A Georgia Girl in Germany

Disclaimer: I apologize in advance for the length of this post as well as the lack of photos to help break it up. It is what it is, so here it is.

These items don’t really qualify for individual blog posts of their own merit, but, when combined, help paint a picture of the hecticness and craziness that has been pervading our lives lately. This post isn’t meant as a list of gripes or complaints, but rather merely a summary of some of the concerns and issues that have found their way into the Cook household (which also prevent me from otherwise updating this blog with our travel posts, which I’m WOEFULLY behind in doing). So, in no particular order, here’s what’s been keeping us busy (other than Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, school and work).

Benjamin has two cavities, but freaked when the pediatric dentist numbed him up and was getting ready to begin filling the first one. We go back this week to try again -- this time with the help of laughing gas. The dentist stressed not letting Benjamin drink too much sugary juice (he doesn’t), especially until the cavities are filled.

MacKenzie made Gold Honor Roll with a GPA between 3.5 and 3.99. This achievement earned her an invitation to the national Junior Honor Society -- her application is due in early March. She also earned a silver medal for reading four books last quarter and doing written book reports on each one.

I had a cyst removed from my back a few weeks ago because it was a relatively new “bump” and had turned black. I’m still waiting on the biopsy results. While it was difficult for me to get my coat on with the stitches almost square between my shoulder blades, it was a wonderful opportunity to teach Zachary how to help a lady with her coat. He was also very helpful in changing my Band-Aid. I, on the other hand, nearly passed out on at least two different occasions when I contorted my neck enough to catch a glimpse of the stitches in the bathroom mirror (and was once again reminded why I didn’t pursue a career in medicine!).

Benjamin had his well-child doctor appointment recently. Despite my supposition that he’s on the short side, he actually is in the 64th percentile for height and 59th percentile for weight. I’d say that’s a good combination. The doctor finally confirmed my suspicion that he’s flat-footed (instead of simply pronating his feet like his previous pediatrician kept telling me), although he didn’t recommend doing anything other than making sure he has good support in his shoes (which I have to replace every two to three months because he wears out the inside of the soles so quickly). Downside is that he gets constipated easily, and the doctor recommended adding more 100% fruit juice to his diet. That’s not his drink of preference (he likes flavored water better), and it’s in direct opposition to what the dentist said. Oy voy!

Zachary surprised me twice last week by calling me at work (he rode the bus home both afternoon so he could work on homework without distraction) to ask if he needed to pull anything out of the freezer to thaw for supper. What 14-year-old boy thinks of things like that!?!!

The kids’ passports expire in June (the last week of school, to be exact), but I can’t send off for the new ones until Matt gets here since he also has to sign their application paperwork in front of a passport official. This is a requirement so that neither parent can apply for passports to take children out of the country without the other parent at least being aware of the existence of the passports. This was a hassle five years ago since we had to mail the applications certified mail from Maxwell to Randolph, and then ask the Randolph office to submit them to the State Department. This will be priority #1 when Matt arrives back in Germany since it’s difficult to make summer plans not knowing when I’ll have their new passports in hand.

Benjamin has had moments of deep philosophical thought lately. One such question that really stuck out was when he asked, “I don’t get it...” (most of his philosophical questions begin with this phrase), “Why did God make us here?” I asked him what he meant by “here,” and he replied “Why did God make us here on Earth instead of in Heaven?” (since God wants us to go to Heaven) I didn’t really have an answer for him on that one. Any thoughts?

MacKenzie needs to have a tooth extracted soon to make room for her permanent tooth that’s below it. This particular molar isn’t loose at all, despite the fact that its corresponding molar on the other side came out before Christmas. She’s also going to need an expander in her upper jaw, probably in about six months or so.

I finally broke down and bought my first iPod (an iTouch). The kids seem to use it more than I do, to play their favorite music (Toby Keith and Dolly Parton for Benjamin, and Taylor Swift and Toby Keith for MacKenzie) and download/play free apps/games.

