Life: Idiotropic

Today was Luci's last day of school before the holiday break so all the parents and siblings were invited to join her class for a "presentation of songs and cookie party."

It was chaotic from start to end as expected with 18 four-year-old children and their families all clustered into a tiny little room, but Santa came and delivered presents to all the children whose parents, after much nagging by preschool staff, finally managed to find and wrap a gift of 5 Euros or less. This Santa was the same jolly German Santa who had come to see Arianna's class the week before, but he pronounced the names on the gifts fairly well as he handed them out and even got brave enough to talk with the kids a little. His thick accent didn't seem to throw them at all. They all posed as parents played popcorn jumping up and down and moving about for that perfect photo op angle and the kids just smiled unfazed by the craziness - with new gift in hand, it didn't matter how long they had to sit still and smile. Tiara tried to video, but that was difficult with adult heads popping in and out of the view (I could, with this video footage, probably do a very nice report about balding in Italian men).

The singing was audible though barely intelligible and Luci spent the entire singing time with her hands up covering her ears. Do I blame her? No. I would have also if etiquette allowed.

The day was finished off with lebkuchen (traditional German gingerbread-like cookies) including the white frosted ones that my girls like and then we left a bit early needing to pack for Paris. Excited that we're leaving tomorrow? YES!

I'd love to tell you all about the wonderful holiday adventures that we've had this last week, but sadly, I have to pack my suitcases with clothing and presents, tidy up the house a bit, and clean out my car for tomorrow as we're taking a lovely three hour drive to Paris.

Life is rough, isn't it? We're all excited. It will be cold, but hopefully clear and it isn't supposed to snow until Tuesday. We'll be there 6 days and have a list enough for 12 easy that we'll try to tackle.

If I have internet in the hotel, I'll blog a bit from there, but if we don't, we'll be thinking of you all and hope that your holidays are extra special.

Today was Tiara’s first day back to school in a week, a day that she was ready for physically and emotionally. It was also gingerbread day.

I mentioned to Arianna’s teacher about a month ago that we bake gingerbread every year, and I asked if she’d like me to do that for her class too, so she said yes and then ran with that theme for her entire school day.

Before I’d arrived, she’d already read the story of the gingerbread man and then broken it up and had the kids reconstruct the sequence of events. She had the kids work on coloring their own gingerbread man story book while I took them in groups in the other room so they could roll and cut out their own boy.

When they were all in the oven, I carefully took one off the tray – the big one that I’d made special for the teacher and showed to the kids – and went into the classroom to tell Mrs. Jamieson that I’d checked the oven and one gingerbread boy was gone! The kids were so excited. They all ran to the kitchen and peered inside the lit oven. The cookie was gone, but there was a note by a pile of cookie crumbs: “I ran away from an old woman and an old man and I will run away from you too! I’ve gone outside to play!”

So running and screaming with excitement, the entire pack of 26 kindergarten students ran to the playground where they found a similar note. Then to the principal’s office, they all ran with myself and the two teachers trailing in the background. Arianna’s eyes were wide – she was so amazed at the whole thing and she led the pack. Elise was a little overwhelmed by all the commotion, but paid very close attention.The tired cookie ran from the principal’s office to the library according to his note. He just wanted to go home, so in the library, we found a large copy of the story with the gingerbread boy on the cover and that was it. A wise little boy in the class came up to me afterwards and asked, “ok, so where did you put the cookie?”

They all decorated their own later and many parents heard the entire story at home. Arianna told Kirk and Elise told everyone she saw that day about the cookie that “popped out of the oven.”

There is a difference between being an American civilian and being part of the American military when you’re overseas and although I’m a civilian, I’m here with my military husband, so unlike most of the other NATO nations here who rely heavily on their consulates, we only use our consulate for birth certificates and passport issues and most of us never step foot in one.

It was productive and interesting and I was honored, really, to be included.

