Schnee!

Saturday, November 22, 2008 - this morning we woke up to a beautiful dusting of snow! The rooftops were covered in white - as well as the trees and ground. We decided to go for a walk and play in the snow! We headed out into the vineyards. We had a wonderful time playing in the snow. (Note: Shane was at a friends birthday party - so that is why he is not in any of the pictures)

The kids were so excited to get to play in the snow.

Snowball fights! What fun! Watch out for a snow-wash from daddy! Put the camera away Jer - this snowball is coming right at you!

Mommy got one right in the face - thanks daddy! Silas got one on the head....he put his hand up to brush off the snow - with a question in his eyes saying "what was that?"

Sydney is SIX!

Sydney has been waiting patiently for her birthday to come. It is hard when you little sister, and then your mom both get to celebrate before you do! Friday she got to celebrate at school. Syd brought in banana muffins and candy for her classmates. They sang happy birthday to her and she got to wear a birthday crown all day. I worked on her cake - and had it ready for her when she got home from school. She designed her cake herself -telling mommy exactly what she wanted and even drawing mommy a picture of it.

Today is her day! She is very excited to be SIX! On her birthday she invited her friend Anna over to help her celebrate. We played games, opened presents, and of course sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY and enjoyed eating cake and icecream.

Playing pin the bow on Hello Kitty! How Syd managed to get the bow in the right spot -I'm not sure - maybe it is because she is the birthday girl!

More games - Ready, Set, Go...unwind your way through the web - showing off their yarn beards!

Musical dress-up. When the music stops, whoever has the ball has to pick an item out of a bag....what silly looking kids....many laughs with this game!

Opening presents. Syd with Anna - Thanks for the fun gift! And Syd with her other presents.

Birthday Wishes

I just want to take a moment to say THANK YOU to so many of you who thought of me on my birthday. I enjoyed the many cards, emails, e-cards, gifts and words of thoughtfulness and encouragement sent my way. Thank you! I am blessed to be surrounded my many caring family and friends. - Kimber

Sankt Martin

Tuesday, November 11, was Martinstag. This day is named after St. Martin who obtained sainthood from the Catholic Church for being a kind man, who cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm. In German class at school Sydney learned about St. Martin. Her class did a play for the parents - reinacting the story. Sydney got to be the horse! Her friend Alex was St. Martin.

The play - Sydney with her lantern - the kids checking out their burning candles in their lanterns.

In many parts of Germany it is traditional to hold a procession of paper lanterns in remembrance of St. Martin. Kids usually make their own little lanterns in school or kindergarten(as Sydney and Shaylee did) and then gather on city streets to sing songs about St. Martin and their lanterns. Most towns have a lantern procession where a man dressed as St. Martin with a long red cloak leads the parade on horseback. On Tuesday, Sydney's class walked around the school, holding their lanterns, and sang the traditional songs. Another part of the St. Martin celebration is to eat Martinsmannchen - basically bread in the shape of a man - representing St. Martin. In the above picture Syd is showing off her bread with her friends Anna and Alex.

Shaylee also had a Sankt Martin celebration at her Kindergarten on Friday evening. The kids in Shaylee's class also made lanterns. The Kindergarten also did a reinactment of the St. Martin story and then we walked around the school grounds. The little kids all with their lanterns, and all of us singing "Laterne, Laterne, Sonne, Mond und Sterne. Brenne auf, mein Licht, brenne auf, mein Licht, aber nur meine liebe Laterne nicht."

After Shaylee's procession we enjoyed a bonfire(another common part of the celebration) along with Martinsmannchen, Gluhwein, and Kinderpunsch! It was a fun evening. I definately have the familar songs stuck in my head!

Happy Birthday Shaylee

Shaylee is THRILLED to be 4! She has been counting down the days - and this morning when she woke up - she came down stairs and said to me - I'm 4!!!!! Heute ist meine Geburtstag!

I let Shaylee open a few of her gifts before breakfast. She was so excited! Here are a few pictures of Shaylee with her gifts - and opening them!!!!

Shaylee in her new sweater - showing off her special box - and her Hello Kitty birthday cake!

We thank God in heaven above for giving us Shaylee - she is such a blessing to our family! We love you Shaylee - Happy Birthday!!!!!

Below is an email message that Grandma Bleeker sent to Shaylee for her birthday. I read this to Shaylee this morning. It so fittingly describes Shaylee and I wanted to share it with you all. Thanks Grandma - we love you!

Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday dear Shaylee, Happy Birthday to you! Wow you are 4 years old! You have beautiful blond hair, and a smile that steals everyones heart. You have a twinkle in your eye that makes everyone wonder what you have been up to. I am so proud of all you are learning in school and at home with mommy and daddy. I love the German words and songs you can sing, and I love that you can say the 23 Psalm from the Bible! God has made you a very special little girl and I pray that you will grow to love Him more and more each year. " Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right , whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. " Philippians 4:8 May God Bless you on this your 4th birthday! Love, Grandma Bleeker

Loose Tooth Update

Tuesday, November 4 - This morning as I'm trying to get all the kids out the door - Shane says to me "mom" and I turn around and say "what" - and to my surprise he shows me his tooth! It finally fell out - right before school! While getting his shoes on he had been messing around with it - and out it came. So of course I had to take a few pictures right then and there! Whats a few more minutes when we are already running late! So here he is minus a tooth!

Operation Christmas Child

The kids are participating in Operation Christmas Child through their school this year. Operation Christmas Child is a program through the organization, Samaritan's Purse, that delivers gift boxes to children in desperate situations around the globe. Most kids who recieve these boxes are very poor and may have never recieved a gift before. The gifts boxes include mittens, socks, small toys, notepads, colors, candy, toothpaste and toothbrush, hairbows, combs or brushes and the like. I picked up a bunch of miscellaneous items over the past few weeks and tonight I let the kids pack their boxes. Shane, Sydney, and Shaylee each made a card for the child as well. It was great to see them excited as they put the gift boxes together.

Here they are showing off the contents of their gift boxes.

Here the boxes are all wrapped up and ready to go. I told the kids to act like they had never gotten a gift before and the present they were holding was for them! I can only imagine the look on the faces of the children who will recieve these boxes, when they get to open them and see what is inside!

This was such a great opportunity to teach my kids about the love of Jesus and the many blessings He has given us. We have so much -and there are so many people in the world who have so little. What a great way for us to share the love of Jesus with others.

Shane's Loose Tooth

Shane has a VERY loose tooth. He has been playing around with this tooth for over a week now. He will fiddle with it with his tongue - and it gives me the geebees! I keep telling him I'm going to put a string around it, tie the string to a door, and slam the door shut! Out will come the tooth(haven't any of you tried that before in your younger years???) - but he prefers to let it come out on its own......anyway, here is a picture of him with it twisted sideways....I sure do hope it falls out on its own soon!

Tierpark

Saturday, November 1, 2008. It has been rainy and cold all week - however today the sun was shining!!!!! To ward of the ick - I decided that we must get out of the house for awhile. So we headed to a nearby tierpark (animal park - mini zoo). The kids had a great time running around, looking at the different animals, playing at the park, and basically just letting off all that kid energy! It was great to be outside again in the fresh fall air.

Playing at the park. Silas checking out the donkeys - or vice versa. Shaylee by a little deer.

Sydney and Shaylee by the llamas. You can tell these animals are use to people, as they come right up to the fence.
Later in the afternoon the kids played outside again -riding bikes and scooters. They definately needed to get outside into a change of scenery. They can do crafts and color and watch tv inside only so long before they are all getting on eachothers nerves...and mine too!