Letters to Santa

Here are the girls drawing and "writing" their letters to Santa. It was right before bed, so Genna was kind of in between clothes.

Hannah wants a jump rope, miniature babies with cribs (that she saw in the store) and Littlest Pet Shop pets. She then added a baby doll to the list when Genna said she wanted one. As if we don't have enough baby dolls in this house. She drew pictures of all of the things she wanted and I wrote them down. Hannah wrote her name though.

Genna wants a baby doll and pretend cleaning toys (Mommy kind of fed the last one to her). She just scribbled and I wrote then down for her.

Very serious workers. Why are pens better than colors?

A discussion about the new baby with Hannah

Well, whenever I say a prayer for our new little baby, Hannah says, "No, baby brother" with a strong emphasis on "brother." So, I have been trying to explain that it might be another sister and that would be just as great. Tonight when I tried again to explain this, she relented and said, "Well, maybe we can have both... (she pauses and I can almost see the wheels turning) OR we can have a hundred of them, Mom!" Whoa! I don't know about a hundred, twins would be hard enough!

So, we then read a story about the first Christmas. I asked her what Mary named her baby. She answered me correctly and then said, "Oh Mom, I want to name our new baby Jesus too!" I told her that was "nice... and interesting" but that her dad and I thought we would name the baby Isaac if it's a boy. She said, "Well, I'm going to call him Jesus!" Well, that will be interesting. I hope she forgets about that decision. What a little mind she has going!

Traditional German Christmas Recipes

Here is a recipe for Gluhwein which is a warm mulled wine. It is everywhere as soon as the fall chill begins.

3 (750 ml) bottles of your favorite red wine
juice of one orange
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 Tbs whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
brown sugar or honey to taste

Put all the ingredients in a large saucepan and heat over low heat being careful NOT to boil. Heat for 1/2 hour to an hour tasting periodically until it is just right. Serve warm. It can be refrigerated and reheated.

Here is a recipe for Christkindl Stollen or Christmas Stollen. It is a dense fruit and nut cake to be eaten with tea, coffee, or Gluhwein. It usually holds the shape of a wrapped baby Jesus. It has been a tradition in Germany since the Middle Ages although the recipe has been amended.

1 lb flour
2 Tbs dry yeast
3/4 cup milk
3.5 oz (6 Tbs) sugar plus extra for coating
1/2 tsp vanilla
minced peel of half a lemon
1 tsp salt
3 oz (6Tbs) soft margarine
3 oz (6 Tbs) butter
1 oz (2Tbs) lard (can substitute vegetable shortening)
1 oz (2Tbs) candied lemon peel
a few drops of almond extract or 1 oz (2 Tbs) minced bitter almonds
2 oz (4 Tbs) minced sweet almond
10 oz (1 1/4 cups) raisins soaked in rum

Dissolve yeast and 1 Tbs of sugar in 1 cup lukewarm milk. Mix it with the flour. Knead until you have a firm dough ball. Let stand 2 hours until it has doubled in size.

Work in remaining ingredients, except raisins. Knead thoroughly. Work raisins in last. Let sit in a warm place for 2 more hours and then knead again.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Form dough into the shape of a swaddled Jesus and make a half inch deep cut through the middle.

Bake an hour. Let cool and brush some melted butter on top. Pour a thin coat of sugar on top and finish with powdered sugar if you have some.

Store it for a week before eating it in a cool place so the flavors can unfold.

Here is a link to a picture of it:

http://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/14/50/23045014.jpg

The Birthday Party Pictures

Hannah's Party

Hannah really had a great time! Since the party she has told me at least three times, "Thanks Mom for the best party ever!" How sweet is that?!! I really wasn't expecting such a genuine thank you. She is precious! On her actual birthday, Hannah picked Mac N Cheese for her birthday dinner and we opened the grandparent's gifts afterwards.

The Little Mermaid Cake

Hannah riding the horse like a princess

Genna riding the horse like a delicate cowgirl

Eating pizza

Eating cake

Opening gifts (Hannah always seems a bit overwhelmed by this part-kind of dazed)

Genna's After-party


Cool down time with friends before we leave

One little, two little, three little Smiths!

Yes, our little Genevieve is going to be a big sister now too! I am finally pregnant again! We've been trying for a while with no luck until now! We are so very happy! Brian and Hannah are really hoping for a little boy, and I would certainly like one too. But whatever God gives us, we'll gladly take!

I put this shirt on Genna on Sunday morning before church and told the girls to go tell daddy the big news. Genna was sort of half asleep still, but Hannah filled daddy in before he even read Genna's shirt. She said, "Mommy's got a baby brother in her tummy right now and St. Gerard prayed for us and we're going to have a baby brother right now!" Shocked daddy waited until she was done explaining and said, "Mommy's pregnant?" Hannah yelled, "Yes!" I didn't say I had a brother in my tummy, but she insists that I do no matter how many times I try to explain that it might be another sister.

Genna thought that Hannah wanted to play baby dolls when she was trying to tell her about the baby in my tummy. How cute!

Hannah is giving a Gig'em about the new baby!

Happy birthday to Hannah!

