Fun in the Snow

The path that runs from our street, past our backyard, past the playground and tennis courts and then ends in another part of Liederbach, where the post office is. There is no excuse for me to drive to the post office.

View of our backyard from the path

James looking at the top of our front door

David looking down at James from Micaela's bedroom window. Why is he holding that brush?

The snow didn't come down in one big sheet from above the front door entryway as we had hoped.

Getting ready to play outside. Becca gets lots of practice putting on her snow pants, boots, hat, mittens and scarf at school every day.

In the backyard

One of our frozen fish barrels. You can't tell, but the water was still flowing from the little fountain under the ice.

It's great being the youngest child in the family.

Taking a Rockband break. Bex does fairly well, with Micaela handling the bass drum for her.

Keeping warm on cold, snowy days

Last week, all of Germany was holding its breath, waiting for a weather system to move in to the area that could have left tens of centimeters of snow in its wake. Thursday night at 10:30, we were surprised to receive a phone call from a school mom telling us that school was canceled for the following day, as bad weather was anticipated. And what happened the next day? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The kids didn't complain, but they will when they need to make up that needless snow day in the future.

What happened the following day -- i.e. today? Plenty! It started with strong wind and then the snow came. And it kept on coming. Here's a view of our neighbor's yard, with its wood storage shed, formerly a horse stable.

One of David's favorite items in our German home is the housewarming stove in our dining room/kitchen. We only have one eating area, no kitchenette and then separate formal dining room like you see in most American homes. I do not miss having two eating areas. One less room/table to keep clean. And our kitchen/dining room is separated from the family room by our foyer and another room. I love this set up and now view open floor plans as overrated -- especially when you have four kids.

In our old house in Atlanta, which had the open floor plan, noise traveled easily all through the house, but the bigger issue was that I felt like I couldn't get away from the kids. I would spend a lot of time in the kitchen preparing meals and then cleaning up afterward, and the kids were always nearby in the family room or playroom that was right off the kitchen, making noise of one kind or another. Or else watching some loud movie or TV show. To say that I sometimes had sensory overload is an understatement. And once you have four kids, you don't feel the need to be around them all the time. Shocking, I know.

I first realized all this when we bought our pop-up camper.  During one of our camping trips, I was inside listening to our wind-up radio as I washed dishes while David and the kids were running around/biking/building a fire outside.  At one point, David popped his head inside the door and said, "Sorry you have to be all cooped up in here doing dishes."  "Don't be," I replied, "I'm really enjoying the solitude."

Here, after dinner, I shoo everyone out of the kitchen and can listen to the radio or my ipod as I clean up. It makes that task less of an annoyance. Then I can sit at the table and get some work or reading done in relative peace and quiet.

Back to the warming stove. It's a wood burning one and heats up the room nicely. Emilie demonstrates a quick way to warm up chilly hands.

The whole side of the stove warms up and there are seats to rest on. These metal circles get extra hot -- too hot to lean on, really.

I won't be surprised if we end up with some kind of house warming stove once we move home -- even if we end up in Atlanta where it isn't freezing cold the entire winter, as it feels like it will be here.

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!"