Favorite books of 2011

We read some great books in 2011! Owen and Meg's top five chapter books were:

#1  -  The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe - I am always amazed how much symbolism the kids actually get.  Meg said to me one night, "Mom, I think that White Witch is like satan."

#2.  The Indian In the Cupboard  - This is truly one of the best books for boys!  Owen was glued to this book and we all enjoyed the movie afterwards.

#3.  Shiloh - Both Meg and Owen love animal books

#4.  Charlotte's Web - our whole family fell in love with Fern, Wilbur and Charlotte - This was probably one of Meg's favorites

#5.  The Trumpet of the Swan  -another book by E.B. White - they also liked watching the movie after reading the book

We also read lots of Magic Treehouse, and Junie B. Jones books.  Meg LOVES Junie B. and her favorite for 2011 was:
  I think we will be reading this one every year from now on!!

Now on to The Mouse and the Motorcycle a gift Owen got from his cousins Ian and Abigail.  We are starting it tonight!

Different

This guy was singing on the street in Colmar and I had such a hard time keeping a straight face.  I think the old lady in the background is also wondering if this was for real. 

A Few Christmas Pictures

Pascal's brother Laurent and his wife Cindy gave us this beautiful fondue pot and we put it to good use on Christmas Eve!

Christmas Morning!

Met up with P'tite Mom in Colmar, France for the day.  We love seeing her!

We miss you Mr. Sun

The sun has dissapeared here in Heidelberg.  We have had a lot of rainy, drizzly, droopy days so we decided to let the kids open one of their gifts early.  We all had fun with the domino rally!  We also got crafty with some toliet paper rolls and made snowflakes. 

My kids loved this!

You've have probably already seen this but my kids thought is was great. We loved it and hope you enjoy it too!

Christmas Break

On Tues. it snowed all day but by Wednesday it was all gone.

But getting out snow boots is a big deal!

In My Father's House

Everytime we hear this song we think of Daniel. 
In my Father's House are many mansions, many mansions in my Father's House.
I go, I go to prepare a place for you, for you, for you!

Daniel is in his mansion that God has prepared for Him. 

Christmas Markets

Roller Blading

Today, we found these roller blades at the Thrift Store for 1/2 price.  There were $2.50!!!  I told Owen these were an early Christmas present!  He was thrilled!

A Reminder of What It's All About

No thanks to Mr. Secret Santa

In one of my Bible Studies they were doing the whole Secret Santa gift exchange.  I am not a Secret Santa kinda gal.  I was so relieved to hear that if you didn't want to participate then just don't draw a name.   Well, I was absent at the meeting where everyone drew names I breathed a sigh of relief thinking, "I dodged that bullet!"  But wouldn't you know that when I returned someone said, "Oh, Grace, since you were gone we drew a name for you."  These are the kind of times in which we smile on the outside but really we are having a conversation on the inside. Well, tomorrow I have to have another gift, so the kids and I scooted our way down to my favorite flower shop.

On our way!

Stopped to look at these beautifully decorated windows, on the way.

There she is...my favorite little flower shop!

OOOOHHH......AAAHHH

We picked out one of these little trees.  So glad Secret Santa is coming to an end!

Paris

Here is our pottery all finished.  It is always a suprise to see how they turned out.