So, that was my morning, then I ran home, changed, got Elise together, and drove to Aachen to meet the Kohlenberger’s for the day. Kirk was busy. Arianna and Luci were in school and had after-school arrangements made. Tiara was still home recovering from the chicken pox (better, but not ready to face her class with marks on her face). It was a nice outing with friends and with only one child to tote along.

Another photo opportunity – Elise rode the carousel.

We ate traditional market food – bratwurst that’s way too long for the brotchen that holds it, a waffle for Elise, and dampfnudeln for me. Dampfnudeln is a large white gooey dumpling covered in hot cherries and vanilla sauce. I’d never had one before, so this was a new experience and it was messy, but good. The market wasn’t horribly crowded and since I had absolutely nothing to buy, it was easy to just enjoy the ambience stress-free. We wandered down into the main shopping area too and saw some areas I hadn’t seen before – nice large pedestrian only shopping areas that I’ll return to for the January sales.

I wasn't out that late, but by 4 it's getting dark here, so there was an opportunity to get the night shots of the market. It really is beautiful with the rathaus in the background. The giant cookie boy is a printen - the cookie that Aachen is known for, the cookie that adorns it's windows all year round.

Today was sunny and beautiful, a big change from last year’s winter of snow and ice. Last year we decided, one morning, that it would be a good day to take the train and we did it, just like that with no planning or forethought. This year I’d checked online and noticed the increasing days where the train rides were completely sold out. I think word has spread well on how special the St. Nikolausbahn is and people are coming from quite far to make it part of their Christmas tradition. It will be part of ours while we are here.

Last week I stopped at the little ticket office by the train station and bought tickets for all 6 of us. It was a good thing. This train today was sold out too.

The little steam train is only a five minute walk from home. It was returning from the Schierwaldenrath station as we walked down, so we stopped to see it go by. The kids get exited every time they see it and since we can hear it and see it from our house, they have plenty of opportunities to jump up and down and yell “The train is coming, I hear the train!”

The train had just arrived, but people had already begun to pile on it. A little building sold gluwein and hot cocoa. Another had sold wooden cutouts the week before, but wasn’t there today. An older man stood on a really tall ladder changing the lightbulb in the street lamp above while three men stood below watching and down by the train a tall slender woman in tall black boots and a long red dress coat was boarding the train with her tall slender dog.

We walked towards the front of the train and boarded car 6 which is a dining car. It still had the little fireplace in the middle on one side that a couple kids sat on while the train was stopped. We sat down at two tables. On one side of the train was the huge grain mill at the Gruenwarenhaus and on the other, a vast green field dotted with yellow rape (horrible name, I know, that that is the name of the flower that they grow here for oil).

Each train window had little paper ornaments hanging in it that the school children had made.

A nice lady came around taking orders. Kirk and I had gluwein, the traditional hot spiced wine served here at Christmas, and the girls had fanta and cocoa.

The train started up and the kids were excited and happy. We saw our house and crossed the main road. A man with a little flag waving stopped traffic even though there is a railroad crossing there.

About 10 minutes into the ride, I spotted the old black carriage that we’d seen last year. The train slowed and stopped and I hopped out just to the little platform at the back of the car to take photos. The driver wore a black top hat with his grey sweater and a white scarf. St. Nikolaus and Black Peter sat in the back and men dressed like the conductor walked behind the carriage with sacks of goodies. Everyone in the car was buzzing. Parents stood ready with cameras all pointed at the door waiting for the anticipated knock. Kids squirmed in their seats. I also had my camera ready, so I didn’t notice Elise disappear.

Soon the train started again and then we heard the knock. St. Nikolaus came in with Black Peter carrying a large burlap bag. He went from child to child, shaking their hands and handing them little plastic bags with the traditional weckmanbrot (bread), a clementine, a printen cookie, and a chocolate santa. I ended up getting stuck behind St. Nicolaus so I couldn’t get pictures of my girls, but Kirk had a good enough view to notice that Elise wasn’t there to get her goodie and before St. Nikolaus left the train, Kirk told him (in German) that there was another one under the table. Elise “hat angst,” so Tiara took her goodie bag for her.