I tried to sign up Benjamin for t-ball since he seems to have a natural ability (he bats left-handed with his tee at home, and slides all over the place as if base bags were strategically placed in our house), but the slots were full. So, he’s on a wait-list. He didn’t seem excited about playing, but I think he’d enjoy it if he gave it a shot. Crossing my fingers that a slot opens up before the season starts in April.

Zachary is beginning to narrow down possibilities for his Eagle project. I think the forerunner is to build a booth around the sound system at the chapel to help protect the equipment. Another option is to work with the USO and the Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility to do something to support wounded troops who travel through Ramstein regularly.

I’m still in physical therapy for my hip. I maintain that when the therapist pulled my hip back into alignment last May this new set of issues surfaced (shooting pain down my leg and behind my knee, while sitting, standing or no particular reason at all). No amount of core strengthening seems to make the pain stay away. And, it’s still not comfortable to sleep on that side. I sure hope bursitis isn’t an inherited condition!

Benjamin is having problems in school with inattentiveness. I think a big part of it is that he’s bored in class, but there seems to be more going on. The school counselor and psychiatrist are involved, and he’s even begun seeing a psychiatrist at LRMC. The doctor is concerned because of his family history of depression...yes, he’s showing signs of depression. We’ve also considered ADHD/ADD, but don’t think that’s a significant problem/issue.

MacKenzie is taking her science project to heart and really getting into collecting data and doing research to determine whether smokers or non-smokers have better lung capacity. Many folks in my office have been good sports about helping her, and became subjects for her data collection. So far, on average, the non-smokers have slightly better lung capacity.

I was in a fender bender a few weeks ago -- I backed into a car and dented up my bumper and broke my taillight. I ordered new parts three weeks ago, and am still waiting for the repair shop to call to let me know they’re in. I expect it’ll be another week after they call before I can actually schedule the repairs.

Of the four computers in our house, three either don’t work or are very unreliable. One PC is older than Benjamin and is on its second hard drive. The “newer” PC is the one Zachary built in 2006, and it hard broke a few weeks ago. One laptop is from 2005, and it hard crashed in December, worked for a few weeks after we reinstalled everything, and now gets stuck in a circular start-up mode. I suspect the only way to make use of it again is to reinstall everything (again) and hope the reinstall lasts more than a month this time. So, after I shared the beginning of my computer woes with my wonderful brother (who works for Dell), he ordered a new laptop for me, which I received just before Christmas. Yeah! When the 2006 PC died, I called on him again, and he once again came through. We received our second laptop this weekend! It’ll be nice to have two working computers in the house again, especially since Zachary and MacKenzie both often need computer time to do homework. Now I’m just waiting on replacement ink cartridges for the printer so they can print their homework instead of emailing it to their teachers (the BX doesn’t carry our brand!).

I have to include a cute Benjamin quote from last week when we were watching “Star Trek” (the most recent movie, with a young James T. Kirk and crew on an alternate timeline). When Uhura kissed Captain Spock, Benjamin asked, “Why do all the girls always want to kiss the captain.” I busted out laughing, and Benjamin innocently asked if I was laughing at what he had said. I answered yes, but didn’t answer his question. The next night, we were watching the rest of the movie (since we rarely get to watch an entire movie in a single sitting), and he asked me again. This time I had enough composure to answer that maybe the girls like to kiss people who are in charge. What a kid!

Zachary also made the Gold Honor roll with a quarterly GPA between 3.5 and 3.99, and will be resubmitting his application to the National Junior Honor Society.

My van has been driving me batty while I try to figure out why I’m not getting nearly as good of gas mileage as I used to. At first, I thought it was the tires since the front ones were wearing differently. I had them replaced in October and the alignment checked (which was good), but it didn’t improve the gas mileage much. I thought the van needed a tune-up, which I had done last month (new spark plugs were the supposed culprit this time), but that didn’t help either. I need to take it back in to have another assessment -- perhaps this time I’ll go to a mechanic off-base instead of the on-base folks. I know she has more than 102,000 miles (only 14,000 on this transmission), but I still don’t think that in and of itself should warrant the drop in gas mileage that I’ve seen.