Hannah is three years old today! We had her party yesterday evening. It went well. She had a great time. She was looking forward to her cake the most, but she didn't even finish her piece because she eats too slow and all the kids took off to play. I will put up pictures and more details of her party tomorrow, hopefully. Here is a little tribute to Hannah!

Enough waffling already, here are the pictures!

Norwich Castle

The tiger growled when you walked past. Tigers are Hannah's favorite animal.

This is the simulated chariot. The screen did not come out in the picture though.

The girls dressed up in togas.

London pictures

The geese and pigeons joined us for lunch in the park. Notice Genna fast asleep in the stroller; she missed the whole picnic.

Daddy and Hannah in front of the Abbey.

Sherringham

Feeding the goats

Brian said the chickens were Genna's favorite.

Hannah and one of the horses

Auntie Lorraine catches Genna on the slide

Charlotte with the girls and me

Genna eating chips (fries) while we take a brief look at the coast.

Dunsten Hall for the "Carvery" dinner on our last night

Charlotte and Hannah

Charlotte, Hannah, and Genevieve

Andrew and Hannah being a bit daft

Uncle Paul, Hannah, and Great Nanna

Great Nanna and Hannah

The rest of the pictures (there are a bunch!) are on snapfish, and will have to be emailed because I can't figure a way to link the pictures to my blog. If you don't get an email and you want one, just let me know!

A wee bit of England in one big post!

Well, for the break we did not celebrate Thanksgiving since they don't do that in England, obviously! We may have a mini Thanksgiving later on, but it will depend since Brian has some trips for work coming up and Hannah's birthday is Monday.

So, as for our trip, we had a jolly good time with Brian's family, the girls and I got to see London and Norwich for the first time, and I picked up quite a few colloquialisms as you may notice throughout this entry(I was a bit fascinated with them, actually). I also got to taste quite a variety of traditional English food. The very first night we ate bangers and mash which is little sausages and mashed potatoes. Of course, there was the fish and chips (fried fish and french fries) of which I only had the chips since I am not a fish kind of girl. We also went to a "Carvery" or buffet where they cut the meat for you. I tried Yorkshire pudding and these things that looked like meatballs, but were made of suet or something like that. I also tried some of Charlotte's (Brian's cousin) mincemeat pie. I had crumpets for the first time, and I like them so well that I brought some home with me. My favorite thing was Cream Tea which is a meal that includes tea, a light sandwich, and a scone with butter, jam, and whipped cream on top. Mmmm! Everything was quite good!

The family was so very hospitable! Hannah and Genna really took to everyone quite well! Hannah really bonded with her Great Nanna whom she had never met before. On our tour of Norwich, they walked hand in hand the whole time! Uncle David cooked us a couple of wonderful English dinners. Auntie Loraine appeared to be in heaven having the girls around. She took great care to make sure we had a great time and helped Andrew show us around London and Sherringham. Andrew, bless his heart, was our 24 hour a day tour guide the whole holiday. His job didn't end when the girls and I went to bed either because he showed Brian around the local pubs after we turned in. Charlotte showed us the good shopping, played endless hide and seek with the girls (hiding in the same place every time, mind you), and took us to some delicious restaurants. Uncle Paul was a big hit too. He seemed to really enjoy Hannah and Genna's performances. The last day they actually cleared the living room for an all out dance recital. With Hannah in the lead, the girls did everything from creative moment dancing, to yoga, to sit ups, to singing their German songs. Uncle Paul was their biggest fan! We had such a great time with family that we hated to leave! We are so blessed to have them so close since the majority of our family is so very far away.

Sightseeing was an adventure and a feat in itself. There was just not enough time to do and see it all, but we sure gave it a good go. The first of the three full days we had to sightsee we spent in their home town, Norwich. We walked down into the city and went to tea at Norwich Castle. Then we took a tour of the museum. The girls loved the stuffed real animals, dressing up in togas, and riding the simulated chariot. We walked around Norwich a bit and saw shops, ancient buildings, and Norwich Cathedral. The next day we went to London on the train. We saw the house of parliament and Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace. We were not able to go into them for one reason or another, but we got to see the beautiful architecture. We had a picnic at St. James park where the geese and pigeons surrounded us. We went to the Tate Britain museum in hopes of seeing my absolute favorite statue, The Kiss by Rodin, but it had been moved to Liverpool for the whole year. Isn't that a shame? We also went to Hamley's toy store (a 5-story toy wonderland near Piccadilly Circus) for the kids to play and have something fun for them to do since the rest wasn't geared toward them. It was a very long day, and they did well although Genna did throw a little wobbly occasionally. She was a bit crankier than her normal, more agreeable self, but she was way short on sleep. We ended the trip to London with dinner at an Indian restaurant that was delicious! The last full day in England was spent at Wroxam Barns (a country shopping village with a petting zoo) and on the coast of the North Sea in Sherringham. We had cream tea and did some shopping, and the girls and Brian went to a barn where they could pet and feed the animals. The last thing we did was go to the coast. It was pretty, but it was freezing cold with the wind and all so we didn't stay too long.

Well, that about sums it up! I am working on the pictures. They'll be up soon!

Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

Not Hannah! The Big Bad Wolf is her most consistent imaginary friend these days. While I was cooking dinner tonight, she came up to me and said Genna kept running over the Big Bad Wolf with the shopping cart and he did not like to be flattened out. :) There's not much I could really do there, considering Genna can't see the Big Bad Wolf. Then later she was kind of yelling at someone, and I turned around to correct her for talking to her sister like that only to find her waving her finger in the air. I asked who she was talking to, and she told me there was a monster that was hurting the Big Bad Wolf and he was naughty. So we put him in time out. What else can you do with a monster like that, right? I love imagination!

Hannah and Genna in their new outfits from Mimi! Thanks again, Mimi!

Genna's new purse!

Here is my latest crocheting project. I made it for Genna because she has been really into wearing purses lately. I am trying to use up this left over yarn from all my hats and scarves that I made out of these colors, but the skeins are never ending. So, the purse matches her hat and scarf too. I may try to felt a purse sometime soon, but I think I need different yarn for that so we'll see when that happens. There is a yarn store around the corner, but it is Christmas shopping season. So it will probably have to wait.

First Hair Cut!

Hannah got her first real hair cut today! We just cut off the split, straggly ends, but it ended up being almost 4 inches off the longest part. Brian was sad that I had so much of the length cut, but it will grow back fast and it's still very long. It looks a little fuller, which was much needed since she has such fine thin hair.

Before

During

After (See, it's still long!)

Well Baby Visits

Here are pictures from last night of Genevieve practicing and preparing for the doctor visit. I told her and Hannah everything that was going to happen, and we practiced on each other with the stethoscope and the syringe.

Genna gives me a shot in mein beine.

Thanks to the practice and Hannah being a stellar example for her sister everything went great! Both girls were very brave! No tears until shots were fired, and those didn't last long. Hannah even got to have her blood pressure taken for the first time. The girls were declared healthy and each came away with a lollipop and a Care Bear sticker. Plus, I had promised them ice cream if they were brave, so we walked down to the coffee/ice cream shop afterwards. A friend of mine who's kids are all in school came with me to lend an extra set of hands since Brian was in the clinic today. She was so much help! It was nice to have some help so I could focus on one child at a time. Below are their weights and heights and a predicted height (that I found on the web based on their current height.) I can't believe my kids might be that much shorter than me! Genna still has a huge head and she is one inch taller and one pound heavier than Hannah at her age.

Stats

Hannah
wt 31.5 lbs 50th percentile
ht 37.2 inches 50th percentile
predicted height is 5' 4"

Genevieve
wt 25.6lbs 75th percentile
ht 32 inches 50th percentile
head circum. 19.8inches 95th percentile
predicted height is 5' 5"

SNOW

Waking up in the morning to see snow covering the ground was just what we needed to make us feel comfortable in our relatively new surroundings! This is the first snow that Genna has been able to enjoy since she couldn't walk last year and crawling through 5 feet of snow wasn't possible. They loved it! The girls rushed out there and played for a while even before breakfast! It was only a few inches, but better than nothing. It was definitely easier to clean off my car!

The Legend of the No Face Doll

We made corn husk dolls yesterday at home. I heard the story recently and thought it taught a good lesson about vanity. So we made the dolls, and I told the girls the story about 5 times upon Hannah's request. The link to the story is http://www.aaanativearts.com/article174.html. Hannah named her doll Rocking Song and I named Genna's doll Eating Dragon. It was fun, and I am glad that ugly homemade dolls can be so much fun.

Rocking Sound (left) and Eating Dragon (right)

Preparation for Hannah's birthday party

Here is the invitation for Hannah's party and the boat I made to hold snacks. The boat did not turn out as nice as I'd hoped because I had to use construction paper instead of more sturdy scrapbook paper like I should have. I could not find any scrapbook paper here, and I did not have browns in my stock. I will post the picture of the cake after the party has taken place and the pictures of the actual party as well, but that is not for another week and a half. I am trying to get it all done early with the holidays the week before the party and all.

Cute Pretend Play

We had to take my car in today and so we were all in the car on the way to drop off Brian at work. I turned around at one point to see what the relatively quiet girls were up to, and caught them in a little pretend play. Hannah had one shoe in her lap and was reaching in and getting something and handing it to her sister. Genna was then taking it and eating the imaginary item. I asked Hannah what she was giving Genna and she said it was blueberry pie. It is cute that Genna can pretend with her now!

The Battle of the Bulge

Brian took Hannah today to Bastogne, Belgium to see a monument and a museum with some friends of ours. I am just not a history person, and was not really willing to drive 2 hours there and back and pay money to see something I wasn't really interested in anyways. So, I sent Hannah with him and told him to teach her something about history. Well, all she could tell me was that she watched a movie at the museum about soldiers. Oh well! Maybe she's not a history person either. Maybe she's going to like Science instead. She does know her Periodic Table pretty well. Anyways, here are some pictures of their Veterans Day, while Genna and I ran errands and made the goody bags for Hannah's party. I did get to sleep in today since Brian took my early riser!

Look at that pose! Oh boy, are we in trouble?

Only Hannah can make me like a picture of a tank.