January Blues, Birthday, and MLK

So, I've got the January Blues, real bad.  

I have this memory of sitting with my friends around our jr. high lockers on a cold, dark January morning.  Back in our day we had to catch the bus super early so it could make the rounds to pick up the elementary school kids after us… we'd get to school 30-40 minutes early.  

My friends were complaining what a horrible month January was, in fact, the WORST month.  Naturally, I was offended because I was born in January, and as a lone voice in the wilderness, I fiercely came to its defense…

Well, over twenty years later, I'm here to consent defeat… January is THE worst month.  Even though it's my birth month.  So sad, but true.  It's harder here because the sun never shines.  Like, NEVER.  Ok, maybe a handful of times a month, but really, 90% of the days this winter have been overcast and dreary and WET…   After two years of living here I'm still not used to it.

How do you combat the January blues?  Yesterday I changed into my pjs at 5 pm, closed my door, and curled up in bed with a book.  Probably not the best decision as things with the kids quickly deteriorated outside my bedroom door. Also, I've been daydreaming A LOT about Tuscany.  My mom is coming in April and we are headed to Italy!  It's hard to not wish the time away…. so instead I blog, and reflect upon all I've been blessed with, even in the month of January.

Over the New Year's holiday Ben and I went to ski in the Black Forest.  The skiing was horrible… sleet and ice, but we got to see the beautiful Lake Titisee. I find the Black Forest so enchanting 

I turned 35 this year.  Holy Hannah, I can't believe I'm in my mid-thirties.  The girls were soooo excited for my birthday and it made for a very looooong day waiting for Ben to come home from work.  C couldn't BELIEVE that he had to work on my birthday.  

Can you sense the excitement?

Naturally, dressing in Elsa costumes is the best way to celebrate any birthday. 

Sadly, this is the best pic I have of me on my birthday.  By the end of the day I was like, "Let's get this party over with!!!"  

BUT he did make an amazing cake.  I think he thrived on the challenge… 

And just a random picture.  Sometimes you just have to laugh instead of cry. 

One nice thing about the military is that every federal holiday is a four day weekend.  Ben had Friday and Monday off of MLK weekend, so we went on a snow trip to Austria!  Notice the blue sky??  You have to leave Stuttgart to find it!

A ski trip is a bit ambitious with three little ones… Ben and I switched off… I got to ski for a whopping  two hours one afternoon… it was so much fun though!  So fun to do something that's physically challenging, thrilling, and has nothing to do with the responsibilities of being a wife or mother… freedom!  An outlet just for me.  It was worth the trip just to have those two hours.  Oh, and what also made the trip was our hotel… they do this thing called "half board" where they serve you breakfast AND dinner… this place had a fantastic restaurant and it was so nice to have someone else plan the meals, cook, and do the dishes.  Now that is a vacation!  

We did the Ravensburger's Frozen puzzle like 15 times

Sledding

Now, this was the most memorable part of our trip:

We went on a toboggan run.  

I've never seen such a thing in the States.   Basically, you take a SKI LIFT to the top of a mountain and toboggan down a designated trail… we've heard about these runs in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. 

Ben and Em were the first ones to give it a go.  C, J, and I waited in the van at the bottom of the run. We waited a LONG time.  Like 45 minutes.  Could it really take that long to come down the mountain?  Finally I saw them cruise on down… and I thought I heard Em squealing in delight, but I heard wrong.  She was crying in misery.  She walked over tear stained, soaking wet, and absolutely miserable.  Ben didn't give much detail except for, "Yeah, she didn't like it."  

"Well, if she didn't like it there's no way Caroline is going to like it."  

"No, you should still take her.  It's good for her to experience. These kids need to toughen up." 

That was all the convincing we needed.  We hopped on the lift.

The fresh snow from the day before made it so beautiful!

We went up and up and up… I didn't realize it would take us to the very TOP of the mountain... can you tell how high we are?  Those tiny houses down there are how far we have to sled down… and yes, that is someone on SKIS.  

Poor thing, totally unsuspecting

Well, as you can imagine, it did NOT go very well with C.  It took us a total of 30 minutes to get down… you're basically going down switchbacks, some parts are slow and some parts are way too fast.  And it's hard to maneuver a toboggan with a screaming child on your lap, no steering, no brakes.  I took this pic about half way down, because, like I said before, sometimes you just have to laugh instead of cry. 

We didn't ever crash, but there was so much snow kicked up in our faces… I knew we weren't equipped right when I noticed everyone going down the hill had helmets and goggles.  This was serious business. 

After dropping miserable C back in the van, I asked Ben if I could just go on my own, I had to figure this thing out.  Obviously we were doing something wrong if our kids were hating it so much. The girls were mysteriously cured of their trauma with Frozen playing in the van and I jumped on the lift again. Back at the top I found kids running and laughing in delight as they started down the hill:  

So I went on my own, and it was pretty fun.  It's definitely easier to maneuver without a screaming child.  I guess next time they'll need to take their own toboggan down.  But I could see how older children and teenagers would just LOVE this. My sister Beck's boys, for instance.  It would be perfect for the Griffins.  

