rekindled spirit

her golden spirit has gently made us understand

that even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness that the word “happiness” would lose it’s meaning if it were not balanced by sadness

and bestowed a precious gift - gift of knowledge that love grows , it grows to expand your soul, love grows

created especially for the sun- our sweet daughter- visit the rest of the polar festival attendees here or here- have fun!

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i’ll be back in spring

i will be away with access to email- goodbye for the winter.

a very happy birthday to the birthday club and our sweet boy- over the weekend short, dark, and handsome also known as the moon turned 2 along with  the birthday club-  we hornored him  with a birthday brunch, a birthday walk, and wienerle, his favorite food for dinner- we then joined the birthday club for our annual celebration.

front room

this is where the sun spends four hours a day, 4 days a week and she loves it! it is one of many waldorf kindergartens in this area, the system or the steiner school of thought was practically born right in our back yard.  

all the children cook mid morining snack together everyday

this region of germany is well known for waldorf education, homeopathic medicine, and anthroposophical way of  life. it made it easy to consider as a system of education for our children. after researching and studying the system, we discovered that it is not flawless. depending on how you look at things, it may have one or two drawbacks as in any other system. 

play room

however, the insights into human development provided by steiner and the gentle approach to the child and his or her learning process made the decision very easy. it is a system that fosters creativity balancing artistic, academic, and practical work to educate the the child, hand, heart, and mind. 

doll house, i found out this is the sun’s favorite

as parents, we are (voluntary) members of the regional organization that manages the kindergarten and all waldorf schools in our area. they depend on voluntary help to support the schools. we make craft items for the herbst markt (fall market), weihnachts markt (christmas market), bake for sales, and other extra things like cleaning duty. over the weekend it was our family’s turn to clean the kindergarten.  well, this time i did it and tall, dark, and handsome stayed home with the babies. maybe the next time he will do it which will be in 21 weeks or after the next 21 families have had their turn.

creativity center

i was not thrilled to have cleaning duty but i have to say the different shades of yellow space with warm wood adorned with decorations handmade by the children…… ahhhhhhhhh……… it truly is a delightful, peacful place to be.

such a beautiful soul

every bit as sweet as she looks

looks at us and her world with fresh eyes

an uncynical attitude

and an open heart

i have watched her eyes

and listened to her heart

very carefully

for 3 years

she awakens my own sense of self

when i see her hurting or struggling

and she makes my heart grow

just a little bit more

every time she feels proud

and her eyes light up from accomplishment

a new word

going “pee-pee machen” alone

feeling helpful in the kitchen

riding a bike

creating a masterpiece

eating everything on her plate

or blowing all her candles out on her birthday cake

i love

her spontaneous reactions

her voice

her smile

i love everything about her

we surprised her with cake and milk for breakfast this morning

blow!

one more time!

again!

wooohooo! you did it! happy birthday!

big party tomorrow!

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the one bad weather day in austria project: we made birthday party invitations

they are out! hand delivered by her and her papa last week. we are having a big party tomorrow!

monday, in the sand box

we’ve got it back! i have made it no secret to my friends and family, the transition to stay home again all day was not as easy as thought it would be. i immediately missed the adult interaction that my german language course provided and for some days was mourning the loss of my part time nanny. i had to kiss lunching with the ladies and child free shopping bye-bye. but i tell you what, me and my babies, we’ve got our rhythm back!

we had really bad storms today so we had movie hour

and baked a d.e.l.i.c.o.u.s cake

using the strawberries

that we bought yesterday at the uberlingen town farm market because when i propped them there for a photo, she stole one and put it in her mouth then she took another and stuffed it in his as i was yelling “no, no, don’t do that!”. i was embarrased and felt obligated to buy both batches.

they then were fascinated

to see a mime for the first time

i think they were scared but they almost did smile. i gave her money to but in his basket and she refused. she said “du mach dass”

on the way home, she asked me if we could go to the pool in heiligenberg like we did on the day before (tuesday)

i said “no” that we were going to stay home and play in the garden like we did on monday

which on monday we successfully, together ran all errands on the procrastination list too

and cleaned the entire house

and today, she took her sweet time to dress the cake so we had to have it for dessert after dinner

just in time for her “goodnight” papa call

he’s just loving his very first strawberry season. he can’t stop popping them in. i know exactly how he feels.

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this post is especially for my dear husband who has been away all week on business. the sun and moon will not be the only ones happy to see him tomorrow!