Emily's Photography Project

Emily "staged" a photography shoot for her photography class.  On one hand I had fun taking pictures of the "mess" myself, but on the other hand....when I helped her put the books away...I was really grumpy that she did that.  I guess I was conflicted to say the least and I sent her a double message.

Message 1:  Oh, Emily, this is so cool!  What a great idea!  Your pictures will be interesting....etc..

Message 2:  Oh, Emily, what were you thinking?  How dare you abuse our precious books this way!!!  Don't ever do this again!

Poor Emily, but what is a mother to do?

Have a look.:

Do we like books, or what?

Notice the "hot" seat under the TV.

Ivan gets the hot seat!~such a good brother to be willing to be the "model" for her project.  She did get a few of Jay and I, too, but I haven't seen them and...frankly...I'm afraid to see them :o)

Ivan's 13th Birthday Interview

Taking tradition from a friend of mine, here are the birthday questions for Ivan:

What is your favorite book?
One of the books from the Fire Within series, by Chris D'Lacy

What do you want to be when you grow up?
A baker.

What is your favorite food?
I don't have a favorite.

What is your favorite dessert?
Devil's Food Cake

Where would you like to go on a vacation?
It would be between Australia and Virginia

What is your favorite memory from last year?
Going to summer camp in North Carolina.

What is your goal for this next year?
To save up enough money to help pay for summer camp this year.

What is your favorite area of science?
Either chemistry or biology

If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
purple

What is your favorite thing about living in Frankfurt?
local friendliness

What is your favorite story from the Old Testament?
The story of David, Saul and Jonathon

What is your favorite subject in school this year?
English...hands down because she is the nicest teacher and the best at teaching.

Ivan's Birthday Party

Here are some pictures from Ivan's birthday party he had today with friends.

First they played Curses (a board game) then they ate lunch (pizza).  Then came the chocolate fondue.  There was pineapple, meringue cookies, vanilla cookies, bananas, pretzels and bread cubes for dipping.  After the fondue they all went outside for one big role play (RP).  They didn't stay outside too long...Jack Frost chased them back in...so...they played another round of Curses after Ivan opened his presents.

Just finished round one of Curses.

Getting ready for the pizza.

Fondue fun!

Got fondue....?

The never ending fondue pot.

Too many pictures of everyone eating fondue.

Opening presents now.

Ivan rakes in the cash on his b-day this year.

Cake time....yum!

Make a wish and.....

blow out the candles...all two of them....I know, sad isn't it?  We couldn't find birthday candles at the last minute.  Jay improvised with two tea candles.

Party over...everyone had a good time...and Ivan is now the richest person in our house at the moment.

Ivan's Day - November 24th

Ivan's birthday is November 24.  Our tradition is to let the one having the birthday chose the meals for the day.  Ivan chose Belgium waffles with cream and strawberries (not easy to find in November) for breakfast and steak and grilled zucchini and eggplant for dinner.

After dinner he opened gifts from family.

Getting ready to dive into the birthday presents.  Jet's giving Ivan a kiss for good luck.

What could it be?

Seriously Mom, a pillow?  Yep.  A pillow.

This will keep Ivan busy for awhile....yay!

Ah, oh...one of his aunts is in trouble!

I think all of us will enjoy this gift :o)  Cupcake decorator set.

Playing Transamerica...Ivan must not be doing so well.

Oh yes, let's put the rubber band blaster together.

A little more complicated than assumed.

Rubber bands in place now....look out family!!!

Halloween 2014

Here is a summary of our Halloween:

1)   pumpkin carving (very fun)

2)   caramel and candy apples (very fun, but dangerous working with hot liquids; we did have one small burn - yikes!)

3)   pizza and grapes (to balance out all the sugar)

4)   costume donning (very creative - and fun)

5)   trick-or-treating (the kids and their friends scavanged for sugary treats in our "American" apartment complex and I handed out candy to other like-minded scavangers.  Some of them German children from nearby neighborhoods...fun to be had by all!)

6)   after trick-or-treating, popcorn and movie (The Adam's Family) 

Overall we had a fun night!  The only flaw in our evening is that you weren't there to share it with us!

Pumpkin carving fun with friends :o)

It's dangerous candy apple time - yay!!

pumpkin mayhem all over the table

Ivan's finished pumpkin.

Ivan is having way too much fun!

Emily and friends from school.

In character....ready to scavange :o)  Note: the mask costume is a homemade piece of art done by the wearer - pretty amazing!

In case you don't watch Dr. Who, that is Emily's costume (just thought I'd share that).

Ivan's costume...he calls it the "creep."  (I call it creepy!!)

more Halloween mayhem....

After the hunt...the spoils of war!

Emily's treasure trove.

lots and lots of piles of candy everywhere

Checking out the American candy.

The serious negotiations begin!

This is the most entertaining part of the evening (for me).

Negotiations over...time to put it all away.

Checking for nuts in the ingredients (nut allergy).

These candy apples are to be reckoned with.

These apples are strange, but tasty.

Ivan's stash

Can you guess which pumpkin Emily carved?

If you guessed the dalek...you are correct!!!

What's a dalek?

You must be a Dr. Who watcher to know...one of Dr. Who's enemies...a robot-type character...it's the first one in this line-up.