It was just funny to me how nonchalant the Austrians were about the whole thing… I mean I asked our hotel receptionist where we could do some family sledding and this is where she recommended.  I asked if we could take our ONE year old down and she said sure, it would be just fine.  I asked the lady selling the lift tickets if it was safe for our ONE year old, and she said, yes, just hold him on your lap.  Luckily James was spared the torture, I can't even imagine trying to take him on this.  But there's something to be said for the Germans' grit and fearlessness… I sense that their kids are a lot tougher than mine!

And there you have it… that was definitely our January highlight.  See, it's not all that bad.  

December Happenings

December was a great month.  Now it's sad to take down the Christmas tree and the decorations.  I loved plugging this tree in every morning as I'd have to get up in the cold dark and get Em off to school.  It's warm glow made everything better. Sigh.  I think next year I'll keep it up through the whole month of January to help ward off depression. 

I have to say we are really enjoying our time here.  It gets better and better… that's just the nature of this military lifestyle.  The first year in a new place is typically very challenging, the second year you become more comfortable, and by the third year you are feeling VERY much at home.  I'm glad that we are at this stage.  It's awesome and now I don't want to leave!

Anyway, I absolutely love Christmas in Germany.  It's so festive as each city, town, village, and even some of the castles have their own unique Christmas markets where they sell all sorts of fabulous woodwork, made right here in Germany from ornaments to nutcrackers to pyramids and nativity sets and much much more.  They also sell super yummy food and treats, gluwein, and kinderpunsch (the kid version of gluwein, minus the alcohol, which is what we always get).  Many of the markets also have rides and activities for the kids. 

One of the many many MANY booths at the Christmas markets

 The actual week from Christmas to New Year's Day was super relaxing.  We didn't go anywhere.. and it snowed!  Our post has some amazing hills and we went sledding a ton with the girls.  Even James got in on the action.  I baked and cooked a lot, which was fun.  Leading up to Christmas I baked cookies and made rolls, homemade salsa, wassail, hot chocolate, and a pork roast on Christmas Day.  It was really nice how Christmas fell on a Thursday this year… so Ben got Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the 26th off, and then it just flowed into the weekend.  Then he worked three days the next week and got New Year's Day off (Thursday) and then the rest of that weekend. It was so nice to have the kids out of school and Ben around.  I just loved it.  We were thinking about it, and we've never had this kind of break over the holidays where we weren't traveling or moving.

The Sunday before Christmas we hosted a neighbor Christmas party.  It was a lot of work but so worth it in the end. We sat around and ate salsa and wassail and hot chocolate and lots of other goodies the others brought.  We sang Christmas songs around the piano. The kids had a blast running around with each other.  It was so nice to have our neighbors in our home and further develop those bonds of friendship.

Ben got to go to Bastogne for the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge… he went with some guys from work.  They did a 20 km walk/march on the actual anniversary, through the woods where the battle was fought and came across all of these hardcore re-enactors, so cool.   And bonus… it snowed!

Re-enactors.  It looks like a movie set, doesn't it?

Notice his screaming eagle hat

We went to Ulm (birthplace of Einstein) and visited their fun Christmas market and climbed to the very top of the cathedral… it has the highest spire in ALL of Europe… it was 786 steps to the top (by comparison, the highest point we climbed up the Eiffel Tower, the 2nd tier, was only 666).  All three kids did it.  Em leading the charge, C crying all the way, and J on Ben's back.  

Getting closer to the top!

This is the entrance to the needlepoint spire at the very tippy, tippy top.  So tight, plus a two way staircase meaning when someone came down it was almost impossible to squeeze past

View from the top… so worth it, right?  Now I would say yes. 

It was SUPER windy and cold up top.  C, NOT a fan. 

  Danube River… 

Inside the cathedral at the altarpiece. 

Train at the Christmas market

Christmas Eve was memorable.  That was the day we were in St. Gallen, Switzerland.  I wanted to be home in good time so we could enjoy Christmas Eve together as a family.  But Em was complaining of her ear hurting, and I knew I didn't want to have to take her in on Christmas, so we went to the pediatric ER since the military clinic was closed. By the time we got home from that, we were pretty spent. 

 As we drove into base my heart went out to the poor guards who had to work Christmas Eve.  You know there's a group of them there, 24/7.  So, we baked our sugar cookies, the girls frosted, and we ran over to the gate to give them cookies and hot chocolate.  The one guard, who is usually quite stern and serious about everything was consistent in this manner, "Thank you.  Thank you very much."  But the other guard was grinning from ear to ear.  You could tell he was delighted.  It was fun.

We then ate a loaf of yummy bread from the Swiss bakery by candlelight, a simple meal to remember the humble circumstances surrounding the Savior's birth.

 We mustered what little strength we had left and put together a little nativity.  C was Mary and INSISTED I be Joseph.  She is so twisted.  Em was the angel and poor Ben was relegated to playing the lowly donkey.

So Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!  

Now to survive January...