to cook for another 3-4 minutes. Flip a couple more times cooking for 20 seconds each until done. Both sides will be brown. The middle should be set and cooked through. (My friends left it a bit gooey in the middle and like it that way. The piece I took home was put in the microwave for another 2 minutes so that it would firm up. It was delicious.)

NOTES: This would be excellent with diced bacon and leeks sauteed in with the onion.

SERVE WITH:

Alioli
Combine 1 part milk with 2 parts vegetable oil. Add 2-3 peeled garlic cloves and a pinch of salt. Blend thoroughly until it is thick and creamy in consistency.

Last night was Canadian night for the International Women's Club, so they put on a Halloween party for us all. We'd been told to wear our "scariest" costumes, so there was a hippie (me), Pooh bear, Tigger, 2 Pirates, a Pink boa-ed cowgirl, a butcher-maid, a couple renessaince women, and about 20 witches.

The room was decked out in traditional Halloween gore... tombstones and skeletons, ghosts and witches. The tables had frozen hands in bowls, plastic spiders, and shot glasses filled with tomato juice and green olives for our "toast."

I had the pleasure of sitting between a great group of Americans and some very nice Turkish ladies. Sitting next to the Turkish was great and it was fun to talk with them, and when they got tired of trying English, it was also nice to have the option of talking with my American friends.

The Canadians served a pea-laden beef stew with French bread for dinner demonstrating just how many adult women still hate cooked peas. The waiters cleared countless pea piled plates. For dessert was cake - white or chocolate, gingerbread skeletons, and peanut butter "eye-balls."

For games they had the traditional and the not-so-traditional. All the reps had to stick our noses through a hole in a black curtain and the audience tried to guess who was who. I, being the most melanin-challenged of the bunch, thought they'd guess me first. Thanks to bad lighting, I was only guessed by the process of elimination. They kept thinking I had the Spanish nose. The next game was the ol' kindergarten standby of sticking your hands into different "body part" foods and guessing what they are and what they're made of, but they kept it tame... jello hearts, grape eyes - unpealed, - spaghetti for brains, etc. In the last game the "volunteers" had the choice to bob for apples or to try to get the apple on the string. Bobbing proved far easier and a lot more entertaining.

The night ended with raffle prizes of which I won none and the traditional gaggle of smokers just outside the front door. I stood out there with friends trying my best to have a nice conversation without breathing. It's almost been a year since we've moved and I'm still not used to the smoke.

Luci and I were cuddling together on the couch this afternoon. She leaned into me and pressed her cheek into mine. When I moved a little, she pulled me back and said, "I can hear the ocean in you."

Grumble.

I've been caught - on film.

I've gotten used to the speeds here. It's 50kph in the cities (about 30mph) and 100kph outside city limits UNLESS OTHERWISE POSTED. That's the tricky part. Just at the edge of our village is a school. There, the posted speed is 30kph. That's slow. Painfully, dreadfully slow.

And, it's nestled right between a 50 and a 100 zone.

Most days there is traffic and a lot of kids there. Today there was noone around, no cars, no kids, no crossing guards. I was going 40kph which is quite slow anyway...

But then I saw the camera. Milliseconds later there was a bright red flash in my face and I turned to see the two policeman in the car behind the camera throwing their heads back and laughing hysterically.

Nice.

So, in 4-6 months I'll get a ticket with my picture in it.

Driving back from the base this morning I had to go through there again. I slowed, almost to a stop, to go the appropriate speed. I flashed my lights at oncoming traffic to warn them. Six cars sped by in a row. Six more bright red flashes and six more disgruntled drivers. They were all going at least 50. Christmas is coming and those police will be getting a nice bonus, I'm sure. They're making a fortune this morning.

Laura is pregnant and her mother was visiting, so she also accompanied us in Leuven. She is a quiet woman and very kind. My kids instantly went to her even though they couldn't speak the same language. Romanian sounds a lot like Italian. I spoke Spanish with her a little and we could understand some, but not enough.

Laura is excited to find out the sex of her baby. So is her mom. Laura told me that the other day her head felt itchy, so she went to scratch it and was disgusted to find it gritty. After a few moments, she realized that there was salt in her hair - a lot of it. Her mom had liberally salted Laura's head. If Laura smelled the salt on her fingers touching her fingers to her nose, then she would have a boy (according to her mother). If she tasted the salt, then she'd have a girl. Watching Laura with her mother demonstrates a sharp image of the old and new worlds - not unlike the bug in the square!