Monday, September 21, 2009

Fire Prevention Poster



Cadence LOVES it when the school does art contests. This week there is a contest to make a fire prevention poster. The theme this year is "Be Fire Smart! Don't Get Burned!" She worked really hard on drawing the title in bubble letters & then drawing "Stop, Drop, & Roll" along with pictures showing how to do it. I'm so glad that she loves art & that the school has these opportunities for her to develop her talents.

I'm feelin' crafty!

I want a KISS!


Bladen wants a kiss. . .

And it begins. . .


I went upstairs to put away some laundry & came back downstairs to giggles & laughter from the girlies. "Look Mom! Bladen has hair!" I just showed Trek these pictures & he commented: "And that's the closest the girls will ever get to dressing him up, right?"

I especially love the expression on his face. I wonder what he was thinking?

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Bladen's Laughter

Every time Bladen starts to laugh, we grab the video camera, but he always stops. Finally we caught him when he was laughing hard & he didn't stop when the video camera started. Isn't it darling?

Toothless Part 2



Cadence finally lost that other loose tooth she had. The big tooth is coming in from her first lost tooth & it just shoved that second one right out. It was great because we were talking to Mimi on video chat & Cadence all of a sudden shouted "My tooth fell out!" It was great!


And I had to add this devilish picture of Taya. She is such a stinker. You can see it in her eyes... she's plotting something devilish! But she's just so stinkin' cute!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Presto (aka Taya)


I love the pixar shorts at the beginning of the pixar movies. One of my favorites is "Presto" at the beginning of Wall-e. It's about a magician & his rabbit that refuses to jump out of the hat until the magician gives him a carrot. Everything about that bunny reminds me of Taya. His expressions are just like hers. He has that plump round face like hers & when her hair is in pigtails, she looks like she has bunny ears. Well, recently she's started walking up to people & opens her mouth as wide as she can & points to her mouth when she wants you to feed her something. That's exactly what Presto does when he wants his carrot. It's SO funny that I had to take a picture of her & put it next to Presto's picture. Aren't they both adorable?



Bernkastel-Kues Wine Festival 2009




Saturday was our very last Bernkastel-Kues Wine Festival in Germany. It's my very favorite of all the festivals out here, just because I adore Bernkastel! I love the feeling I get there. It's the cutest little old village in our entire area. We don't drink wine, obviously, but there are shops everywhere, a carnival, & snacks that are to die for!


We parked the car & walked into the village. Everywhere we went we heard "Fier Kinder!" (Four Kids) It's so strange to people out here to have more than one kid. We walked across the bridge & found the carnival. We told the kids they could ride one ride & have one treat (our usual festival promise). They wanted to go into the fun house & they wanted me to go with them. I think I would have rather had Trek take them, but they begged for me so I went. Talk about the single most humiliating moment of my entire life. The very first thing you do is go up this super fast conveyor belt & you're not allowed to go up alone whether you're an adult or not. You are required to hold on to one of the worker's hands so he can help you up so you don't get hurt. Well . . . I got hurt! The guy thought it would be funny to put on a show for the crowd below by using me as a puppet on the conveyor belt. He kicked my legs out from under me & my feet flew up the conveyor belt as he dipped me into a very low dip. He did this several times while laughter erupted from the crowd below. Then he'd spin me around & my body was going backwards, but he had me in a death grip so that I was running backwards, yet holding on to him in a death grip. Everybody was laughing SO hard. The conveyor belt made welts on my feet that bled & I was SO embarrassed, but at least a lot of people got a good laugh out of it. At least I could make somebody laugh.


(Here is the guy dipping me on that conveyor belt for everyone to see. . .I had quite the crowd)

(This is when he had me running backwards.)

Inside the fun house was even worse. There was a rotating tunnel that Cadence & I got through okay, but Lorien tried it & she fell (of course) & couldn't get back up. I had to work my way back through the tunnel to get here on her feet again, but I couldn't carry her & walk with the rotation at the same time. We were both falling flat on our faces! I got up myself, but didn't know what to do about Lorien. We were spinning in there for a good 10 minutes before I asked a boy in German if he could pick her up & carry her through the tunnel. He laughed & carried her with ease through. Thank heavens. I ended up having to carry her through the rest of the fun house because she was crying hysterically. Cadence & I couldn't stop laughing because the rest of the fun house was a blast, but Lorien had her eyes shut & was screaming the entire time.

After the fun house of embarrassment we found a candy vendor; talk about heaven for the girls. They each got a bag & filled it with an assortment of yummy goodies. All three of them enjoyed that.


Then we let Taya ride her ride. . . a little airplane with daddy. However, I think she enjoyed her cola flavored gummy candy more than the ride. She was sucking on it the entire time.


And then it was time to go. Trek & I got crepes on our way out. I got cherry & nutella & he got marzipan & nutella. Both were fantastic. It was sad saying goodbye on this one. It's the last festival of the year & will be our last festival in Germany. Lots of memories for sure!

Blonde Again!


This week I got my hair colored for the first time in what seems like forever. It is so fun to be Blonde again! The girls love it, Trek loves it, & I love it. Thanks Rosie!

Bladen's Noises

I had to video Bladen & what he does all day long. He just talks & talks & talks & talks. And I thought the girls were bad. Our house is going to be LOUD when these kids get older. (It's already loud enough) ha ha ha.