Thanksgiving

Emma's class did a Thanksgiving play and Emma was the lead character... it was a play about Sarah Josefina Hale who wrote the poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb"... she also went to President Abe Lincoln to petition him to make Thanksgiving a National Holiday! Emma was just brilliant!

Normally I would do a gumbo on Thanksgiving (or we have fried a turkey) but since Deanna was visiting and hasn't had an American Thanksgiving in many years, I did the traditional roasted Turkey... of course, I am not used to it... but it came out just fine... I also made my Mawmaw's cornbread dressing, Some yummy sweet potato soup, fresh cranberry sauce... and Deanna made her family's traditional "Pink Stuff" ... but we have since renamed it "Fat Salad"!

We got to skype with Russ for 45 minutes... so even though we miss him terribly, at least he was there in spirit!

Pulling the Wish Bone...

Had to include this... Leo was hiding in hide-n-seek... look at his face~! Hilarious! I think he is trying to blend in with the frig...
His job was to carry the gravy to the table... yeah...
and he can clean off a drum stick like nobodies business!


We had a fabulous wonderful day...

We love you all and miss you so much! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!!

First Karate Tournament

Leo had his very first Karate Tournament this past weekend. He did great! He competed in two events... form and sparring. He tied for 3rd in form... but unfortunately lost in the run-off so he didn't place... but I was very impressed with the little man! He won his first sparring contest so progressed to round two and was then eliminated. So no trophies... but for his first time out he did fantastic. And his attitude about the entire thing was great! He had such a great time and can't wait until he is old enough to 'fight with a sword' ... nice... As for the tournament itself, it was very frustrating. It was the 'First Annual International" tournament... the others had only been American only... so it being the 'First' we had to deal with all the problems that come along with that... so the event starting 2 hours late, being pretty unorganized and all ... not to mention my behind going numb after sitting on bleachers for 7 hours straight. 7 hours of sitting to watch a cumulitive 30 minutes of Leo doing his thing. Worth it... but painful!!!

OH... and did I fail to mention that I left my lights on the entire day and had to get the battery jumped before leaving????

Leo's friend Nolan...
Leo in front of the three judges beginning his form... He got a 6.3, 6.3 and 6.2 tying for 3rd...
Leo won his first spar... which was unfortunately against his friend Nolan... the kids' attitudes were so great about it. Both ways! They were so proud of each other!!!

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LegoLand

So I braved a road trip with the kids to LegoLand. It was about a 3 hour drive down to Bavaria... roughly an hour away from Munich... Super cool...

The first day we met up with the Praveceks... our closest friends here in Germany...

These rocks in the background were 'singing rocks' every time they passed them, the kids would start singing the songs and dancing... they were such a riot!

This and the next few pictures are AMAZING! Everything is made out of Legos!!!! Hundreds of Thousands of them... it was incredibly impressive!
This is the Lego replica of Neuschwanstein Castle (the Cinderella Castle's Model...)

This was INCREDIBLE!!!!!! A full soccer stadium in Munich in full Lego-replica glory... all the fans were little lego people... hard to see in the picture, but you can imagine the complexity of this display... unbelievable!
This was just hilarious... the second day of LegoLand was EXTREMELY FREEZING and very empty. (We went on the last weekend the park was open before closing for the winter season) so it was DEAD! Emma and Leo went on this roller coaster 10 times in a row... they only had to change seats a few times... they thought changing seats and riding again was the funniest thing....

Halloween 2009

This was a bit of an interesting Halloween. The neighborhood we live in is probably 50 percent German and 50 percent American. It is also a relatively new neighborhood, most of the houses have gone up in the last 3 years... so the Germans are learning and totally LOVING some of our American customs. Germans do recognize "All Hallows Eve" which is the evening before All Souls Day.... it is a Holy Day recognized in Germany... but it is the American influence of going door to door getting candy that they were unfamiliar with. So... it was fun having little German kids who could not speak English coming up to our door and smiling sweetly as they attempted to say 'Trick or Treat"... Then to hear Danke... so cute!

And as for my little cuties... Leo Michael opted for classic villian... Darth Vader...

And my little princess opted for Classic Literature! She was a Greek Goddess (Athena... my favorite one)...

Since technically both of my kids had fevers... we did not go to a party before as planned. I let them Trick or Treat with some neighborhood friends... but Emma only lasted about 20 minutes before I took her home and she went straight to bed. Leo, fever and all, lasted the entire time...
And last week we had an adult party. I was not planning to go since my babysitter fell through. But a friend 'kidnapped' my kids from me and forced me to go... Since I had no costume planned, I came up with a quick improvisation. Strawberry Shortcake. But of course, since I usually try to be ironic or satirical with my costumes... I added a quick pillow to become "Irresponsible Strawberry Shortcake". I know... tacky and tasteless... but adult Halloween parties usually are. I only stayed at the party for an hour since I was on a borrowed sitter who was already watching other kids... but I am glad Lisa dragged me out...

Leo's Newest Creation...

I just had to throw this in here... This was taken after our Senior Graduation Party in High School... hee hee...

Leo likes to design his speeders, spaceships, vehicles... you name it. he was especially proud of this one...

Oslo Norway

Well... I decided to take the kids on a little international trip to Oslo, Norway... I was pretty proud of myself flying solo with two kids on a trip involving passports... a little out of my comfort zone, but it was a success! It was cold and rainy, but the Norway motto is:

"There is no bad weather... only bad clothing!" So off we went!

This is the University... also this is the city that awards the Nobel Peace Prize... pretty cool!
The architecture is awesome... this is the wall of a castle over 1000 years old... I loved the red ivy!
The place of residence of the Royal family...
Brian and Stacey were our wonderful tour guides... we were with them in Lakenheath way back when... before they were married. They were our very gracious hosts!

At the harbor! Norway was recently named the Number 1 country to live in... it is beautiful, however, lunch at a deli cost me $75... not quite sure how that factors in!!!


There is a huge park with over 200 sculptures (all naked...) depicting the different stages of man... this small sculpture of a little naked boy pitching a fit is one of the most famous in the park... funny!
Since the kids were ditching the whole "bad clothing" rule... we ended up at a children's museum with tons of hands-on displays... they even had a Lego room which was the highlight of the day for them!

Cub Scouts

Well... our little Leo is following in his 'Boy Scout' Daddy and 'Girl Scout' Sister's footsteps and has started in with Cub Scouts... He wasn't that keen on having the face paint put on... hence his expression in this picture!

He earned his Bobcat Patch which is the first step...

Visiting the AFN studios was one of the fun things he got to do... Emma got to come along and join in the fun! They even got to sit in for a bit on one of the AFN radio shows and got to say hello to everyone listening in!

The DJ...

Off to the Commissary to pick out pumpkins and a snack!

Emma has proven quite the little helper since she goes with me to all the meetings! She is so good with younger kids! At least she is in a group setting... if I could only get her to not fight with Leo on a normal basis! :-)