On the rest of the train ride the girls nibbled on their goodies and Elise and Luci played house with their chocolate santas.

This year we knew what to expect, so we were ready to jump off the train at the end and find our places in the big building around the corner. We sat at a long table near the front. A man on stage played the piano and sung traditional Christmas carols in both German and English. Kirk got in line to get waffles covered in hot cherries and whipped cream, cocoa, and bratwurst in brotchen. I got out a couple euro for coffee. The tent filled up with people and soon St. Nikolaus and Black Peter walked in and took their places onstage. Then the line formed and children went up one at a time to tell him their name, age, and to perform their talent. Some young ones said their ABC’s and counted. One girl played the recorder. But, most kids sung songs including what I thought was “glowstick,” a song that both Arianna and Luci learned in school and sung a lot at home. Kirk told me later that it wasn’t “glowstick,” but “lustig” meaning happy. Either way, it's a cute song and we've all been singing the tune most of the month.

When it was time to go St. Nikolaus and Black Peter made their way from the stage stopping to shake hands with the children as they left. Arianna and Elise were both happy to shake “Santa’s” hand and Arianna also shook hands with Black Peter, but when Black Peter turned to shake Elise’ hand, she turned away and hid. He is a pretty scary guy and rightly so, as the bad children are supposed to be beaten with the sticks that Black Peter usually carries.

The ride back to Gillrath was nice and uneventful. The kids and Kirk sat inside sipping cocoa and Tiara and I stood freezing in the back taking pictures of the billowing loops of steam spilling into the air as the train went by.

Nikolauslied is the name of the wonderful song that Luci has been singing. The lyrics are below. For more wonderful German children's songs, here's a great site to find them: http://www.kinderreimeseite.de.

Nikolauslied

Lasst uns froh und munter sein
Und uns recht von Herzen freu'n!

Lustig, lustig, trallalallala,
Bald ist Nikolausabend da!
Bald ist Nikolausabend da!

Bald ist uns're Schule aus,
Dann zieh'n wir vergnügt nach Haus.

Lustig, lustig, trallalallala,
Bald ist Nikolausabend da!
Bald ist Nikolausabend da!

Dann stell ich den Teller auf,
Niklaus legt gewis was drauf,

Lustig, lustig, trallalallala,
Bald ist Nikolausabend da!
Bald ist Nikolausabend da!

Steht der Teller auf dem Tisch,
Sing ich nochmals froh und frisch.

Lustig, lustig, trallalallala,
Bald ist Nikolausabend da!
Bald ist Nikolausabend da!

Wenn ich schlaf, dann träume ich.
Jetzt bringt Niklaus was für mich.

Lustig, lustig, trallalallala,
Bald ist Nikolausabend da!
Bald ist Nikolausabend da!

Wenn ich aufgestanden bin,
Lauf ich schnell zum Teller hin.

Lustig, lustig, trallalallala,
Bald ist Nikolausabend da!
Bald ist Nikolausabend da!

Niklaus ist ein guter Mann,
Dem man nicht g'nug danken kann.

Lustig, lustig, trallalallala,
Bald ist Nikolausabend da!
Bald ist Nikolausabend da!

Usually we like to do crazy shampoo hairstyles in the bath, but today, with especially high bubbles, Arianna decided to make a bubble hat. I can still fit three kids in the bath, but it's all legs and they're starting to get squished, so another month or so and we're going to have to split them up.

Tonight was the IWC Italian night at the Frisbee Club.

Italian colors hung from the ceiling, music played, and an elaborate stage depicted a table at a traditional Italian restaurant. In the background throughout the evening, a slideshow of the Italian Air Force ran and many of the Italian ladies wore their countries colors.

The tables were set beautifully with candles and the lights were dimmed a bit for ambiance. The ladies served us themselves with large silver trays of bruchetta. Then we were each served our own individual small margarita pizza. After we ate, they brought out more pizzas and then foil so we could take some home. The food was great.

