rekindled spirit

i have had many people give me baby advice. my two favorites are that before you have your babies, make sure you go to every movie that you want to see, take that vacation to that special place you want to visit, read for pleasure, go eat at your favorite restaurant. etc. you get the idea, your life will never be the same again so enjoy yourself. and my other favorite one is that  is that at this age your babies are yours. meaning, all yours. soon, they will go to kindergarten and that is the beginning of them slowly going away. they will continue to go, and go away. in other words, they will grow up and not want to be around you as much. so appreciate and take pleasure in this time that you have with them because you will never have it back. ok, that struck a strong cord with me. well, i have valuable baby advice myself: never take your children to ikea. that place is way too big and packed with shoppers. i wish someone had told me that before we went there last weekend. we all drove 2 hours from here to the big city to shop at ikea. we had 2 hours of mildly chaotic shopping time. not bad considering their ages. in the last half hour, they started to get out of control. we could have been killed by the dirty looks we were getting if we hadn’t gotten out of their in time. we were running down the aisle looking for the nearest exit (there wasn’t one) and dodging shoppers. me with the moon in my cart wailing as he tried to throw himself out of it and tall dark and handsome right behind me with the sun screaming “mama” at the top of her lungs in his cart. at the long, slow, checkout line (where things got a little calmer), my dear husband looked at my sad face and said “it’s okay, i’m off on friday anyway, you can come back by yourself.” i was singing praises to the heavens above! so this morning, i left my three treasures watching the sesame street dvd and hit the road to the big city.  

this was right before the separation anxiety tantrums they threw

i got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic and enjoyed it

i had enough quiet time to think about how much i do miss the city

i went to a jewelery store

a music store

and had a warm lunch for one.  i relished the peace and quiet as much as i did the the food

and yes!! i spent three hours shopping like a mad woman at ikea! it was so very nice! when i arrived home ten hours and three calls on my mobile (to ask how far i was from home) later, i wished i had my camera out instead of all the products i was lugging to take a photo of how happy they were to see me. they made me forget how much fun i had had out in the big city.

try this to die for buttermilk pancakes recipe .

 

we had a lot of fun this morning using this pan heart former.

Wendy, my fabulous girlfriend in texas sent me this hillarious Mother’s Day funny:

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL  OF US MOMS

JOB DESCRIPTION

POSITION  TITLE : Mother, Mom, Mama, Mommy, Momma, Ma

JOB DESCRIPTION: Long term, team players needed, for challenging permanent work in an, often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities. Travel expenses not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES: The rest of your life. Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5. Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly. Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf. Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers. Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects. Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks. Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, an embarrassment the next. Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices. Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product. Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION : Virtually none. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you.

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE : None required unfortunately. On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION : You pay them! Offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent. When you die, you give them whatever is left. The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS : While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered; this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth and free hugs for life if you play your cards right.

~

i also love amanda’s mother’s day post over at soulemama.

 now i know my ABCs

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last summer, my sister sent the sun a birthday package full of goodies, love, and the sesame street: all star alphabet dvd. since she may only watch dvds (never television) when we cannot go outside (rainy or bad weather days), it took us until late november to watch it for first time. she was beside herself. she was obsessed to say the least. she wanted to watch it over and over again. i wasn’t sure if i should feel regret or be grateful for her enthusiasm in something as important as the alphabet. after about 2 days of tantrum throwing and wailing for her ABC (is what she called the dvd) a brilliant idea came to me. i pulled out an ABC puzzle that she got for christmas from yaya and that we stored away thinking it was too advanced for her. she was mesmerized. before we knew it, she was arranging letters in the correct order! i can’t find the words to express my pride in her nor can i stop smiling. now, her favorite song besides you are my sunshine and the happy bithday song is the ABCs. watch and listen to her sing.

one year ago today we welcomed this sweet boy into the world and our family. what a vibrant, sweet, happy,  person with a beautiful soul he has turned out to be! he brings tremendous joy to me, sophia, and thomas.  yesterday we had a very special pre-party  with his friends. i say special becuase the attendees were also celebrating their first birhtdays. Finn and Paul met Michael at Friedrichshaven Klinikum shortly after they were born. Manu and Ollie welcomed Paul on January 30th. Andrea and Bruno welcomed Finn on February 2nd, almost 12 hours after we welcomed Michael.

at first i could not believe that we (the mothers) had to get out of bed, leave our room, and go down the hall to change our babies’ diapers. but that’s how i met manu and andrea. i didn’t think i would ever see them again after we left the hospital. when michael was 3 months old, i signed up for a baby massage course. i walked in on the first day and there they were. what were the odds? yeah it’s a small world but the hospital is almost an hour from here and the class was in tiny village where i live but not they. to say the least, i am grateful for the small talk that the community diaper changing room caused as i now have two wonderful friends and so does michael.  

sophia’s cookies, german weihnachts plätzchen

sophia baked her first christmas cookies today. she was very proud and so were we

michael, eager to help his sister

vanillekipferl “classic german christmas cookies”

250 g flour

1/2 tsp backing powder 

125 g sugar

2 tsp vanilla (if possible bourbon vanilla)

a pinch of salt

3 egg yellows

125 g ground almond

150 g cold butter

2 tbs powder sugar

mix the flour and baking powder and set aside.

blend together the sugar, vanilla, salt, egg yellows, and ground almond and pour into the the flour mixture.

slowly add the butter and blend well (you can use your hands or a mixer).

cool in the refrigerator for 30 min to an hour

traditionally these cookies are formed into moon shapes then baked. we spread out our dough and used cookie cutters.

place on baking paper and bake at 175 degrees celcius for 10 minutes.

let cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar

butterplatzchen (classic german butter cookies)

250 grams butter

250 grams sugar

2 tsps vanilla

4 eggs

500 grams flour

mix the first 4 ingredients with a mixer then sift the flour in and blend until smooth. refrigerate for one hour. roll out with a rolling pin then use cookie cutters to form shapes.

bake at 160 degrees celcius for 10 to 15 minutes.

let cool and then the best part: decorate as you like. we dipped ours in chocolate and then sprinked them with shredded coconut. use your imagination.

had a lot of fun baking together. like in many other cultures the germans bake a lot during christmas time. this is not something usual for me but i have merrily added it to the list of traditions to start for my family.