Fasching is here again!

Yes, it is Fasching time again here in South Germany! For explainations, look at last year's blogging. Most people will be walking around in costume or playing in a marching band right up until midnight on Ash Wednesday.

This year, we decided to be a family of witches. William made his own broom in Kindergarten. He insists on riding it backwards. Why not? Above, he is shown with his magic wand, witches hat, broom, and homemade witches cape. ( MOM! I needed you! He wanted "witches pants" to go with his cape - and I had to just hope he would forget that he had requested them.)" Hex! Hex! Du bist ein Maus!"

It was hard to get William and Claire to stop hexing eachother so we could get to the Frueschoppen ( Fasching-breakfast) on time!

Marga and Mama witches.

Margaret with her witches broom. ( We left the witches dust-pan at home, but on second thought should have brought it along!).

What is wrong with these Allmannsdorfer people? He has a raven on his head!

...And this child is dressed as a midevil rooster. HO NARRO!

Why I Hate Art.

I am a terrible mother. I hate doing art projects with my children. I only like going outside to play. Every once in a while, I decide we need to be more well-rounded and I start encouraging the art supplies again. During this half-an-hour, William glued a picture to the wall ( it is still there) and Margaret drew all over her arm in blue marker. I was sitting right there! They work FAST, these kids! This afternoon, we are going outside to play.

Playing nicely together?

It is true! Wm and Mg now play nicely together for minutes at a time!! I don't care how many legos we have to pick up at the end of the day, as long as they are happy and I can cook dinner!

Mom - please don't be upset that I turned that (ugly) quilt top I made when we took that class together into a house for William...it now has a peep hole, a door, and a mail slot...and I don't think it can ever be repaired. On the other hand, I no longer have that guilty feeling that I should quilt the thing!

Bath Time!

We visited Jennifer and Darien and Kian the other day - and the boys requested to play in the bathtub. Pretty soon, the younger siblings wanted in, too. There are some pretty cool bath toys over at Darien's house!

What are mothers for, anyway?

The answer, according to William, is:
1. Keeping kids safe
2. Turning on the TV( I am never going to teach him how!)
3. Feeding people
4. Putting us to bed

Family Life: The Taking of a Group Photo

It isn't easy to take a group photo.

Especially when it involves rapidly moving children.

This picture at least has everybody in it, but the grown-ups are talking!

Let's try again. Just one more shot!

Let's give up - it's good enough! But where is William?

Strike a pose, William!

Grandpa Tom Comes to Visit!

Dr. HF's father and brother both travelled a long way to see us! Thank you!

Birthday-boy Grandpa Tom and girlfriend Bonnie celebrate at a steak house!

Goodbye Lansdale, Hello Bloomington!

Oma gives Marga one last hug at the airport.

...and pretty soon Beeba is reading Wm and Marga stories!

Christmas Day!

OOO! Look what Santa braught!

Look at this cool present!

Waiting for Christmas dinner.

Did Margaret not like it???

The dinner was tasty! And now for the after dinner drinky-drinky!

What's for dessert?

After dinner entertainment.

Thanks for a nice first Christmas, Oma and Grandpa!

First Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve and the Christmas tree in Oma and Grandpa's new sunroom is beautiful.

We go to the children's Christmas Eve church service.

The best part of the service is when the real fire comes out and we get to stand up and sing!

After church, we drive to a family friend's house for their annual party. William is pretty sure he sees Santa with his reindeer at least three or four times on the way there! At one point, Santa actually lands on top of our car! We are totally excited! Margaret learns the word "Santa" and chants it along with William in the back seat. We know we are almost at our destination when we see the luminaries lighting up the entire neighborhood. (I secretly resolve to not ever live in a subdivision that has a committee dedicated to telling you how you are supposed to decorate for the holidays.)

We have some food and take a whole series of hilariously bad photos of each other as we wait for SANTA to ARRIVE!!! (I'll post the bad pictures later. These are the best of the bunch!)

We hear bells outside! William and Oma rush outside and SEE HIM LANDING WITH HIS REINDEER!!!

He comes inside the door for his cookies while the reindeer get something to drink from the stream behind the house!

This year, we believe in Santa! He has a bag of toys with a present for each child!

William gets his present from Santa! I wish Uncle Mike hadn't "stepped out" at just the wrong time!

Oma and Grandpa's Back Yard!

Wm and Mg loved playing in the back yard at O and G's house!

Is there anything better than poking a stick in a pond in the company of a dog?

Visiting with Lansdale Friends

Sean's brother Mike and Sean's friend...Mike.

Bill, Sean, and Karey. Wipe that smile off your face, Sean!

The HF and Bill's wife, Liz.

Visiting Sean's College Buddies

We visited Sean's Bucknell friends Tom and Jenn and their children Patrick and Charlotte over the Christmas break.

They have a beautiful home. The kids got to watch Scooby Doo while eating pizza! Paradise!











Charlotte drew us a picture of Spongebob S.P.
















Did these two college roommates ever think they'd be sitting around with their wives, stopping at just one beer, discussing Spongebob Squarepants, and juggling the needs of four children?

A Bad Day in the Kitchen for the HF.

Today, I burned my arm making undercooked, bland filet of fish for lunch.

And this evening, while making cauliflower ( with breadcrumbs, butter, and cheese) the smell was such that my one-and-half year old daughter came walking into the kitchen screaming "stinky!" and handed me a diaper. Oh, the honesty of children!

Tomorrow I'm not trying anything new in the kitchen.

Read All About It! Dr. HF Shares Some 'Dirty Laundry'!

We're home from our trip and we had a wonderful time! I will post pictures from the trip soon...but until then, I'll be working on the laundry pile....

We are Home!

...and we've finally let her out of the bag!

Where are the posts?

Dr. Hausfrau has been on vacation... but check out Ebee's blog, Andy's blog, Oma's blog, and Ginny's blog (see sidebar links) for pictures from the last two weeks! Thanks to my friends to picking up the blogging slack! We'll be back on-line when we get over our jet-lag!

Bis Bald!