Fasching 2018

Nathanael's school celebrated Fasching/Carnival early this year.

I loved riding the bus to school the morning of the party.  He sure got a lot of looks and smiles.

Celebrating Gregory

Happy birthday, dearest Gregory!

Today's (one day early) celebrations included a Betty Crocker glutenfree chocolate cake brought back from England (delicious and so simple), homemade party hats (which the kids decided were necessary only minutes before the celebration and amazingly pulled it off), cards and gifts which included hats and an iPod touch (woohoo!), and dinner out at one of our favorites - Zum Wohl. The pictures crack me up. They well capture the evening.

We love celebrating Gregory/Dad!

Blowing out the candles -- Wow, Dad!  You blew them all out with one blow!

Attempting a photo together -- Dad, where's your hat?!

Fixed that

Dinner together (one grumbling and one reading while grumbling)

Finally happy with food

Saying goodbye to my grandma

Today my Grandma was buried.  I wasn't there.

The pain and anger and sorrow and disappointment and sadness are overwhelming.

I just want to be in Kansas right now, hugging relatives, laughing about Grandma's ways, looking at her jewelry and holding hands with relatives as the smiles let loose the tears.  I want to bond with my family and relatives through this instead of feel further outside of it all.

Today, I am angry at God for this life we live.  What I wouldn't give to have been able to make the decision to fly back and be there.  I know the emotions will calm, and I will see clearly again tomorrow.  But tonight, I am letting the tears flow and sitting in the pain.

I had a most amazing Grandma.  I am so blessed and honored to be her granddaughter.  I know she is dancing in heaven right now, as beautiful as ever, smiling brightly.  I want to honor her with my life, to honor her values on family and faith.

Goodbye, Grandma.  You are missed dearly.  See you in heaven one day...   All my love, your Kimi

First Slumber Party

The kids were beyond themselves with excitement about their first slumber party! I must admit that I too was quite excited to have some girl time in the evening. (I went along to help out, as my friend's husband was out of town.) It was a complete success. All six kids seemed to enjoy themselves. The birthday boy (a former classmate of Nathanael's) was well-celebrated and distracted from his dad missing the big day. We all even got a bit of sleep. After the kids had a pizza dinner, my friend prepared the two of us an amazing stuffed chicken and stuffing-crusted potato dinner! Oh my, was it delicious!

Lost in her own world

This is my Eva. :)

And an adorable picture posted at Kindergarten from their outing to the Kids' Museum:

Fun4Kids with Friends

When Nathanael suddenly switched schools at the beginning of December, I set up a play date for him with some of his school friends over Christmas break.  It kept developing into something bigger and bigger, and in the end we were 9 adults and around 12 kids (?), gathered on a Saturday at the local indoor play center for over five hours of fun!  All had a blast, young and older! 

Ringing in the New Year with Opa and Oma

Opa and Oma followed us back to Vienna!  We loved having them visit again, and we even allowed the kids to ring in the New Year with us this time!  (We actually put them to bed and then got them up 30 minutes before the action.)

New Year's Day we began with a family bike/run.  Eva and Nathanael rode while Dad and Mom ran.  We ended up at Motorik Park where we played a bit and then went on to Hauptbahnhof to pick up Dad and Mom's bikes where they'd been stored during our building's construction.  Then we returned home.  It was a fun start to the new year.

Our week with Opa and Oma in Vienna was full of afternoon and evening fun together, hanging out at home.

During the mornings, Nathanael had a lot of special activities (school holiday offerings) while Eva had Kindergarten.

Come again, Opa and Oma!  We love you!

Our beloved Center for Architecture

The winter break brought with it fun activities for schoolkids, and the Center for Architecture did not disappoint -- a Lego tower-building workshop!  We invited one of his new school friends, and that made it even more amazing for Nathanael.