Benjamin keeps asking me for a baby sister. I’ve told him that I prayed to God for him, so he now thinks that’s all I have to do in order to give him a baby sister: “Mommy, can you pleeeease pray for a baby girl?” Ah, such innocence!

MacKenzie asked me a few weeks ago if it was okay if she were to cut her eyebrows. I should have known better than to have emphatically said “NO” before turning around to glance at her eyebrows. As the word left my lips, I noticed a semi-bare patch in each eyebrow. She’s self-conscious that her eyebrows are too bushy (they’re anything but -- in fact, they’re very well-proportioned and beautiful), and she took matters into her own hands...with the help of scissors in them. Fortunately, she didn’t trim much, and I don’t think it’s noticeable to anyone who didn’t know what she attempted. Other recent questions from her lately included whether she could begin wearing makeup (which I allowed her to do, and which she only wears sporadically now) and whether she should begin shaving her legs (which we discussed, and she agreed to wait).

We’ve still been having problems with internet at home. T-Mobile claims there’s nothing wrong with my Web-n-Walk stick, even though it quits uploading/downloading for no apparent reason -- even when there’s still a strong signal (it runs off a cell phone sim card). I’ve gone back and forth with them -- online, over the phone and in the store -- with no real resolution. This is getting OLD!!!

Zachary has been getting headaches after reading and studying, so I’ve made an appointment for him with an optometrist. Hopefully there’s nothing significant going on, but I figure it’s better to be safe than sorry (especially considering how horrible my pre-surgery vision was). He thinks he needs reading glasses.

Benjamin is reading up a storm lately -- when he wants to. He can read an entire chapter book (his favorites are the “Jack and Annie” Magic Tree House series) in an afternoon, and I’m very proud of him for finally wanting to read them over simpler books like Little Critter or the Bernstein Bears.

After much consternation, my property manager and landlord were finally able to get someone out last month to “fix” the pipes leading to the water heater in our attic so they don’t freeze when the temps fall below freezing and cause water to leak into the garage. However, during his visit, the landlord also decided he wants to cut a hole in the laundry room wall leading outside so I don’t have to keep the laundry room window open for the dryer vent hose whenever I do laundry. It’s been more than a month since he proposed doing this, and I haven’t heard anything more about it. I figure by the time they get around to actually doing so, I will have survived my third winter of doing laundry in a room that matches the outdoor temperature. Yes, we keep the laundry room door closed, but we receive a rude blast of cold air when we do laundry in the winter. Oh, and they didn’t put the gutter joint back together when they fixed the water heater issue...not that I want them to since I’ve still seen ice form where the joint should be, which leads me to believe that it’ll still freeze and leak into the garage if it were sealed off.

I’m on the verge of signing up for Air War College by correspondence. IF I decide to stay in the Air Force more than 20 years, I need this block checked to be competitive for squadron command and for promotion to colonel. I don’t need to close doors that I may need opened in the future, but I’m not looking forward to a year-and-a-half of correspondence courses. Ugh.

I’m sure I’m leaving some things out, like our recent ER visit to diagnose Benjamin with Scarlet Fever, assorted Boy Scout merit badges and campouts, and various Girl Scout extracurricular activities such as Thinking Day and the upcoming Powderpuff Derby. Oh, and I didn’t even TOUCH on what’s been going on at work -- I could probably do another entire post of comparable length just on that alone! And, yes, regular Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts meetings, as well as school and work, still occupy a good bit of our time too. Someone once told me I needed “a wife” to help manage everything. Some days I believe it! Maybe just a personal assistant...or an Alice (think back to the Brady Bunch -- a live-in cook, laundress and babysitter all in one)! Any takers?

