Easter and a Baileyism

 

 We had a pretty quiet Easter which was a nice change with the pace of life we have been sustaining. And it's not going to get any quieter now, with 2 trips planned for spring break followed by our trip back to the states for a month. But super exciting!!

Here is McKenna putting her full behind in the effort of finding eggs.

 We had company for dinner on Easter Sunday which is always fun for me.  I love to host small intimate parties, I get my fancy tablecloth's and dishes out.  But the icing on the cake is dessert, of course.  Thanks to my good friend Holly, this little beauty has become one of my "go to" sweets.  Super easy, super pretty.

This week I found out that Bailey is not too old to have her fair share of -isms.  Since advancing to middle school and becoming a tween she has had to steer her way through the difference between boys and girls.  She sure has her opinions on where she stands and what she will and will not put up with.  So much so that she came up with a list.  Let's share:

Bailey F's Essential Boy Training Tips

1. Boy proof your heart, a new or old boy can do serious damage and fast.  

2. Decide what you want.  Boys don't know the rules unless YOU set them. 

3. When making conversation, keep it short and to the point, so that they know who's boss.

4. When in doubt bribe with food or money.

These are just a few (my favorite) of a loooong list of tips, but here is the top tip:

5. When you meet a boy, be careful, some are dangerous.

And here is the recipe for the tart if anyone is interested:

1 premade tart cake (I spent a whopping 75 euro cent at Aldi for this baby).  You could also do this on pound cake. Mix, 8 oz cream cheese, 1/4 cup creme fraiche and 3 T. floral infused honey (Creme Fraiche is the equivalent of really rich sour cream so if you can't find it just use regular fat sour cream.  Regular honey is fine as well, the floral honey is found everywhere in Germany) Spread the cream cheese mixture on top of the tart. Then add fresh/frozen berries and fruit.  If your fruit looks a little dull you can warm up an addition 2 T honey and drizzle over the top.  Eat up!

Ostereier Markt

 

What in the world is that?! It is blue, blue sky my friends and it is a sight for very sore eyes.  It was so beautiful that it literally distracted me along the way.  I had a feeling of something being off and different but we were all so chipper.  Then, we realized that none of us could remember the last blue sky that we have seen since last fall.  That. is. a. darn. long. time.  I kept finding myself raising my face to it and wanting to wander, but I had to keep focused baby, we had shopping to do.  If only Dr's could find a way to bottle up sunshine and prescribe it like a happy pill . . .

 This weekend we attended the Ostereier Markt (Easter Egg Market) at the Eberbach Monastery.  This market is similar to the Christmas Market but on a much smaller scale.  Still, the artisans were just as wonderful if not better than we had hoped.  Vendors from all over Europe (which was surprising as I thought it was only German artists) to include Poland, Hungary, Austria, Denmark, Netherlands and a few others were present.  Every art element from paint, beads, string, jewels, intricate paper art and eggs carved from wood were our eye candy for the day.  Here are a few shots of the eggs we saw.

 

  

  

  

These were the vendors that really caught my eye but I must admit to being so disappointed in my photos when I returned home.  I really missed a lot of shots and the only thing I can think of to explain is that I was just so distracted and intrigued by the art work.  Every booth except the wood carved eggs were R.E.A.L. eggs from chickens, hens and geese.  Super cool. 

One portion of the market was set aside for the children.  For 1 euro the kids were handed a real (seriously) chicken egg to paint.  I was expecting plastic or wooden, a fake egg that was more durable and therefore kid friendly.  But, oh no, this is not German custom.  If you are going to do it, you do it right and you do it traditional.  For this little detail alone, German Easter Egg Markets now hold a special place in my heart and therefore pocket book as well. =)

 

The girls took this very seriously, they took their own sweet creative time and made egg masterpieces.  And look at the results:

BAILEY:

McKENNA:

 

 And here are the beauties that caught my eye.  From what I understood of the artisan, they have not been dyed.  Each egg, black, brown and mint are from different varieties of chicken and hens.  In the picture above of the beautiful white eggs with the white art, those are goose eggs.  These beauties were about the 4-5th booth in line and instantly I looked at Mark and mouthed, "I need your euro".  He said, "Don't you want to see it all and then make your choice?"  I said, "No, these are mine, all mine. muahahahah".  But don't picture evil Leslie rubbing her hands together, picture, Happy Leslie, because there is sunshine in my day and a little euro jingling in my pocket AND most importantly, the family is together which hasn't happened in a bit of time.

