Living and Loving In Munich - The Nestola Family

Dance Recital

2010-05-08T23:42:00.005+02:00

Kalynn had her first dance recital today! Her group did a tap dance routine to "Twist and Shout". She stayed backstage with the dancers the whole time (her routine was only about 2 minutes long). They are a good bunch to keep such little ones "cooped up" for that long, lol. Enjoy the pictures and the video. (She is in the back row on the left end.)

Happy 5th Birthday to my princess, Kalynn!

2010-04-01T21:39:00.005+02:00

It has been a long time once again since I have made any entries into the blog. Sorry about that. Today is my baby's 5th birthday so I just had to share some photos of her party. She wanted a princess party and we decided to do a small one at home. Kalynn really enjoyed it. Each boy had their own knight's breast plate and shield and of course all princesses had a tutu, crown, and wand. Kalynn liked being amongst "royalty". She had a couple of "diva-tude" moments where she didn't want to play a couple of games. My favorite one was when we were playing Party Bingo. She didn't want to play. I tried to coax her by saying "come on and play so you can win some prizes!" She never missed a beat as she told me "I don't want to play. I can buy my own prizes at Walmart."
Marco and I made Kalynn's castle cake. Everything on it (except the carriage) is edible. It is not the neatest cake by any means but we had such a great time working on it together. Everyone said that it was delicious. (We couldn't eat it because we are still fasting for Lent. I'll check it out in 3 days when our fasting is over, lol).

Click the photo below to get to the slideshow. Enjoy!

4 years old and already has a "Wedding Song" picked out...

2009-12-22T02:49:00.000+01:00

Just had to share this with you. A few weeks ago Kalynn and I were talking about my wedding (my wedding march song came on the radio and I got all nostalgic and such so that led to a discussion about my wedding). Since then Kalynn frequently tells me that she wants to get "marrit". When I answer with "Oh you do?" she says "yes, but I don't see any boys". It is so cute. But the sweetest thing is that she has already picked out her wedding song. She chose "Gloria in excelsis Deo" because it is pretty. When we were in the car earlier this week she said "Mommy, play my wedding song for Daddy". Imagine the look on his face when his baby girl was sharing her wedding song with him... although it didn't rival the look he had when she told him she wanted a bra a couple of weeks before!

My baby's first Sunbeam Choir Perfomance

2009-12-20T15:14:00.001+01:00

While we were still in Germany, Kalynn voiced a desire to join the choir "back home" at church. Well since we have been home (for exactly 4 weeks now, woohoo) she has since gotten her wish. She sang in the Sunbeam choir at Cornerstone Baptist Church at today's Christmas service. She was sooooo cute. She positioned herself up front and "sang" her song! Afterward she said she wanted to be on the youth choir (as opposed to the Sunbeam) and sit up on the choir stand by herself. She is growing up so fast!

Kalynn's last day at school

2009-11-19T20:19:00.002+01:00

Today was Kalynn's last day at her German Kindergarten. The had a little party for her. It was cute. (I had one of her teachers use my camera to take to some pictures.) They had some American flag print napkins and arranged their tiny tables and chairs in a festive setting. It looked so cute. Tonight when I put her to bed she prayed for God to help her German friends not be sad when she left. (awwww) They made the cutest card for her with a thumbprint from each of her classmates on it. Each child drew a face/arms/legs/etc on his or her thumbprint to make it look like themselves. The director of the school gave her a pig (one of Kalynn's favorite characters right now is Waldemar the pig and she talks about him ALL of the time). The director told her that every time she plays with her pig she will thinks about them.

Tears...

2009-11-17T15:30:00.002+01:00

My dear friend, Irena, just left our house and I am in tears because it was likely our last time seeing each other. (She had planned to have breakfast with us today or coffee later but her 3 year old is sick and her pre-teen son was at the hospital all evening long yesterday because a school-mate sprayed some type of cleaner in his eyes). Tonight is our last night in the house, which is just some 50 yards from Irena's apartment, and we will stay in company housing until we fly out Sunday morning. Irena took off a beautiful necklace from around her neck and handed it to me to remember her by. I was very moved by the gesture and even more so when she told me I was one of the best friends she has ever met. I'm really going to miss her.

Oh Dear... And the relocation begins...

2009-11-12T10:26:00.000+01:00

This morning the guy from the relocation service came to pack up and take away the items we chose to put in air freight. These things are supposed to make it to the United States in about 2 weeks as opposed to the bulk of our things that will go on the sea container and take about a month and a half. We are very limited on the amount of stuff that goes by air so I had to choose wisely. Needless to say a bit of my craft things are going, lol. I miss my glue gun already and the guy just loaded it on the truck (yeah I'm writing this as he packs/loads). It is starting to feel real right now and I must say that I am a bit sad. I am going to miss Germany.

A Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T09:30:00.000+01:00

Last night we had a small Halloween party for the kids (Kalynn and her buds Joshua and Jessica). This will be our last "major" holiday celebrated in Germany as we will be returning to the United States a few days before Thanksgiving. We had a great time and delicious treats. Melissa made some yummy Frankenstein cupcakes and Marco cut up some cute Monster Mouth apple bites. We played "pin the face on the pumpkin". Kalynn's came out pretty good, to be blindfolded! The kids decorated spooky sugar cookies and made haunted scenes from foam, stickers, glitter glue, and lots of giggles. Speaking of giggles, check out Joe wearing a pink cowboy hat and Marco wearing Kalynn's princess earring (with his Frankenstein head topper)! Now that was funny!!! Also funny was the fact that Kalynn had mini meltdown because she did not want to wear the skirt that came with her Princess Tiana costume but instead wanted to wear her old ratty pink skirt that besides being waaaaay too overused is getting waaaaay too short. After "arguing" with her that it did not match I finally relented after the crocodile tears came and she was a happy camper after that! Who knows, maybe she will grow up to be a huge fashion designer. Who am I to stunt her creativity!? LOL
We got quite a few more trick-or-treaters this year than last year. We even had some come to our door the day BEFORE Halloween! That was hilarious! They insisted that it was Halloween. Anyway, we *gasp* ran out of candy and had to shut her down around 8:00pm. Marco discovered that the T-o-Ters had taped a sign to our gate that they had handwritten on a sheet of paper that said "Süßes oder Saures", which is a German equivalent to Trick or Treat, to let others know that our house gave out candy. Since trick-or-treating has not really caught on big in Germany, it was nice to see the youth helping out the others by directing to the folks that are participating. However, we still had people buzzing our gate for about another hour after we removed the sign and turned off the Halloween lights! One set of revelers, after learning we had given out all of the candy earlier, told Marco "But we got dressed up. Give us anything... crackers, fruit, whatever." I had to laugh at that.

Back From a Wonderful Mediterranean Cruise!

2009-10-18T10:51:00.013+02:00

We just returned yesterday evening from a wonderful 7 day long Eastern Mediterranean cruise through our favorite cruise line, Costa! We left early Saturday morning for a 5.5 -6 hour drive to Venice, Italy to board the Costa Victoria. (The drive alone is nice as we were treated to beautiful landscape after landscape as we drove through Germany, Austria, and Italy.) Our cruise included excursions in Italy (Venice and Ancona), several stops in Greece (Santorini, Athens, Mykonos, Corfu), and Dubrovnik in Croatia. We enjoyed them all but my personal favorite stop was the small town of Oia on the Santorini islands. The houses built into the cliffs, white washed with beautiful blue domes against an equally stunning sea were amazing. Marco enjoyed Athens the most. The Acropolis was well worth the hike we took to get there. There are no words for me to describe the feeling I had standing on the steps of the Parthenon while Kalynn played with rocks as we took it all in.
Kalynn loved the Squok Club the most it seems. This is the cruise ship's onboard kids' club (kinda like a cruise kindergarten) that offers various activities, crafts, and entertainment. Before we left for the cruise I told Marco that there was no way I was going to leave Kalynn at the club and I was sure she would not want to be left. Boy was I wrong. From the time we told her about the club, she begged to go by herself even before the club opened on the first day. Before we set sail, the first thing she wanted to do was go see the Squok Club room. I relented and we let her go for a couple of hours each day (though we took her with us every time we left the ship). She made quite a few friends on the ship, most were Italian and German. Luca and a girl who's name she could never remember (I think because it was so hard to say) were her favorites. On our excursion in Corfu, Kalynn held Luca's hand and wanted him to go with us. It was so cute. Everybody we met both on and off the ship fell in love with Kalynn. Everywhere you look people were snapping photos of her. One older gentleman in Dubrovnik (a store owner) came out of his store to see and talk to Kalynn. I was shopping in another store at the time and Marco and Kalynn were waiting outside. The store owner told me that he fell in love with her. He asked Marco if he could take a picture pinching her cheeks. He gave her a leather key chain with her initial on it for free!
There was a little bit of rain in Ancona, Italy that stopped almost as soon as it started but after that Kalynn enjoyed sunning it up on deck in the pool. This is in stark contrast to our drive home after our cruise was over... can you say SNOW in the Alps. We took photos of her playing in the snow and the snow capped mountains, lol.
We had a great time!
Sorry the pictures aren't labeled/categorized. You can visit my Facebook page where they are in albums for each placed visited.