Labels: Benjamin, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, Kid Quotes, MacKenzie, Pam's thoughts, Zachary

Benjamin has been very adamant about not wanting to even remotely allow me to try to pull his latest loose tooth. He would only allow me to check its looseness with a single finger so I couldn’t sneak a grip on it with my finger and thumb to yank it. He would often make me “pinky promise” or “chain promise” (which apparently is more serious than a simple pinky promise) that I wouldn’t try to pull it.

Each new day he would greet me with a grin and an ever-loosening tooth. Doesn’t it look like it’s ready to simply fall out? Any normal person would think so, but not Benjamin. He’d tell me each night before he went to bed that I was allowed to pull it while he was asleep. Hmmm, interesting thought...and I actually tried a few times. Most nights, he’d clench his jaw tight so I couldn’t get my finger in his mouth to even test the tooth. However, once I was able to wiggle it some but not enough to get a grip on it or pull it.

I told him his tooth was beginning to remind me of Nanny McPhee’s protruding tooth from when she first met the Brown family. He thought it was silly, so he kept pushing his tooth through his closed lips ... then asked to watch the movie Nanny McPhee. He still wouldn’t let me pull his tooth though.

It soon became so loose that he could wiggle it at a 90-degree angle forward. Yup, that’s the bottom of the tooth sticking out between his lips! And no, he still wouldn’t let me pull it. I finally convinced him to let me twist it -- apparently he thought pulling would hurt but twisting wouldn’t. Voila! Out it came!

What a wonderful toothless grin! And to think this tooth was loose several weeks before Christmas -- it took nearly two months to go from loose to out! Next on the horizon, two more loose teeth on the bottom. Maybe they’ll come out by summer!

Labels: Benjamin

The first Sunday in March is always Boy Scout Sunday. This year was the first year that Zachary and Benjamin were both able to participate in the service as scouts. Benjamin has been reluctant to wear his scout uniform all year (compounded by the fact that I didn’t have all the patches sewn on it), but I managed to get it put together and convince him to wear it to church. The shirt and pants are, admittedly, too large for him -- but I really wanted them to last through his entire Cub Scout years. I’m so proud of my two boys!

Benjamin took to heart his responsibility to hand out the programs as people arrived. Sometimes they could barely get inside the door before he’d thrust a program into their hands. At least he was excited about helping, and many people entered the sanctuary with smiles on their faces.

There weren’t many boys who showed up to help, so Zachary and Benjamin both were able to help with the offering. Fortunately, they were able to pair up a Cub Scout (younger) with a Boy Scout (older) on each side of the sanctuary to help make sure they didn’t miss any pews. They all accomplished their duties flawlessly!

Doesn’t Zachary look so mature here!?!! On a side note, John (the scout with Zachary) had his Eagle ceremony the next day. What an accomplishment!

Labels: Benjamin, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Zachary

A few weeks ago we worked on cleaning and rearranging the playroom in the hopes that the kids would spend more time up there playing (and be less tempted by the Wii downstairs). It worked! After bringing up the last of the Christmas toys and games, and discovering plenty of floor space, it didn’t take much prodding for them to assemble two Lego train sets and start racing them around the figure-8 tracks.



I love the look of pure joy on Benjamin’s face in this last photo -- yes, this photo was taken a split second before a head-on collision! Boys will be boys!

Labels: Benjamin, MacKenzie, Zachary

Benjamin is a Tiger Cub this year, which means he got to participate in his first Pinewood Derby. He was excited about making his own car, and diligently sat in my lap as we searched the internet for design ideas. I had in mind a traditional car or perhaps a superhero themed-car, but he had other ideas. Or rather, he had one idea: a guitar. However, he didn’t like any of the online designs (they were too blocky for his liking), so we searched guitar sites to find a design he liked. He finally settled on a Fender Starcaster guitar and asked me to trace it off the computer monitor to make the template for his car.

