Happy Halloween!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!  Thanks to some more dear friends, we were able to have a festive Halloween night in Germany!  Though, without our German friend Kim we would probably not have had the confidence to go door-to-door trick or treating.  Again, Halloween is not commonly celebrated in Germany, the majority of the lights on the homes were off, we did not see a lot of children walking around in costumes and there were no designated trick or treating hours- thus it was indeed a tad different than Halloween night in the States.  But Kim said, “we just ring the bell and if they answer they answer and if they do not, we leave:)!”  And thanks to Kim’s encouragement, we had a enjoyable time and even ran into some familiar faces (and got a TON of candy:)!

We are blessed to have met Kim.  Kim watches the girls so Matt and I can get a "date night" every once in awhile.  The girls love her:)!   

We stopped by Marie's House; Marie watches the girls on Mondays and Thursdays for one hour so I can work out- ALONE:)

Kim helping Britta up the steps to get some candy!

Britta being brave enough to get some candy from Ken AFTER he took off his mask.  Elle was still talking about Sherry being a witch when she went to bed:)

Our dear friends Ken and Sherry

It is such a SMALL WORLD...while trick or treating, we randomly came across one of Elle's friend's home!  Elle goes to school with Taryn and Elle was amazed that we found her house.  She kept saying, "can you believe Taryn lives in the same town and we found her house!!"  Yes Elle, I did actually know this-LOL.  It was very cute and it totally made Elle's night (Taryn is the ballerina dressed in black and her sister Leena is the ballerina dressed in gold)!

We stopped over at our sweet neighbors Walter and Ina's house; Ina knitted these socks for Elle and Britta (she had taken measurements of their feet a few weeks back:)

Britta would often just walk on in to people's homes to get the candy... it was very funny:)!

Celebrating Halloween in Germany, "American-Style!!"

A HUGE “Thank You” to our friends The Lincicums for inviting us to go trick or treating on the Patrick Henry-Village US Military Base with them last night!  As a mother, any degree of familiarity and “American” fun we can have as a family while living here in Germany is so appreciated!  Elle could hardly go to sleep last night because she had so many happy thoughts going through her head (and of course she was loaded-up on sugar).  She talked about all of the various costumes, getting candy with her friend Maddie, seeing her friend Taryn, the huge play area, eating at “Chuckie Cheese,” wearing her Ariel costume, etc.  BOTH Britta and Elle had such a good time; it was so enjoyable watching them go from door to door and then later, from trunk to trunk:). Even Britta would say “trick or treat” and “thank you.”  Elle would most often say “Danke” after receiving her treat (after being reminded of course:).

Matt and I had a lot of fun too!  The weather could not have been any more perfect (low 60’s).  It was so surreal to be on base, it truly felt like we were back in the States for one evening.  Even getting signed in and driving onto the base felt like entering a new country.  And, the homes had an “American style” appearance in their construction.  We found that walking around the neighborhood felt so similar to what we had done for so many years prior.  It was so comforting and relaxing!  Also, Matt was able to meet many of my dear MOPS friends!!  We ALL of course enjoyed eating the American candy both before and after our dinner.  We had forgotten about so many of our favorite candy (i.e. Nerds, Sour Patch Kids, Twizzlers).  The girls did not have much room for their pizza but we figured- it is Halloween:).

Of course the girls "needed" to perform some of their dance moves before heading out:)!

Britta doing inventory on her candy supply

Elle (a.k.a. Ariel) and her friend Maddie (a.k.a. Alice)

Britta doing inventory on her candy supply- AGAIN:)!!

The first trunk of the "trunk or treating!"

The rides at the Bowling Alley after we ate; Elle thought it was like "Chuckie Cheese!"

Britta wanted to ride "MOUSE" all night:)!

We have been told that many of the Germans will have their outdoor lights on tomorrow night for trick or treaters.  If the weather is nice, we are planning on dressing up the girls and heading over to our friends Ken & Sherry’s neighborhood for some more trick or treating.  The girls are definitely getting to celebrate Halloween over here and this is just FANTASTIC! 

A few other random things:

-We experienced daylight savings time last night (October 30^th) so we only have a 6-hour difference with family in Iowa until next Sunday, November 6^th.

-Tuesday is a German Holiday (equivalent to the USA Memorial Day) so Matt does not have to work!  We plan to take a little day trip somewhere and enjoy the beautiful fall scenery and weather as a family!

-Due to this holiday, Britta’s Musikgarten class (Wed) and Elle’s dance class (Thurs) were cancelled for the week.

Well, HAPPY HAPPY HALLOWEEN to all of our friends and family back home.  It has been so enjoyable to look at so many of your costumes and Halloween parties on Facebook!  In 2013, we will be celebrating Halloween once again in the actual USA, but until then, we are SO THANKFUL to have friends who are affiliated with the United States Military!  THANK YOU AGAIN!

A long awaited Autumn project

Elle loves fall time and LOVES looking at all of the changing colors on the trees.  Whenever we go for a walk, she insists that we stop and pick up any leaf on the ground that she thinks has beautiful colors.  Thus, we have been collecting leaves for about 2+ weeks now:). 

Tonight, we created a beautiful colored tree of our own (Britta was also involved in this work of art, but I just noticed is not in any of the pictures).  Many of the leaves from our collection were too dry and brittle to glue, but we still had a variety of large, brightly colored leaves to glue on the cardboard.  As you can see from the pictures, the leaves had PLENTY of glue on them to ensure they stayed stuck to the cardboard (but the glue is where all the fun is!!).

My sleeping companions:)

So, since the time Elle was around 2-years old, she has always slept with me while Matt travels for work.  We both enjoy this “special time” together and she has always understood that when Daddy gets back home, back to her bed/bedroom she goes.  Now, up until this point Britta has either 1) realized that Elle does this OR, 2) realized that Elle sleeps with me me but preferred to sleep in her crib. 

Now, for the past 1½ weeks Britta has continued to accept this plan/routine.  Every night, we get a movie started for Elle in the master bed and then Britta and I head into her room to read books, rock, etc.  Every night before, Britta happily says, “good night Elle, see you morning!”  She has appeared excited to have 1:1 time with me before going to bed (usually we all read books together in Britta’s room) and again, she has appeared to be accepting of the plan (though has been coming in like clock work at 4AM to sleep with us).  BUT TONIGHT was a different story. 

When we were getting ready to say good night to Elle, Britta hopped into the master bed and said very firmly, “NO CRIB, MAMA and ELLE.”  She then said, “WATCH MOVE.”  Thus, BOTH girls went to sleep in the master bed (I later got back up to clean up the house and Blog) and we all watched a little bit of the “Follow That Bird” movie (a.k.a. move) before going to bed. 

I am hoping that the transition back to everyone’s bedrooms goes smoothly Friday night!!  I miss Matt dearly, but LOVE having my girls sleep next to me when he is gone.