 

 

And how can you truly experience a German "anything" without this, wurst mit brochen (brat with bread).  It never fails whether it is a farmer's market, Christmas market, Easter Market, lunch market, breakfast market, dinner market.  It could be a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and oh yes Sunday Market.  THIS will be what is offered with very little other choices unless you want a bretzel (pretzel) or kaffee and kuchen (coffee and "to die for" cake).  You can't get it to go, because they only have real plates.  You can't rush it, because eating is social not physical and it is something that we have learned to enjoy. 

The field behind our house . . .

is where the Easter bunny lives. We have seen him several times and he is huge! The first Easter we arrived in Germany Mark saw him. We ran to get the binocular's and were amazed to see him. He is a big brown rabbit and he was walking on his back feet, I bet he was as big as a mid sized dog. A couple of days after that, our German neighbor Freddie called to say that he saw the Easter bunny leaving things for the girls. Sure enough, there were Easter eggs in the nest in the garden. Everyday for a week the girls raced home from school to see if he left goodies. We think he was practicing his hiding skills, getting ready for the big day. He has gotten better, the past 2 years we have not been able to see him but he is still working hard.

Sunday morning the girls woke to find the front room with treat filled hidden eggs. It took awhile but they found them all and spent a few minutes opening the treasures and enjoying the candy booty. Then we got ready for church. Right before we were ready to leave our German neighbor Claudia called to say that while they were out enjoying the sunshine they noticed eggs hidden in the garden. She said the girls should come down because they were sure the eggs were for them. So unexpected excitement filled the air once more as the girls gathered their baskets and headed for another hunt.





The Easter bunny does things a little different here in Germany. There are no plastic eggs hidden. They are real colored hard boiled eggs that are hidden and the colors are brilliant and sharp. Here is a picture from last year, you can see the eggs in the corners. Funny thing, these colored Easter eggs and sold year round in Germany. I like this, instead of asking for candy everyday, the children ask for the brightly colored eggs for snacks.


And I have a recent McKennaism to share. You might remember a post from before Bree's visit where McKenna had a run in with Cruela DeVil during her late night slumber. I guess this story and experience has not been far from her mind. Her preschool class went to the library this week and were able to pick out a book to take home and "keep forever". Much to my surprise she picked "101 Dalmations". So last night this is the book we read before bed and I was a little worried about getting a good nights sleep. Toward the end of the story when the puppies finally free themselves and Cruela crashes her car with her two bad helpers, Cruela says to the men, "You idiots!" This is a bad word in our house. She was startled and looked up to see what I had to say. Of course I said that is a bad word and we don't call people that. McKenna reiterates, "Cruela is a bad bad person". But then, during McKenna's prayer the following plea was made:

"Heavenly Father please bless Cruela DeVil to change her mood. Help her to make better choices and not call people bad names"

Humm, maybe she is learning about forgiveness??? We still can't sing the song about Cruela DeVil, but of course Bailey thinks it is oh so funny to tease . . . Maybe this lesson of forgiveness will eventually carry over to sisters. We can only hope.

Bunnies, Bass and a Bunch of Baskets

We woke up Easter morning to find the earth covered in pure, white beautiful snow! What a perfect setting to begin our celebration of our Savior. Yesterday we spent the afternoon at Travis and Kristine's decorating eggs and eating yummy food. Roanan and McKenna were so excited they thought it best to slam dunk the eggs as quick as they could. Both made great 3 point shots. The girls awoke Easter morning to find that the "bunny Easter" (as McKenna calls him even after repeated corrections) had found us. He kept finding us throughout the day as both Manfred and Erica and Claudia and Freddie gave the girls treats he had left for them in our good neighbors care. I guess the Bunny Easter wanted to make sure our tummies and imagination were full that day. We dressed in our new spring dresses (donning winter gear on top) and set out for church. We met up with the Bunny Easter later that day at the club and were so lucky to hear Mark and Paul play great tunes during brunch. We don't get to hear him much so we take every chance we get! He sounded great and I caught video of him just as he was showing off! The afternoon came to a relaxing close as we were invited to share treats with Claudia and Freddie at their house. Happy Easter everyone!