Tanz Party

In the middle of a twist!

(Actually at a Tanz Party a couple of weeks ago, but always the same dress.)

Taking a bow!

Claire really likes to dance! Our first Tanz Party was the last time that Tante visited...she has smooth moves, amazing props (think socks swinging in the air), and most importantly, loves to dance. We've been having them ever since. Last night we continued the Tanz Party tradition by putting on Claire's "Tanzkleid" (dancing dress, which is actually just a really cute dress she got from Norah), a must for any good dance party. Matt tuned into Slacker Radio on the TV and we were set. The channel, you ask? Electronic Dance Hits, it's called...try it out at your next Tanz Party! That and the moves are all you need to host!

That brings me to the moves...it was so cute! Matt had some pretty wild ones that he'd probably never admit to and never break out at the club. Claire did a great job imitating them...lol. I was watching from the couch at T -3 days from 40 weeks pregnant for the first few songs, but then Claire convinced me that I should join in. After that, no one could get me to stop...especially Matt, who was worried it would throw me into labor (and ruin his big plans for today!).

Anyway, we ended the night of fun on an energetic high...and none of us slept too soundly! Oh well - this Tanz Party was worth it! :)

Our Little Ladybug

First Time Carving Pumpkins - An Unusually Warm Late October Day!

Jeff as Woody and Cory as Buzz Lightyear (neighbor boy friends) and

Claire as the Cutest Ladybug Around!

Beggar's Night festivities were so fun! Matt prepared heavily for the evening, and by heavy I mean he bought 90 oz. of candy...a little overboard, lol. Claire and I prepared for the evening by carving pumpkins a few days beforehand. It was in the 70s and we took advantage of the weather by carving outside. (Matt was detailing the Malibu to sell it.) We cut out the lid and dug in to the gooeyness of pumpkin innards. We had fun discovering what's in the pumpkin and collecting the seeds. I saved the seeds to roast, but Matt asked me while cleaning up that night "Are you really going to bake these?" Usually I'd insist that I would, and with the best intentions, but after laughing hysterically at a recent episode of Modern Family (myself being Cam in the kitchen making a mess and Matt being Mitchell usually cleaning up said mess), I decided I knew myself a little better and said he could go ahead and get rid of them. (Funny how I've been more aware since then and you can ask Matt to confirm, but in my opinion have done a BETTER...not perfect...job of cleaning up after cooking!)

On Halloween Eve, Claire had the option of being a ladybug or a giraffe. After much deliberation (she's indecisive...I'm pretty sure it's usually a stall technique), she choose to go with the ladybug 'heute' (today) and the giraffe 'morgen' (tomorrow) at Lisa's daycare Halloween dress-up day. (Actually she ended up not being a giraffe at all because she refused to put her costume on at Lisa's.) Matt took Claire out first while I finished dinner. She barely whispered "Trick or Treat" at Joe and Jen's house and she knows them well! The other houses she wouldn't even say it...not sure why she was being so shy. Then they came home and though supper was ready, Matt encouraged me to take her out saying that I'd have more fun with it than him. She and I were out for probably close to an hour, and we didn't even make it to all the houses around the block! Claire made out like a bandit with the candy. We ended up coming home early because A. Mami was tired of carrying my 20 lb. sack of sugar; B. Dinner had been ready for a long time; and C. Claire's bucket was full! (She's still working on finishing it, a little bit each day...with some help!)

FYI: She now refers to her candy as "Sussigkeiten" (sweets) half of the time and as "Trick or Treat" the other half of the time. :)

Geh BITTE weg!

As I sit here having my daily down time (have to enjoy it these last couple of weeks!) on the computer, Claire is still talking herself to sleep.

"Geh BITTE weg!" she just said, emphasizing the BITTE! (Go away PLEASE!) Well, I don't know whom she is telling to go away, but I'm happy that at least she's using her manners to tell them to leave. She's even got the kind tone down! ;)

It's the simple things in life...and life is such a blessing! (It's always a blessing, but I'm thankful that God has helped me to realize this even more lately.) I'm so ready to meet our new little one, but am still enjoying this time we have as a family of three. The weather is beautiful today, so I think we'll enjoy another walk as a family when Claire wakes up and Matt gets home.

