Sibling Sunday Talk: 5 years, 4 years, and 21 months

This seems to be a good stage for us. They are starting to play all together more and more, but we still have days or games where one person gets left out. At least it rotates which person that is, and it is not the same person being left out all the time.

Some of their favorite games to play all together right now are "House," hide and seek, and building blocks. When playing "House," neither Hannah nor Genna wants to be the mom. They both always want to be the baby. I don't know when or why this switch took place because being the mom used to be the coveted position since the mom is the boss. But anyway, Isaac is either the baby brother or the dad. When he is the dad, he sometimes gets directed in what he is supposed to do, but just the other day I caught him taking some initiative and telling his baby daughters, "Time go bed now" in a sing song voice. When he is the baby, he fools me every time because I really think he is crying when it turns out he is just acting the part. I always get a kick out of the budding imaginative play of a toddler.

I am just so thankful that they have each other especially during a time when we have to leave friends behind and venture into a whole new world for them. I particularly love the age difference between the girls , 17 months. They are just so close. I pray they always are. Don't laugh! I've heard it does happen in some families!

Emeril LIVE!

I got to see Emeril today, but I was about 30 people shy of getting my cookbook signed even though I got there an hour before it started and waited the three hours of signing time. Poor guy, he must have been exhausted! I bet they sold at least 1000 of his cookbooks this week at the mall, and he probably signed more than 600 by my estimation. Some people had a dozen books for him to sign. They should have limited it to two books per person so more people got a shot at it. He did a cooking demo after the signing. Here are a couple of the pictures that I took.

He cooked Roasted Cauliflower, Asparagus, and Grilled Pork chops. Looked and smelled delicious! The recipes for the vegetables are in his new book, Farm to Fork, which I apparently could have purchased much cheaper on Amazon.

In hind sight, I should have gotten a babysitter since Brian is out of town. The kids were so done by the time the demonstration started. I didn't get to pay close attention to the program, but it was fun just being there and hearing the occasional "Bam!" despite the squirmy, overly-tired toddler on my lap. It was worth it since it was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity. Along side Martha Stewart, he is one of my favorites!

Winners and Losers

Genna is a hoot when playing Memory! She is really good at it, which often surprises me since she doesn't always focus on things easily. So when we were playing the other day, I won the first game, but Genna came in at a close second. Yes, that leaves Hannah, the most competitive one, as the loser. She is actually good at this game too, having an excellent memory, but she wasn't focused at all. So she starts to cry, and I explain that it is still fun to play even if you don't win. (Of course, being like Hannah in this area, I don't actually fully believe this, but don't tell them because I think I make a good sell on this one.) Hannah pulls it together rather quickly and we start one last game. Genna leans over to her in the middle of the game, kisses her, and whispers, "I hope you win this time." What a sweetie. All heart, I tell you! I mean Genna didn't win the first game, and here she is wishing away her last shot at winning for the day. Then when it was Hannah's turn, Genna would quickly tell her where a match was if Hannah didn't already know.


This so reminds me of my mother. She is always trying to give the losing team extra points so no one is too far ahead when we play Canasta.

In the end, I won that hand too. Now you are going to think I am a heartless mother who actually tries to win (especially after I admitted to being competitive,) but really I was trying to loose the last game. But Genna was trying to lose too, and Hannah's head wasn't in the game. It isn't easy to loose Memory when there have been so many rounds that you know what every single card is. At some point, you've got to end it.

The Bare Necessities

Who needs stuff anyway? We just need each other!

Here's Isaac's temporary quarters.

Looks pretty cozy, huh?

The kids watched a movie after dinner and a bath. Monsters Inc. They'd never seen it before. Isaac watched most of it just like this.

Speaking of...

the body of Christ, after genuflecting (and crossing himself about 300 times) as we left Mass today, Isaac says, "Bye, Body of Christ!" as he trots up the aisle and out the door. The casual nature and the swinging of his arms just made it adorable!

Please, pardon my bragging.

I am just so immeasurably proud of my three kids today!