Marco casts his vote!

2009-09-27T16:19:00.002+02:00

We just got back from going with Marco to vote in Germany's election. It was about a 45 second walk from our house to the school where he voted. It is interesting having the vote on Sunday. Nice to see so many folks headed to the polls during their Sunday strolls. Seemed more relaxed than what I am used to.

I couldn't resist the picture of the cute elderly couple holding hands as they went in to vote. I love timeless love!

Oktoberfest Began Today

2009-09-19T13:22:00.002+02:00

While tonight is my big Concert night, we took the opportunity this morning to attend the big parade that officially kicks off Munich's Oktoberfest festivities! It was fun watching all of the ornate carriages pulled by beautiful horses with festive bells. The attire of the parade's participants was traditional Bavarian dress and just plain cool. Each carriage represented different breweries. Bands and marching clubs were also a part. A man from the very last float/carriage tossed Kalynn a red rose. I told her it was because she was the prettiest thing there... she liked my explanation, lol.

Just too cute not to share!

2009-09-17T22:41:00.003+02:00

I made this tutu dress last week and Kalynn could not wait to put it on. Of course I love when she acts so girly! What mommy doesn't?

Bayern Park

2009-09-06T19:43:00.000+02:00

We took a trip to Bayern Park this past weekend. It was a birthday gift for Kalynn that we finally "cashed in". You will notice we all had on jackets or long sleeves... it got a little bit chilly. This following a week where I had our portable A/C running. Kalynn enjoyed spending the day with her aunts, uncle, cousins, and of course... Mom and Dad. Check out the photos to see who the real kids were.

President Kalynn

2009-08-29T23:41:00.003+02:00

Today Kalynn had a lot of questions about who the President of the United States of America was. From why he was the president to why can't they both (Obama and McCain) be president. She was quite chatty about the whole thing. At the end of our Q&A, though, she stated emphatically that she was going to be president... tomorrow! It may not be tomorrow but I guarantee you that if that is what she wants to do, it will happen! All hail the chief!

Visit to Playmobil (Germany)

2009-08-16T13:17:00.002+02:00

We visited the Playmobil Fun Park near Nuremberg yesterday! I was exhausted when we got back. It was lots of fun for my crew (especially Marco... can you say "Big Kid"?) ! Enjoy the photos and the cute video clip of Kalynn drying off like a duck after a walk through the cool stream. LOL

How to tell when you need to shave...

2009-08-09T13:09:00.001+02:00

when your 4 year old rubs your leg and says "Mommy, you need a haircut".

Career Goals... early

2009-07-23T00:14:00.002+02:00

So, we are currently in the US for business. (Thanks Frau K. for watching the house... no wild parties in there, k?). This week Kalynn gave us a rundown on her career aspirations. After our 9 hour flight, she decided that when she turns 5, she will be a flight attendant. She is going to be a Passport Control/Immigration Officer when she is 6. She wants to be a Veterinarian when she hits 7, a girl "Pastor Jackson" (our church's pastor) at age 8, and a singer when she turns 9. So... there you go!

You HAVE to download this song....

2009-07-20T22:25:00.003+02:00

The song that I told you about in a blog entry a couple months ago ( What a Wonderful Experience For Me) is now available for download from iTunes or musicload! I am so excited!!!! Hold On by Mano Ezoh and Total Praise Choir (that includes me, woohoo). Download it and tell all of your friends to download it too! It is in the R&B/Soul category.

Bye, Bye Fishies

2009-07-12T16:04:00.005+02:00

Since we are preparing to visit the U.S. for 3 weeks, sadly we had to get rid of our fish (and snail). We took them to a pond near our house this morning so that Kalynn could release them to the wild.

Puppet Show

2009-07-11T13:18:00.003+02:00

We were treated to a puppet show this afternoon...

Snail Boat

2009-07-06T18:04:00.004+02:00

Kalynn loves when it rains here because all of these amazing little snails with their colorful nautilus shells come out. Most days I literally can't walk 3 feet without counting at least 20 after a good rain. So this morning it rain pretty much up until noon. When I picked KO up from school, as usual she wanted to carry a snail home, although this time she said she needed two. She put them in the yard before nap. Usually they are no where to be found when she wakes up but this time one had made it halfway across our patio by the time she got up. She picked him up and played with him (however you play with a snail... who knows, lol). The sun was shining bright, it was hot so I filled her water table with water so that she could have some cool fun. She took her snail with her to the water table. I hosed down the walkway (the rain/wind had left cherries, leaves, and bird poop). When I finished I noticed her playing with a little sailboat in her water table. I went over to play with her when I noticed that the sailboat had a tiny passenger. You guessed it... she put her snail in the boat so that he could sail around. She said it was like the "It's a Small World" ride at Disney Land (her favorite ride). So cute.

Flohmarkt at the Olympic Stadium (Olympiapark, Munich)

2009-07-04T13:44:00.006+02:00

Each weekend (Fri. and Sat.) a couple of hundred sellers turn out to sell their wares at the Olympiapark Stadium parking area. I can not believe we have been here for well over a year and this is the first time we have been. Lots of people selling stuff there. The funniest site were the people that sold things from their bicycles! Yep, you read that correctly... bicycles. They load things up on them, pedal to the stadium and set up around their bikes. That is dedication right there! Anyway, we brought home a couple of things. Kalynn used her spare change to buy two more stuffed animals that she does not need and a very nice German man gave her a cute little ladybug helmet for free. The lady at the spot next to his asked him if he just gave that to her for free, he said "Nope, I got a smile out of it". I thought that was really sweet and rare.

We took the loooooong route around the stadium to get to the flea market area (believe me... not by MY choosing) but it did allow us to see some beautiful scenery and the cement plaques around the stadium with the hand prints of various celebrities that have performed at the stadium.

Hair Do

2009-06-24T17:19:00.003+02:00

When I picked Kalynn up from school today she had pulled her hair down from her ponytail in the back. She said she wanted to wear her hair out. So, I decided to try to straighten it out a little so she can wear it down. Well, it stayed semi-straight for like a hot second but she loves it anyway and started striking poses, lol. By nightfall... she will be a puff again.

She's so funny!

2009-06-23T20:16:00.001+02:00

Just had to share this little nugget from the little one. We just put her down to bed for the night. Before I leave her room each night I tell her "Don't wake Mommy up in the morning". She gets up rather early these days and my "cranky-meter" always needs all available minutes of snoozing in order not to set off any alarms!!! She always comes and hops in the bed with me, normally around 5:45am, so I tell her to climb in quietly so as not to wake the sleeping she-bear. Anyway... as usual I told her not to wake me up in the morning. She asked me why. For the gajillionth time I answered "because I need my sleep, ok?". Do you know what her reply was to me???? She said (verbatim) "Well I need my wake, ok?"

I'm still laughing at that one.

Our Angel

2009-06-22T09:31:00.000+02:00

Happy birthday to our angel in heaven, Treva Synclaire. You would have been 5 today. We miss you so very much. You and your big sister take care of each other. We know that you are in a much better place with our Heavenly Father. Mommy and Daddy love you. We will see you again. God said and I believe it.

-Mom & Dad & Kalynn

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T00:24:00.000+02:00

Although Germany has already celebrated Father's Day (May 21st)... it is Father's Day in the U.S. and I just wanted to wish all of you fathers a happy day! Happy Father's Day to my daddy, Leroy, and to my husband, Marco! Two excellent examples of wonderful fathers!