Music played - music from Italy, Spain, Brazil, and the U.S. and the ladies danced. We danced to Camisa Negra, La Bomba (different one), Prince, Beach Boys, YMCA, Black Eyed Peas, and a lot of other tunes. It was quite a mix, but all the ladies knew the moves and they knew the American dances better than the Americans did. If you don't want to dance, it is wise to stay in your seat and look completely engrossed in conversation, because those that were up or looking around were led to the dance floor. We danced a lot and had a great time. I stood in a circle of Spanish and Turkish ladies - the only American dancing - looking out into the room of tables. The right side of the room where the Turkish, Greek, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese ladies sat was almost completely empty. They were all on the dance floor. The left side of the room sat the Germans, Dutch, Norwegians, Canadians, and Americans. Those tables were almost completely full with onlookers unwilling to dance.

I really think that the cultures are affected a lot by temperatures. The warmer climates tend to produce friendlier, "warmer" people. They are outdoors more talking with their neighbors and interacting. The women are confident and dancing is part of the party. The people from colder climates tend to be more reserved. They are friendly, of course, but not as outwardly open until they know you very well - and they don't dance much. I suppose the cold keeps people indoors and more to themselves.

After the prizes were rewarded, coffee and cake were served and people began to leave, but the dancing continued. When I left the only people left were the Italians. They all had an Asti toast and started singing with the DJ. It was the own private party then and very fun to see.

I took Tiara to the doctor today, but we entered at the end of the building and were met there and led into the first room by the door so Tiara wouldn't contaminate anyone. One look at her and, "yep, those are chicken pox." One of her friends said she only got 7 spots. Seven! What a lucky kid. Today I counted 42 just on her face and neck. There's at least that many more on her back and torso... poor thing.

But, she's my fashion diva and wearing them well. Tiara, the queen, is donning beautiful pale cream skin dotted in a lovely shade of calamine pink. Each center of the large pale pink polka dots has a pretty red spot in the middle just like a posy. For her hair, she's chosen to highlight it in large oatmeal chunks like dandruff gone wild. It's quite a fashion statement. Walking around in baggy shirts to prevent itching, she is something right out of the latest hobo fashion mag. I'll have to send her photo into the editor.

She's really a trooper and hasn't scratched. Benadryl is helping more than calamine or oatmeal baths.

The good news is that the doctor thinks that we'll still be able to leave for Paris late next week.

I would like to be relaxing with a cup of tea and finishing up the blogs of last week with cute pictures of the kids with Santa, but instead I am in full mother mode with Elise on my lap at 10pm since she's apparently inherited my night-owl gene and would prefer not to sleep. I know that if I cuddle with her, she'll fall asleep, but then, so would I and that defeats the whole night-owl thing that I so love.

There is a certain insane satisfaction in filling up my outlook express calendar. I thrive on back-to-back activities and love knowing that my day is jam packed with stuff to do. This week has been full throttle with a lot of stuff to accomplish and no decent block of time left to squeeze anything else in. I love that. But today I was horribly tired and decided, for once, to shift some stuff around and give myself the morning off. I laid on the couch, put on a movie, and pretended not to know that Elise found the candy in the snack basket (it's put up, but she knows how to scoot chairs and climb), so I had a couple hours rest. Good thing. Tiara's got da pox.

I arrived at the school for a yearbook meeting and saw a bunch of Tiara's friends walking past. "Tiara's sick." Ahhh... so I found my drooping daughter at the other end of the school with her friend who looked equally ill. They were troopers through the meeting, but Tiara was shivering by the end and then I noticed the spots. By bedtime tonight the spots had increased and the itching intolerable. We'll see how this goes. I've never had the chicken pox, nor have her sisters. We've all had the vaccine... but, obviously, that isn't a guarantee for pox-free living.

Kirk arrives home tomorrow after a week long "work" trip in Lincoln, England. So the question is, how many spotty females will he come home to? Should be interesting.