Hannah and Genna are speaking to each other in German. Hannah can pretty much say anything I need her to say for me when we are out. Her pronunciation is so good! Today she talked to the lady at the swimming pool and told her what we needed, etc. Last Saturday, she went into the bakery, ordered, and paid all by herself while Brian waited outside. Genna is definitely behind her, partly because Hannah tends to answer for her. But Genna is still surprising me with all she knows too. When the German movie started the other day, she repeated back to me with great pronunciation what they said and then told me what it meant. I think this interruption in their learning German is one of our biggest sorrows in leaving this country.

On top of that, my girls are swimming so well too! Hannah can do the back stroke now and Genna is trying to so hard, but her coordination is not quite there yet. Genna is hilarious to watch swim. She is flailing all over the place and her bottom is going up and down all the while. I am sad to leave their excellent swim teacher too.

Plus, we had a small victory. Genna has trouble with loosing her temper when she gets hot simply because she is hot and no one is fixing it fast enough. This mostly happens when entering a warm or hot car. She looses control. The last few days have been pretty warm here and she has done an amazing job using her words calmly, controlling her temper, and patiently waiting for the air conditioning. We have been praying about this a lot and I am so thankful that she is doing better. We'll see how she does in the Texas heat!

Then there is my little man who is talking up a storm and trying desperately to keep up with his sisters. He copies everything they do or say. His latest thing is saying, "Watch this, Mom" and doing some little silly thing, like spinning or doing a little dance. He did it today in the store. It is just so cute! Then Isaac said, "Yes, Ma'am" to me all day today instead of "Yeah" or "Otay" and he corrected himself when whining for a drink and said, "Please." (Isaac has more trouble with losing it when he is hungry or thirsty.) Also he does the cutest things in Mass. He yells, "Body of Christ!" and points to his wide open mouth and then says, "Eat it!" We are working on a quieter voice , but it still makes me smile. He does have a problem with diving for the body and blood of Christ when I am holding him during Communion though. Then on Sunday and Monday of this week he started pretending to give me the body of Christ in my hand after we sat down, copying the priest. Then Genna holds out her hand and he does it again for her. Too precious!

A few days ago, I was feeling stressed and overwhelmed with moving, the ants, and everything else going on, but today I just feel blessed to be the mom to these three little precious souls! Thanks be to God!

Me v. a tiny army

of ANTS! We have never had ants here, but suddenly they have taken over the downstairs and are trying to annoy us into leaving early so they can rule the house alone. And I have to say, it's working! I can't wait to move into the hotel now! I spend hours a day spraying, cleaning, vacuuming every crevice and searching for their secret portal into our home. Last night, I was actually talking to them on the kitchen floor as I hunted them down one by one. I looked for ant bait traps and apparently they don't have those over here. Germans probably think that ants have rights like children do. (You may have to read or reread one of my first posts in Germany to understand that.)

Tonight I found a huge ant hill underneath the biodegradable trash can. (Mini explanation: Germans are a little obsessed with separating waste. We have three trash cans for different types of trash, a special sack for another kind of trash, and don't forget the color separated glass waste bins down the street that we have to dump ourselves. Crazy!) Anyway, I was out of the spray since I have been spending so many hours spraying my houseguests so what did I do when I found this hill? I googled "home remedies for ants in the house" of course and headed straight out there with buckets of boiling water and a little Comet for good measure. Don't tell my German neighbors about the Comet. That's probably illegal here since it isn't good for the environment. I don't want to get fined! Plus I lined the wall closest to the trash can with a wall of table salt because the website said that ants will not cross salt. We will see, I guess!

Bubbles = Serious Fun

Isaac was getting a little bored Friday while we waited on the temporary furniture since the girls were at school. So we went out and blew bubbles, of course!
This video is of Isaac trying to catch all the bubbles. He keeps saying, "Can't reach it!" in case you can't understand him. He loves bubbles! (Forgive my poor videography. It isn't easy to blow bubbles and wield a camera at the same time, especially when the target won't stay still!)

This next video is of Isaac trying to blow the bubbles himself. I love the face he makes when he actually gets some bubbles.

Another thing about Isaac I just have to add is he has his first crush. You are going to die laughing, but this is a serious matter. He thinks Emily is beautiful. Who is Emily? One of the girl steam engines in his Thomas book. Anytime he talks about her, he gets this look in his eye and says, "Emmie, bootibul." Cracks me up!

We're going to really need our imagination caps!

And it looks like the kids' caps are in full gear! They are playing "House" and Hannah, the mother, put her "babies" to bed for the night. Isaac was really getting into his part, crying for his mommy and everything.

Our first and biggest shipment of our household goods and our car went down this week and we just got our temporary furniture this morning. The kids have been confused and distraught. It took quite a while to explain to Genna that we will see our stuff again. I am being bombarded with a million questions (lots of repeats) about our move, their toys and belongings, their friends that they have to leave behind, and our summer schedule of trips to see family and friends. They are getting to sleep on mattresses in Hannah's room together.

It feels good to have that major thing checked off my list. Now I have to entertain these kids with minimal toys and books. I will be praying for better weather so we can get out of the house a lot. About one month to go!

Guilty Guy

We are busy getting ready for the movers this week. The first and main shipment of our household goods begins tomorrow. We will be living with temporary furniture and our "bare bones" essentials (for the second shipment) which, of course, includes the computer and some toys so we don't lose our minds.

So here is a video clip of Isaac a little bit after he got in trouble for coloring on the wall. (That is the first time he has ever done that!)

My Little Michelangelo

Hannah drew this on the front of a card for her godfather. I labeled it, but it may be hard to see my labels. This is a picture of Jesus; take note of his wounds. My favorite detail is the blood dripping from his side wound. He has a beard (and a fro, I might add.) Another detail I am fond of is the lines going up to Heaven that represent God talking to Jesus. She is my little Michelangelo! (And Genevieve is definitely my Picasso!)

4 Years and 4 Shots!

But Genna was brave! Yesterday at the doctor, she got up on that table knowing full well that it was going to hurt and I was proud. She cried maybe 10 seconds, and the instant the word "sticker" was uttered, the tears suddenly stopped. She also got a scoop of ice cream after Mass to make her boo boos feel better.

She is around the 60th percentile in both height and weight.
40 1/2 inches and 36lbs

She has flat feet (which we already knew- gets it from her Daddy) and some fluid in her ears which we didn't know about. The fluid may be the cause of all the "What did you say, Mom?" and "I didn't hear you," and "Can you turn it up? I can't hear it." I was just chalking it up to her living in Wonderland instead of on Earth with the rest of us. So we have to go back to the doctor again before our move to see if the fluid resolves itself. What is up with my kids and ear troubles this year?

This little fellow

...keeps us entertained. Look what his sisters taught him to do!

Little Aggie fan

Just tonight he stuck a bunch of his little dinosaurs into his one piece "Nammies" (AKA Jammies). We couldn't figure out why he kept pulling at his leg's until I went over and felt his legs. What a weirdo!

Getting out of control

My little artists (mainly Hannah) is going bananas covering my fridge! She's going to be heartbroken when we have to take them all down for the movers next week.

The Littlest Tattler

Isaac comes into the kitchen while I am cooking dinner and says, "Mom, Hannah hurt me, " immediately followed by the typical, "I'm sorry. I said I'm sorry," coming from Hannah following close behind him. For a brief moment I thought Genna said it. I turned around and it hit me that he just tattled for the first time ever with the exact inflection that his sisters use. The worst part...it was cute. But let's not tell him that!

In the picture, he was watching a Thomas the Train video on Sunday afternoon after we got home from Mass. He was having kind of an off day. I was worried he was getting sick, but he's back to normal now.

The little chef is at it again!

Making Genna's cake: He can't stay away from the Kitchen Aid Mixer. Did you know it goes "round and round" just like the washing machine and makes a cool noise?

Excuse the kitchen counter! As my husband will tell you, I am a messy cook. Plus, that giant transformer takes up a lot of precious counter space.

The Big Bash!

Genna had her party Saturday afternoon and it was great! Unlike last year when we just had three families come, this year almost everyone came! The girls just HAD to invite this kid and that from German Kindergarten so the numbers got a little higher than I usually opt for. But we had a nice mix of Germans and Americans. The theme this year: Genevieve and the 12 Dancing Princesses!

