colour is back

late in the fall i collected a garland of bittersweet branches. they are such an exuberant sight now! especially in contrast to all the white i was posting the past few days....

again white

i just could not resist this sight. i had to take it and add it to my white phase....
(yes it is amos typing away with one finger....
nor for much longer, as he is very eager to get his typing hours in)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/levels/level1.shtml

more white

besides the white snow we got on sunday, my narcissus is blooming. it is beautiful and smells lovely. i'm glad though just one bloom has opened yet....

beautyful white

it was a wonderful snowy morning.
the first peak out of the bedroom window was such a surprise, snow!
an unexpected white blanket was covering the city's dirty look.
winter is often looking messy in town, gray's and black's blendig.
and shoveling is a treat!

quilt

it made me so happy to discover naomi taking an afternoon nap. she does love my quilt as much as i do. and i'm proud of my last years project. it turned out lovely. recycling lots of outworn clothes. the back is made out of an old duvet cover, which my mothers friend has given to me 20 years ago. a dyed light linen. i divided it up with some colorful new pieces to give it an interesting twist.
all the pieces are sown together with the machine and hand quilted ~1.2cm from the seam. the batting is organic cotton which i could not resist buying. i figured we spend so much time under such a nice quilt that it's worth using unpolluted patting.
it has been a good warm winter for us!

living

i like living, breathing better than working...
MY ART [IS] THAT OF LIVING:
each second each breath is a work
which is neither visual nor cerebral,
it's a sort of constant euphoria."

- marcel duchamp

kurzes haar!

the first time in her life i cut naomi's hair! she turned four on few days ago and never until yesterday wanted short hair! she is very proud of her looks and her beautiful long hair. of course she wants carry it down, what i never understood. i like long hair but up, tight and pinned up, no lose ends hanging into my food or my projects.
so yesterday night naomi just insisted to have her hair cut in the morning, i had to promise.
so i did and this is what happened.... she is very happy and i was not sad and didn't even blink with my eye cutting her hair. i guess it was time for it.

windrad

ich schaue aus dem kuechenfenster und bin erneut erfreut ueber die farben und die bewegung unseres windrades. grad jetzt mitten im grauen winter tut es gut die bewegten farben des raedes zu sehen. die resonanz im innern finden und einfach geniessen.
winter in der stadt, oft trostlos, grau in grau, doch ab und zu ein farbtupf ist nicht zu verlaeugnen. vorallem die immer wieder auftauchenden cardinale lassen mein herz hoeher schlagen und die kinder immer wieder voll begeisterung zum fenster rennen. -farben im winter, ein geschenk-

glittering

winter in at it's best, cold and sunny. glittering snow on trees as well as on the ground.
looking up into the sky is at such moments is a treat, a gift of nature.
it sustains me, keeps me going and is just inspiring to look closer.
to be more out there, to open my eyes for even more beauty to be discovered.
because i do know for certain it is out there and waiting to be seen.

not hurry

nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

-lao tzu

painting

painting all day, every day! yes that's naomi's idea of fun.
any paints, any surface, as long as there is freedom to paint.
starting out orderly with a clear idea of the project.
going on to random pieces of paper until she ends up...
yes you know somewhere on her body,
fingernails, hands, arms, face, ears, legs, feet....

a moment or two

a moment of peace and stillness.
i do treasure those minutes after lunch, when all the kids are in their rooms. with a cup of tea and my feet up, next to the radiator. a few rays of the early afternoon sun lighten up the space around me. i'm even able to read a few words and meditate on them...
and it is still quiet around me, wow!

a bit later an other "noise" got me up, on my feet!"

another sunny walk

once more walking to ballet, this time with some snow! never the less sunny and with some fun shadows. it's so good to be walking in the city.

pink

naomi's favorit shoes and of course they are pink, what else!

tag

the kids and joel played tag in our living room! 10 minutes of running madly around the table, almost unable to do so because of having to laugh soooooo hard.
it was fun to watch from my cozy chair.

laundry

it's a weekly task, or even more frequent.
i don't mind it and i look at it as a relaxing little moment. i even start looking at it as a creative challenge... yes you did read correctly, i love coming up with different stacks of folded items. even folding itself is interesting. as one shape evolves into an other and another and yet another. i guess i lost you by now, as this is definitely a mom's and homemakers rambling!
i'm looking forward to folding laundry again soon...

birthday

naomi's birthday was last week.
celebrated with a chocolate cake, tea and friends.
it is such a privilege to have her in our family

snow!