Claire the Crafter

"Man, we worked long and hard on this!"

"We've still got a few scraps left, but let me try to lay this out so that you can see what we've accomplished so far."

The Feeling of Satisfaction & Accomplishment = Happy Girl! :)

"There we go! Mama helped me lay it out for the picture...just right! Hopefully those pillows she's going to make next turn out just as good as this! I'd better help her with those too."

I've been seriously nesting these past couple of days! Luckily it's just what our house needs - we're stuck as savers (not pack rats quite, but savers nonetheless). I wish it weren't so...I want to get rid of the 'stuff' but somehow have a sentimental attachment to it. But really, who needs to keep their dead cat's fleece blanket when he's been gone for over two years? (Loved Milo...never loved the blanket.)

Anyway, part of this 'nesting' is also redecorating. How you ask? We'll, I'm getting rid of the old decor! Most of it anyway. ;) I made a $30 trip to the second-hand store (seems like a lot to spend at a second-hand store, but I got a lot of decor, including a really retro lamp!) a couple weeks ago and a $7 trip to the fabric store the other day. So out comes the sewing machine! I'm no expert, in fact I have to read the direction booklet everytime I sew (twice a year?) because I always forget something basic, like winding lower spool with thread...I think that puts me at 'novice.' However, I HAVE a sewing machine and that's a start to learning. Someday I'll learn a bit more about all it can do! Yesterday I told Claire that we were going to 'naehen' (sew) and she was very much looking forward to it, even though she really had no clue what that meant. She asked all morning and I kept telling her that we had to do a few other things first, like make room on the table for the sewing machine...lol. Finally after lunch we busted out the Singer! She collected all the old fabric scraps I had kept (again, why did I keep those?) and I figured a little practice with the machine on my part couldn't hurt. She handed me the scraps to sew together and told me where to put them. Her biggest job, however, was lowering and raising the 'foot' (if I remember correctly...right Mom? Mom was a guru seamstress back in the day - think '70s when fabric was cheap - she made all her own clothes even!) with each new scrap. So, as you can see above, here's Claire with her project.

First thing this morning, Claire wanted to sew. She insisted that we needed to do this before breakfast! Unfortunately we had 'problems' right away and I still need to look in the manual on how to fix the spool. I'm sure it's really no big deal, but this bought us some time for a break from sewing to do more important things...like eat breakfast. Check back, maybe I'll eventually get to 'my project' - I'm just hoping (and realllllly crossing my fingers) for good results! :)

Thankful Christian and/or Expert Staller?

I just had to post this because I think it's too funny not to! I could not contain my laughter tonight at some of the things Claire prayed for. We've prayed with her before bed for a long time now, surely before she understood at ALL what we were doing. We want to raise her in a home where we demonstrate through example a commitment to Christ. (We are still working on this ourselves too!)

As of lately, we've prayed with Claire like usual, thanking God for the special friends and family whom we love, thanking Him for daily activities, and asking Him to be with us and keep us and those around us healthy. Then, Matt or I start the sentence "God, thank you for..." and let her finish it. The last few days it's gotten to be quite the list! She says whomever comes to mind, and then she starts looking around the room for what else to be thankful for, like...Tasche (bag), Kreide (crayons), Fische (fish - in a picture on her wall), etc. (Update: She was really thinking on these...Klo (toilet), andere Klo (other toilet), Daddy's Klo, Dusche (shower), Mami heute geduscht (Mami showered today)!) That's all that comes to mind right now, and it's not nearly as funny when I write it out on here, but believe me, in the middle of it, it's too cute and with such a lovable, thankful to God girl, I just have to have a sense of humor about the fact that she's prolonging the bedtime routine! :)

OKOBOJI 2011

We had a great family and friend vacation last weekend in Okoboji. It was our 4th annual trip (though we've only made it three years now because Claire was about to join us in 2009 and we didn't want to travel)! As we enjoyed reminiscing during a photo slide show Saturday night, we all agreed that we must be getting older - it isn't nearly as crazy anymore as it was the first couple of years. In fact, everyone was in bed by 12:00 both nights I believe. Highlights of the weekend included lots of boating, even more food (and at random times), skiing for Matt and the others, swimming for Claire and Annabelle, and showing up Brian in our diving contest for me!

