a new toy

 

well for the next four weeks, amos will be able to play with a new toy...
this is not just for fun though. he is accompanying joel for the christmas musical at our church. the kids ministry is practicing for the "de vierti koenig" a chistmas musical, which will be performed at our church on the 14th of december.
so there is lots and lots of drumming going on right now....
amos is really liking the fact, that he does not have to go out into the garage, all by himself, and it's kind of cold out there now as temperatures dropped.
fine with me, it's great to see him practicing and i don't mind a bit more "back ground" banging in the corner of our living room. so we all seem to like the toy, for  a while at least.

christmas cookies

this year, it seems like we are super early to bake the christmas cookies. we had fun and it was great to work together and so very quickly we packed 10 big tin boxes full with sweetness.
so far there are
:: chraebeli (with anis)
:: sandele (with sandel wood)
:: cinnamon stars
:: spicy balls (some type of allspice and almonds)
:: mailaenderli
:: orangenschnittli

as you might have noticed, there nothing with chocolate on the list...
we have already twice made "basler brunsli" and for the moment, i'm just not ready to melt more chocolate, but it will happen eventually, i'm sure. there is a list of more kinds of christmas cookies, in the back of my head. and of course amos and naomi they have their own ideas of adding to the variety of cookies and that is super fun.

zippered case

i found this little zippered case at handmade kultur, a wonderful and inspiring magazine based in germany. yup, you are right, i'm getting more and more used to live in europe and find my ways around better by the months passing. (wow and this after 5 years back in switzerland!)
i absolutely loved the idea of using an open zipper and the little time, the project was described to use. well they were right, it really didn't take more then  an hour to actually put together the fabric, zipper and cutting pattern. i have to say, there were a few put together blocks laying around my sewing machine. of course they lent itself perfect for a creative zipper case for my reading glasses.
and a second etui was done for the littlest of the family as a toilet case, as she starts to have sleep overs and travel ideas this comes in handy. and of course the time of gift giving is just upon us...


i could not resist, there are more of those little cases in the making, i was at the fabric store today and purchased more zippers....

{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.

at night

life is super busy, so much to do, so many meetings and events to attend, so many discussions to have had. and beside all these, there are the exciting makings and doings and the ballett cendrillon to attend. well i love this time of year and i don't mind the baking and crafting at all. this week i started out to bake a big batch of christmas cookies with my neighboor-friends. we do it for the bazar next week, and we love to work together for a morning.

so as i walked home tonight, together with elias, i had to stop and quickly take out the camera. the trolley bus wires are just such an amazing sight, i had to capture them. that's what the picture is about. and it does reflect my everyday living, with all its crossing overs and under and connecting and networking...

november day

today started out very bleak and rainy, a day i was looking forward to spend indoors, i thought. well never mind, by mid day the sky was very blue and sunny. it was wonderful to sit out side and eat my picnic in the sun, of course well dressed, as we do write november 18th and it is in order to have the temperature being in the mid fourties.

as the leafs are falling, there is a lot to be seen. i love autumn leafs, even if they are not in new england and not sugar maple...
of course i miss those days

the cookie baker in the family

amos really likes to bake, not just at home, but also at grandmas place. well also not just anything, but right now cookies are on his radar. for a long while it has been muffins and cup cake. but as the advents season, soon to be upon us, calls for, cookies must be "created".
it's often a bit chaotic, and every time him as well as me (or who ever works with him) learns a lot. doubling the recipe, how to use a big knife, which lemon grater is better as the other, or how to hold the lemon to grate in order not to grate your fingers...

so this time, we got a wonderful spice cookie to taste. just excellent! thank you amos for all the enthusiasm and endurance in learning such a wonderful skill.

the weekend walk

weekends are just perfect for taking walks!
well at least joel and i think so and sometimes we can get even the older kids to come along. thea still loves to go for walks, she frequently asks adults coming across her path, if they would like to come on a walk with her. she has friend, with whom she has been going on walks frequently before she started kindergarten and that seems still to be her preferred way of spending time.
it is deep into autumn, almost over i would say, though not yet. even as the sun was not out, it was not cold at all and we had fun skipping and climbing and strolling through the forest and across some empty pastures.

uups, yes we had to clean our shoes very well, it has been wet and a bit muddy, but never mind, it was worth it.

{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 lights in november

it's lantern time in my neighborhood. all the kindergarteners have been doing the "raebelichtli umzuege" naturally we went too our kindergarden's walk around the neighborhood too. having been at the kindergarden in the morning to carve the lanterns, the parents enjoyed the time chatting and carving with the kids. it will likely have been the last time for me, as thea is in her second year of kindergarten and usually the lantern parades are not anymore done in primary school. well, i will miss it, miss the sitting down to carve and decide what kind of patterns we want to carve. the walking and singing with the kids at night was very special. maybe we will just do our own little carving session and no one prevents us from singing songs in our yard... that could be considered, though we will see how the girls are doing in a year and if they would be into this kind of activity too.

we do have our little lights right in front of our entrance door. it's a friendly invitation to come and visit. it's a little bit of shining hope and light into this dark season. early nightfall and getting up when it's still dark is hard on all of us, and i would assume not just for us. so we also light candles in the morning. it does lighten up breakfast as well as a warm and wonderful moment of being together to start the day.
so, as i started with telling you about the lantern parade in the evening, i will end with the candle we light in the morning. and it's good for my mood too, just a bit of light to brighten up the morning.