"snow emergency", of course for the kids it was over due to have this happen. the third time in this winter, although there is to say, that the last "snow emergency" was a 2" snow flurry! a boston thing i guess, everyone getting crazy over the "snow to come". but as you can see, the snow arrived and we went sledding with our friends, just down the street. so we came home and enjoyed a cup of hot cider with cookies. it was a good day!

shoot for the moon

shoot for the moon.
even if you miss,
you'll land among the stars.

-les brown

beading

elias came home from his coop. full of enthusiasm to keep creating with beads, wire, string and all his imagination. within moments he picked his favorite things out of a my box of collected stuff.
a really long "snake" appeared within minutes....
a quick reminder of the upcoming birthday of iris. of course she needed to be have a present. and there! it is already appearing in his hands, a book mark with her initial on it.
a precious moment for me, to see hem involved and very happy creating for his friends!

sunny walk

a wonderful sunny afternoon in january! we had to go for a walk, no doubt about that. it was wonderful, i was glad i had my camera with me and so we ran and jumped and galloped! loving to run after our own shadows!

drei koenigs tag

mit etwas verspaetung doch ich konnte es mir nicht verkneifen den gelungenen drei koenigskuchen euch zu praesentieren.
wir waren an ein fest eingeladen, der kuchen wurde verspiessen und niemand meldete sich fuer die krone..... na ja elias war gluecklich, denn er wollte unbedingt koenig sein und so durfte er!

coffee

it's joel's favorit,
a cup of coffee and a piece of chocolate!
i like the looks better then the taste.
as for me,
a cup of hot tea with some honey
is the ultimate.

of course local honey
boston honey

whatever

whatever you can do, or dream you can,
begin it.
-goethe

so often that's what i forget. this blog i guess is a tiny bit of beginning. getting some of my thought's onto "paper", some of my experiences verbally or visually expressed. i'm glad to have begun this.

music in our house

bits of joel's musicianship...



now you can imagine how lovely it is for the kids to go to bed. cozied up under a warm dawn comforter and having daddy play music until they fall asleep!

the present

for a start into a new year, i consider a new blank booklet a wonderful start. this motivated me to get one for each of the kids. each was individually decorated, just little, not much but the goal was to make it resound with their personalities.

• elias got some very geometric lines, plaene, skizzen, ideen, gedanken, farbpaletten


• amos got some a red and black "line rider" over the front and first two pages


• naomi's got a girlish look with pink and lilac meandering lines. i did some more outlines of things throughout the booklet, as she loves to color and to extend given drawings...
  

the three of them were so happy and very exited to get started in scribbling things into their personal note books, amos wanted phone numbers of his friends! i would have not guessed that one. elias is keeping his booklet hidden and doesn't want to waste it with just anything.... it has to be something special. naomi was within a moment coloring the pages in bright red and yellow!
it turned out to be "the present", i'm happy to be their mom!

game night

yesterday night was game night at our house.
joel and the kids played "die siedler von catan". a dream come true for the boys, as they love to play board games, and i have to say it is rather excruciating for me to play board games with the kids. joel loves to play and so they did. naomi was on daddy's team, she was good at rolling the die. not just rolling the die, but also building her very own highway! the boys played each for themselves and of course were good at it. i'm in awe of how joel is playing games with the kids over and over again and really enjoys it a lot. it takes so much patience, perseverances and a cool head. amos has to play the game with one hand and in between turns run to the living room to practice on his drum pad...! he wants to become a famous drummer. he barely makes it back to the game to take his turn. and of course it takes for ever for him to decide what he wants to trade and build.
joel thank you for playing with the kids.

solstice

A solstice Salutation

I salute you!
There is nothing I can give you which you have not.
But there is much, that while I cannot give, you can take.
No heaven can come to us, unless our hearts fin rest in it today.
Take heaven!
No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present instant.
Take peace!
The gloom of the world is but a shadow.
Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy.
Take joy!
And so at this Christmastime, I greet you,
With the prayer that for you, now, and forever,
The day breaks, and the shadows flee away!

an itialian benison from the 16th century

our furry friend

don't you love the way our squirrel is eating his lunch? we still have some pumpkins and squash to feed to our friends in the "wilderness" of city life.
it is so much fun watching them and observing how much they like to eat! i just put a little net with bacon fat out on a tree, we will see what is going to happen to it over the coming days.

