SHOES!

Margaret just happens to be a girl who really likes shoes. We will work on her sense of color later.

Sankt Nikolaus and Knecht Ruprecht

This is Knecht Ruprecht, known in Holland as "Black Pete". If you have been a bad little boy or girl, he beats you with his stick - or leaves a little stick by your boots as a warning. Since he is a slightly brutal character, he is often left out of the St. Nick celebrations...but I am starting to appreciate his worth! :^)

Sankt Nikolaus and Knecht Ruprecht. Will you get Lebkuchen and little oranges, or will you get a wack with a straw broom? Better stop stealing toys from your sister at every turn!

Sankt Nikolaus ! (Dec 6)

Nikolaustag was Dec. 6 (see last year's post on that date). On the evening of the 5th, you put your clean boots outside your door and hope you've been good! If you've been good, St. Nikolaus - who looks like a bishop, and NOT like Santa Claus - comes and leaves presents! Above, see that Sean, Katy, Wm, Mg, and Claire were ALL GOOD!!! YES!

William got a dinosaur! He now sleeps with it at night, because it protects him from monsters.

And Margaret got a little stuffed T-Rex in a little tiny boot.

Two More Pictures.

Sean's birthday cake !

Wm and Mg waiting for the bus on an outing with Dada.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Dude of Honor!!

Hi Bro! Your birthday e-mail bounced back to me...but I was thinking of you yesterday. I'll call today. Happy Birthday!

Blogjacking

Katy is apparently off of her Blog phase and switching to piano or sewing pillows or whatever current mania. Thus you missed my birthday:

the fact Claire moved to Konstanz:

and William's trip to the very impressive Dinosaur Museum

Giving Thanks for Thanksgiving!

Claire and I worked hard this year - and this year the food was really good and was all finished and warm at the same time! With the exception of the glue-like mashed potatoes ( which tasted good anyway), the meal was PERFECT! YUM! Above, I am holding the recipe cards that helped us through our two-day cooking extravaganza. Note also my bandaged thumb (green beans with zest of orange and a little zest of right thumb...). Claire is ready to get to the exquisitely tender maple-glazed ( 90.00 dollar) turkey, lovingly basted ( almost) every half an hour. You can't see her hands, but she has blisters from cutting and peeling potatoes! Who knew that the skills we learned as chemistry lab partners way back in high school would serve us so well in the kitchen!

Even the pecan pie worked this year!

The table looked orderly and serene...

...for about 30 seconds.

Juergen and Claire, waiting to dig in!

Nadia and Juergen enjoy their second Thanksgiving ever. I don't have a picture of Aline - she comes from Brazil and had her first Thanksgiving yesterday with us in Germany! 6 adults and 5 ( this time, amazingly well-behaved!!!!!!!!! ) children made a lively gathering.

Afterwards, Sean teaches Juergen how to be an American. Football was on. The beer and the couch were calling.

Thanksgiving Menu, 2007

Maple-Glazed Turkey with pan gravy ( Turkey special-ordered from the farm in Dinglesdorf)
Chestnut-Fig Stuffing
Green Beans with Caramelized Onion Vinaigrette
Ginny's Bourbon Sweet Potatoes
Claire's Sweet Potatoes with Apples, Walnuts, and Brown Sugar
Mom's Basic Mashed Potatoes
Cranberries ( recipe on bag)
Ineke's Scalloped Corn
Claire's Corn Bread ( Corn Meal imported from Rome)
Katy's Basic Lamb's-Ear Lettuce and "Whatever We Have Around" Salad
Pecan Pie (recipe on Karo Syrup Bottle, Pecans imported from Rome)
Pumpkin Pie (from canned pumpkin imported from Rome)
McCrea Family 24-Hour Salad with Mini-Marshmallows

...Time to go shopping!

William's Swim Class

Here are some pictures from William's swim class! They do all kinds of crazy exercises and games there. Above, the children are racing ( in water they can stand up in -the water level of the pool can be changed!) from one end of the pool, collecting water in a bucket, and transfering their water to a bucket on the other side of the pool. I couldn't help thinking how completely futile their efforts were...but William (foreground) seemed to enjoy himself!

Whee!

William is always making this face!

At least it is better than the face his father is making!

Sometimes the grown-ups have to demonstrate swimming underwater!

Winter Fashions

At Berolino, the Indoor Playground

We went to the indoor playground on Sunday so the children wouldn't destroy our apartment. :^) Margaret is now old enough to enjoy Berolino as well.

The whole family worked together to build this amazing giant lego wall with towers.

And William was allowed to jump around as much as he wanted to!

Margaret Loves to Read!