Caorle, Italy... Kalynn's Vacation

2009-06-15T08:36:00.001+02:00

Though it is not quite Rome (I really love Rome and wish I could live there), we soaked up rays and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in Caorle, Italy this past long weekend. Since our last trip to London was more of a vacation for the adults, this vacation was planned for Kalynn and she could not have been more thrilled. We left early Thursday morning for the trek through the Austrian Alps to our little getaway. The views in the mountains were breathtaking!!! Each dozen times I snapped photos of the snow capped peaks I kept saying "okay... no more pictures of the mountains", but they were so beautiful I tried my best to capture on film what I did not want my memory to lose. They were all taken at different points traveling up the mountain.
Waterfalls cascading down the mountains every mile or so were an exciting surprise each time. Even some of the architecture was stunning. Check out how winding the roads were on the mountain. I had to laugh when I saw the navigation display! Though it rained for most of the trip up the mountain... it was beautiful, sunny, and clear for the trip down and the duration of our vacation.
We stayed at Pra' delle Torri in Caorle (just outside of Venice). The ApartHotel we booked was perfectly located between the beach and the huuuuuge waterpark. We arrived Thursday evening, checked in and immediately hit the beach. Since we did have such a long trip, we did little more than get our feet wet, rest under the beach umbrella on the lounge, and play a bit in the sand. There was a supermarket at the resort so we picked up a couple of things (drinks, paper plates, etc) and headed back to the room to bring all of the rest of our things in. Then it was off to explore the resort. In short order we scored some cannolis, pizza, lasagna, and delicious ice cream! Honestly... I could have eaten myself into a coma!
The next couple of days we alternated between the beach and the waterpark. At first Kalynn was all about going to the beach but that was because we really hadn't done anything at the waterpark. After Friday's "after-nap visit" to the waterpark, the kid was hooked! That is all she wanted to do... the beach was little more to her than a huge sandbox full of seashells to collect. She didn't want to get back into the water (though the salt water would have helped her ailing skin that took a toll to the intense sun). She obliged us, ever, and dutifully played in the sand at the beach while awaiting her chance to go back to the waterpark.
The waterpark closed fairly early (6:00pm) so after that each day we would head out for dinner and ice cream. Also there was a very small fun/amusement park type area on the resort. Kalynn found a kiddie roller-coaster ride (The Caterpillar) that she had to ride each night. She was not really interested in anything else at the amusement area. We also rented a tandem bike/carriage and took a stroll around the entire resort. Though Marco and I were the ones pedaling, Kalynn was the one protesting that she was tired and needed to be carried as we walked back to the aparthotel. Go figure!

We concluded our vacation Sunday afternoon and returned home last night. Marco has a nice golden tan to return to work with, Kalynn has lots of memories to share at school today, and I have a lot of cannolis and pistachio ice cream to work off!

Tiergarten Nürnberg

2009-05-31T20:49:00.001+02:00

We spent the day at Tiergarten Nürnberg (Nürnberg Zoo) with my in-laws: Marco's step-father, his step-father's girlfriend, his brother and my two nieces! We had a great day. We took in a dolphin show while we were there and I was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable it was. Such a nice zoo! Kalynn loved hanging out with her cousins as much as she did the actual zoo. Enjoy some photos and a short video of a sea lion performance at the dolphin show.

London, England 2009

2009-05-24T20:08:00.005+02:00

We just got back from our anniversary trip to London, England about an hour or so ago. We had such a great time (even if my nose is filled with black soot from the London tubes). We were able to visit Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square, ride the London Eye, saw the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, strolled through and shopped at the Piccadilly Circus, stood outside the gate of the Prime Minister's place on 10 Downing Street, were impressed with the Horse Guards, and so much more. I will just let you peruse some of the photos we captured. Enjoy.

P.S. (You will also notice that we found a Krispy Kreme in London. Boy do I miss KKs while living here in Germany!)

Passport came today.

2009-05-20T17:14:00.001+02:00

Following up to the entry I posted last year (It is OFFICIAL!!!), we finally stopped dragging our feet and applied for Kalynn's German passport. It came today! I showed it to her and she asked "Mommy, where is your red one?" (the German passport is a red/burgundy color). I explained to her that "Mommy has a blue one, Daddy has a red one, and Kalynn has both". It came just in time for our trip to London tomorrow. (Not that she needed it because we have her U.S. one, but it will be kinda cool to travel within Europe with her European passport. ***I know, I'm a dork!).

What a wonderful experience for me!

2009-05-15T08:42:00.000+02:00

So, I am tired this morning... but when am I ever going to be able to say again that it is because I spent hours in a recording studio last night! Well, I can say it today for sure because that is exactly what I did last night. (I am kicking myself because I left my camera on my kitchen counter...!) To backtrack a little bit, I have been rehearsing with a gospel choir here in Munich that my wonderful husband found for me. Ours is part of a large group of mass choirs that a very talented vocal coach, Mano Ezoh, has assembled in different cities in Germany. (Check out the project details here.) Months of rehearsals all culminate into a concert at the end. That is what we have been diligently working toward. Last month Mano introduced a bit of a song he had written to the group. I loved it immediately!!!! He later indicated that he was making plans to take the song to a recording studio to make a track and he asked me if I would help sing the background vocals. Well.....uh... YEAH! So that is what we did. Along with several other lovely ladies and men, we recorded a wonderful gospel song with an R&B/Rock type vibe to it. It was neat to see how the guy doing the sound (yeah... don't know what he is called) took the few voices we had (I was one of only 6 sopranos) and made it sound like a huuuge choir! I also helped record the alto parts. I was asked to try tenor too but that is starting to get a bit too low for a comfortable vocal range for me, lol.
The song will be available for download from iTunes soon and I can't wait! I will be sure to share with you when it comes out so that you and all of your friends can download and enjoy it too!

Europa Park, revisited

2009-05-06T14:04:00.000+02:00

Ok, so I know that I have been a bit slow blogging about our mini -vacation to Europa Park this past weekend but I have just been so busy with doctor's visits including an MRI, an EEG, and some other type of test that was done that I could not begin to even tell you what it was (I will spare you my attempt at offering a German name for it). Thank God that all of the tests came back normal, no signs of a brain tumor, stroke, or other head trauma. Still, it has been nearly 2 years (on May 23) that I have suffered from vertigo with no known cause and as of yet no relief. From my information gathering trek on ye ole internet, I am self diagnosing this problem to be BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo). One day I will come bag and blog either an "I TOLD YOU SO"... or "oops, that is why I am not a MD" post.
ANYWAY.......... on to a recap of our great weekend. We left early Friday morning on an approximately 4 hour drive to the park. We arrived at the awesome hotel that we had booked for 2 nights (Hotel Am Park) that I was astonished to see just how close it was to the theme park. It was literally right across a narrow street. From our hotel window we watched rollercoasters and park goers. The description on the internet said that the hotel was just a few yards from the park but I really did not expect this. I was delighted. We put our bags in our room, bought 2-day tickets from the reception desk at our hotel and went straight to the park. I was pleasantly surprised at how nice and big the park is. It was set up so that each part of the park was a different European country. When we got there we caught the tail-end of a parade of nations that was pretty cool. It was kinda like Disney's character parade but with each float/entry being a different country. It was a scaled down, and more personal version of the Disney type parade. Kalynn smiled and waved at all of the people. I was also pleasantly surprised at the prices of food at the park. They reflected normal street prices! Not bloated at all. The drinks (Coke products) were the only thing that was price inflated (3 Euro for a 0.5 liter bottle) but I suspect that Coca Cola Co. probably mandated this. (I could be wrong...eh?).
We stayed until the park closed (about 6:30pm... yeah, that early) and walked back to our hotel. The next day we enjoyed complimentary breakfast in the quaint little hotel restaurant and headed to the park at opening time (9:00 am). Kalynn loved most of the rides that spin around so her daddy was obligated to ride those with her (my vertigo prevents me from enjoying most of the rides, which I really hate because I LOVE rollercoasters and spinning rides and such). Kalynn really wanted to ride a 'real' rollercoaster so we found one that she could ride with her dad. It is called Pegasus. I should add that most of the bigger rides require you to be 4 years old (no problem, Kalynn is 4 years and 1 month) AND 100 cm tall (here we have a small problem... she is 99 cm tall.) With creative hair styling and thick bottomed shoes, we just did squeak by the height requirement. Back to Pegasus, Kalynn's first 'real' rollercoaster ride. She smiled getting on the ride and happily took off. First climb and twist... no problem. Then there was the BIG drop! Just like many other theme parks this ride takes pictures of the riders on the coaster. The camera captured my baby in a moment of what looks like utter terror. Marco says that after that point she was fine again but she will tell you matter of factly that she was indeed scared and does not want to ride that again. (Although she said George wanted to ride it. Yes, her imaginary friend went with us and the cutest thing was watching her with her hand in a fist. I thought it was because she was afraid or nervous about something. She said "I'm holding George's hand"! How cute is that?)
We played up until nap time, took a short snooze in the hotel room, and then headed back to the park until closing. The next morning we checked out after breakfast and took a Sunday drive through Strasbourg, France. Kalynn watched the ducks and swans in the Rhine River and the spiders and ants on a nearby tree (the girl loves her bugs). Soon it began to sink in that we were going back home to our normal lives. This started a whining session that would last for nearly all of the trip home. Annoying as it was, it was understandable as we had such a great time. Who would want to go back home so soon?

Europa Park... Best park ever!

2009-05-04T08:03:00.000+02:00

We used the long holiday weekend (May 1st is a holiday in Germany) to take a family trip to Europa Park, Germany's largest theme park. It was the best park I have ever visited. I will post pictures and details soon so come back!

My e-book has been published!

