Adam turns 9!

Yesterday, Adam's long-awaited 9th birthday finally arrived.  He'd been counting down every day for the last week or so, and he was so excited to wake up Saturday morning and finally be nine years old!  Although, he wasn't technically nine years old until 1:00 p.m., because that is the time he was born. 

We got pizza for lunch at Liberty Pizza.  It is the most Americanized pizza place we have found here in Berlin, and it really is pretty good.  Because it was his birthday, Adam got his own little pizza all to himself.

After lunch, we picked up Adam's friend Rohan and went to Jack's Fun World.  Rohan is seriously the nicest 8 year old boy I have ever met.  Usually, I try to avoid boys between the ages of 8 and 13, because I just find them irritating.  I call it The Phase (just look at Adam's face in the above picture for a visual example of why I find The Phase irritating.  But, I have to love my own kid, right?).  However, Rohan is delightful, and I was glad he could join us for Adam's birthday. 

We found Jack's Fun World on the internet, and thought it sounded like a good place to celebrate Adam's birthday.  Sure enough, Jack's Fun World didn't disappoint.  There were all kinds of different fun things for the kids to climb, ride, and do.

Ball pits give me the creeps, because of all the germs and goobers you hear about growing in them.  There were signs all over Jack's Fun World bragging about their clean, hygienic ball pits (at least I think that is what they said - the signs were all in German of course), so I let Lukie go crazy.  He thought he was in heaven!

 The most popular attraction was the Bumper Boats, and there was a big line for them most of the day.  About an hour before closing time, the crowds started to leave, so by the end of the day our kids could get on the Bumper Boats over and over again without having to wait in line.  It was a great way to finish off the day!

Look Ma, no hands!

After Jack's Fun World, we came home to blow out the candles on Adam's fantastic birthday cake.  My friend Susanne is a Cake Maker Extraordinaire, so I asked her to make Adam's birthday cake.  He requested a volcano, and when I told Susanne, I expected she would make a sheet cake cut into a triangle to resemble a volcano, then add red and orange frosting to the tip for lava.  Well, Susanne far exceeded our expectations!  This is the 3D volcano cake she came up with, complete with boiled sugar lava firing out the top.  It was awesome!

 

Lighting the candles only added to the volcano effects!

I can't believe it has been nine years since Adam joined our family.  When he was born, he had the cutest pixie face and a headful of blond, downy hair.  He was by far my easiest baby; he only whimpered when he was hungry, ate well, and fell asleep on his own.  I used to tell people he was more like having a pet than a baby.  He is still a very well-behaved, easy-going boy.  He is also unusually sensitive to other people and careful not to hurt others' feelings. 

Probably the thing I admire most about Adam is his self-assuredness and confidence.  Brad and I have always called him "Our Little Participater" because he wants to try everything.  He treats the world like it is his oyster, never afraid to give any new experience a go.  When we moved here, he made friends immediately, and he is absolutely the best new German-speaker in our family.  He has no fear about speaking German to Germans; a couple of weeks ago at McDonalds, Jessica was too shy to order herself a hot chocolate, so Adam took the money from her, marched up to the counter, and ordered it for her all in German without missing a beat.

Adam is just a fun kid to raise.  I am so grateful to be his mom!

Jessica Before and After

Well, today was the big day!  Jessica got her braces off this morning, and she looks so beautiful!  Of course, every mother thinks her daughter is beautiful, and I am no exception.  But, I can't believe how much she has changed in the last couple of years, and it is exciting for me to see her taking shape and becoming such a lovely young woman.  As pretty as she is on the outside, I am even more proud of how lovely she is as an all-around person.  She is exceptionally intuitive and sensitive to other people and has a very kind heart.  She is also very brave - what 13-year old can move to another country where she doesn't speak the language and adapt so well?  Thirteen is hard enough when you're in your comfort zone, yet Jessica has done very well this last year and made some good friends.  I love to hang out with her watching Masterpiece Classics and Glee, and I am so glad I got her for a daughter. 

Looking good Sis!

Our Germany House

Last August when we moved here, I promised that I would post pictures of our Germany house once we were all moved in.  Well, it's been almost 6 months, and I guess we are moved in.  So here are some pictures of our house here.

Here is the front of our house.  We've had a very snowy winter, which is unusual for Berlin.  Personally, I am just tired of trying to keep the snow off the front porch.  When it ices over, the front porch is SO slippery, and I am nervous every time we leave the house that somebody is going to fall and crack their head open.

When you come in the front door, there is this little coat room to the left.  It is kind of like a mud-room in the States, except that it is right off the front door rather than off the back door or garage.  This makes sense because here in Germany, most people don't have a garage, so the front door is the main entrance for the family.