Between local activities and school activites, we have an entire month of Christmas here. It is wonderful. Today Arianna's class went walked over to see Santa Claus on the base. This Santa was particularly wonderful - a large German Santa with bright twinkling eyes, a sweet smile, and a lovely accent. He was great with the kids and really looked like he'd enjoyed all the cookies set out for him the year before. The kindergarten class posed for a photo, then sung a song for Santa - the BINGO song, but with S-A-N-T-A instead of B-I-N-G-O. They had fun. After the photo session, they all colored. Luci, Elise and I got out photos with Santa too - the first time for me in, well, quite a few years.

Luci is, well, Luci. She is uniquely her and unlike anyone I've ever met. Extremely bright and creative, but strong willed and stubborn. She is both the comic relief and the button pusher, but is sweet and sincere as well. So, bearing all this in mind, I'll share Luci's most recent quotes... she is a fountain. And it seems that the drive to school is when her mind is the most free to ponder...

The other day on the way to school Luci and I were talking about the color of our eyes and she asked who had purple eyes. "I don't know anyone with purple eyes," I said, "people don't have purple eyes." To this, Luci replied, "Jesus gave Mr. Potato Head purple eyes."


Another day, but again, on the way to school Luci asked, "Mom, on Saturday can we go to heaven and play with Jesus?"

Both of these questions, of course, led to lengthy discussions. To the first we talked about what God created and what He gave man the wisdom and ability to create. To the second, she was quite indignant to hear me say no. That started the "it's not fair" style argument that is nearly impossible to win. She obviously cared enough to talk to Arianna about it because the next day Arianna asked the same question that led into another quite lengthy discussion of God's will for our lives and that we really have no say in when we go to heaven to play. Whew. Like a little child takes on a whole new meaning with my middle two.

So, that, and moldy pumpkins. While reading stories to the girls all cuddled up on Luci's bed the other night, Luci reaches down into the crack between the bed and the wall where her most special stuffed animals fall and pulled out a very white fuzzy pumpkin. "It was special." So she put in in the crack to "save it forever." The next day she pulled out another old saggy pumpkin. This one she'd colored a face on. This one, thankfully, did not have hair. Good. I like my pumpkins bald.

Today I walked Arianna to the bus and let Tiara stay home from school so we could have a mother/daughter day. It was the best day since Luci was going to a friend's house after school giving us until 3 to get home to meet Aria at the bus stop.

We drove down to Aachen to go to the Christmas market which is always fun, but the weather wasn't particularly cooperative. It spit cold rain at us and the wind pushed us so hard that there was one time in particular that we couldn't move forward at all until the long gust was over. I felt like I was at the beach during a storm, the wind was so strong. Being early on a weekday, the crowds had lessened a little, but there were still large groups of people at the market in spite of the weather. French and British groups were abundant.

So we walked quickly through the outdoor market area and only stopped where Tiara really wanted to stop - the jewelry stands. It was nice though because the cold wet wind forced us to escape inside the shops most of which I'd never been in before. Some of the windows with the 1800Euro purses and coats are intimidating enough, so I don't ever think of going inside... but today we did. I found a dress that would be perfect for the Christmas party that was only 1900 Euro - the sale price! Tiara found a coat that was absolutely beautiful - a mere 438 Euro at 40% off. We didn't buy anything in any of the shops, but it was fun to go in and dream and a few places were actually affordable and places we'll go back to. The truly great thing about today is that we discovered another shopping area that I'd never been to before. We always turn right at the end of the main street to go to the Dom, but today we turned left and found some beautiful shops including a toy store that Elise would like to live in.

I saw the accordion man again and this time my camera timer wasn't on, so I stopped and caught him on film holding his umbrella while playing Italian tunes. Elise got to ride the carousel again. And Tiara and I got our Starbucks fix sitting back in the large comfortable chairs relaxing with our coffees and pretending, for the moment, that we were carefree. It was a good day.