2009-04-29T13:52:00.001+02:00

I am very excited that I am now a part of the author program on the very popular diy site YouCanMakeThis. I have purchased several eBooks from this site quite a bit in the past and now it is so awesome that other self-helpers can purchase my very own ebook. Check out the site if you get a chance. There is such a variety of projects there that you may end up purchasing a few to try yourself. (Try my "wrapped candy ribbon sculptures"... they are fun to make!) Also, don't forget to check out my store, Bow Couture Boutique Creations, I've got lots of goodies!

Flohmarkt and Tierpark

2009-04-19T17:21:00.000+02:00

Yesterday we had a busy day. Saturday morning we participated in a Kinder Flohmarkt which is a flea market for selling items for children. It was sponsored by the preschool run by Marco's job and cost us only 5 euro for the space we had. It was more like a community yard sale and I must say... I enjoyed it. It was set to begin at 10:00am but no sooner than we started to set up (at 9:30am) people were going through our boxes before we could unpack. (I guess Munich has early birds too!). We made a fair amount selling Kalynn's pre-loved items. It was a bit cold and started to rain just as we were about to pack up and go home.

After the sale, we came home and got Kalynn and her Grandma and headed to Tierpark Hellabrunn in Munich. We have been to the zoo here before but "not with Oma", Kalynn said! By the time we got there the rain had stopped and it was partly sunny. We had a good time except for the bird poop that somehow ended up on my pants at my hip. I don't know what it is about this zoo (or me) that I end up with some animal's poop on me before I leave. The last time we visited the zoo I ended up with goat poop all over the front of my shirt and pants. (They swarmed me and were climbing up to get to the feed I had in my hands I held up above my head. I vowed not to make that mistake again). Oh well... the next zoo trip will be to the one in Nürnberg... maybe I will have better luck with my clothes!

Oma visiting this week!

2009-04-13T11:48:00.000+02:00

After an Easter candy hunt at my step father-in-law's house (where Kalynn and her cousins racked up some SERIOUS loot) we drove another half hour to pick up Kalynn's oma (grandma). She is staying with us for the week and Kalynn is thrilled!!!! It is so sweet watching the affection they share for each other. (I am really going to hate leaving at the end of the year. )

72 degrees and 200 km/hr... (Gonna miss the Autobahn too!)

This is only 1/2 of the candy that Kalynn and my nieces collected!

A game of catch after all of the loot was found.

Happy Easter Everybody!

2009-04-12T14:15:00.000+02:00

I hope everyone has a Happy Easter and a great time celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ! We started early this morning (7:00am) with an Easter egg and goodies hunt for Kalynn. While I got her dressed in the outfit I made (thanks Sabrina for the fabric!), the Easter bunny was busy hiding chocolate, eggs, toys, and bunnies. She could not wait to get outside. Our neighbor had also hidden some treats for Kalynn, too! I told you she rocks!

Thanks Fonda and Sabrina for supplying me with Chick-fil-A sandwiches and Cinnabons that I dutifully kept frozen until today because I had given up bread for Lent. I munched like a mad woman on them after the egg hunt, lol! Never has reheated-from-frozen food tasted so yummy!

P.S. Sorry for the quality of the photos. Somebody (*cough-cough*...SHAUN...*cough-cough*) took the wrong battery charger when they left for home last week so I had to pull out my old trusty standby. You, my dear God son, will need ninj'in when I come to visit in a few months!

Nice, Relaxed Day

2009-04-11T19:23:00.000+02:00

Today was a relaxing day for us. Finally recovering from the "go-go-go" of our vacation with family we just took it slow today. Kalynn, Marco, and *George* went grocery shopping this morning while I slept in. I got up earlier than usual (8:30am) because of all the tea I drank the night before (kept me visiting the porcelain throne). I made a few items for my store while Kalynn played with the scraps and watched "Horton Hears a Who" with her daddy after they returned from Real.
Since our baby is 4 now, we decided to get her a 'big girl' bedroom. She has been using her same crib/day bed since she was a baby... it was the justification for buying such an expensive crib to begin with, we knew it was good quality, sturdy, and convertible into a day bed for toddlers. The old one has held up extremely well but her transition is long overdue and IKEA was calling my name! (Back home in the states that would have meant a 2+ hour drive but at our home here in Munich... just 18 minutes baby!!!!). Marco began putting it all together while Kalynn and I painted Easter eggs. When we finished the eggs and came inside she could not contain herself. She was rolling on her bed even as Marco continued to prepare everything (including disassembling the old bed). She is in the bath right now and her room is finished. She is going to love it!

KO's first Imaginary Friend

2009-04-10T21:51:00.000+02:00

Today we were introduced to Kalynn's first imaginary friend. At first she started talking about her brother, George, but as the day went on he settled in as her "best friend". She has been very descriptive and consistent about who George is. He is from HS. (This is apparently a country very far away.) He is pink like her daddy. (Caucasian). She actually had a conversation with him on her Step2 play kitchen phone. He apparently agreed then to come over to visit and have a sleep over. The cutest thing was how excited she was when she ran upstairs to announce to me that George was at the front door. She smiled and beamed as she held my hand to go downstairs to open the door. Later she put an extra juice box into the refrigerator for George and then went up to her room and got a blanket to bring downstairs and put on the couch for George when he comes to sleep over. Before she took a bath tonight, we were tickling each other. After we took turns a couple of times, she asked me to tickle George too. What an imagination!

Kalynn Loves Frau K.

2009-04-08T17:46:00.000+02:00

We are very fortunate to have such a sweet neighbor. (We share a common walkway and one side wall so it is a good thing we get along.) She is a 70 year old German lady that looks and acts no more than 50. Today KO and I were outside sitting under our apple tree when she hops up and squeals "Frau K------!!!!!!!" Our neighbor was heading out somewhere on her bicycle. The two of them speak a little bit in German (at this point I am clueless about 75% of what is being said) and then Frau K takes her by the hand and goes around to the side of her house. Since she is great with Kalynn and such a sweetie, it doesn't bother me at all that I can't see Kalynn. (Yes, I totally freak out... usually... when I can't see her at all times.) They come back with a plate of Easter cookies that my neighbor had made. We took them in the house for later... but Kalynn had to sample them before she went back outside...which is huge because this kid does NOT eat cookies. That just shows you how much she loves Frau K! I'll have to catch some photos of them together planting flowers one day. Soooooo cute!

All gone :-(

2009-04-07T14:50:00.000+02:00

My sister, Sabrina, left for the U.S. this morning. She was the last of my visiting family. I had to wake KO up so that she could tell her goodbye (after she woke up on her own at 5:00 am this morning... *yikes*). Sabrina is probably drooling on a pillow at cruising altitude right now! To all of my family that visited us last week, I love you and miss you already!

Goodbye visitors and welcome 70°F weather!!!!

More on Venice, Italy (as promised)

2009-04-04T11:28:00.000+02:00

With only my sister left visiting in Germany right now (Shaun and Daddy are in the air as I type and Fonda arrived home just yesterday) I found a little time to write a bit more about our trip to Italy earlier this week as promised.

We left my house pretty early Monday morning (3/30/09) headed on a 5 hour drive to Venice. True to form... we Americans had to stop at a McDonald's for breakfast along the way.

We didn't feel too bad though because the lure of McDonald's was obviously too powerful for the German police too, lol.

After a long drive (with many stops... at which my Daddy always ate something, except for the one when we were pulled out by the Italian border police for a random check) we finally arrived in Venice. Since Venice is a city on water, we had to park our car in a huge public parking garage and walked to the pier to find transportation across the water. We were quickly approached by a gentleman offering the use of his private boat as opposed to the public boat. His selling point was 1 hour ride on the public boat (many stops along the way) or 20 minutes with him. We were tired... so private boat it was!

Another advantage of this boat was that it went under bridges and through small canals so we got to see alot more.

Once we got to our rooms, we checked in and headed back out for some sight-seeing. We had an incredibly quaint view from the windows in our room of an alley. I think I have seen a picture like that before.

While walking the in-roads of Venice, we came upon several gelato (ice cream) vendors/shops. They have the best ice cream ever! I ate a scoop of pistachio every chance I got. Daddy had his fair share of gelato even though he gave up ice cream for Lent! (I gave up bread which is incredibly difficult to do in Italy for me... I didn't give in though). Daddy just ate his gelato and prayed for forgiveness, lol. There is a photo I took of him with two ice cream cones in his hands that I promised I wouldn't post. Now that was funny!

Fonda and Shaun found a pizzeria that offered an "American Style" pizza that had, of all things, hot dogs and french fries for toppings. They both said that it was delicious. So there you go, an idea for your next homemade pizza.

One of my favorite shots from this trip was taken inside of our hotel. It is one of Shaun and Kalynn playing in the hallway. He would climb down a couple of steps on his knees and sneak around the corner and "judi chop" Kalynn. She laughed the most delightful and sweet laugh every time he would sneak around the corner. I want to remember that joy forever. It was the most sweet and loving sight. Papa also knows how to keep his only grandchild smiling too.