live free - learn free!

encourrageing

i'm once more strengthened in my parenting ideas....
listen and watch 5 dangerous things you should let your kids do, by Gever Tulley from TED ideas worth spreading.

end of the year

it can't get any better.
we went to our friends house, cooked, played, and laughed together. the kids running wild and enjoying the snowy backyard as we drank a cup of tea. of course for a few moments things were wild and uncontrolled, but that's life, parenting fun, life entertainment.
after the big fun, all the kids enjoyed the sleep over. in sleeping bags, on the floor, with friends. for us that was a very high point of "last year".
some chocolate and an excellent drink, a warm living room and good conversation, ended in prayer, and the new year has begun.

thank you alberto, joanna, ana, isaac, margaret, and pheobe

no peace

if we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other

-mother teresa

target mittens

here are my target mittens....
they look great and feel comfy with the 100% wool from some main sheep. it was a quick and easy knit. i'm sure i will do more of those.

a pleasant morning

it has been such a pleasant morning. sleeping in, watching the clouds move on a blue sky, the sunbeams reaching through. even the kids played peacefully in the boys room! wow, what a treat to start the day.
almost oven warm bread for breakfast and honey, a cup of hot tea, and no argument who gets the jam first....
it's noon now, we got a lot done already and joel's flute is in the mail too, lunch simmering on the stove, what else do i want?
being a mom of three, trying to somehow get the learning and living in one and the same life covered, as well as enjoying it.
maybe i will be able to get the mittens done tonight, it has been so much fun to finish up little projects. as soon as i'm done i will post a pic. they are the target mittens from knitting nature.

nautilus poncho

this turned out really nice. i just had to start knitting one of the beautyful things out of "knitting natures design".
it was an easy knit and i really like the way it turned out. i did use different yarns, which turned out to give it a nice accent. the most fun was to crochet the whole band together, it's a very nice way to do it and it looks different, as it is the back side of the stitch.

christmas

christmas was finally here!
yeah and naomi definitely had to put on her own angel wings. she was dancing to her dady's music. i'm so very thankful for moments like this one. redeeming the moments i struggle along in my life with kids.
the past few days have been very quiet and we enjoyed the time just being family. it's kind of rare as we live in community and often have guests too. so we didn't visit we didn't even leave the house for over 24hours! this is not happening often, but it was good to just be home and take the time to sing, make music, dance, cook, eat, knit, read, and sleep...

the quirrels gift

together with the kids we stringed cranberries and popcorn, it was fun and looks beautyful on our little evergreen in the back of the house. i even got a pomegranate, cut it in slices and hung it up. we were very happy to see the squirrels come and enjoy the treats. tough still hoping for the cardinals to come...

something worth reading

It is not enough to simply teach children to read; we have to give them something worth reading. Something that will stretch their imaginations - something that will help them make sense of their own lives and encourage them to reach out toward people whose lives are quite different from their own.
-- Katherine Paterson author of Jacob Have I Loved

advents calendar

our advents calendar is looking very nice. there is hope in these lights.

a nomad

A nomad I will remain for life, in love with distant and uncharted places.
Isabelle Eberhardt

so true, to know i will not be able to really settle down at one place.
home is were my family and i are at the moment. at greenhaus today and who knows what tomorrow will bring? i guess that is true for many families around the globe, be it willingly or unwillingly. running away from harm, running toward a golden looking place on this earth.....
i guess, that's not what i think of. it's the inability to see myself belonging to just one place. feeling torn to explore new corners of this beautyfull planet. taking along the love and kindness i have been given from friends. passing on what from my bounty to friends and strangers on the way.

education!

Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not.
-- Thomas H. Huxley

i let the kids convince me to watch "the incredibles"!
the whole family was sitting in front of the screen and was at awe how incredibly stretchy the mom is, what might of a force the dad was showing.
of course the boys were taken a breath with the speed of "dash", and naomi was jolly about the babies joyfulness. violet's "forcefield" became the most interesting discussion theme during dessert with our neighbors!
rarely do we sit and stare at the screen together, but this time we all did and even enjoyed it. altough it got quite loud and was at times i would say violent, we did stick to until the end.
the kids were just glued to their pillows, could not close their mouth again, and overall it was fun. i'm sure about one thing, we will be talking about the supernatural powers for weeks to come.
http://disney.go.com/disneyvideos/animatedfilms/incredibles/

i have never been watching a soccer match in full length all my life. but today i did! together with my two boys, our brasilian friend and his baby boy...
what is happening to me?
i guess one more push on not becomming too american!
trying to get my kids interested in soccer instead of some american "sports" like football, baseball..... is this my still totally european mindset? is this my inner longing to keep european or what the heck is going on with me! i realize i do feel very strong about my kids beeing involved in sports, but it has to be a real sport. to home school it turnes out, is helpful in not running with the crowd and them wanting to do T-ball what ever this is (i never investigated this one bit more, it sounded too much like a starter into baseball).
i don't want to put anyone off, this is just an honest observation of myself, i guess...

