Merry Christmas.

(This is the card we sent out today. Yeah, a bit late. But hey, better late than never, right?)

How are you doing? Stressed yet or are you taking it easy?

Love,

Conny

Let' do this thing. My part on sewing a blanket.

Happy Monday to all of you.

Our day is almost over and boy, how glad I am it's coming to an end. It's been a rough start into a new week. You know, using the husband's toothbrush by accident (who does that?), a kid that just won't listen AT ALL, neighbors cutting trees just because, and a cold apartment among other tiny things just don't make it for a good start.

But right now things seem to settle a bit. Kid's asleep, husband's still on campus . . . just me, and my ridiculous heartburn. Manageable. 

Do you want to see what I have been working on pretty  much all Saturday?

Well, it's not done. Not at all. And it's all crooked, but I am very happy that I have gotten this far to be honest. I could have fixed it here and there, but I really didn't want to lose patience. It's my first time ever using a sewing machine, cutting out squares, etc. So, there you have it. My Christmas gift to Sofia. A work in progress. I will show you the finished product.

XoXo,

Conny

Catch up and a winner!

Sorry for being so quiet the past few days, but we did have my best friend from Sweden over for a few days.

And it looked something like this:

The days were filled with lots of catching up, laughter, old jokes, doener, sunshine, trips to the market, dark chili chocolate, cooking, and walks. I can't tell you how good it felt to be with her. It felt like the good old days in college. The place we all met. But more on that some other day. 

And the lucky winner of my giveaway is Alessandra! 

Congratulations. The prize shall be mailed to you in a heartbeat.

Oh, and happy Friday!

Parental advice # 416.

 source 

# 416:

Do not make brownie batter when you have a kid running in your kitchen with really, really stinky diapers on.

Cherryblossom

Dear cherryblossom, 

I am so very happy that you are back. You set the mark for spring, even though it's still cold and windy. 

I missed you.

Happy Easter.

We just had Christmas, right? Well, Easter is over now, too! Time truly flies and I try to soak it up as fast as possible. In Germany we have four days off during this time of the year. Friday until Tuesday, nice. Had a nice time catching up with a few things in the apartment AND spent time outside due to the nice weather.
Easter Sunday we spent with my parents at our place. Made some breakfast and enjoyed Sofia running in the backyard looking for the beloved "Ostereier" (easter eggs). She scored high on the candy.

Hope all of you had a wonderful Easter! Happy Monday!

Birthday girl

Our little girl turned 2.
Two years.
I am not sure how to feel about that really. On the one hand I am thrilled to say that my daughter can already read some letters, go upstairs without holding onto the railing, draw, paint, put on her pants (even if backwards most of the time), put her cup in the sink once she is done, etc. You know, these things are amazing. She is only two and is her own self. I enjoy this little personality so much that it hurts.
But on the other hand my heart also hurts because time seems to fly.
On the day of her birthday I had to think about how my family and I rushed to the hospital two years before, how these easy contractions turned into small devils poking me, how the nurse suggested an epidural to finally get her out and me not wanting it, how the doc had to poke me twice in the back because my body was shaking too much due to exhaustion, how I pushed her out and this little bubble came out of her nose, and how the midwife told me to do all of this a bit faster next time. (I love Europe, I forgot how honesty rules this place. I am serious. This was funny). It all seemed like yesterday.
And now she is two. Sigh.

Here a few pics of that special day of hers.

Special breakfast for a special girl. My husband made these cute Japanese style bunny eggs. 

The birthday table. What I like about the table setting is that it shows how "international" it turned out.
Sofia received books, dolls, ceramic pigs and birds from Mexico. Her great-grandmother sent these.
My husband and I got her among other things books in English and Spanish. She got so much, I can't recall. Only child, ts, ts, ts.  (I am one, too. I am allowed to make such statements. :)  )

 

Food. We like it. The picture may state otherwise, but we for sure had plenty of it. I made her a chocolate cake from scratch and got her another from the store, made guacamole with chips, some tabouleh, put some fruits and veggies (I am always surprised how quickly the bell peppers and grapes go), some snacks and candy. Voila, food for friends and family.

 Close ups.

Happy birthday, little one. We love you.

Vintage days.

When I was a little kid, I remember spending endless hours at my grandparents' house.
Now that I think about it, their house was just picture perfect. Imagine a place with three sets of staircases, tiny rooms filled with chests and boxes to explore, a food storage with a freezer filled with ice-cream, a backyard with trees carrying all fruits imaginable, swings, and a playhouse. Yes, that would be my grandparents' house. Not to forget my favorite apple pie my grandma used to make. Cold icing on top, freshly picked apples in the middle. Sigh.

On rainy days I would go through a small shelf that was packed with playing cards, books, etc. I can still remember the designs in some of them, because even back then I thought it looked "strangely old". Not too long ago, and just by accident, I found two German vintage books for children. One of them, I used to "read" over and over.

My heart skipped and I was almost in tears when I got them in the mail.

 

 ( I've always had a thing for that pink thermo in the second to last picture.)