I think his car turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. Fortunately, it wasn’t terribly difficult to design (and Zachary was helpful as well). Once we transferred the pattern to the block of wood, we took it to the wood shop on base to have it cut -- that was $2 very well-spent! Benjamin wasn’t thrilled that we left extra wood above the rear wheels, but the car needed it in order to hold the rear axles. That was the most difficult part of the car to work on since Zachary and I essentially cut chunks of wood out by hand from above the axles so the guitar neck would look more like it should. The white body was the easiest part to design -- we cut it out of white paper, had Benjamin draw the frets and glued it onto the car. The strings are photo hanging wires wrapped around tacks representing the tuning pegs on one end and stapled into the wood on the other for the bridge.

When it came time to race, Benjamin’s car had a pretty decent showing. They had all the cars race together, regardless of den (age) bracket, and each car raced once per lane to ensure a fair contest. Benjamin’s guitar-car came in second during his first heat, and first in his next three heats. His wasn’t the fastest car in each of the rounds, but when they broke out the standings for the individual dens, he came in first place for the Tiger Cubs! Not bad at all for his first Pinewood Derby!

After they completed the race, the cars were judged on design merits. There was one other guitar car (similar to the blocky design that Benjamin didn’t want to use), and the rest were more or less traditional car (or truck) designs. I had a feeling Benjamin’s car would place on its design merits, and it came in first. Benjamin was excited! I don’t think he understood how well he actually did in the derby -- he definitely has a hard act to follow come next year!

Actually, he gets to participate in the District Derby next month since he was one of the top three Tiger finishers. I’m sure there will be more steep competition at that derby, but hopefully he will still enjoy the race.

Here he is with the other two Tiger Cubs who placed ... well, they were the only three Tigers who participated in the derby, but that’s beside the point.

After the race, everyone received a display stand to hold their cars. Benjamin quickly placed his car atop his stand. I love the fact that he had his puppy “Benji” share the spotlight in these last two photos -- such young innocence! He and Zachary even wore matching guitar shirts in honor of Benjamin’s guitar car. Don’t know if that added to the good vibes surrounding his car, but I’m sure it didn’t hurt.

Labels: Benjamin, Cub Scouts

MacKenzie just finished taking her quarter-long Intercultural Education class, where they learned about German culture. Her final project for the class was to cook something German and bring it in to share with the class. Fortunately, I have a “German Baking” cookbook that she was able to peruse to find something relatively easy to make, and she settled on making the classic Eiserkuche (egg waffle) recipe...and it didn’t call for anything out of the ordinary.

She began by melting 5/8 cup of butter then letting it cool and solidify. She then sifted 2½ cups of all-purpose flour and set it aside. She mixed 2 to 3 drops of vanilla into 1 tablespoon of sugar and added it and another 2½ cups of sugar to the slightly set butter, then mixed it with the whisks until it became white and foamy. She then added 2 eggs, one at a time, whisking each for about 30 seconds on high before alternatively adding it and 2¼ cup of milk to the mixture.

The tricky part was making the waffles. We added the mixture to our greased waffle iron, but it didn’t want to cook through or come out easily. So we adjusted.

After a few attempts with the waffle iron, we cooked the rest of the batter in a pan and made crepe- looking pancakes. These cooked much better than they did on the waffle iron.

In keeping with the recipe, MacKenzie rolled each one around the handle of a wooden spoon. They turned out pretty well considering our minor adjustment. When she took them to school, her classmates enjoyed them and ate all but a few. The few that came back home didn’t last more than 24 hours.

Here’s our final version side-by-side with the book’s final version. The recipe book includes a tip of using a special waffle iron to make very thin waffles -- I think that’s what’s in this photo. They didn’t look the same, but they still tasted pretty good!

Labels: Cooking, Germany, MacKenzie

MacKenzie’s Girl Scout troop recently had its investiture and rededication ceremony. Yes, the ceremony is typically held toward the beginning of the school year, but they weren’t able to get it done earlier. It’s a simple ceremony, but nice. Hard to believe she’s a Cadette this year!

