Christmas Festivities

I find myself this morning surrounded by quiet; kids to school, husband at work. Even the fog has settled in to the point of encircling my world in a visually limiting blanket, which means letting the big bad noisy world leave me alone for a minute. I pushed all the tasks aside and spent my morning in an indulgent bubble bath with a book to escape the real world for a minute. I need this quiet in order to recover from a roller coaster ride of a weekend. From receiving tragic heartbreaking news of the death of a friend who leaves behind a dear husband and 4 sweet young children, to hearing of the sweet but short 2 week reunion of a wonderful friend and her dear husband who is now traveling back to Iraq to finish his duty. I need this quiet to decompress and regenerate so that I can let the holiday cheer back in to repair and rebuilt my spirit. It helps that I have now drank my weight in Diet Coke and it is not even 11 am!

Over the past couple of weeks we have been busy little bees, enjoying the many old (American and family) and new (German) holiday traditions. Because I finally decided to smarten up a little and put a Christmas plan into place long before the sun rises on December 1st, I find myself more relaxed as we experience the month of December. Because you never know what is around the corner, i.e. roller coaster weekend, somethings have been "kicked to the curb" but I have enjoyed not being stressed so much up to this point that I am ready and fulling willing to leave it at the curb and say, "Maybe next year". Ah, letting go . . . so therapeutic.

We started early this year with the cookie decorating tradition. Why wait for the sugar treats? Bring. Them. On.

Here we are at a local Weinacht's markt. This one started in a castle ruin and then proceeded into the winding up and down cobblestone streets of the little village that houses the castle. I loved that they used whirligigs as part of the decor at the castle placing them high up on the castle walls, some hanging, some staked into the ground. Then shining light onto them to highlight them magically as you enter the Christmas scene. Here is one I took while playing around with my shutter speed. Love that effect!




Why we love Kinderpunsch! Look how toasty it is, it even fogs up Bailey's glasses, perfect for warming hearts and bellies and frosty fingers.



So the highlight of this little Christmas market for me was the kiddie rides. Why were these particular ones so special? Because it was all manually powered! See Mark in the background cranking away to provide the girls with the pleasure of a Merry Go Round ride.

Toward the end of the night we made a quick stop at another market, smaller than the first and this was the kiddie ride that was provided here. Another great thing about the smaller markets, the kiddie rides were free and fun for all!

And finally, St. Nickolaus did not let us down this year. As in the previous 2 years we have enjoyed our German Christmases and new traditions. In Germany St. Nick visits the villages of the children on the night of December 6th. He meets them in the center of the village to disperse a gift then sends them off to bed reminding them to set out an empty boot. Whether you have been a good or a bad little one you then hear a knock at the door. Then you scurry down to greet the surprise, a "booty" full of treats or an empty boot, depending on if you have been good or bad. Boy am I a lucky mom to have two little girls that have been good (and when I say good, I mean good to the core) all year long!