Stollen and New Year's Eve

For two years in a row now, Brian has made his own marzipan and Stollen for New Year's Eve.  I usually am not a fan, but it's growing on me.  I prefer it fresh out of the oven.

Our favorite chef-priest came to visit and enjoyed the event of making the German pastry.

My sister's family came over on New Year's Eve to do fireworks. (Our house is just outside the city limits and we are allowed to do fireworks in the street.)

Drew and Dylan are big Harry Potter fans right now and so Isaac made "Butter beer" from the book for the boys to enjoy a  toast.

Gutes Neues Jahr!

We arrived home from our Poland trip on New Year's Eve and had a low key good time at our house with turkey soup.  Godfather was still in town for two more days and the men took the kids out to do some fireworks.  At midnight this is what happens all over Germany in all of the villages...

We stood on our balcony and watched all the fun fireworks that our neighbors set off.  It's really very impressive.  Another thing to miss when we leave this place.

Happy New Year!

Ringing in 2015

We rung in the New Year all snug in our beds this year.  Before turning in, Brian cooked wings and I made a salad and some home-made applesauce.  The kids all loved the dinner.  Then we went outside in the back yard for some closely supervised sparklers.  Judah, being obsessed with going outside right now, couldn't be tricked into missing it.  He was not allowed to be near the sparklers or the chiminea though.  I had to follow him around very closely.  As you can see, it was super cold.

After that I had to tear the clothes from Judah's body as he screamed and tried to hold onto them for dear life so that I could put him to bed.  Drew went to bed next, and then the girls, Brian, and I taught Isaac to play Canasta.  Our rule is you have to be able to add numbers in the hundreds if you are going to play that game, and he has graduated to adding big numbers this semester.  The kids were sent to bed at about 10pm, and Brian and I spent some time together before falling asleep before midnight.  I was awoken briefly by some fireworks at midnight.  That was it for us this year!

New Year's Resolutions

I haven't been one to make New Year's resolutions, but this year I feel like making some.  I read an article about Pope Francis inspired resolutions and I was truly humbled by the list since my resolutions are so small compared to that list.

#1  I want to be more compassionate towards others sufferings.  I read a friend's blog post and realized that I am not a compassionate person.  I don't care enough about others and their trials, neither big and especially not the small ones.  It's not fun or easy to think about sufferings.  And if they are not your own sufferings that you can't get away from, it is often easy to put it out of your mind, at least it is for me.  I am going to pray that God will give me a more compassionate heart this year.

#2  I want to focus our religious studies on apologetics this year more.

#3  I want to go as a family to a soup kitchen and volunteer.  Brian is already working on setting that up.  They had enough help for the holiday season.

#4  I would like to put my crafting to use for the less fortunate.  I read about this website, Craft Hope, in Family Fun magazine that provides opportunities to craft for different causes, like super hero capes for the kids in women and children shelters or pillow case dresses for children in Africa.  I really want to do this and to include the kids in some way.  I am stretched for time these days, but even doing a small thing would be a start.

As much as I'd love to make the 10 resolutions inspired by our Pope, I am hoping my little ways to strive for holiness will lead me one day to the big ways.

Happy New Year!

We had to cancel our plans because Genna got a fever yesterday. She did get to go out and enjoy a couple of sparklers before I made her come back inside.

2011 here we come!

Happy New Year...a little late

Before I get to all our Rome stuff, let me tell you how we welcomed in the New Year. The night before we left for Rome, December 31st, we went to a dear friend's home and hung out with three wonderful families. Our four families totaled fifteen children under the age of seven plus one bun in the oven (not mine, by the way.) Here's a picture of only nine of the fifteen kids eating dinner on the floor.

We had tons of amazing food for dinner and then we headed outside for fireworks and sparklers a little early for the young ones who would miss the big show at midnight. The girls even held sparklers while Daddy stood close by and Mommy held her breath. (I don't feel comfortable with anything related to fire. I don't even light matches.) The big boys/daddies set off the fireworks while the kids either oohed and aahed or clung to their mommies. The girls were in the former category and Isaac was in the latter. He would grab onto me and try to climb up me while repetitively crying, "Boom." He is wary of new things. It seems to take him a little while to warm up to new adventures.

Here are my happy girls after eating cupcakes during the "Half time" of the fireworks show.

See Isaac all cuddled up in my lap. He's in the blue shirt and I am in the green sweater in the background.

Then the other families went home and we spent the night since they were taking us to the airport in the morning. It was nice to have adult time after the kids were in bed. And the fireworks in Germany are crazy! It sounds like you are under attack from inside the house. Everyone comes out of their house and does their own fireworks right on the street.

Happy New Year!