Labels: Girl Scouts, MacKenzie

As he’s done for the previous six years, Zachary signed up to participate in this year’s school-wide Spelling Bee. We marked the date on the calendar, but I didn’t help him study much since Scripps didn’t send out the Paideia/Spell-It! booklets like they have in the past. Instead, Zachary studied mostly on his own with three lists of grade-level words. But, he felt ready when it came time for him to step on the stage with 15 other 6th, 7th and 8th graders.

Round 1 started with 16 participants; Zachary’s word: squeeze. The second round started with 14 spellers; Zachary’s word: headache. The third round started with 12 spellers; Zachary’s word: significant. Round 4 began with 9 spellers; Zachary’s word: article. All nine spellers remained in round 5; Zachary’s word: subterranean. Round 6 began with 8 spellers; Zachary’s word: larynx. Round 7 had 7 spellers; Zachary’s word: ineffable. Round 8 was down to 4 spellers; Zachary’s word: aggrandizement. Round 9 was down to 3 spellers; Zachary’s word: omniscient. The competition was down to two spellers beginning with round 10, Krystine and Zachary.

Krystine’s word: cajolery
Zachary’s word: analgesia
Krystine’s word: conundrum
Zachary’s word: vengeance
Krystine’s word: analogize
Zachary’s word: photosynthesis
Krystine’s word: calisthenics
Zachary’s word: latitudinarian
Krystine’s word: anemone
Zachary’s word: adieu
Krystine’s word: anticoagulant
Zachary’s word: paramecium
Krystine’s word: pandemic
Zachary’s word: epoxy -- I saw him hesitate, and I could tell he was debating in his mind how to start the word. There’s a subtle difference between the correct pronunciation “EH-poxy” and what his mind registered as “AH-poxy,” and he slowly started “A-P-O-X-Y.” Darn! If Kristine spelled her next word correctly, she would be the champion.

Krystine’s word: furiously -- correctly spelled. She won, and Zachary was the runner-up.

Of note, Zachary and Krystine were the top two spellers in last year's 8-round competition, with Zachary placing first and Krystine second. After Krystine spelled her final word correctly this year (in the 17th round!) and the audience applause ended, her father and I shook hands, and he asked me with a grin, “When is your son outa here?” We both recognized that it was down to the same two spellers as last year. Even the judges and school staff suspected the competition would likely come down to Krystine and Zachary. However, they didn’t expect the spell-off between the two of them to last as long as it did -- eight head-to-head rounds!

Zachary was all smiles after the competition. Finishing in second place is an awesome way to conclude his Spelling Bee career. He’s participated in his school Spelling Bees for seven consecutive years, beginning in 2004 as the only 2nd grader in his school to qualify and placing in the top third against other spellers in 3rd through 5th grades. Since he’s in 8th grade now, this is his last year of eligibility for school Spelling Bees.

Plus, the top two spellers each won a $75 savings bond -- Zachary was very excited about that!

Labels: Zachary

I thought for sure that Benjamin would be singing “All I want for Christmas is my one front tooth,” with a solid possibility that he’d actually be singing for two teeth. Alas, he absolutely refused to allow me to pull his teeth (even though they were both much looser than MacKenzie’s molar). The day AFTER Christmas, I was brushing his teeth and his top tooth literally began sliding out of his gum. He cringed; I calmed him down, and out came his tooth with no pain at all. He was tickled that it finally came out. What a grin!

Labels: Benjamin

December was a catch-up month for us. After being gone half the month for Granny Walker’s funeral and then our Thanksgiving cruise, I really felt behind the power curve getting ready for Christmas. No surprise, since getting the kids caught up with school was top priority. Fortunately, DODDS has a generous absentee policy (unlimited excused absences...and family trips/vacations are considered excused since they know military families typically like to take advantage of living overseas and that sometimes means parents pull kids out of school), but it also means there can be quite a bit of catching up on school assignments.