The invitation (contact info censored)

And now for my favorite part, the cake! Isaac helped me make the cake batter but those pictures are for another post. Genna requested, as I was decorating the cake that I write Happy Birthday Genevieve on it, so I reluctantly did it. I have horrid handwriting with a pen and with a cake tip it doesn't get any better. I was afraid to ruin it so I did it in the same color so that it blended into the skirt design a bit. We have to honor that birthday girl's wishes, right? So without further ado, here is my Princess Genevieve from the 12 Dancing Princesses cake!

With the birthday girl...

And on her throne in the fridge...

Since we are in packing mode at our house, we decided to have the party at the Kinder Spiel & Spass Fabrik which is a gigantic indoor play area with bouncy castles, slides, trampolines, etc. It was chaotic, but easier as far as prep work goes.

Opening the gifts: Genna is taking orders here from Hannah. I may have to nickname her "The Nazi." Seriously, Hannah was shouting orders at her, about half of them in German. She was telling her which gift was next and to say Thank you louder. Talk about controlling! (Insert innocent shrug here.) I don't know where she gets that from.

Here's Isaac with his girlfriend during the gift opening hullabaloo. She a tad bit older, but I think she likes him. :)

Genna wore her crown that Hannah picked out for her and her "4" necklace that Mimi gave to Hannah a year and a half ago. She was so excited to wear it!

The giant mouse

Time to eat the cake and sing to the birthday girl!

Isaac's taking his girl for a ride.

The favors: Well, thanks to my Nazi daughter (hope nobody is offended by that, I am referencing Seinfeld's "Soup Nazi") I actually remembered to give out the favors. Right as the first person was leaving, she reminds me! Thank you Hannah! I sewed the bags and put chapstick, makeup brushes, decorative hair things, a piece of chocolate, and home-made body glitter in the girls' bags. In the boys' bags, were crayons, chapstick and a piece of chocolate. The bags themselves are made from Brian's old khaki pants and scrap fabric. The boy bags have the plain khaki bags and the girl bags are lined with khaki and have the pretty fabric on the outside. The idea for this came from Confessions of a Sewing Dork but I made them closer to the shape of a sunglasses case. I forgot to take pictures of them, but here are the ones left over for my kids. (Picture is kind of pitiful, but how do you make a picture of bags look nice?)


We took a picture with our dear friends after the party who we are really going to miss! I wish I had gotten a picture of the whole group, but probably that would be impossible with fifteen kids and so many fun things to play on all around us. This picture was a feat in and of itself.

Whew!

Picniks and Poses

The other day I played around with Picnik.

And Hannah had fun posing for me! She loved her "curly" hair after sleeping in wet braids. It is pretty cool looking. I wish I had my baby pictures here because these first two pictures of her remind me of some of me.

These are scheduled posts because we are busy getting ready for the party for the birthday girl!

Camping

A friend of ours is staying with us this week and one night Brian took him and Hannah camping at the castle in the next village, Hoenecken. He wanted to take Genna too, but I vetoed that since she is a bear when she doesn't get her beauty sleep and I wanted her to be good for her birthday and party this week. Plus, a cold front came in and it was so cold! When they woke up, it was in the 30s! I was not thrilled about my baby girl sleeping outside when it was so cold. But she slept like a baby as it turns out. What a trooper!

The castle walls are right behind the tent here.

This is the first real camping trip for her. She did a practice run in the backyard before Brian's year long trip.

Happy Birthday to my Genna!

I was reminiscing and chose a few of her baby pictures to put up here. I can't even believe she was ever this tiny! And, my oh my, she was my best sleeper! I could barely keep her awake at all for the first couple of months and she slept through the night so early!

Check out these baby toes!

See what I mean, she was almost two months before I could get a picture of her awake!

Those cheeks combined with her huge eyes made her look like a little china doll.

This elephant that she is holding is her precious "Nani" that she has slept with since she was about one and a half years old. "Nani" is much pinker and fluffier in this picture than I remember her being.

Here's the birthday girl now at 4 years old!!! She is posing and modeling the latest skirt I made her.

Why the sad face? She said she was pretending she lost her prince in this picture...

Oh, I love my little girl! I love her big blue eyes and her curly hair, but that precious personality and overflowing compassionate heart just steals the show!

Happy Birthday, Genevieve! I am so thankful for every day I have been given with you! I am one blessed Mama!