wie ich doch immer wieder ueberrascht werde wenn joel mir was gefundenes zeigt...
a fun link to a power site!
http://www.kottke.org/06/06/powers-of-ten

rain rain we love you...
this are probably elias most often sung words int his kind of weather which we experienced quite a bit this spring. he loves the rain, the more it poures the better. as the water from the roof of our neighboring house is draining onto our "grassland". it is more as i like dough it is fun for the kids, especialy elias. the spout is broken and not there anymore, this makes a wonderful waterfall! right after breakfast he put his mudpants and rain jacket on, run outside and was not heard for the next two hours. all the buckets, watering cans, as well as some containers out of the recicling box are now lined up filled to the brink with rain water. "mom make sure nobody dumps the water out!" were his words as he tumbled into the house, all wet and very happy....

it finaly happened...
bekka called to let me know elias left her house, so i knew he will run into our house within the next few minutes. i hung the phone up and went outside to put the carbage and recicling containers out on the curb. looking down the street to see if elias has come around the corner yet. i could not beliefe my eyes, a police cruiser just stopped and a cop hopped out to stop elias and chat with him! i stayed on the side walk and observed what the next thing to come will be.... i held my breath, this was the long expected moment, taking place right in front of my own eyes!
we are in the united states of america and it is not normal that an almost 7 year old child is walking around the corner allone, to visit a friend, or come home after a play date!
i started breathing againe, elias keeps on walking, making his way home. the police cruiser slowly following on his heals, this is too much. a personal escort!
i feared for this to happen since i he was walking over to iris house in the fall. i was very certain nobody would snatch my boy, but the police!
(i guess i'm still too european and just do what my gut feeling tells me to. to teach my kid to enjoy the freedome given.)

wake up the earth, one of jp's important festivals. it is colourfull, childfriendly, diverse in any possible direction, and ton's of fun!
amos and i did wake up too, and enjoyed a ride on the cardbord slide, yeah!!!

fahrradfahren in der ostschweiz ist ein fruehlingstraum. mit unseren zwei familien waren wir den ganzen tag unterwegs und genossen das radeln vom hosenruck runter an die thur und dann nach buhwil und wieder den berg rauf auf den nollen. wir das heisst unsere ganze familie mit naomi im anhaenger und die fitzis mit dem tim im anhaenger. der amos konnte keine fuenf sekunden ohne worte sein, alles musste komentiert, mit seiner fantasie verunden und verbal erlebt werden. elias wurde durch eine zu starke bremsaktion auf einem steilen, steinigen weg vom fahrrad katapultiert und trug ein zerschundenes knie und eine kleine verletzung an der hand davon. rebecca genoss das aufladen ihres fahrrades als es dann mal so richtig bergauf ging.

als wir uns zum mittagessen hinsetzten, an einem lauschigen plaetzchen an einem zuflussbaechlein zur thur, stellten wir fest, das das essen vorallem gesund sei. kein brot, keine wurst, keine schokolade, dafuer gurken, oliven, eier, karotten, kiwi, bananen und aepfel! doch die gelegenheit wurde genutzt sich total dem bachstauen hinzugeben. beat und joel's fuesse standen fuer mehr als eine stunde im kalten wasser um eine wunderbare staumauer zu bauen. die kinder fanden dies auch sehr toll und konnten tatkraeftig mit anpacken das dass projekt auch wirklich gelingen wird. esthi und ich genossen in erster linie die sonne, die ruhe und zeigten uns nuetze im nasse hose ausziehen, tim's beine unter steinen zu begraben und ein auge auf die immer und ueberall hinrennende naomi zu haben.
der joel konnte natuerlich nicht mit uns fahren sondern musste eine heldentat einlegen. er radelte zweimal auf den nollen. das erste mal von bischofszell um den bus nach buhwil zu hoeln um die "kleinen" zu verladen. und danach ein zweitesmal von buhwil, wow wusste schon immer das mehr in dir steckt als wir alle denken. lukas meisterte die fahrt fast heldenhaft, nur die kuerzeste strecke von der unteren leutenegg nach hause wurde er weich und wollte auch noch mitfahren. so konnten wir die letzten 15 minuten noch einfach geniessen und zufahren, danke fater fuer diesen tag. halleluja!
danke anneliese, und buben das wir eure fahrraeder benutzen durften.

