Balloons & Black Eyes

And THIS is why we don't hit each other in the face with balloons!

We all went to a birthday party last night & a certain sister hit another certain sister in the face with a balloon so hard that it popped on her eye. Here is the result! Poor baby!

Messy Girl

See Daddy! THIS is why I don't give Taya pudding!

Camera Hog

Okay, so we always knew that Cadence loved the camera. Lorien despises it & we can hardly get pictures of her. Taya will smile when we say the word "Cheese!" But BLADEN is a total camera hog. The very second he sees that camera he puts on a face & stares directly at the lens. It is seriously SO funny. And he has the SAME FACE in every picture. It doesn't matter what's going on around him, as long as the camera is out. . . he gets in "picture mode." SO FUNNY!

"Ooh, a camera!"

"Oh, there it is again!"

In this one I was trying to get a picture of him laughing while Trek was throwing him up in the air. Nope. . . he saw the camera & the rest is history.

He cried when we handed him over to Santa. After all, "who is this weird hairy guy holding me?" But as soon as he heard the familiar buzz of the camera starting up, the tears went away & the poser came alive! Little stinker!

Comm Squadron Kids Christmas Party

Thursday night was Trek's squadron's kids Christmas party. The girls had TONS of fun! We made gingerbread picture frames, gingerbread houses (which never really became houses because Taya kept eating them before we could "build" anything), & decorated sugar cookies.

But the highlight of the night was good old Santa & Mrs. Clause. Lorien wasn't even scared this year. Taya cried a little bit, but sat on his lap for the sole purpose of getting candy out of it. But it worked & we got some cute pics of the family! What a fun night!

St. Nikalaus Day

Well, I guess the kids have been good. St. Nikalaus did leave some German goodies in their shoes on the night of December 5th! Mom & Dad even got some goodies too (yes Trek has Homer Simpson slippers). I especially like the layered leibkuchen (gingerbread), apricot jam, & marzipan. SO YUMMY! Did I mention how much I'm going to miss German Christmas'?

Silent Night

This year our family was asked to sing a song for our church's Christmas program & the girls were SO excited to sing Silent Night with their daddy. Mommy, of course, played piano & the whole thing was beautiful. The girls sang the 1st verse all by themselves, Trek sang the 2nd verse in the song's native language: German, & then they all sang the 3rd verse together. It was SO precious that as soon as I got home, I wanted to video them singing it so I could have it forever.

This is that video. Not only is it precious because the girls actually sang, but it precious because it's a typical 3 minutes of life in the Potter family. They sing, but in between there are a few moments of "Shhh"ing, fighting, happy & angry faces, loving glances & hugs, & more typical things you'd see from 3 sisters who have the attention span of 3 seconds. I laugh even more as you see Trek subtly trying to keep the sanity by separating them from each other. HILARIOUS!! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Lorien's Holiday Cheer Recital 2009

Today was Lorien's Holiday Cheer Recital. She's so cute to watch. She's definitely in it for the fun of it all. She looked like she was having a great time out there & I was such a proud mommy!

St. Nikalaus Walk

Because Lorien attends the German Kindergarten, we get to learn about & take part in all the fun German traditions. One of the most memorable traditions here is the tradition of St. Nikalaus. St. Nikalaus is very similar to Santa Claus, but they are not the same person. St. Nikalaus comes on December 5th (at night), & the kids put out their shoes next to their doors. If they've been good this year, St. Nikalaus fills their shoes with small treats & toys. The girls shoes are next to their doors as I type this. We'll see if St. Nikalaus fills their shoes tonight.

But Lorien's Kindergarten always hosts a St. Nikalaus walk each year. Last night we got together as families & walked from the Kindergarten into the woods of Spangdahlem to a little cabin. So we got everyone all bundled up & took our long walk.

All the parents had made treats to eat once we got to the cabin. I made peanut butter bars which the Germans LOVED & I was dying over all the absolutely fabulous German treats. I'm going to DIE when I move back to the states & can't have shortbread or almond bars anymore. There is just NOTHING in the world like the treats you can get here!

While we were enjoying our treats, all the kids started screaming "Schau" (which means "LOOK")!!! St. Nikalaus had appeared in the trees by the cabin. All the kids ran out to meet him. It was so adorable how excited they all got, including my three girls. Usually Lorien cries at Santa, but she was thrilled this year. And Taya wasn't scared at all. They all ran right up to him.

After everyone settled down a little bit, St. Nikalaus took a seat in the center of all the children & the Kindergarten students put on a little musical program for him. Lorien played the jingle bells for the program. It was super cute & St. Nikalaus got a kick out of it.

Then St. Nikalaus had all the little kids line up & he gave them each a Christmas orange as well as a chocolate Santa sucker. My girls LOVED that. You should have seen Taya's face. We thought she liked St. Nikalaus before, but once he gave her chocolate, he became her best friend.

And then the night was done. St. Nikalaus was kind enough to take pictures with each of the kids before he walked back into the woods & disappeared. I'm going to miss Germany!

Taya's Snowball

At Creative Critters this week we made edible snowballs. Taya had SO MUCH FUN. It's basically just a peanut butter playdough recipe (which you can find just about anywhere online) only we added raisins. They roll the playdough into a ball & roll it in powdered sugar to make it look like a snowball. Taya's never fully looked like a snowball because she ate it as she made it. I ate some too. It was YUMMY! We had fun together. I love that we have this fun activity to go to 2 times each month. It's been great bonding time for Taya & I.

Cadence's 1st Grade Thanksgiving Program

Cadence's 1st Grade Class had their Thanksgiving Program on Tuesday, December 1st. She was SO excited to show me all the poems & songs she learned for the program. She's such a doll. I love her to death! I'm so thankful she enjoys school & loves everything she does there. She's one smart cookie!