One of the highlights of the trip for Kalynn was the Piazza San Marco, not because it has shares her daddy's name... not because it is a stunningly beautiful landmark, not even because of the view. She had a blast chasing the Venetian pigeons that the Piazza San Marco is also famous for. Everywhere you look, people were taking photographs of them and with them. Some had 5-7 of them resting on their heads, arms, hands and shoulders. (I'm sure that photo will make a great memory for some but I just kept thinking "Ewwwwe... nasty". I was content, however, to watch my little one chase them around.

My favorite part of our trip was the gondola ride simply because I have always wanted to take one. We all took the same one and it was great (except for when we first got on the gondola and it kept listing to one side. Marco assured us that it wouldn't tip over but it was unnerving nonetheless.

Wednesday evening we took the city boat back to the parking garage (we didn't mind all of the stops then) and headed home. We made a few stops on the way home to stretch and take a break and apparently to sit inside giant tractor wheels at an autobahn gas station! Nice... real nice. LOL.

Last day for Daddy and Shaun

2009-04-03T23:02:00.000+02:00

My Daddy and Shaun are leaving early tomorrow morning to head back to the United States. Not wanting to waste any time here we took a day trip to Österreich (Austria) since it is very close to Marco's dad's house (where we were to be guest for a fabulous dinner). We visited Braunau am Inn, the place where Adolf Hitler was born. It was a very quaint and charming little town. We did not stay there too long because we had THE best lasagna our taste buds have ever had the pleasure to meet waiting on us at my father-in-law's house. (Sorry Sonya, but Shaun said it was even better than yours, lol.) My fil is Italian so when he cooks a meal, the food just keeps on coming! Lasagna, steak, turkey, chicken, bruschetta, smoked salmon, salad and finally a cake that Marco's sister made for Kalynn's birthday. After dinner and a small "game" of basketball between my brother-in-law, Gian Luca, Daddy and Shaun we walked to a nearby Italian ice cream parlor where we were treated to some tasty ice cream! We were so impressed that the ice cream looked just like it did on the menu. How often does that happen?!?! They get an A+ for presentation alone.

We are back home now and the boys are packing for the US. Shaun read Kalynn a bedtime story and is winding down for the night. I'm just reflecting on what a great time we've had. It is not quite over yet since my sister doesn't leave until Tuesday but I count this vacation as a HUGE success!

*This picture is of Daddy at a bakery near his hotel. He, along with my sister, have become quite adventurous and proficient at ordering what they want while not speaking 'a lick' of german! They are too cute.

Schloss Neuschwanstein

2009-04-02T19:04:00.000+02:00

A day trip to the Neuschwanstein Castle in the mountains of Bavaria was buttressed by beautiful 65 degree weather and a delightful mix of white snow and green grass. This is one amazing palace. For history on the castle, check this Wiki page. (Hohenschwangau Castle is also very pretty. We got a great view of it from the bridge from Neuschwanstein).The trip from our house took about 2 hours but seemed like no time as we enjoyed picture perfect scenery. Snow capped mountains, beautiful rustic farm houses, frozen lakes... everything dreams are made of was before us. I got to spend some great one-on-one time with my sister, watched my God son chase my daughter around, and smiled as my husband beamed with pride at how happy he made me by putting this whole vacation together for me! We took a horse and carriage ride up as far as we could go (I think we got the gassiest horse, lol) and walked the scenic path to the castle. Shaun and Kalynn sat up front with the carriage driver so although they saw a lot more, they also smelled a lot more. (Sorry kids!). I think that Shaun is hooked, he doesn't want to leave (except that I think he would miss his girlfriend waaaaaaaaaaaay too much, lol). Enjoy the photos!

On the way back we even drove through someone's house! Check out that photo. That was very cool. What was NOT cool was being stuck behind an odl. This is a german farming tank filled with cow pee that farmers use to fertilize soil. Ewwwwwwwe! This thing stinks like nothing you have ever smelled before. Wow.

Happy Birthday, Kalynn!!!!!!

2009-04-01T13:50:00.000+02:00

Today my baby turned 4 years old!!!!! Marco and I shared a small cry this morning as we realized just how fast our little girl is growing up. She is truly the light of our lives and proof that God blesses His people even though we could never do enough to deserve it. Happy Birthday Baby! Mommy and Daddy love you soooooooooooooo much! Thank you for making our lives worth living and thank you for the love that you share with us each day.

I am so glad Kalynn was able to share this day with family from "home" in the U.S.A. today. She wanted her God brother Shaun and Mrs. Fonda to walk her to school this morning. Her PaPa and her aunt Sabrina had to pick her up. She could not have been more thrilled!

As soon as she wakes up we are headed to Lollihop for part two of her birthday celebration (part one was Venice, Italy!).

Oh my gosh! We are loving Venice, Italy!!!!!

2009-03-31T23:40:00.000+02:00

We are having so much fun in Venice, Italy! I promise to blog about our trip a bit more later but in the mean time enjoy a few candid shots from our adventure. ("Don't go ninj'in nobody don't need ninj'in!"... ***You have to be Shaun or Kalynn to truly understand and appreciate this phrase, lol!)

It is cold and rainy, but they are HERE!!!!

2009-03-29T13:52:00.000+02:00

After quite a few switcheroos with Delta Airline in the U.S., my family finally made it to Germany this morning. They are all taking a nap right now since I fed them a big American breakfast (except for Daddy, he never sleeps). We took a bus and a subway ride to the Marienplatz. There were hoards of tourists there in the rain with cameras ready to take photos and videos of Munich's famous Glockenspiel. We were able to capture the moment as well.
We also toured the Frauenkirche where Shaun said a prayer and lit a candle. At this church you can find the devil's footprint burned into the floor in the foyer.

"The legend goes: This is a black mark resembling a footprint with a small hooked tail at the heel, which, according to legend, was where the devil stood when he curiously regarded and ridiculed the windowless church that Halsbach had built. In fact, it is a large casting in the square base plate, and none of the side windows can be seen from the spot when one looks to the high altar. In another Version of the Legend the devil made a deal with the builder that no windows were to be built in the church. But the devil was tricked by the clever builder who had set the columns so that you couldn't see a single window from a certain spot in the entrance hall where the devil stood. When the devil found out he was tricked the church was already consecrated so he couldn't enter but left a footprint at the entrance where he madly stomped his foot. (Source: Wikipedia)"

It is still raining right now... we may just stay in and rest and get ready for our trip to Venice, Italy tomorrow!

We're getting excited that family is visiting...

2009-03-28T13:14:00.000+01:00

My dad, sister, God son, and one of my best friends are all about to board a plane in just a few hours to come visit! They are leaving Saturday but due to the flight time (10 hours) and time difference (6 hours), they will not be here until Sunday morning (Berlin Time). I am so excited that I have so much nervous energy I need to expend. I did make KO and outfit from the fabric she chose. She said "here, Mommy, I like this 'fagric', make me something." Her daddy loved the matching hair accessories! I loved the ego boost.
Anyway, back to our family's upcoming visit. I just got off of the phone with my God son, Shaun. Just like a typical teenager he was more concerned about whether or not the malls in Germany have the same type of clothes and stuff that they do in the U.S. than the long flight. In this instance I am glad for that way of thinking because at least I know he is not worried about the flight (with all of the recent airplane crashes). On the hand, my friend Fonda has never been on an airplane before... I think she is looking into sedation, lol!
In the meantime, fairy princess Kalynn has sprinkled every room in our house with fairy dust while we eagerly await their arrival. See you guys in about 18 hours or so.

Stomach in knots

2009-03-25T09:32:00.000+01:00

Today KO is going on her first field trip with her class. They are studying "Erde (Earth)" right now and her group planned a trip to a local Schrebergarten and will see their Komposthaufen (compost heap) and process. They will catch a couple of buses and walk the rest of the way there. I am a nervous wreck! I know she will be fine but it took me a long time just to get use to her being away from me at the kindergarten... away from the kindergarten is a whole other creature. If I hadn't given up bread products for Lent I would sooooooooooo demolish a cake right now!

We got our new car today, yippee!

2009-03-20T17:35:00.000+01:00

It is only another 9 days until family arrives in Munich to visit us for Kalynn's birthday and our small 2-door coupe was not going to be of any use to us with a total of 7 people! Today, though, we got our new car!!!! It is a seven-seater, so we will get 'em all in (may be a snug fit, but a fit nonetheless). When we got off of the bus just a few minutes ago (today was gymnastics day for KO) Marco was installing the car seat. Kalynn ran down the street yelling "Daddyyyyy".
She was so excited about 'her' new car. She supervised the installation of the car seat and wanted to sit in the front afterward to check out all of the buttons and gadgets. I seized that moment to get 10-15 minutes of quiet time in the house while I could! I'm looking out the windows and the sun is now shining and it is snowing. Well, at least her allergies were better today, lol.