the train ride with my kids was fun, lots to see and our energetic 2 year old naomi wanted to run wild!
switzerland has an amazing network of public transportation. which i discover in a very new way, how it feels to use public transportation as a means of going about dayly life with 3 kids in tow. hopping on the bus changing onto the train and using a network of city buses to do shopping, visiting, and beeing so quickly at my needed destination.
altough today it was a bit more dificult with naomi, she very much wanted to wander around and visit the other people on the train. looking at them coming back to me with a quite loud voice, telling me everything which comes to her mind about that specific person. she was climbing the seats, run to the bath room(which by the way is available on every passanger car, and surprisingly clean)3 times within an hour. amos as all the times has to eat and of course it must be his chocolate bunny. he can not eat just by himself, no all of us have to take a bite from it and this about 3 times, as it would be unfair if just he would get all of the bunny. now all of us messy, covered in milk chocolate. luckely i was thougthful a couple of weeks ago and put a couple napkins in his backpack, they came in handy, to clean our hands and mouths.
you can imagine, after a 75 minute train ride twice today (not to mention that we had to change trains 3 times each ride)i was ready to hand the three kids over to my mom and let them take a bath together in the barell behind the house.

ein abendessen mit den freunden meiner eltern. es ist unglaublich wie humorvoll und tief persoenlich diese sechs leute miteinander waren. das geburtstagsfest von vreni, soll gefeiert werden. eine viertelstunde vor dem essen kommt der anruf von vreni dass ihr mann noch schafe verladen muss, da der pfarrer im stall steht und zwei der schafe gekauft hat. hans, der eigentlich bereits gegen die uhr kaempfte um rechtzeitig mit dem melken fertig zu werden, ist mit dem wagen im schnee stecken geblieben, fazit: sie werden erst etwa in einer halben stunde eintreffen.
die trudi und der otto werden informiert, dass sie bitte nicht stressen sollen und einfach gemuetlich rueberkommen sollen. nach einer stunde sind vreni und hans nach wie vor nicht erschienen, so wird beschlossen das man nun halt ohne diese zwei mit dem essen beginnen, worauf es nur noch weitere 15 minuten dauerte bis diese sich dann mit einem riesen hunger auch an den festlich gedeckten tisch setzten.
so hat der abend begonnen. ja wirklich nur der einstieg in einen langen abend, wir lachten viel, ich habe schon sehr sehr lange nicht mehr so fest lachen muessen. meine bauchmuskulatur ist schon seit monaten nicht mehr so strapaziert worden....
kenne ich doch diese freunde meiner eltern recht gut seit ueber 30-ig jahren, so ist es umso schoener mit zu erleben wie sie gemeinsam feste feiern und alt werden. ueber sich und das alt sein lachen koennen, doch oft eben auch nicht wissen ob es ihnen nun wirklich ums lachen zu mute ist, oder eben viel eher die ganze situation ein chaos von starken und schwachen charakteren ist.
danke euch sechsen, besonders auch ma und pa fuer diesen abend, ich moechte auch solche freunde haben im alter, gemeinsam den weg gehen und grad auch dann wenn es eben oft nicht einfach ist. wenn man sich gegenseitig auf den wecker geht, sich persoenlich angegriffen fuehlt von seinen besten freunden dies aber reflektieren kann und dadurch klarheit ueber die situation erhaelt. ihr seid mir ein grosses vorbild wie gemeinschaftliches leben aussiehen sollte. -danke-

Beinwell (Wallwurz), Symphytum officinale
seeing elias limp made me feel very helpless. just out of the blue, not knowing what is going on, what is the cause of his pain. trying to figure out why this happened and what are the possible things i can do to help him. beeing far away from home, from the place we are familiar with, from my husbands opinion...
i'm glad we were able to "fix" his hip mussle. rubing elias's femur mussle 4 times a day with the "wallwurz"-creme and trying to get him to rest. realizing once more, God is good.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphytum