Would you eat them in a box? Would you eat them with a fox?

Say, I like green eggs and ham!

We've been getting a little snow every day for the last few days and since David has off work this week, he has been more than happy to be our neighborhood's Master of the Snow Shovel. A few days ago, he was rewarded for his efforts with half a dozen fresh-as-can-be eggs from this chicken coop just up the path from our house.

This morning was no different -- wait, yes if was! David did indeed accept more eggs in exchange for clearing the path of snow, but one was green. The chicken owner told us the color of the eggs depends on the chicken breed. We haven't cooked and eaten it yet, so we're not sure what color awaits us on the inside.

First Dentist Appointment

Here's Rebecca showing off her newly cleaned teeth. And her green face. I still haven't figured out what she colored her face with, and it doesn't come off easily, but at least she waited to paint her face until after her dentist appointment.

I dropped the ball on the kids' teeth these past few years. We made a point of having their teeth checked and cleaned right before we moved to Germany, and then the thought of finding a new dentist and taking them for appointments was hidden in some dark dusty corner of my brain. A few months ago I realized that if we didn't get them to the Zahnarzt before we moved back to the U.S., I was going to get an earful from our American dentist back home.

In December, I got the name of an English-speaking dentist in the area and I called to make appointments for checkups. The receptionist managed to get all the kids scheduled for 2 weeks in the future, all at the same time. This struck me as suspicious. At the drop of a hat, the dentist can see my 4 kids for a check-up/cleaning, all at the same time?

What I know about German dentisty is next to nothing. I had heard a funny story about a friend who was living in Germany years ago and made an appointment to get his teeth cleaned. The dentist entered the room on appointment day and asked why my friend was there. He replied, "For a cleaning." The dentist said, "What do you mean "for a cleaning?" You should "clean" your own teeth." He left the office without having his teeth cleaned. And then I found out that Germans only go for a dental check-up once a year. That did make me feel a bit better. By German standards, we weren't that far behind.

Before I hung up with the dentist's office, I confirmed the time of the kids appointments and said, "OK, now that's for a check-up. So, they're teeth will be cleaned during that appointment, right?" "No," said the receptionist, "This appointment is just for a check-up. The dentist will examine your children's teeth and decide if they need to be cleaned." OK, now it all made sense. Germans go for checkups once a year, but they're not necessarily getting cleanings each time.

So, we all went for the quick checkups, and the German/American differences were noticed right away when the receptionist told me that I was supposed to accompany the kids into the exam room. That was not encouraged back in the U.S. But more surprising was the news that the dentist did not see any cavities with any of the kids. They did all need a cleaning, though.

Today was Bex' cleaning, her first "real" dental appointment, and she handled the entire appointment in German just fine. They even had a video monitor on the ceiling to amuse kids with a DVD during appointments. That's no doubt standard in most pediatric dental offices now, but we certainly couldn't watch a movie during appointments when we were kids!

Germany's Favorite Fastfood

All over Germany, you can find American fastfood restaurants: McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, etc. No Chik-fil-A unfortunately. But hamburgers, fried chicken and pizza are not the fastfood of choice of Germans.

Depending on which article you read, Germany's favorite fastfood may or may not be currywurst, the traditional snack of sliced pork sausage swimming in a curry-tomato sauce.  In August of last year, the dish was immortalized in the new Deutsches Currywurst Museum in Berlin, a sausage shrine dedicated to all things currywurst, including sausage sofas, a curry "spice chamber" and a movie montage of all-time currywurst cameos. The museum opened commemorating the dish's 60th birthday.

No two Germans will likely agree on the perfect currywurst. There are different variations of curry and some prefer their currywurst with French fried while others opt for break. There's just one no-no: ketchup. Germans consider it uncultured and inauthentic. 

Today, David needed to run a lunchtime errand in Kelkheim, the nearby town where we discovered the tastiest version of the other fastfood dish that sometimes claims the prize of "Germany's favorite fast food."

David was instructed that he was not allowed to return home from his errand without two yummy Döner kebabs.  Döner kebabs are a Turkish dish made of lamb meat cooked on a vertical spit and sliced off to order, similar to a Greek gyro.

Typically, along with the meat, a Döner includes chopped lettuce, cabbage, onions, cucumber, and tomatoes, and a choice of sauces. Today David chose yogurt and I stuck with garlic. The meat and salad filling is served in thick, toasted flatbread.

Germany's large Turkish minority is probably the biggest reason for the widespread sale of Döner kebab sandwiches. After World War II, large numbers of Turks were invited to come to Germany as guest workers, to fill a then acute labor shortage caused by the loss of manpower in the war. Most of these Turkish workers eventually stayed in Germany, and many opened small food shops and food stands.

We first went to this particular restaurant last December and the owner seemed very pleased to be serving two Americans and questioned us about the popularity of Döners in the U.S. It was difficult to have to tell him that gyros were much more popular, but Americans didn't know what they were missing! He joined us at the tables outside and we chatted some more, in between our "Mmmm......s" as we ate the delectable döners.

Local economy at work

We were surprised to wake up this morning to about 3 inches of snow. It is our duty to clear the part of the town path that runs along our back yard. David must have been feeling energetic as he went ahead and shoveled the whole stretch -- from one street to the next -- effectively doing 2 of our neighbors' job for them. One of those neighbors has a chicken coop with about 12 chickens, whom we always greet when we walk up the path.

The neighbor came out to offer his thanks, entered his chicken coop and when he exited, presented David with 6 eggs -- as fresh as can be since they were scooped right out from under the warm mother hens.

As the carton states, "6 fresh eggs."

2009 Christmas Card

A few friends have asked us about the pictures in our 2009 Christmas card -- specifically where the different photos were taken.  Starting in the upper left:  Becca resting in a horsedrawn carriage in Salzburg, Austria.  Continuing clockwise: Tower Bridge in London, Micaela at the Tower of London, in front of the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Emilie at Parc Astérix in France, Becca at the base of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, James Easter morning in France, and finishing with the whole family in front of the house where Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria.

The photo on the back was taken in front of Neuschwanstein Castle in the south of Germany. Click on the back of the card here and you can just make out the castle in the mountains in the background. And, no, I did not make up the text of the card. I had every intention of doing so, but I when this verse came up as a suggestion on the Hallmark website where I put this card together, I knew that I wouldn't be able to think of a more appropriate verse.

Never again will we be able to out a Christmas Card showing photos from so many amazing places we were able to visit that past year, at least not to so many different countries.  Paris is a five-hour drive from Frankfurt.  Drive 5 hours from your average American town and you're still in the U.S., often still in the same state.  So many people, while living and traveling abroad, say, "Now I realize how little I have seen of the U.S.  We can't wait to start traveling in our own country once we move home!"

Fireworks Aftermath

The launching pad the next day

Hunting down all the remnants of the fireworks and firecrackers

Fritz, one of our garden gnomes, supervising the action

Checking to see if all our fish survived the deep freeze a few weeks ago. We're still not sure if they have.

New Year's Eve

How does that phrase go? "When in Rome...." Living abroad and taking on the philosophy "When in Rome" gives you permission to do things you would not have done back home. Case in point: Setting off fireworks in your own backyard.

Germans call New Year's Eve Silvester (December 31 is the feast day of Saint Silvester) and to quote Wikipedia's page on Germany's New Year's Eve traditions, "Germans have a reputation of spending large amounts of money on firecrackers and fireworks."  

Back in the U.S., I forbade setting off any firecrackers or fireworks on July 4th. Watching Good Morning America and seeing reports on how many injuries there are July 4th from people setting off their own fireworks will do that to you. When we were little, we ran around with sparklers, but when I read that sparklers burn at temperature as hot as 1800 to 3000°F and are the source of the vast majority of legal firework-related injuries, I banned those as well. My poor kids have never waved around sparklers (that I know of).

A few days ago, David was going to the mall and I said, "If you want to buy fireworks, this would be a good day to do that." David got these ones at C+A, which is like Kohl's. I don't know who was more excited about our upcoming Silvester fireworks display, the kids or David.

It was a rainy day though.  Constant drizzle.  Would we be able to set them off at all?

But first thing's first. To be good Romans (Germans), we needed to watch Dinner for One. The 18-minute single take black-and-white 1963 British TV recording is a New Year's Eve tradition all over Europe, but is especially popular in Germany.

The story is very simple: Miss Sophie is celebrating her 90th birthday with four old admirers. They are all dead, however, so her butler – appropriately called James - serves up the food as well as playing all their parts and drinking their toasts. He gets tipsier and tipsier and repeatedly trips over the tiger rug on the floor as he dashes around the table.

Several times during the dinner, he asks, “The same procedure as last year, Miss Sophie?" She replies, “The same procedure as every year, James!” That punch line, "same procedure as every year", has become a catch phrase in Germany.  Our kids laughed more at the hysterical audience laughter, though, than at James' antics.

And then it was midnight. The rain had stopped a few hours earlier and David first set off the Matador fireworks, a set of 36 fireworks that went off one after the other. They were a lot bigger than I thought they would be. Standing on our patio, I thought for a second, "Oh my God, what have I allowed to have happen?" I was videotaping at the same time and I believe when we rewind and watch the video of those first fireworks, you hear some shrieks from the kids and then me saying a few choice naughty words.

Church bells began ringing and all of Liederbach exploded with flashes of light and loud booms. Our Matador kept shooting out brilliant fireworks. And I got to try out the fireworks setting on my camera for the first time.

David looked like a happy little boy as he set off the different fireworks. There were smaller Roman candles, firecrackers, snaps, and...

...these crazy little fireworks that skitted across the yard, chasing down David as he ran to get out of the way. We called them Gremlins. And one did hit him in the ankle, which made us roar with laughter.

Captured on still, this one looks like a bird taking off.

Doesn't this one look like an Alpine Wanderer (hiker), with a hat, pipe and a knapsack on his back?

Another little Gremlin.  Liederbach finally grew quite again at 12:45pm, or 0:45, according to my clock radio.

Hmmm....I have the feeling we may just be setting off fireworks next July 4th.