{moment's}

A Friday ritual.

A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by SouleMama. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

As it is the holidays, I'm going ahead and break the rule, as so many others on the {this moment} roll do. Let's enjoy this special time a bit more extended!

{this moment}

A Friday ritual.
A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by SouleMama. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

the upcycled boxes

it was late summer as thea was loving the process of painting her boxes... they have been in the basement for a couple years, a house mate once got four gorgeous christmas ornaments in them and i already then knew, that those boxes will be used for a second purpose.
and now, here we are, they are all filled with yummy cookies made by the little hands of the littlest in the family. hand written labels are of course part of the gift. this is one more elven work being done with lots of enthusiasm and it will be mailed out to be at it's destination by the 24th!

a bit of a blurr

since last sunday i'm fighting a cold, not the nose is the problem, but my throat! i can't remember having such a sore throat paired with a slight ear ache...
on monday joel was so kind to let me sleep in, getting breakfast set and the three older kids on their way to school. i stayed in bed until mid morning, don't remember the last time doing so. with some unwashed sheep's wool put close to my ear all night, i was able to cure the ear ache. the throat is getting better thanks to lots of sage leaf tee, i tell buckets of it and it does sooth my sore throat. i was able to swallow rice and a regular meal again today.  this all blurs my mind a bit and i'm quit easily irritated. sorry for all in my close vicinity if i'm a bit harsh or rough on any of you. it will get better again i'm sure.

at work like elves

lots is going on in our house, amos has been working on sweet treats and folding boxes....
we are busy like elves!

weekending

a weekend full of ballett for our oldest...
we went to one of the four performances, it was nice and very educational. the "ballettwerkstatt" was something like a recital by TaZ and has given a very nice overview of the student body and what a dancer will be able to dance one semester prior to graduation. lets see what the next 5 years will bring. for now, elias is very eager to learn and put his body to work. very focused to become a dancer. i'm happy for him and we try to support him in his dream. isn't that what parents are for?
i do think it is and of course many more things too.

{this moment}

A Friday ritual.
A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by SouleMama. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

international christmas celebration

for a few years now, we are celebrating with internationals from the neighborhood. it is wonderful, so many friends are showing up with all kinds of fantastic dishes to share. yesterday we did have about 100 people come and celebrate with us. us meaning a group of friends doing german conversation classes and enjoying friendships among our immigrant neighbors.
everyone brought savory dishes and for dessert we got together last monday. my kitchen was cookie-bakery for a few hours. and of course we also had a wintery chocolate fondue, everyone was enjoying the time together and of course especially the kids loved all the dipped fruit in the melted (over the fire) chocolate.

sharing traditions, sharing time, sharing life's, creating community.

feeding the birds

the chickens are not daring to go out into the snow... lot's of winter indoor time for them. i try to keep them happy with all our veggie and fruit scraps...

all other song birds have either left or are now enjoying the passion of the girls in the family. we put two feeders and some extra snacks out behind the house. And they are coming finches, chickadees and true thrush's, though they are not used to people noises yet, but i'm sure after the coming weeks with snow, as we hope they will stay and we will enjoy to watch them.

PIPEROID

how cool is this! amos got a piperoid as an advents gift, a bunch of paper tubes which have to be cut apart as the instructions tell and then in a second step put the pieces all together again. fun, lots of fun and wonderful design. i love these kinds of toys, kind of self made and of course they go for a long mile of our youngsters life. and amos robotic voice fit's so much to the little yellow guy! play time for many hours to come. i'm sure we have to some how place an order for more of the fantastical piperoids!