These days, Margaret's favorite activity is to follow us around the house with books, usually one in each hand! She says "Come! 'Readabook' ( readabook is all one word!)". It is really fun how many words she is learning all at once now, in English and in German. This morning, she sat down on the couch with a book, patted the spot beside her with her hand and said "Dada! Come! Readabook! Haveaseat!" He was trying to get ready for work, but was unable to resist such a request, so he hadaseat to readabook.

Playing with Playdough

The Perfect (Virtual) Christmas Presents!!

Well, thanks to a tip from my friend Carol, I have found the PERFECT Christmas presents!! I thought about ordering them, but then I decided that I could just blog about these very creative dust- collectors and who I *might* give them to if I hadn't just blown all our money on a plane ticket ( and a Wellness weekend, and orthopedic shoes....) !



The yodeling pickle would, of course, go to Mimi. Or, I'd buy one for everybody at the entire Richey-Hartman Christmas gathering!

It would be a tough decision - maybe everybody gets a yodeling pickle AND a yodeling Lederhosen. I am not sure Sean's family finds pickles as hilarious as my family apparently does, so maybe I'd stick with the yodeling Lederhosen for the McCreas....

Yes, the McCreas are from Scotland - and would appreciate a gummi haggis more than a pickle any day!

And for the librarians in my life, " The Illustrated Librarian Temporary Tattoo Collection" !

Check out my new favorite catalog - Archie McPhee : http://www.mcphee.com/

Sankt Martinstag Lichterfest (Nov. 11)

Dr. HF made a lantern for William at his Kindergarten!

Saint Martin of Tours (France) was a Roman soldier in the 4th century who was later baptized and became a monk. There are many legends about St. Martin. He is celebrated for his generosity and kindness. On one dark, snowy, freezing cold night St. Martin saw a homeless man who was freezing in the snow. St. Martin took his sword out and cut his thick, red, cape-like coat in two. He kept one half for himself because he also had nowhere to go that night, but the other half he gave to the homeless man and saved his life.

Because of his exemplary life, St. Martin was appointed Bishop of Tours. St. Martin didn't want to be Bishop! So, that night he hid in a barn with some geese. The people of Tours searched for St. Martin with their lanterns until the geese gave him away, alerting the people with their loud honking. On St. Martin's day, the search for this reluctant Bishop is reenacted by the children with a parade of lanterns after dark. There are, of course, several St. Martin's day songs for the occasion! I know three, but there are more. The traditional food is goose, or sweet breads in the shape of a goose. ( Stupid me! I asked for a "duck" at the bakery... but since at first I thought it was a dinosaur, I guess I wasn't as far off as I could have been!)

As I was doing my research for this post, I noticed that St. Martin's day is celebrated in lots of places...including Philadelphia and Indianapolis!

Below is a link to an article about the St. Martins day festivities in Indianapolis!
http://m.thestarpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071028/LIFESTYLE/710280318/1024/LIFESTYLE&template=wapart



Neighborhood girls with their lanterns.

Wm and his lantern, ready to go on parade!

Dr HF Gets Orthopedic Shoes.

Oh Dear. Dr HF is OLD! Now I have prescription orthopedic inserts in my shoes so my toes don't fall asleep. You should see all the fashionable orthopedic shoe options avaliable these days!

Oma's Sweater

Margaret is wearing a sweater that Oma made for William. Can you believe it fits?

I didn't learn to knit until after we received this sweater. Now I truly appreciate it's complexity!

It has different colors AND patterns. And button holes. And both sides are the same size. And it has remained intact for at least two years! Impressive! Thank you, Oma.

Big girl!

Trains

While Mama HF was away this weekend, Dada HF spent his time making staying at home with children look graceful and easy ( thanks A LOT!). On Saturday, the family went to see a model train display in Radolfzell.

And then they came home and set up a model train track of their own.

Wellness Weekend!

Dr HF and Jennifer went on a "wellness weekend" ! We ate, did a little fitness program, then ate, got a massage, ate, went swimming, then ate, got beautiful, sat by the fire (eating), and ate again! We came home - narrowly avoiding the German police- well rested and happy to see our families ( at least for the first few minutes) ! Thanks to those who made my get-away possible!

Trick or Treat!!

Wm and Mg went trick-or-treating for the first time ever yesterday!! New friends from America -who have a house in Indiana! - joined us. Introducing Pirate Jill and Graham the knight.

I couldn't decide which knight was scarier - or cuter!

Jill brought the finishing touch for my witch costume...a spider. (Jill also brought a lot of other things to my house...but she shouldn't worry because they vacuumed-up within minutes and there were no dangerous explosions. ) Check out Margaret's google-eyes in this picture!