The Advent Wreath Workshop

The Chapel on base was offering a free Advent Wreath Workshop and dinner.  We have never been to one so I wasn't sure what we were going to do.  The room was so beautiful and we got to enjoy a "fancy" meal.  Then they explained the importance of how the Advent Wreath explains the Christmas story.  It was such a great way to talk about Christmas with the kids. 

I didn't know:  The circle of the wreathe reminds us of God Himself, His eternity and endless mercy

The green of the wreath speaks of the hope we have in God

The candles repesent the period of waiting. The four Sundays symbolize the four centuries of waiting between the prophet Malachi and the birth of Christ.

The Light of the candles reminds us that Jesus is the light of the world and that we are called to be lights.

At the back of the room they had all the supplies tied together and you would get a kit and work on it as a family.

Here are all of our supplies. 

Owen loving the food. 

In the end our Wreath turned out great. 

It was a wonderful evening! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Rebers + Recycling Center = JOY

Thought I would show a picture of our beloved Recycling Center that I talk so much about.  We drop by here about every other day.  Some of our latest goodies are Owen's skateboard and knee pads pictured above and this lovely little purse Meg got yesterday pictured below. 

Another great day at the Recycling center.

Weekend fun!

Meg got invited to her first Birthday Party and the invitation said to wear your "fanciest" dress.  This was music to Meg's ears! Here she is all ready to go!

Not a great picture but all the girls were dressed up!

We went on a walk on Sunday afternoon. We are enjoying getting out before it gets too cold.

 This is an old Amphitheatre built in 1933 by the Nazi Party on the mountain across the river from Heidelberg. It is where Adolf Hitler's Minister of Propaganda, J. Goebbels, made speeches to his party in the 1930s. It is an attraction that you won't find in any brochures about the beautiful city of Heidelberg, better known for its castle. To find it, you must follow the philosopher trail and the signs for an ancient monastery that was built on top of the mountain over a thousand years ago. 

Just a short way up the hill were the old ruins of St. Michael Monastery. Owen loved this place! It was like a huge maze.  He could have stayed all day. 

When you disobey you're in charge of the drippy yogurt cup

Yesterday, we were going on our routine Aldi visit to get yogurt. Owen decided it would be such fun to stack all the yogurt cups up in the cart and make a tall tower. Quick to see this disaster just waiting to happen I quietly whispered in his ear, "I don't think stacking the yogurt is a good idea because if one bust open that would be very messy." Owen, quickly said, “okay mom I am just going to stack one more, I'm almost done.” My heart skipped a beat at this beautiful display of disobedience. To avoid stares from the German customers I decided this would not be the best place to have what we call in our house, "A COME TO JESUS MOMENT!" So I tried to contain myself until we got to the car. As we are putting our items on the conveyer belt I see yogurt dripping to the floor and a very messy, busted yogurt cup. The German Aldi lady offers to get us another one, thinking we picked out one that perhaps was already open. But, I quickly communicated to her using mostly hand gestures that there would be no need for another one and that Owen would be in charge of the messy yogurt cup. And so as I was huffing to the car, I thought to myself I still have many errands to run and I will not be deterred by this act of disobedience. I instructed Owen that he would be in charge of the messy cup at all times, not to put it down until we got home. Stop after stop he walked with his drippy cup. I pressed on, and finally after arriving home Owen slowly marched his way up our 5 flights of stairs and proceeded to eat the final bit of that yogurt. This was a good learning lesson for all of us. When we choose to disobey we have to deal with the sticky mess it often leaves us in!

Owen has a break from school

Owen had Thursday and Friday off this week.  So when it is cold and we don't have any family nearby to hang with I ask the Lord for ideas and this is what we did.  We visited the Library, washed, vaccumed and jet sprayed the car, went to the German AND Base Recycling centers, played at the playground, visited the Thrift Store, read a bunch of books, ran and rode our bikes and then finished the day by visiting the Paint Your Own Pottery studio on base.  Whew!

The kids got to select an item to paint... this was a hard decision!

Meg chose a cross.

Owen chose a star.

Here are our final pieces with a green glaze on them.  When fired the green glaze will disappear.  I will post pictures to let you know how they turned out.  These are Christmas gifts.  

This year we ordered almost all of our gifts online.  The prices here are just too expensive.  The Germans are known for their wooden toys and I did spot this one in a little gift shop in Frankfurt.  It had Owen's name all over it.  I also secretly think I will really enjoy it.  Doesn't it look fun? And that little bell?... Well, it will be super cool if we can get it to work. 

Dance days

Meg ready to go! Winter is here!

Meg in her dance outfit. 

Weekend Fun!

Headed to Frankfurt, Germany on Friday, the truck behind Owen is putting up Christmas lights.  Germany is a grand place to be over the holidays!

A Meg outfit! Always, color cordinated!

On Sat. Pascal took us to breakfast and Meg LOVES to pretend to be a waitress!

Here is Meg with her Christmas tree.  Last year we didn't have a christmas tree because we had just moved into our apartment 2 weeks before Christmas and our decorations didn't make it here until Feb.  Soooo this year we are starting early, the kids loved decorating their own little trees!

A Birthday Wish to Wendy!