Little Critters

I remember, when I was little, wondering why squirrels in animated movies were red. Ones that I saw around were gray.

Squirrels were red in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Squirrels were red in Sleeping Beauty.

It turns out squirrels are usually red in Europe, where the old fairy tales take place. It's logical that the squirrels in Disney movies would be red. I took this picture of one of our backyard residents today. These squirrels are a bit smaller and more skittish than American squirrels.

But, squirrels were red in Over the Hedge.

Squirrels were red in Looney Tunes cartoons.

Even Sandy Cheeks is a red squirrel.

I always just figured animators were keeping with the tradition of squirrels being red, in spite of the fact that American squirrels were always gray. Or so I thought.

It turns out there is an American Red Squirrel, found in Canada and the northern U.S.

And guess what color the squirrels are in Disney's upcoming film Rapunzel?

Christmas Day

Mmmm...Milka chocolate.

Someone paid us a visit! The kids were up at 4:30am to check their stockings and we were all up at 6:30 to exchange gifts.

Becca got things going, unwrapping the first gift of Christmas 2009 -- a Baby Annabell.

This Baby Annabel, along with crying, giggling, drinking and burping, turns her head to you when you talk to her. It's a little bit creepy. James said, "Mom, if you really want to freak me out, leave this in my room one night."

The Twilight devotion continues.

You know you're a grown-up when you are honestly excited to get a pair of shoes for Christmas

A Dr. Horrible Sing Along Blog t-shirt? We all love Dr. Horrible. What a crazy random happenstance!

James' best gift -- the complete collection of Calvin and Hobbes comic strips.

James recovering from overwhelming happiness and saying a prayer of thanks. He finished the first of three volumes by the end of the day.

Another Dr. Horrible shirt? For those of you unfamiliar with Dr. Horrible, he has a Ph.D. in horrible-ness and believes, "The world is a mess, and I just need to rule it." Tell your friends.

One of Micaela's favorites -- black low-top Converse sneakers. These are not her father's Converse sneakers.

Emilie's favorite -- something she has been asking for since we first moved to Germany -- an honest-to-goodness German backpack.

With her Lillifee backpack, Emilie will no longer be the only kid with a floppy American backpack. She can now walk into school with her head held high.

James showing off his Green Day shirt and hat. Pace yourself with the Calvin and Hobbes books, James. Make them last longer than 3 days.

Rebecca's large herd of Playmobil horses now has a home.

Learning baby care from a big sister

Christmas Pageant

We spent part of the afternoon today preparing costumes for our church's Christmas pageant. Against Emilie's wishes, I volunteered her to be an angel and this afternoon, we got a call to see if James wouldn't mind being the innkeeper. I volunteered him against his will as well. It builds character, kids! But they were both very nervous about not knowing what they were supposed to do. I let them know that there would be a rehearsal beforehand and that they would not have to say anything during the play.

Emilie and James both felt better about participating when they saw pieces of their costumes. James liked the headpiece I fashioned out of an old crib sheet and Emilie was happy with the wings her daddy made out of coat hangers and iron-on interfacing from my sewing supplies.

Becca during the pageant rehearsal right before Mass. This photo perfectly embodies Becca's behavior during the rest of our church experience today. I think she kept the people behind us in stitches making silly faces and singing along to the carols making rockstar expressions of pain as she hit the high notes. That's why we usually take her to the nursery beforehand.

And so the pageant began. Surprise! Em and James both had duel roles. Here Emilie is the angel who appeared to Joseph in a dream, instructing him to take Mary as his wife in spite of recent revelations.

James as the kindly innkeeper who let Mary and Joseph stay in the stable (the narration had a positive spin on James' role).

In their second roles, James is now a shepherd and Emilie is one of the Heavenly Host.

Emilie in her Dirndl

James looking like he can't wait to get off the altar area

Snowman

The kids have been out of school since last Thursday and are starting to get bored. We had snow yesterday and had some more overnight and one is obligated, under such a set of circumstances, to make a snowman. We even let Rebecca be late to Kindergarten to help out.

Guinness standing sentry, protecting us from all the dangerous people walking down the path that runs along our backyard.

At this point, the snow turned into rain. The kids continued on with their work and applied the pieces from our snowman kit.

Frosty, less than an hour later. He finished his slow fall over minutes after I took this photo.

Christmas Market

David and I have, on our own with colleagues and friends, gone to the Frankfurt Christmas market and enjoyed Glühwein and looking over all the German crafts and baked treats. But the kids haven't been to a market yet. We had heard that the little town of Rüdesheim on the Rhein had a delightful market and told the kids we were planning to go today. James had plans to go to the movies with friends and was more than happy to miss the Christmas market. When asked why, he replied, "Well, it's so crowded, and there are all these booths...and you and Dad have to stop and look at everything." Oh, the horror.

Rüdesheim is the perfect place to catch a boat for a 3- or 4-hour cruise up the Rhein to view the impressive castles that dot the hillsides.

Just the girls

Em and Bex riding the Christmas train

Inside the train tracks, Santa sits with his wild boars.

The Little Engine that Could

James was right. Every other time we have been to Christmas Markets together, they've been jam-packed. But today was a weekday and it had snowed all day, so there was no big crowd. It made for a very pleasant visit.

People enjoying their warm Glühwein, traditional mulled wine.

The Baby Jesus was already in place.

A Pretzel Tree

The lights grew brighter and brighter as the sun set.

Happy to be ordering some Reibekuchen (also called Kartoffelpuffer, potato pancakes).

Reibekuchen are cooked in a lot of oil and are eaten either salty as a side dish or sweet with applesauce.

Emilie wasn't crazy about hers. She should have dipped hers in applesauce, like I did.

Note the American flag flying from one of the booths, indicating that English is spoken there. I was surprised at how many Americans we passed as we walked around. But we had been warned that tourists come by the busload to this market. Come to think of it, that may be why all the music blaring from speakers was American Christmas songs. Too bad, really.

Little carousel

Bex on a swan. She always picks the swan.

A church high on the hill on the opposite side of the Rhein.

I was feeling a little melancholy as we made our way back to the car. This was our last visit to a Christmas Market for the foreseeable future. We've heard that Chicago has a German-style Christmas market, though. We may just be traveling there next December, if Glühwein and Lebkuchen are a sure thing.