Living Joyously

Chili and Origami

Mr J participated in the annual chili competetion at Lane's work.

GrandDad's Chili

It was fun for all of us to be a part of it. And Mr J won Best Presentation for his origami decorations.

Lane with the boys

Girl Scout camping

Miss M had her first Girl Scout camping last weekend.

Packed and ready to go

It rained off and on the entire weekend. We survived and had fun. We camped out in the Black Forest. Always an interesting cultural experience to do things out in Germany (the unattended German children riding ponies and driving golf carts was quite surprising) but I suppose they thought we were strange to be roasting marshmellows.

We've had a good year with Girl Scouts, this being our first year. We joined a group that was multi-ages (ages 5 to 10) and a co-op (each Mom required to share leading responsibilities). It was a perfect fit for us, even allowing Miss B to participate in everything even though she wasn't old enough to officially join. However, we will not be continuing with Girl Scouts. There are too many things that don't sit right with us - it is such a liberal organization.

We are thankful for a good year though, and finishing it off with a rainy camp will make it even more memorable.

Ah, Italia

We spent a week's vacation down in Italy recently. Wow, that was amazing.

All that walking tired out the little feet (Miss B in Venice)

But the boat trips were fun (Miss M in Venice)

The mountains were cool (Mr M in the Alps)

And there was beauty everywhere you looked (Mr J in the Alps)

We drove down through the Swiss Alps, stayed in Florence a couple days, stopped off in Bologna for an afternoon, spent three days near Venice, and then drove home through the Italian Dolomites and Austrian Alps.

More pictures in the Italy Spring 2012 photo album.

He's 10

Mr J celebrated his birthday last week. Ten - wow!

with his cake

with his friends

Dutch Windmills

Earlier this month, Lane had another work trip up to Brussels, Belgium. The kids and I tagged along. This time we had a chance to travel up into the Netherlands to check out the windmills.

Kinderdijk, Netherlands

Can you see the guy in the background, skating with short sleeves? Notice how we are dressed and still e were Cold. It must get much colder there, if he found it to be a nice day in comparison.

All of us

We were one week too early to be able to go inside the windmills. Too early for tulips too. Guess we need to go back!

Cute houses by the river

Then we went into the nice village, had lunch, and found a geocache. It was extremely clean and beautiful everywhere. Were they just getting ready for tourist season or are they always so meticulous?

North Sea

Finally, we drove out for a quick look at the North Sea before heading back to Brussels. It was a fun outing.

Also see our homeschool blog for a little bit about how we do school-on-the-go.

Cub Scout banquet

The Cub Scouts have an annual event called The Blue & Gold where the boys are rewarded with badges for their hard work.

The meal is catered but the dessert is provided by a Father-Son Bake-Off. The boys have fun with this.

Mr M's cake. The sign says "This car has broken down, but thankfully, Wolf Scout Sam is on the job to get it fixed in a hurry with his multi-tool from the Bowl-a-Thon."

Mr J's cake. The front sign says "May resourcefulness be with you." (Resourcefulness was the theme for the banquet.) The left back sign says "This nice grass field has been damaged, but Resourceful Luke Skywalker works to repair it with grass seeds and elbow grease." The other sign says "Grass seeds"

Mr M's Den leader is handing out their Wolf badges. (Mr M & Lane just to the left of the middle.)

Mr J is proud to receive his Webelos badge and new beige shirt. (Mr J in about the middle and Lane almost visible behind him.)

California trip

Several weeks ago, Mr M (age 8) and I flew out to California to surprise my sister for her birthday.

Grandpa took us to a zoo before heading to the surprise party

At the party with my sister and best friend from school

This is what Mr M did during the party (it was 4am in Germany after all)

Then Grandma took us to the beach. A chance to play in the ocean in February - wow!

And a stop at a university - think he has a few years to wait before going there again

It was so wonderful to see all the family and spend time with my son. What a blessing!

While we were enjoying the sunshine and fresh air, there was snow and sledding fun happening back in Germany. What a contrast. To see pictures of our wintertime adventures here in Germany, see the latest photo album Winter 2012 on the left sidebar.

Pinewood Derby

Cub Scouts held their annual Pinewood Derby last weekend. Lane and the kids each made a car. Yes, that is five cars! Miss B was generous enough to share her car with Mr J when his broke about a week before the race. So it was nice to have those extras.

Mr M's car is colorful one with the silver "armor".

Miss M's is the one with the red stripe. Lane's is the silver one.

Parents and siblings cars (in other words, those who are not Cub Scouts) were able to race their cars in an exhibition race. Miss M's seemed to be one of the fastest for that, but it was only for fun so no one kept track.

Mr J's is the brown one. His original car, the one that broke, was a really cool pyramid.

No winning this year for these boys. But they actually did have fun, though this picture doesn't show it!

Conversations

Miss M, age 6: "My tooth is loose."

Me: "Oh, which one?"

Miss M: "The one that's next to the grown up tooth that's still growing up."

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Miss B, age 4: "Did you turn the music on?"

Me: "It came on when the car turned on."

Miss B: "Do you want it on?"

Me: "Would you like me to turn it off?"

Miss B: "Yes, please."

Miss M: "Why don't you ever let us listen to music in the car?"

Miss B: "Because it makes me dance."

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Mr M, age 8: "Don't make it easy for me."

This was about Math.

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Me: "Okay, now you can ask your brother for a turn on the computer."

Mr J, age 9: "The nice thing about imaginations is I don't have to ask anyone for a turn. And they're fun."

Bringing the year to an end

We've had a wonderful Christmas season out here. The highlight was having Aunt Sis come for a visit. Yet, I didn't get a single picture of her. So sorry! There are lots of the kids though...

There are even more pictures in the Christmas Markets 2011 photo album. We went to many markets this year (some aren't pictured because I often forget that) since we knew it would be our last chance to enjoy these. (Most pictures are credited to the great photographer, Aunt Sis.)

We enjoyed having Christmas Day on a Sunday so we could celebrate with our wonderful church family. Such a blessing there are! Here are our beautiful little ladies that day with their new Christmas dresses from Grandma:

And finally, we had the big man, Mr M's birthday the day after Christmas. He shared the day with two of his favorite buddies and their families.

I didn't get around to Christmas cards or letters this year, but please know that we are thinking of you. Blessings for the new year!