2nd of advent

a simple lunch on the second sunday of advent. lighting the candle peace has been done at breakfast and every meal there after. it is a good thing to be reminded by this second light to be thankful for the peace we have and plea to God for peace on those places on our planet who suffer incredible hardships caused by war.

for in the prophet isajah we read:
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

our sunday lunches are usually pretty simple, soup and bread. for the adults paired with a glass of wine. yesterdays soup was yam with parsley and beef broth, topped with a mild parmesan.
and yes it was a real winter's day, lots of snow coming down from the sky, we are in a deep white wonderland here in switzerland. every thing slowed down and almost came to a stand still this morning, it took a while to clear the streets though the trains ran on schedule as we are used here in the land of "every thing run's on time"...

{this moment}

A Friday ritual.
A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by SouleMama. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

today is "samichlaus" day

as in all of switzerland it's saint nicholas day.  and the tradition will it so, that we do bake our grittibaenz today... it's fun and it's exciting and we love to do it, so when on this day, with the kids on different schedules and times out of school? i came up with a plan, dough preparations in the morning (to give it time for rising). lunch at noon and right after lunch we made the grittibaenz, baking and all. then the kids go back to school, thea and i were invited to an afternoon tea at a friends house. running through the snow and visiting, it was very peaceful, especially knowing we don't have to hurry home for anything. as dinner plans have been put in place and we just had to set up, reheat the soup and put the grittibaenz on the the table. good planning makes happy kids, and yes everything panned out the way it was planned.

it not always does and that's fine too, it keeps us flexible doesn't it!

crafting and baking

there has been all kind's of crafting going on, some very tedious teaching naomi to be patient with herself... though now as it is all done, each and every thread stitched into it's right place she is super happy about the lavender pillow. the wrapping process was the most fun ever, and that is fine this way.
this weaving project started way back in the summer, got put aside and picked up again and again. now and then it was almost tossed out of the window as the sewing with fine needles has been a challenge for the girl. sewing the two fabrics together at the machine was super exciting! i'm happy we were able to stick with this project, knowing that it is what naomi has been envisioning for it to become.
cookie baking and decorating is at a seasonal high, all love it and we keep baking. this will be our past time for the coming weeks, it's the middle of advent and christmas cookies are a big part of family tradition in our house.

die Kerze der Hoffnung

die erste Kerze des Advents zuendeten wir am Sonntagmorgen an. Es ist immer wieder von Neuem eine schoen Erfahrung mit der Familie um den Tisch zu sitzen und die Kerze der Hoffnung anzuzuenden. Es ist die erste von Vieren. Bis Weihnachten werden wir noch eine Weile warten. Immer wenn wir Abends zusammensitzen im Kerzenschein, der vortlaufenden Adventsgeschichte lauschen, Lieder singen und gemeinsam durch die dunkelste Zeit des Jahres gehen halten wir uns fest an der Hoffnung die diese Kerze uns entgegen leuchtet. Jesus ist geboren fuer uns, fuer mich persoenlich und er kommt wieder. Wir warten und sind gestaerkt durch das Wort.

Siehe, dein Koenig kommt zu dir, ein Gerechter und ein Helfer. Sacharia 9.9

weekending

it was a wonderful weekend out in the snow we were for hours. the sledding was fun and elias absolutely enjoyed the workings of his snow board. it's his first winter on the board, he has been skiing in the past. the other three wanted to sled and that was fine with me as i preferred that too. though honestly i mostly stood still and the camera in hand...
never the less it was excellent snow and not very cold. just a bit below freezing which made the adventure a lot of fun.

after we arrived inside again of course the ginger bread house could not be looked at for much longer. elias made it at school and decided that he was going to share it with all of us. even the yummy marzipan pigs in the pigs sty were shared among all. and hot coco being served with it, o so yummy and belly warming, there is really no cozier moment then after a snow adventure being back in the warm living room with family and a hot drink.

and there we go, thea has made some big steps in her ability of using markers, pencils. she is now clearly stating that her people had hair and hands and feet. and their mouths are telling how they feel, o so right she is.
i'm sure we are on a wonderful path with her, one more to discover the power of lines! and yes i will try to help her feel comfortable and able to keep drawing and painting past the "hard years".... would be just so wonderful.