This stinks!!!

2009-03-19T13:38:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was a bit warmer than it has been in awhile (probably around 45 maybe even 50 degrees). The sun was shining a bit so we got excited and decided to go outside in the yard to play (Kalynn didn't want to go to the park, she just wanted to play on her own playset/swingset). That was cool, it was nice to be outside. Shortly after we went outside she sneezed one or two times. Although it did cause me to raise an eyebrow I didn't think much of it... afterall, it is supposed to snow again this weekend so I am not in the "Springy" state of mind and all that comes with the Spring season. Fast forward to just after our trip to IKEA, right before bathtime. The little one's cheeks are rosy and her eyes are watery. Surely this is not pollen allergies attacking my baby already?!?!?!? Marco gave her some Claritin before bed but it seems to be too little too late. She was miserable all night and today she has been sneezing and her nose has been running non-stop. I feel so bad for her, she seems miserable. She always has such a time with pollen. It has covered our car already! When I picked her up from school her nose and eye area were so raw from rubbing. (Sabrina... I know you are reading this... Your niece needs some Claritin when you come!)

The local ice cream shop just opened back up this week and since she was so miserable and a bit whiney with it, I took her for some "vanilla therapy"! Please send up some prayers for Kalynn, she really does suffer during pollen season and I don't want her to repeat the cycle this year.

Studying Earth/Dirt/Soil

2009-03-17T13:38:00.000+01:00

(Picture of moles the children crafted.)

The kindergarten has moved from fire and air on to an earth theme. I snapped a couple of photos of some of the "projects" the kids are working on.

Can't wait to see what she comes home with.

Going NAPtural today!

2009-03-16T13:18:00.000+01:00

Kalynn's hair is showing signs that it needs a break from being pulled up into a puff again so she will be sporting her "naptural" hair. It is super thick and curly so it is 'bushing out' but a little princess band helps to keep it under control and adds a little bit of color. Her teachers LOVE it like this and all the kids want to touch it!

When Aunt Sabrina visits in a couple of weeks, I hope she will twist Kalynn's hair again. I do not have the patience right now. (As the little one says, "Mommy is grumpy".)

Finally... she likes dressing as a princess!

2009-03-03T13:08:00.000+01:00

Kalynn is a diva and a princess through and through but she never really was interested in 'dressing' the part (at least not like I wanted her too). Today after naptime she went downstairs for a few minutes and came back up as Princess Olivia (yeah, she likes to use her middle name sometimes). I was soooooooooo delighted that she had put down her snakes and dragons for awhile to indulge MY visions.

In the video she is complaining about "stinky animals", lol. Diva.

Videos as promised!

2009-02-15T12:46:00.000+01:00

Here are a couple of videos from our Valentine's Day "sledfest" (lol). Thanks for watching!

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T12:41:00.000+01:00

I just wanted to say Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. I hope you each felt loved today. The Nestola family spent time together in the snow today. We had fun shoving our baby girl down a big hill to fend for herself. Okay... we went sledding and she insisted on going down the slope by herself. I even rode on her sled with her. I don't think I have ever taken the opportunity to sled before so this is my first time. We had so much fun. When it was over Kalynn was so tired... well, just check out the pictures to see how tired she was. (In the photo gallery). I will try to post a video or two on the blog tomorrow. Cute stuff.

Below is a photo of Kalynn and her "best friend" from school, Amalie, on Kalynn's sled. She was so happy to see Amalie at "The Hill"!

Earth, Wind, Fire, Water

2009-02-08T12:39:00.000+01:00

Kalynn's class has been studying Wind/Air for a couple of weeks (they just finished up 'fire' and she loved that). They have been, of course, centering their activities around the theme of Air. One of the things they have been doing is this little rhyme. It is in German. Do not ask me to translate as all that I do these days is listen for my name! She getting better and better with the language. (And yes she is in her pj's.)

More Snow!

2009-01-28T12:37:00.000+01:00

We got some more snow today! Since we are just about over our colds Kalynn got to ride the new sled her Daddy bought her. It was dark and Marco had the wrong settings on the camera but you can get a good idea of how much fun she had from this short clip.

So... yeah... I know it is almost February but Happy New Year!

2009-01-25T12:30:00.000+01:00

So I haven't blogged since... um.. last year! Sorry about that. (Can't promise you that it won't happen again...) Anyway... We went home for Christmas and have been battling colds since we have been back (except Marco, who never gets sick). I have also had a hard time with sleeping. Kalynn and I both are sick right now but we got out of the house anyway and visited this huge indoor play place called Lollihop. Last week we went to one called Jogolis. Didn't take pictures there since we decided last minute, on the road, to go there. It was fun but was nothing compared to Lollihop today. Admission inside Lollihop, for all 3 of us together, was €15 for unlimited amounts of fun. The only thing that costs to ride is the indoor roller coaster and they give you two tokens in the price of admission so you only pay if you want to ride more than twice. (There is also a game room in the back for older kids that require money). They have a train ride, indoor bumper boats, tons of 'climbers', moon-bounces, tricycles, slides, ride-on cars, and much more. Kalynn did not want to leave so of course she cranked up the water works. Luckily there were slushies at one of the concession stands near the exit... she loves slushies even when it is freezing outside. I think we will return to celebrate Kalynn's birthday there. We have one more play place to check out but I don't think it will compare to Lollihop. Anyway, enjoy the short video below and be sure to check out the photo gallery for a few pictures.

Holiday Baking!

2008-12-13T12:23:00.000+01:00

OH SO CUTE!!!

We got more snow!

2008-12-12T12:15:00.000+01:00

The preferred mode of travel for kids this snowy day! (Now Kalynn wants one because she is "so very, very, very tired Mommy.")

This daddy lost his rider! Oops!

Yeah... I enjoy this!

Stylist to the stars!

2008-12-01T12:11:00.000+01:00

Marco was on a roll this weekend. He broke out a cache of black hair care products and healthy dose of confidence and took to hair styling. He not only washed and blow dried Kalynn's hair... but he also put a chemical relaxer in my hair (oh no he didn't). Kalynn had fun modeling her blown out fro before bedtime.

Forget about seeing pictures of my hair... it ain't gonna happen.

Yay!!! We finally got enough snow for Kalynn to play in!

2008-11-24T12:04:00.000+01:00

It was supposed to snow starting last Friday. Well, we got a light dusting Saturday and scattered flurries Sunday in our area despite some areas have tons and tons of the white stuff. Kalynn was really disappointed because she wanted to throw snowballs. Last night we went to a Christmas Bazaar at her school and on the way home we corralled enough snow with our feet and hands for Kalynn to palm a snowball (think 25% snow; 75% dirt/leaves/grass/mulch). It was all we could do but she called it a snowball anyway and happily threw it at me. There was no snow in the forecast for this week so we left it at that. Imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning to some real, tangible snow... enough for SNOWBALLS!!! We were excited. I dressed Kalynn warmly for school (ok, I forgot to put her snow pants on her so I had to drop them off at school later) and we headed out for our trek. I was pelted by more snowballs than I have ever been and loved every icy hit!

He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!

2008-11-20T11:58:00.000+01:00

Kalynn got to mail her Christmas wish list to Santa! She apparently wasn't happy with the plain envelope so she decided to embellish it herself before we mailed it. It is going to the North Pole. What is funny is that she obviously thinks that as soon as she mailed it, it was "delivered" because when she woke up from her nap she said "I'm ready to open my presents now." She said "I sent Santa the list". Anyway, she is supposed to get a letter back from Santa. She will like that I am sure.

Don't play "dodge" with a city bus!

2008-11-18T11:54:00.000+01:00

This morning after I returned from Marktkauf (one of the nearby grocery stores I frequent) I sat in my studio to get some internet time. While I was surfing I heard an ambulance. This is nothing new because from time to time I hear one while it is on its way to some location not close to me. This time I kept hearing the siren. I was going out to do some more shopping (this time for Christmas stuff for Kalynn). Well, I go to get in my car and finally realize why I kept hearing the ambulance. Just a few meters from my house a city bus has hit a van. It was a mess, not because the accident was horrible but because the double long bus was blocking our narrow street and already 3 other buses were stuck on either side of it. It was kinda funny watching the people around the corner at the bus stops that had no idea what had happened impatiently checking their watches. Of course I was probably the funny one walking to the scene of the accident with my camera, lol. I am still nosy after all!!