turning 6

our dear thea turned six today!
the long expected birthday day has come  and she has been waking up early to have breakfast with all of us. of course we enjoyed it and loved to have her at the table that early in the morning.
such six year old excitement is wonderful and there is not a moment one of us doubted that thea's age. lot's of exclamations all through the day, as well as loving to be at center stage for this one big day.
not just breakfast was all hers, but also the mid afternoon cake celebration with all the grandparents and a couple more friends, even big brothers colleague was invited for cake...

i love the little, though i'm aware that she is not so little anymore, around the house. love to remember how she entered this world, our family, our community life! not a lot of announcing, being birthed in a quick few minutes at home with the dr. colleague living with us attending (thank you mark). a few moments there after all of us sitting in a round and admiring her, the little thea clare.
praying and giving thanks for the precious life we have given to take car and being blessed by.

fabric design by T

a wide open afternoon and a wanting to craft child makes for a good mix and a quickly passing afternoon. painting was, what she wanted to do, a fabric apron was, what i needed her to somehow put a design on. no big deal, for both of us, working together to tape the apron onto the table. and taking the fabric creons out from the cupboard. the creons are wonderful, strong in pigment and slightly oily to the touch. it is easy to work with them, if the fabric is smooth on the surface. and that's why i felt like, i wanted to tape down the object of being colored on.

thea started out with the name of her cousin, as he has had a birthday yesterday and even as we are a bit late, i'm sure he will enjoy the kitchen apron, personalized by thea.
a smily had to be on the design and then it seems like, thea was into boxes and the result looks somewhat like a creative kind of hundertwasser. lovely and absolutely enjoyable to go through the process and i'm once more impressed by my daughters sence of color and space.

the fire in the woods

we all love autumn and even more, we all love to make and tend fires. to roast and cook over a fire and just sit, watch better say, stare into the fire.
and that is just what we did yesterday afternoon into the evening. of course the kids could not be convinced, that a hike a little bit further up in the toesstal could be fun, exciting and even sunny! they didn't mind the fog, they even loved the feel of autumn in their bones. well, what to do with a bunch of kids, teenager better say and friends as well as a wide open sunday afternoon.
"lets go and make a big fire in the woods" was the unison voice of the oldest child and so the other three were easily convinced. a phone call to our friends and preparations were in full swing.
a thermos with green tea, one with coffee, chestnuts and the needed pan to cook, marshmallows and apples, crackers and cookies amos and his colleague baked on friday had come along too.
some rope, a saw, the hatchet and of course fire lighters and paper.

we almost forgot the flashlights, but we didn't and that was a good thing, as it is getting dark early now. i even took my hexies along... just a moment of sitting and sewing, it calmes me down and makes me happy!

a good moment was spent in collecting mushrooms, we had an excellent fall this year. a wet summer and then warm and sunny october days. mushrooms all over the place, o and a wasp nest 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.

somewhat like burek

how do you love spinach? i have a few people around my dinner table which do not really love spinach. so there is some creativity being asked of me. in may i tried spinach smoothy, it was nice, i thought. the kids where not hot on it, but slurped it.

we have lots of neighbors from the balkan and so we have been eating burek made by the ones who really know how to make it. though the recipe i looked at was not calling the "rolls" burek and i didn't quiet  understand that will turn out very much as burek. i don't know if i really would have dared to make burek, i was so far not able to get myself to do so. as i really like the real food made by the people who know what they do and it will not turn out the same, when i make it. but this time it got me into the adventure by surprise what it turned out to be. it turned out wonderful and that's what counts at the moment.
so yes the family and everyone else at our dinner and lunch table love burek, and yes even the one i made. i used simple puffy pastery dough but rolled it out much thinner as it usually is done.
so here we go, this is a dish with spinach and fresh cheese (be it goat or not, doesn't really matter, but be aware that you need to add some hot pepper or chili for taste if you do not use the goat cheese).

eaten warm is just super perfect!

taking notes

i'm in the middle of taking a course in story telling. it's six days, on which i attend that class and it's really exciting. the idea behind this is, that i will be able to tell stories in authentic and exciting ways. to grasp the kids attention and lead on their way to discover life, discover the bible and discover God.
i love the pen which is use to take notes, such a creative little tool, i got from a child. and i'm inspired to use it, when ever i look at it, or just hold it in my hand.
note taking has been a good learning tool for me in the past and it seems, that it still is. wow it has been a long time, since i have taken the last class, i don't even remember, maybe the "perspectives class" 16 years ago...
well i love learning again and it's smooth so far. though for next tuesday, i will have to tell a story to a group of 5 students and a teacher, and they will critique me. lets see what is going to happen!

morning has broken

what a wonderful morning we enjoyed today. waking up when it was still dark getting the kids out of bed has been a bit of a chore lately. though i don't blame them, it's november and we are all getting up for breakfast at 6:25am. it has been a getting used to, and some mornings, i would love to rather stay in bed and wait for the sun to lure me out from under the warm covers.

but today it was just a must, as i had to leave the house even before the girls left for school. and it was well worth to be up and running. to take out the camera, just for a moment, but run out into the cool of the november morning, as you maybe can grasp from those pictures. the colors were stunning and keeping me staring out the window between sips of tea.