St. Nikolaus Day is on December 6th and is a holiday both here and in the Netherlands. In fact, on the eve of St. Nikolaus Day, Tiara's ballet classes were cancelled due to the holiday festivities. St. Nikolaus looks like what are sold in the U.S. as "old world Santas." He has a long staff with the beautiful long red robes and tall papal style hat. He is a saint, of course, and is dressed for the part. There are lot of stories about St. Nikolaus. One says that a man was too poor to pay for his daughters to marry, so he was going to sell them into slavery, but on each night before he was about to sell his daughter, St. Nikolaus put a bag of gold in through the window, so that the girls could each marry. Another story is that St. Nikolaus had stopped for lunch in a small village, but the flavor of the meat was not right. He went into the kitchen to see what was happening and saw that they were cooking children, so he put a stop to that. It is said that St. Nikolaus was very good and so when it was time for him to die, he was granted one wish. His wish was that he could return to earth one day each year to do something nice for the kids, so on December 5th, each year, children set out their shoes before they go to bed and St. Nikolaus comes by to fill them with goodies.

Our girls each set out shoes at home and sure enough, St. Nikolaus (i.e. Santa, Easter Bunny, tooth fairy) filled them with pens, games and treats. Poor Tiara. Kirk got the little girls up a little early, so they would have time to inspect their loot before school. They bounded downstairs excited to see what St. Nikolaus brought and then, they all ran upstairs shouting to Tiara, who has long outgrown these things, that she needed to some down right away. "St. Nikolaus was here, Tiara! Come look!"

St. Nikolaus also stopped at the schools. Luci came home with a bag with nuts, a clementine, and a couple chocolates. In Host Nation class, Tiara made a stocking and Arianna made a paper bag shoe. Both came home on Wednesday with their shoe and stocking filled with candies that they shared with their sisters.

Kids get spoiled here. It seems there is no end to special children's days and they give out candy all the time. Tante Tinny gives lollies to the girls each time she sees them, but she says it's grape sugar and is healthy. There is no arguing with Tinny.

Every year, or at least most, we make a gingerbread house together as a family. Each daughter gets to decorate a wall and Kirk and I each decorate a piece of roof.

This year I decided that if I was going to make gingerbread, I might as well make a lot, so I volunteered to bake gingerbread for Luci's, Arianna's, and Tiara's classes at school. Thankfully, not all on the same day.

Yesterday I made dough, divided it up into segments for Luci and her classmates, and put it in the fridge. Today I packed up the frosting I'd made, the dough, and a ton of candy and cookie cutters and brought it all into Luci's class so her friends could all make gingerbread cookies. I worked with each of them individually so it went smoothly and all the kids were very well behaved. They all rolled it out and chose a cookie cutter to make a cookie. We baked them right away, then they decorated them at snack time and ate them. It was fun and I think Luci enjoyed it. Then again, it was sugar. Luci always enjoys sugar.

When we got home from Tiara's ballet class tonight we all sat down at the table to decorate the parts of our house. We just used candy canes, red hots, marshmallows, and some hard candy drops, and red vines but the walls turned out pretty cute. When everyone was sleeping I assembled the house, then stood over it, holding it still for a while as the frosting set so it would not collapse. By morning it looked like a hurricane had been through - my first complete failure in gingerbread house construction. The up side was that, now destroys and un-pretty, my family members did not feel the need to wait to eat it and all gobbled it up that day.

I've been using the same gingerbread recipe for years and it's a really good one as long as you don't get caught up folding laundry and leave the cookies in the oven for an hour. Then you'll have gingerbread that truly could withstand a tropical storm and could probably break your jaw as well.

Here's the recipe - don't double it. I doubled it this last time and my kitchen aid went on strike and started throwing dough out the sides before I'd even finished adding all the flour!

In large mixing bowl:

• Beat 1 cup softened butter and 1 cup white granulated sugar at high speed until fluffy. Add 1 cup molasses and 2 egg yolks (save the whites for frosting) and beat until smooth. Continue beating as you add the flour mixture a little at a time. Dough should be stiff and slightly dry.
• Flour mixture to be added slowly above: 6 cups flour, 3 t. cinnamon, 2 t. ground ginger, 1/2 t. ground allspice, 1/2 t. salt.
• Shape dough into two balls and wrap one while not in use. Roll out the other to desired thickness. I like thick gingerbread - 1/4" thick is good. Just keep it even. Use cookie cutters to cut it or press it into a lightly greased cookie mold. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes, then let cool for 10 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Royal icing: Combine 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 2 egg whites, and 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar in mixing bowl and beat ingredients on high speed for 5 minutes or until still peaks form and icing is glossy. Tint with food coloring if desired and cover when not in use.

Christmas was kicked off officially today with the U.S. Children's Christmas Party and the procuring of a Christmas tree.
The Christmas party began early much to my dismay (I really enjoy at least the option of sleeping in on a Saturday - not that the little ones ever make it an option. Instead they pull off the covers, grab my hand and drag me from the warmth. But, it is nice to not have to go anywhere on a Saturday morning).

From 9ish until noon when it ended we let the kids loose in the elementary school gym where they played games, stuffed themselves with sweets, popcorn, and cotton candy, met Santa, and took a train ride. Tiara stayed home. Seeing Santa is not and has never been worth getting up early on a Saturday in her book. Arianna is the only one who jumped onto Santa's lap. She was thrilled to talk to him and tell him what she wants for Christmas: a magic wand. Luci and Elise wouldn't get near him, so they played. Luci spent most of her time oscillating between the big inflatable jumping thing and this large air filled plastic bag full of whirling Styrofoam peanuts that kids were jumping around in. By the end of the party those little peanuts covered the entire gym floor. Elise wanted to sock wrestle - or so they thought, but she just liked the tumbling mats and as soon as the sock wrestling was over she began bouncing around on them with her piggie tail bouncing, "dancing" on her tippy toes to the music.

The train ride was short, but greatly anticipated and fun for the kids. This little train is used a lot by the schools around Christmas and supposedly is used by the Canadians once a year to deliver "moose milk" to all the squadrons. (Moose milk is an adults-only beverage)

After the party and a little rest, Kirk and I drove down to our local produce stand where I'd bought pumpkins just a few weeks prior, to get our Christmas tree. It was hard to pick one. She only had a few unwrapped, so I really only had a choice between about 5 trees in the size I wanted. They were all "ok," but none of them were very full on top and a couple of them were way too sparse down below too. I like full trees. That is one thing that I've missed ever since I moved from Oregon. No place has had trees quite like home.

Kirk sawed off the bottom couple inches and drilled a hole into it to encourage it to drink water. Luci took a couple of the sawed branches and wore them like antlers. Tiara and I put the lights on it, then we all decorated it together. I sorted the ornaments into piles of what belonged to who and the indestructible ornaments went into a pile on the floor for the three little ones to put up. The weird thing is, that after the tree was finished, the bottom branches are nearly empty. The three little ones all want to put their ornaments up high. Luci kept climbing the step ladder and leaning way into the tree to put her ornaments on the very tip of a skinny little branch. I was so worried she was going to fall into the tree and get stuck like one of our ornaments. So, all of the ornaments are hung in the middle or higher. Some branches have two or three ornaments on them. It's a wonder the branches haven't given up and drooped completely over.

It feels good to have a tree in the house. It makes everything feel more festive. The girls all love it and get excited every time I turn on the lights. The ornaments travel around the tree a lot, but so far nothing is broken. When my housekeeper saw our tree she was like a little kid, looking carefully over every ornament, "schon," she said over and over. She loved our small twinkling lights and our interesting variety of ornaments. Her tree only has candles (electric ones) and kugel. Kugel are those thin glass balls. Here they seem prettier than at home. They are traditional here, so they come in all sizes and colors with beautiful glittery designs on them. I bought a variety of them to hang in my window since I won't put them on my tree. The markets have other ornaments besides glass balls.... of course, they have a ton of those "old world" glass ornaments, but they also have ceramic angels and a lot of carved wooden ornaments. But, most German homes will adorn their trees with Kugel, and little colorful candies with holes in the centers instead of candy canes.