December wishes

Happy Holidays

Happy Everything

Hopeful Future

Waldweihnacht in Sorghof

We went to the Weihnacht (Christmas) festival in the woods last week. The boys had a great time.



It was wonderful to see the community gather for a magical evening. The bonfire kept us warm, though the Gluwine helped, and much laughter was involved.

Blogger Beta can Bite my......

I have a few photos to post, but have not been able to do so. I will try again tomorrow.

His first written sentence.

Please note the punctuation. 

A wide assortment of nuts

Edeka opened to rave reviews. The store was so busy that I even spotted men shopping! This is not something which happens often in Vilseck. A friend had a doctor's appointment and reported that he was surrounded by women in the waiting room, all talking about the new store. We have stopped in a few times, and have managed to find everything we could want.



Today they had face painting for the kids. We walked in and Wendall was so happy! He made the difficult choice between a tiger or Spiderman. I think he made a good decision.



After his face was done we headed on base to get a check up. He was a great hit in the waiting room! This photo shows his face and the knot he had just finished tying.

Small Town Life

Tomorrow morning will be amazing. The people of Vilseck are waiting patiently for the opening of our brand new market. An Edeka Markt is opening on Amberger Strasse. It is billed as a "Schlemmerparadies", and promises to have all of our shopping needs under one roof. It will even feature a bakery and a small cafe.

The opening tomorrow (at 8am) will be the end of a full year of construction. The store will be open for 12 hours every day, and has a large well lit parking lot. It is directly across the street from a bus stop, and is on the main street of town.


It is also at the bottom of my block. I pass it at least twice a day as the boy and I walk to and from the bus. The opening time means that I will be able to get the boy on the bus and then do my daily shopping on my way home. I may even sit and have a cup of coffee at times. The elder Wendall (the one who does not shop) has found my excitement over the store amusing.

Here's what he misses: Last week, the boy announced to all of the employees at the commisary that we would not have to shop there anymore. He told his friends that a new store is opening right near our house, and we could "go there whenever we want!" Then, on the way to the bus this morning he asked if the store was open today. I said no, and then looked over at the building. We watched two women rush over to the door and dance on the pressure sensitive entrance. When the doors did not open they stopped dancing and spent a few moments peering through the windows. Wendall asked if it would open tomorrow, and when I told him yes he asked if we could go see it after school tomorrow. I promised him that we could buy his after school snack, and he went to school a happy boy.

Just wait 'til he sees the face painting!

Joyce

And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.
~Kahlil GibranThe Prophet 27 On Death

We lost a parent last week. Wendall's stepmother died after being diagnosed with cancer only a few weeks before. She was a young, vibrant woman, and her loss was a blow to all of us.

Honest Talk

Joyce's Obituary

Summer in Seoul

It looks like we will head to Korea sometime in late May or early June. We are slowly working out the details.

A childfree day

The boy is at Mega Play with Daniel. We went out for a quiet lunch and talked about grown up things. Now we are wandering around the house, not talking much. We need to do this more often!

Happy Feet and a sleepover

The boy is having a sleepover tonight. His friend Daniel is here, and they are finally asleep after a wild night of movies and playing.




We went to see Happy Feet. What a weird movie! It is billed as a comedic kids movie, but is instead an animated March of the Penguins combined with a bunch of other stuff. The two main themes are ecology and religion. It was a slow moving movie, and very heavy with morals. The strange thing about it is that nowhere in the research I did on the film did it say anything about the anti-religious tone in the movie, and the ecological themes were mentioned only briefly. They were major aspects of the film. It was not very funny, and unfortunately bored the boys (who are both five). Ah well. The good news is that we got in for free due to some coupons I found. Not that I would not have paid to see the movie, but I did leave feeling that I had been tricked, and I actually agreed with a good deal of the propaganda in the film! The animaton had a few spectaclar moments, though.

Anyway, I'm off to pet a kitty and read for a bit.