Permanent License

2008-11-15T11:50:00.000+01:00

Back in September I wrote that I had gotten my temporary driver's license and was awaiting the 'real' ones. Well, they finally came last month. I had to turn my temporary 'paper' license in to get my plastic one. I feel so sPeCiAl now!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T10:44:00.000+01:00

Halloween is not a big event here in Germany. Since Kalynn goes to a German kindergarten, I did not expect any type of celebration nor any children to be in costume at school like they do in The States. Well, they didn't disappoint! So, one of my American friends here in Germany and I decided to have a small party for our children (along with another American friend) since we don't know how the whole "trick-or-treat" thing works here. The party was so much fun. Three 3 year olds and two 9-month old children were a perfect size group. We had games, coloring, painting, and of course eating. Since I coordinated all of the games, decorations, treats, prizes, and use of my home... I did not have to cook a thing. If you know me, you know that is a good thing. (hehehe)

I was also surprised by the number of German kids (and teens/adults) that did come to our door. Here is a picture of our first trick-or-treaters.

Each time they came to the door they would sing a phrase in German. I could not make out what it was but since I did not want tp in the trees or steamy bags of dog doo on the steps, I just smiled and gave up the goods! You can see more pictures of the party in our photo gallery. Hope you scored lots of candy!

Decided to try my hand at writing an...

2008-10-21T11:41:00.000+02:00

eBook! Most of you know that I sell fabulous (if I may say so myself) hair accessories in my online store. One of the pieces I sell is called a Wrapped Peppermint Candy Ribbon Sculpture . This single item had the most fans of any one piece in my store at the time so I decided to create an eBook with instructions on how you can make your very own. Here is Kalynn modeling the final product.

If you are feeling crafty and want to try your hand at making these delightful pieces of hair candy, just click here for My eBook!. If you make one from my eBook yourself, I would LOVE to see it.

Update to the "fire stick" crisis

2008-10-17T11:36:00.000+02:00

So, I went to school to pick Kalynn up and I found the @#$% stick where I tossed it yesterday. It was broken, water logged, dirty, and limp. I "presented it" to Kalynn as she was getting her bike (and mumbling something about looking for her stick). She lit up like a Christmas Tree and said "Oh Mommy, you found my fire". You have got to see this thing. Nothing special but she knew it on sight in all of its broken/water logged/dirty/limp glory! I'm not Mom-zilla for the moment.

Ever argue with a 3 year old?

2008-10-17T11:35:00.000+02:00

Unfortunately, it is 8:30 in the morning and I know already that it is going to be one of those days! We got up this morning to get ready for school. Everything was cool until we walked outside to go. Kalynn's bicycle is parked next to our steps... no problem so far. Every morning she pulls it onto our walkway, removes the plastic cover we put on her seat to keep it dry (aka - hotel shower cap... you know the ones housekeeping leaves in the bathroom but you never really use but find the need to pack anyway... maybe that is just me... ) then she climbs on to head for school. This morning she caught a SERIOUS attitude because she could not find her 'fire stick'. Huh? It was still early for me so I am trying to figure out what she is rambling on about until it hit me. Two days ago she came home from a walk around the neighborhood with her Daddy with a long piece of wheat/grass/grain looking thing. Apparently the way it was made resembled fire to her. She took it to school yesterday in the sack on her bike. I told her to leave it on her bike because I did not want her to take it in the school. No problem. It was raining pretty heavy when it was time to pick her up so instead of walking I drove the car to get her. I put her in and then went back to get to unlock her bike to put in the trunk. I tossed the grain thingy and shoved her bike in the trunk (all while getting wet). She never said anything about it. This morning she must have remembered. It is rather chilly today so we are standing outside freezing while I try to explain to her that she is going to have to go to school without her 'fire stick' because there is no 'fire stick'. She at first refused to get on her bicycle. Then I did the "1-2-3" count (you know the one where the kid thinks that if she doesn't comply by 3 something is going to happen). She unwillingly climbed on the bike by 3. Then she just slumped down on it as if to say "Well I'm on it but you didn't say anything about riding it". I give the bike a little push to get her going like I always do. It just goes off to the side into our "welcome" banner while she is still slumped on the handlebars. I'm getting cold and ticked right now. I abruptly grab her and sit her up on the bike which scared her so now she is screaming bloody murder and producing some pretty impressive crocodile tears to match. She is pedaling slower than molasses flows on the way to school. I am pushing and fussing. Then I try to just keep walking when she falls behind so that she would just catch up to me. Not working much there either. I end up having to stop or go back and get her. (I REALLY hate that stick right now)! About 3/4 of the way there she said to me: "I can take care of myself at home. Mommy, can I just take care of myself at home?" Apparently "No" was not the right answer because after that I had to push her on her bike the rest of the way to school. No I need a time out!

Another tub time funny!

2008-10-10T11:33:00.000+02:00

Bath time continues to yield some funny things from the 3.5 year old adult that lets us live in her house. Tonight Marco went to get Kalynn out of the tub. She has a tub full of toys/junk and listens to stories on cd while she plays. Apparently tonight she wasn't quite ready to get out and a bit annoyed by Daddy's intrusion. Marco came in to let the water out of the tub and she said: "Could you please not bother me. I'm in my office!"

I'm just going to leave that one alone!

What do you think?

2008-10-08T11:29:00.000+02:00

So last night Kalynn was in the tub for bath time. Unfortunately she has given up her midday nap (*>>>insert tears here<<<*) so she is not getting as much total sleep. Well, last night she could barely keep her head up while in the tub. At one point she was resting her head on the side of the tub. Marco runs to get the camera. Meanwhile she "wakes up" a little. We ask her if she is sleepy because she is yawning quite a bit to which she replies- "I'm not yawning... I'm just stretching my mouth!" Now that is funny!

You be the judge. Is she sleepy or not?

'Drizzly'land 2008 - Paris, France

2008-10-05T11:08:00.000+02:00

As mentioned before... we are back from our adventure in Paris. We were there for 5 days and there was light rain for most of the day, each day, hence the term Drizzlyland! That did not stop us from going to the park everyday. The park opens at 10:00 am but if you stay at one of Euro Disney's Resorts (which we did) you get the two extra "Magic Hours" and can go at 8:00 am. We were still getting up/having breakfast at that time so we made it to the park around 10:00am each day, stayed until 2:30 pm or so, took the shuttle bus back for a nap, and then went back to the park until closing. It was great. Kalynn mostly rode the same rides over and over. After being afraid of it at first, the "It's a Small World" ride became her favorite and we ended up riding it about 5 times a day. That was okay because it was probably the one ride that never had a wait time. It was a pain to have to walk all the way around (through the miniature small world building and back to the front of the ride) each time but after a few times one of the ride attendants recognized us as 'regulars' and she let us get back on without having to exit the ride area. SWEET! She later recognized Kalynn on the teacup ride too! Her other favorite rides were Dumbo and Sir Lancelot's Carousel.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of Disneyland Paris so each night the characters held a "Candle-abration" outside of the castle. In celebration, Cinderella's castle was adorned with beautiful candle lighting for the night time show. I only wish I could have captured how spectacular it looked on camera. When it lit up, it was a WOW moment for us.

It was cool hearing all of the different languages people spoke at the park. It seemed that the majority of the folks we heard were from the UK, Australia, or France. No matter the language, there was some serious child spoiling going on at Parc Disneyland and the Nestola family (*cough, cough*... Marco) was not different. It started the first day. Our flight out of Munich was 2 hours late so of course Daddy had to buy Kalynn something at the airport while we waited. Okay... not too bad... just a small stuffed cat. But since our flight was late, by the time we got to Paris (just in time to catch the last bus from Charles de Gaulle International Airport to our resort) it was too late to go to the park so of course Daddy had to go to the resort gift shop to get a few compensatory items. And on and on the trend continued. I have to admit, though, that it was hard not to indulge because it was such a magical time, drizzly rain and all.

You can see lots more photos in our photo gallery and check out the video on our homepage!

We're back...

2008-10-03T11:05:00.000+02:00

We just got back a couple of hours ago from Euro Disney in Paris, France. Stay tuned for an update and pictures!

Oktoberfest in Munich

2008-09-28T11:00:00.000+02:00

Well, it is that time of year where the beer steins are running over, and over, and over! Oktoberfest is in full swing. We decided to attend with another expat family we know. Marco even dressed the part, he shelled out the money for lederhosen (and looked darned handsome in them too, I might add). Kalynn finally got to wear her dirndl that her Opa bought for her awhile back. (Maybe I will get a dirndl for next year...) They looked so adorable together so I was happy. Kalynn was just happy to be going to Oktoberfest with her best bud Joshua. They were so cute holding hands while walking to the U-bahn and while on the train. We didn't stay long but it was still a neat experience. (I will spare you the tales and pictures of all of the drunk people we witnessed! All I can say is...WOW!).

Thats a load of garbage!