Claire and I also discovered the public sidewalk that runs along the lake. Although we had lots of fun the whole weekend, it's that simple memory that I think was the best for me. We headed down the path while Daddy, Jeff, and John were skiing on Sunday morning before breakfast. Right away, we spotted lots of sailboats and one sailboat that was away from the rest of them. This started a great conversation about a book we often read, Riese Rick macht sich schick. In it, a goat (one of Claire's favorite animals) is sad because the storm blew away his sail. So, Rick the Giant, who had just gotten stylish new clothes, literally takes the shirt off his back to give it to the goat. The goat uses it as a new sail for his sailboat and everything is better. Rick saves the day! We love this book and Claire especially enjoys noticing the feelings of the animals (sad to happy after Rick helps). Later on our walk, we took note of the 'little buildings' that were by the lake near all of the docks. After a while, I asked Claire what she thought was in the little buildings. She told me "Stroh," which I didn't understand at first. After a few guesses on my part of me repeating her, but saying similar words and her saying "nein" and getting that look on her face like "Mami, you just aren't understanding what I'm saying," she told me "Ziegen fressen Stroh." (Goats eat straw.) (Anybody who knows better can correct me, but that's what it looks like they're eating at the zoo and that's always been what we've said.) This sentence helped clarify that she thought that there was straw in the little buildings by the lake. Oh, how I love her logic! :)

Thank you to Claire's adoptive Okoboji grandma Deb and grandpa John for hosting us again!

(Pictures later!...Jen, can you email those during ALL that free time please?) :) :)

A BIRTHDAY in the Life of a Two Year Old!

With Claire's second birthday on Monday, August 1st, I thought I'd have a little fun as a photojournalist. I wanted this day to be special for her especially because it's probably the first birthday she realized it was HER birthday! We'd been asking her for two weeks "Who has a birthday in two weeks...one week...three days...etc.?" and I'd also been singing "Alles Gute zum Geburtstag" to her many times in conjunction with this question. I'd pause at the "liebe" and let her say her own name, which she thoroughly enjoyed! A song with your own name...how fun is that?!? So, without further ado, here's a glimpse into a two year old's birthDAY!

First Request: What better way start to the day than "Loeffel Erdbutter!"

(Loeffel Erdnussbutter = Spoon (of) Peanut Butter)

Second Request: A walk and playing at the park! We even explored a new kind of pine cone (long and skinny) on our walk, and Claire spotted right away the tall prairie grass with the fuzzy tops, to which she requested "haben" (have). Now we're "arbeiten" (working) with the flowers - watering them and picking off the dead ones. She is actually pretty good at deciphering the dead flowers from the new blooms. Here, Claire is examining how HER flower is doing!

Trying out our new finger paints from Tante! She really liked this (and even requested to paint the next day as well).

We invited Sage over for finger painting, and after that and a bath to clean up, we turned on some music. The girls really liked "1,2,3 im Sauseschritt" (song) and grabbed each others hands without prompting to start dancing together! It was so cute. Then, when Sage wanted a turn dancing with Amber (you're welcome, Amber, for not posting the 'embarrassing' pictures) Claire stood there with her hands out insisting that she have her dance partner back.

(I realized for the sake of anonymity, I should take the picture with the license plate number off the blog. Let me tell you - it was a cute one with Daddy and Claire scrubbing the car!)

When Daddy got home, we put on a suit and washed all three cars (our two and her car) together! Now THAT made for a fun in the sun evening! To top it off, Claire invited the neighbor boys, Jeff and Cory, over to draw with sidewalk chalk.

If that's not a FUN birthday, I don't know what is! :)

If anyone knows how to upload more than five photos to blogger, let me know. I had a lot more, but had to pick and choose because of this darn website! Thanks!