cousins.

Johnny at about a week (maybe 2?):

 Link at about a week:

:} Gah! So cute! 

A sandbox and a castle.

My awesome husband has taken up woodworking. Building, building, building :) Last week and this week it was this sweet sandbox for the boy! 

I covered the shade with some sheets and J's little bestie brought all his sand toys over to join in the fun! 

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One of my favorite things about Germany is Bernkastle. I know I've said that about a million times, but every year it never fails to amaze me how beautiful it is! We've had so, so many great memories there with friends and family (eating Indian!) and the markets are magical in the winter. The ice cream shop across from our beloved restaurant has really, really great sorbet, and they speak Italian in there :) I just can't get enough of it and I might steal away before we have to move and disappear in the winding streets for a few days (or weeks). I will miss it so very much!! 

Schöne Ostern

This year J was old enough to care about Easter :) So, he had his first basket...

...And first egg search.

It was a lovely day!

Egg decorating and awesome malls.

This year was going to be the year of the natural egg, dyed with onion skins and beets. But instead we did this fun awesomeness!

Drawing on hot eggs with crayons makes it all melty and pretty-like. Then you dye them for an extra-long time and they come out sooooo loverly!

And then you have to pose them in all sorts of interesting spring-like scenarios, naturally.

And then you have to go to the mall in downtown Trier and check out the baby chickens!!!

Spring = Love

Today I managed to stop and take some pictures of a place I pass anytime I head towards the base. Johnny was asleep in the car so I had some time to really get in with the flowers ;)

These are a flower called Rape, strangely enough. They are grown for their oil (Canola oil anyone? Yup! That's what these are for!) There are miles and miles and miles of these flowers in the spring. We've called them spit flowers because they smell, well, like spit. If you buy local honey it also smells like spit if it comes from these flowers. It's weird but interesting.

In my neighborhood the trees are in full bloom and all is well with the universe. Except that my camera battery died after only a handful of photos on my baby-free walk. Grrr...

I seriously couldn't love it here anymore than I do right now! 

1.5 years

Just as his little cousin was born, Johnny had his second un-birthday! Hehe.. He's officially a year and a half old. So, he's a toddler now, right? :) 

We've had a rough couple of weeks between teething and allergies, but we are rounding the bend now I think! We've been VERY lucky in the teething department, so yea, I'm a little unexperienced in dealing with the crankiness of a teething baby. But now I get it, although he still sleeps no problem ;)

Bragging is probably bad for my karma, huh?

Ah well, it's a momma's right!

So, here is the rundown:

He communicates thoroughly with sign language. I'm not on top of it as much as I could be, but he gets his point across. He even made up his own sign for 'hot'. I have no idea how many signs he knows/uses.

He says bye, all done, doggy, daddy, tete, aaaand that's about it, haha... not much yet but he's working on it!

His favorite toy is the blender. I took the blade out and he spends ages taking it off the base, putting it back on, putting the lid on and making whirring noises while pushing the buttons. 

He eats with a spoon/fork and drinks out of a cup. 

He tells me that he needs to use the toilet! Yay! Not 100% yet, but it's a great start!

He looooooves Skype and thinks everyone is 'Tete' (his aunt!). 

His favorite food is blueberry oatmeal, as far as I can tell. And raisins, and chocolate soy milk. And a few times he's reached up onto the counter and stolen cupcakes.

His favorite animals, by far, are cats!

And he really, really, really loves tractors :)

There's more, since ya know, he's amazing. But he's starting to wake up from his nap.... so onto the rest of the post quicklike.

I had to take some photos of him eating his snack at his new picnic table today, he was having a sweet moment and was just too cute sitting there!

He and Luckie are finally friends. I was really worried for some months that we would have to find Luckie a new home, he really didn't like Johnny pretty much the moment he started walking. Guess dogs just don't like taller competition!

Just some proof he isn't always keen on getting his picture taken:

A new boy.

My sister had herself a son! Lincoln Wyatt, amazing, is he not?

And my beautiful sis with her little man...

I adore them! I can't wait to meet him and cuddle him more than he's ever been cuddled before!

Where does he learn this stuff?

.... Definitely not from his parents.... haha....

Summer, you are missed...

....But I can drink some sweet tea and eat a strawberries and cream cupcake in your honor.

Please come back to us, soon!

Why Buddhism is good for my heart.

I read this yesterday in Buddhism for Mothers- while laying in the sun, feeling the breeze, soaking up the beautiful day on a quilt from my own mother...

"With equanimity we accept 'what is' and stop trying to control the inevitable and impermanent. Buddhism speaks of Eight Worldly Conditions: life is gain and loss, pleasure and pain, praise and blame, fame and disrepute. No matter how hard we try to attract or avoid any of these, we'll experience all of them in their turn. Each will come and go, just as every aspect of our lives is constantly changing. We never know what's round the corner and this can leave us ill at ease, yet to expect complete stability or control over events is unrealistic and ensures that we suffer more than necessary."

This passage hit me HARD. It was a moment of clarity that I haven't had of such magnitude in nearly 10 years. It's possible that the story attached to it had something to do with it, about a mother who wanted a home birth with a midwife and candles and ended up in the hospital with a c-section.

I all of a sudden realized that all the pain, regret and disappointment I've been feeling is all my own doing. These things happen. Good things happen too. It's not personal, it's just life.

I love that, and I feel lighter... And like *that* I can move on. :)

An apple a day....

Thank you, Zak, for such a creative adventure! Here's to many more this summer!

Happy boy and some art.

At Indian food last night Johnny got lucky and had two desserts...

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Zak and I have been working on a project together for an Earth day contest. Here are just some sneak peeks :) It should be finished and photographed tonight or tomorrow, I'll post the finished project then!

Safari anyone?

Okay, not a true safari, more of a quaint German afternoon drive with wildlife, but still... Animals!!

We went to Daun Wildpark yesterday for the (shockingly) first time. I've driven past it 567,894 times on my way to work but we never made it there as tourists. Yesterday was gorgeous so we HAD to go somewhere!

Three minutes into the trip I got poo on my dress, because that's how I roll.

There was a petting zoo. This wise old goat said, "Bleat."

This asshole spit corn in my face.

We won't mention the emu that tried to peck my eyes out.

But, Johnny fed the piggies.

That's corn.

I fed a lot of it to this adorable guy.

And THEN! We drove the eight km around the park where the wild animals roam. That was the super cool part, and the first animal we encountered was another llama, a BIG one.

He put his head INSIDE my car. See that pink in his eye? That's my camera strap. And the grey behind his head is the interior roof of my tiny VW. Yea. I wasn't freaked out. Pfft...

This is him as he chased us down the road. I don't know why I ever let that llama into my life.

Here's Bambi's dad.

And family, I presume.

A different, more bubble-friendly llama.

A boar. He was kind of cute and actually sweet. Johnny loved him and learned how to snort. We thought he was cool, not too big, ya know, an ideal boar.

And then we saw these gals.

That first boar? He was the same size as ONE HEAD of these boar. And these ones had babies!!! They were not thrilled that I got out of the car to take photos of the babies.

But they were.... Really. Freakin. Cute. Babies.

And as we were leaving I said, "Now all we need to see is a fawn and I'll be happy!"

Que fawn!! Squeeelllllllll!!!!

I love, love, love living here!