2008-09-26T10:49:00.000+02:00

Literally! Today is one of the many "trash" collection days that I have yet to keep up with. The reason is, Germany is HUGE on recycling so we don't have just the one size fits all 'trash can' to worry about. At home we have 3 different bins for different types of trash and they each are picked up on a different schedule. Today (and I think every Friday) is Restmüll day. This is the black bin that apparently everything else that has not been already sorted goes into. Uhhh, simply put, it is the rest. This could include diapers, napkins, hygiene items, gum, cigarette butts, paint, dirty packaging, wallpaper, etc. The Bio-Tonne is for kitchen and garden biodegradeable type waste. Egg shells, leftovers, grass clippings, weeds, cat litter, and the like go into the brown Bio-tonne container. (Ewww, cat turds and roses, not a designer fragrance I want to smell). The third container we have is Papier-Tonne. This one is for waste paper products. As long as the paper products are not heavily soiled, this one is pretty easy to master.

There are also 'community-type bins' for collection of other waste. On either corner of our street are about 4 bins for different colored glass and metals. I don't know how frequently these are collected but it pretty cool watching the crane lift these huge container up to empty them into different spots on the back of the massive truck. Also there is a container for old clothes. This is distributed to the poor. Unwanted household objects such as old frying pans, curling irons (that reminds me... I sooooooo need a perm), mixers and such are "recyclable bulk waste", and are taken either to a local recycling center. It is no wonder the landfills here are so small!

Heck on Wheels!

2008-09-23T10:39:00.000+02:00

With the exception of the first day, Kalynn rides her bicycle to school everyday. She loves it. She is getting better at manuevering and such. She still has some work to do by way of paying attention to where she is going. She has a habit of looking in a totally different direction than she is riding. So far she hasn't taken any spills but I know it is only a matter of time. She likes to put the lock on her bicycle when we arrive at school. She is a creature of habit and parks her bicycle in the same spot everyday. Today there was another bike in "her" spot and she tried her darndest to get her bike as close to "her" spot as possible.

This week, so far, is not going as smoothly as her first week back as far as tears shed. She has cried both days when I dropped her off. Most of it is 'show' (remember I told you she is a true drama queen), but then she gets so worked up she makes it all too real for herself. She doesn't cry for any more than 5 minutes, though. And... here's the thing... she cried both days when I picked her up because she didn't want to leave yet! I am waiting on that happy medium.

Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy

2008-09-21T10:32:00.000+02:00

This morning Kalynn and her daddy sneaked off to the Munich Aquarium while I yielded to sleep. (I love that he lets me sleep in on the weekends!). They left at about 10:30am and I waved to Kalynn as she passed by our house on the 140 bus to Sea-Life. Of course she got to bring home some souvenirs (her daddy is, afterall, tightly coiled around Kalynn's tiny little finger). Nemo and a shark were her whimsy of choice today. These tiny little plush animals will hold a very special place in Kalynn's life for about 37 minutes I am sure. Notice she is wearing the tutu that she did not want a day or so ago. She loved wearing it to the aquarium and being "the only princess there". I think that every little girl should own a tutu. They are so cute and fun and makes 'em feel special. Who can't help but smile at a little one in a tutu?

Tutu cute!

2008-09-19T10:28:00.000+02:00

Okay, I had to share some things that were too, too cute today. Recently I told Marco about a friend of mine that has a daughter that just turned 3. My friend said that her daughter tells her all the time "Mommy you're looking good today!" and that that always seems to come at the right moment. Well Kalynn has never done this before. In fact she is quick to tell me that my hair is "a hot mess" more times than I care to hear. Well, apparently my dear husband wanted me to feel good so he was with Kalynn downstairs while I was upstairs coaching her to say something like 'I look pretty today'. Obviously the trip upstairs was a bit taxing on her memory. She marched up to me and said... "Mommy, you look round today!" Well, at least we all got a good laugh out of that one. I politely said, "Yes, Mommy is round. Round is a shape. Therefore Mommy is in shape"! (A desperate attempt to downplay the obvious, lol).
The other tutu cute item I wanted to share is this precious little tutu I made today. I made it for Kalynn but being true to her tiny little fickle self, she decided she no longer wanted a tutu. "Give it to Didem" she ordered. By the end of dinner today she was talking about HER tutu. Did I mention she was fickle and darn cute!

I've got my papers...

2008-09-19T01:39:00.000+02:00

Today we went to the Führerscheinstelle (uhhhhh, DMV) and I finally have my German driver's license. Technically I don't have the actual license in hand, I have a temporary one until my 'real' one is ready. They do not make the licenses on site like in the US. I will get a letter in the mail in a couple/two/three weeks when my license is ready to be picked at which time I will have to go back to the Führerscheinstelle and 'take a number'. (Some things don't change no matter where you are, lol). This license allows me to drive, legally, anywhere within the European Union. Hooray for International driving privileges. I am glad that South Carolina is one of the states in the US that has a reciprocal recognition of driver's licenses which meant that I was exempt from taking the written and road tests here. That saved me a big headache and about €425. (currency converter) You are allowed to drive for up to 6 months on your US license... but my time will be up in a couple of weeks!

It is OFFICIAL!!!!

2008-09-18T01:36:00.000+02:00

It is official. As of today, Kalynn is a German citizen! She now holds dual citizenship in the United States and Germany. Hey, as a dual national she could work in any European Union nation without having to secure permits now. (Anybody know any companies hiring 3 year olds? We are applying for her German EU passport soon... how cool is that!?!
I really need to start working on my german language skills... the Germans are taking over! I'm being outnumbered... its a good thing I love 'em.

School is back in session!

2008-09-17T01:09:00.000+02:00

Well, the school year is back in session for the little people of Munich! While I am putting on my dutiful Mommy face on the outside...(*oh, my baby is leaving me... yada yada yada... she's growing up... blah blah blah...*) I am celebrating on the inside! (*hello-o-o-o, Can you hear that???... the sound of silence! If only for a short while.) Most of you know that my child is a little chatterbox with a broken "off" switch, so no big shocker that I sometimes crave quiet. Anyway, we just walked to school about 30 minutes ago. I love that her school is within walking distance. Kinda cool. She wanted to ride her bike this morning but I think we will try that tomorrow since first days can be kinda hectic and off putting. I am so proud to say that at least on this first day she did not cry. Her friend Didem came out to greet her and Kalynn was off. Sadly, my dadgum camera died right after I took shots of her leaving our house. (Yes, I said 'dadgum'... I'm from the south and have a God given right to say it). What you don't see in the picture is the coat I put on her afterward since it is a cool 40 degrees here right now. I had to get Marco to bring down one 'installment' of Kalynn's fall/winter clothes. (I say installment because it is only about a 1/3 of her clothes and was 'pert near' 100 pieces!!!).
I will be going to pick her up in a couple of hours and I have the batteries charging so I will snap a couple of more pics. Until then... "Love, Peace, and Hair Grease"!

***UPDATE***

Okay, as promised, I took more photos when I picked KO up from Kindergarten.

She had to stop and pick up a leaf and then inspect a schnecke (snail). They are really rather pretty with the designs on their shells. When it rains there are many along the walkway... and she thinks she has to stop and look at each one. (Even has the nerve to ask me to pick 'em up).

Just for the record, german Kindergarten is basically like US preschool. In Kalynn's class there are children from ages 3 up to 6. After that age they go to Grundschule (equivalent to primary school). It is great to have children of different ages in one classroom so that they can learn from each other. What is even more awesome is the number of different cultures & ethnicities represented in her class. American (she is the only one in the school), African, Turkish, French, Spanish, German (of course... we are in Germany after all), and Austrian. I love that!

A little bit about her school. We enrolled her in German Kindergarten, opting out of putting her in an english speaking kindergarten at the International School. So naturally, they speak german. KO is fortunate enough to be in a class where the teachers speak a little bit of english. When the children come to school in the morning they must change out of their street shoes and put on house shoes. These shoes are only worn inside the school which is great because who wants to play in dog poop that was wiped on the floor from the bottom of a shoe that walked to school and detoured into a mound of great dane doo? They also have gym shoes which are unlike the 'typical' gym shoes you may be thinking of. They're more like ballet shoes. They are soft and a bit fitted and the sole is flexible. They look like this. This keeps children from getting injured by hard shoes on flying feet. She takes her own snack to school (the kids that stay all day have lunch provided but KO only goes for a few hours). She must have been hungry today because practically all of her snack was finished when I checked her lunch box!

There are more pictures in our photo gallery. You can link to it from our home page!

Yay! We are finally blogging!!!

2008-09-14T00:49:00.000+02:00

OK... We have been in Germany now for 5 months and I am just now getting a blog up. You know what I am about to say... "better late then never!" It was a great day today, albeit rainy, but fun just the same. We participated our first ever Expat BMW Family Day at Legoland Germany! Kalynn was still getting over some ick she picked up from another sick friend but that did not stop her from having a ball.

She started out riding rides with her buddy Joshua (she loves playdates with him) and ended up taking Hannah Claire along for the rides. You can check out photos here!.
Well, I am tired/sleepy right now (it is after midnight following a long day). I will check back in later.

Welcome

2008-09-13T00:46:00.000+02:00

Welcome to our blog. Hopefully we will get things cranked up pretty quickly. Please check back soon for new entries