Merry Christmas!

Parent Stuff

We have entered into the embarrassing parents arena. It's actually not as bad of a place as I once imagined.

I can totally understand why we are embarrassing. We don't speak German all that well, and the German I speak is pretty elementary.

It's kind of like being asking to be dropped off down the street so that you're not seen in that ugly blue van. Except for us it's being asked to not go to the Christmas party.

Which we went to anyway and were on our BEST behavior. Here is the picture to prove it.

(Here is the translation)

Naomi's Dad

No German

Thanks

Strasbourg, France

Naomi and I took a tour with the USO to Strasbourg France. It was very relaxing to not drive the Suburban down these little streets and enjoy the ride.

Strasbourg is in the Alsace region, and was once part of Germany. Today it is the host of the Council of Europe, as well as the European Court of Human Rights. We made a short stop to see the headquarters and take pictures.

Next we walked the city center, stopped at a market, admired all the old architecture and went to the cathedral. Our tour guide was an older lady who surprisingly walked VERY fast and was extremely knowledgeable.

For lunch we found a charming plaza, enjoyed the sunny afternoon and watched the people passing by.

We ended our tour with on a boat tour. Although it sounds lovely it was uncomfortably hot and we had no water left. But, over all it was a great day and we got to see another little corner of Europe.

Before we knew it we were back on the bus and headed home.

Animal Helper

Naomi is an animal lover! She had adorned her room with all kinds of animal posters and has a few snake skins too. Since we will not be adding any animals to the family, she made a sign for free dog walking and had her first call with in a few days. Frau Schmitt has many animals and needed a dog walker, and someone to help play and feed her animals. It's a great way for Naomi to get some time with all the animals, and a wonderful help for Frau Schmitt.

Here's our girl! Right after a hair cut. Looking beautiful with her long locks!

WOW, it's been a long time since I've been on here. For the next few posts I'll give an update on how things are over in our neck of the woods.

Wordless Wednesday

December 21

Naomi made her teacher the nicest scarf for Christmas. She picked a redish pink color that went well with her teachers jacket. Naomi started the scarf months ago, but put the fininshing toutches on it today. I was really glad she got it finished. Naomi said when she gave it to her teacher she really likes it and wore it for the rest of the day.

Royal Ranger

On Friday evening from 5-7 Naomi attends the Royal Rangers. It is a church based group of girls that learn about God, Cooking, Camping, and all kinds of other stuff. Naomi gets to hang out with the girls, as well as play games and learn. This summer she went to summer camp with the Rangers. It lasted 5 days and she came home tired and dirty, but had a great time. Here she is in her Rangers Uniform. Isn't she cute!

Pom-Pom

In January Naomi's whole class learned to crochet from her teacher Frau Tulinski. She had a easy way of teaching them and they practiced about every week. The final project that was graded was a stuffed mouse. Naomi choose a multi-colored yarn and for her finishing touches she added google eyes, bows and pompom for a nose. Pretty cute. She got an A+ on this project.

Naomi is 10

What will it be like to be 10? I THINK JUST THE SAME, EXCEPT MAYBE I WILL GET MORE RESPONSIBILITY. What do you mean by that? STAY UP LATER, AND I MIGHT BE ABLE TO GO TO MY FRIENDS MORE OFTEN.

How about a favorite color? GREEN AND ROBIN EGG BLUE food? PEPPERONI PIZZA AND SOMETIMES THE SHELLS OH AND CAULIFLOWER SPAGHETTI What is something you don't like? TOMATOES. THAT'S THE ONLY THING I DON'T EAT. RIGHT? I can think of a few more. LIKE WHAT? Sandwiches. YEA TRUE. Eggs. WELL I CAN EAT THOSE. You didn't eat them the last time I made them. TRUE. SOMETIMES I LIKE THEM SOMETIMES I DON'T.

Favorite thing to do? READ. READ. READ. Best part of day? I LOOK FORWARD TO ANY ACTIVITY WE DO. LIKE SWIMMING, OR IF WE GO SIGHT SEEING. What do you like most about Germany? I THINK THAT I LIKE LEARNING THE LANGUAGE. AND I LIKE ALL THE LITTLE SHOPS. What do you like about school? I THINK I LIKE ART THE BEST. EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT GERMAN. I ALSO LIKE TEACHING ENGLISH. Do you help with English every time? YEA, OR IF THEY HAVE A QUESTION.

If you could DO anything what would it be I THINK IF I COULD DO ANYTHING I THINK I WOULD PET EVERY ANIMAL IN THE WORLD OR HAVE EVERY ANIMAL IN MY HOUSE. I WOULD HAVE TO LIVE IN A MANSION.

Hardest thing you've ever done? I'VE REALLY NOT DONE ANYTHING HARD. MAYBE RUNNING AWAY FROM EYAN. BECAUSE THAT NEVER STOPS. OR DEPARTING FROM MY FRIENDS, BUT THAT WASN'T THAT HARD.

What will you be when you grow up? (GROAN) WELL YOU HAVE TO GO TO COLLEGE FOR 4 YEARS TO BE A LIBRARIAN OR A TEACHER. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO BE AN ARTIST. what kind of artist? I WOULD DO IT ALL. PAINT, DRAW, A VERY FLEXIBLE ARTIST. I COULD BUILD DRAW AND PAINT.

Where will you live? I WOULD LIVE IN ROTHENBURG. IT'S BEAUTIFUL THERE. LOTS OF BEAUTIFUL THINGS TO DRAW. BUT, IF I WANTED TO HAVE A LIBRARY I WOULD GO TO HAWAII. OR I COULD HAVE A PORTABLE LIBRARY AND LIVE ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD AND HAVE A LIBRARY. Will you be married and have kids? YEA How old will you be? 20 OR OLDER. OR WHEN I FIND THE PERFECT MATCH AND THE PUZZLE FITS.

ok thanks Naomi! That's it! THAT'S ALL THE QUESTIONS YOU HAVE?!?