I've noticed that most German houses have a little bathroom like this next to the front door.  Well, not just like this.  This one is uglier than most.  There has been an improvement to this bathroom since we moved here.  When we came in August, the sink and toilet were a brownish-bronzy color, and the sink had a funky scalloped edge.  Truly atrocious.  In October, the old toilet tank sprung a leak, and sadly (happily!) another brownish-bronzy toilet could not be found to replace it.  So, our landlady was forced to redo all the fixtures in white.  Now if we could just find a way to get the tile walls replaced...

If you go straight from the front door, you will end up here in this entrance/hallway.  It is kind of a big wasted space in my opinion, but whatever. The bar on the right is pretty fancy, and there are cupboards and a built-in fridge behind it.  Too bad we don't drink wine, because this would be the perfect spot to do it.  The kitchen is back on the right, and on the left are the living room and office/dining room.

Here is our kitchen.  We were lucky to find a house with a kitchen big enough for our table to fit.  Germans have different kitchen priorities - most houses have very small kitchens and large dining rooms, rather than the big, eat-in kitchens we are used to in the U.S. You can see that our kitchen is a good size.  We bought the island from an American family that was leaving Germany just as we were coming, and it has been perfect in this kitchen.  It's nice to be able to face the table while I prepare food , since everyone is usually sitting around the table in the evenings.

Here is the living room.  I love the big windows that look out into the back yard. I have loved having this space for the kids to play.  It feels so private with all the trees around it, so I imagine this house and the yard are my little America in the middle of Berlin.The chair in the right corner has been my Happy Place this winter.  It is right by the radiators (they are under the windows), so it is a warm and comfy place for me to read my books.  Thank heavens Amazon.de has English books!

I'm not really sure what to call this room.  I think it was designed to be a dining room, but it's not very convenient to the kitchen.  We use it as more of a home office. The computer is in the cabinet on the right, and the table is a very handy space to work on projects/homework/puzzles. This and the kitchen are where I spend almost all of my time. The doors on the left lead to a Winter Garden, which is an enclosed porch that we never use.  From there, you can go outside to the backyard. 

When we moved here, Pepper really wanted his own room, and the only room available was this small room on the main floor.  It is a cozy little place, and we laugh because after all his fuss about having his own room, Pepper wants to sleep upstairs with Adam and Luke all the time.  I guess the idea of his own room was more exciting than the reality.

This bathroom is at the end of that hall.  Brad and I use it as our master bathroom. When he was house-hunting, my good husband knew that a big tub would get him lots of brownie points.  I love soaking in this tub on cold winter nights and then crawling into bed to fall asleep to the TV.

Next to the bathroom is Brad's and my bedroom. Those framed pictures are photos I took of Bear Lake a couple of years ago.  We may live in Europe, and have access to all the famous sites here, but Bear Lake is still our favorite place on earth.

We have a Sling Box that attaches that laptop to a Comcast cable box in Brad's parents' house in Layton, UT.  Then, Brad hooked up the TV to be the screen for the laptop.  So, we can watch anything that is broadcast in Utah; we just have to DVR the shows we want to watch because primetime in Utah is the middle of the night here.   It has been a lifesaver to be able to watch my favorite shows and feel connected to American culture.  And since it is connected to cable in Utah, we can watch General Conference right here in our home.  This is a much better set-up than going to the stake center here and listening to the English translation of the German translation of the English talks.  I think I sing the praises of the Sling Box at least once a week - it is probably the single best thing Brad did to make our stay here bearable.

Upstairs is kind of the Kid-Zone at our house.

This is Adam's and Luke's room at the top of the stairs.  Through those windows, I can see right into a German couple's apartment next door.  Their whole wall facing us is windows, and they don't have curtains.  I have nicknamed them Frau and Otis, and I love to watch their orderly little German life unfold as I spy on them through the windows.  (Have I shared too much?  Am I going to get arrested?)  This is Adam's bed, but he rarely gets the whole thing to himself.  I often find all three boys asleep in it when I check on them at night.

This is Jessica's pig-sty bedroom.  I asked her to clean it so I could take a picture of it, but she didn't do it in time.  Her punishment is that I am publishing her shame for all to see.  Feel free to give her a hard time.

We use this big room as a playroom for the kids. This half is set up for the X-box and also a cozy place to watch DVD's.  I love having this tucked up here away from the main living space of the house.  It keeps the kid noise contained upstairs.

The room is kind of divided in two.  This half is where all the toys are.

Well, that is the dime tour of our Germany House.  As you can see, Brad did a great job finding a house for us here, and we have tons of room.  I didn't even show you the basement, but we have even more space down there. 

We love having visitors, and hope this entices you to plan a trip to Berlin!