Sooo, since our focus was on catching up, we had less time to focus on getting Christmas decorations out, Christmas gifts wrapped and under the tree, Christmas letters (or rather, our annual Christmas quiz) written and sent ... you get the idea. Fortunately, our tree was easy to put up since we didn’t take it down after last Christmas. Instead, we simply moved it to the garage, with the lights still strung. I didn’t put a single ornament on the tree, so Benjamin and MacKenzie led that effort -- Benjamin even made a few miniature ornaments out of fast-drying clay.

However, I didn’t get the last of the presents wrapped until after we ate supper and attended the Christmas Eve candlelight service. The kids didn’t mind waiting to open their Christmas Eve presents, or even really staying up late. In fact, it meant that they slept a little later Christmas morning, which was a nice bonus for me.

By the time Christmas morning rolled around, they were all excited and ready to open their presents. MacKenzie absolutely loved (and still loves) her new Samantha American Girl doll. In fact, just this past weekend, she watched the Samantha movie while curled up on the couch with her Samantha doll.

The kids did real well at keeping a steady flow of gifts moving from under the tree to the appropriate recipient.

When the floor beside the tree became too crowded, the boys moved to the couch to open gifts. Benjamin wasn’t interested in clothes at all though. I had to point out when he opened a package containing “hoodie shirts” (his favorite), and even then he’d only give a miniscule second look. Fortunately, he now enjoys having those shirts to choose from.

Zachary was pleasantly surprised with what Santa gave him this year: an acoustic guitar. He’s pretty good at picking out a few songs using the instructional books that Santa also left for him, but we still need to sign him up for lessons.

Benjamin’s Santa gift was a set of Magna-Tiles, which are different shaped magnetic tiles (hence the name) that he can build with. He loves playing with them at his after-school program and can make some amazing creations, so I was pleased (and so is he!) that he now has his own set.

MacKenzie had been trying to save up her money to buy an iPod, but wasn’t making much progress with essentially just her weekly allowance contributing to her fund. Santa took pity on her and went ahead and gave her one, and she was ecstatic! As you can see, they all received lots of clothes, some wonderful games, and a handful of movies, a few books and other wonderful gifts.

Labels: Benjamin, Christmas, MacKenzie, Zachary

MacKenzie and Benjamin both had loose teeth before Christmas. I honestly thought Benjamin would lose one of his before MacKenzie lost hers, but she proved me wrong. She decided she simply wanted her tooth out and asked me to pull it. One tug later, and she was holding a baby molar.

Labels: MacKenzie

I’m fortunate to have a very convenient café in the basement of the building where I work. It’s run by two German ladies who are very energetic and funny. They also let their customers know when there’s something going on in the community that we may not otherwise know about. That’s how I found out that the Coca-Cola Santa truck was coming to Kaiserslautern.

We got there just before Santa climbed back in the trailer to leave, but he did step outside and check on a few more kids before he left. Benjamin was hesitant to talk to him, and seemed surprised that he spoke both English and German. Of course, I told him that Santa has to speak every language so he can talk to all children around the world.

MacKenzie, on the other hand, always enjoys having an audience with Santa.

Soon, Santa climbed back in the trailer and helped prepare the truck for departure to another town.

While we waited to see the truck off, we found my friends in the crepe booth. Jutta was taking orders and making a variety of crepes.

Naturally, Zachary and MacKenzie wanted Nutella-filled crepes. They like crepes so much that they only shared a single bite each with me.

Jutta, Jutta’s daughter and Sandra took a moment to step out of their booth so I could get their photo with my kiddos.

We stayed long enough to see the truck pull out and head on its way.

When we made it home, the snow flurries started falling. MacKenzie ran around the driveway with her tongue out trying to catch them.

Since Benjamin didn’t want a crepe, he convinced me to buy him a tri-color light-saber. He had a blast playing with it and swirling it around to watch his self-made light show.



After a few minutes, he decided to copy MacKenzie and try to catch a few snowflakes as well.

Labels: Benjamin, Christmas, Germany, MacKenzie, Zachary