Costumes

We bought the kids some new dress up clothes the other day. Dylan is quick as lightening, Dash from the incredibles. He loves running around the house to show us how fast he can run. (And he really is very fast). Elizabeth is Tinkerbell. She loves fluttering around the house with her little wings on.

Dora Jammies

Elizabeth is obsessed with her Dora jammies. If we let her, she'd wear them 24/7. As it is, as soon as we come home, she runs to her room to put them on. Needless to say, sneaking these pjs away from her to clean them was a covert operation worthy of a top CIA agent. I was finally successful at getting them away from her for a good washing. She couldn't wait for them to be clean.

Here's a picture of her waiting by the dryer while her Dora pjs dry. You can also see Dylan in the background, lending his moral support.

Dylan offered a little bit of comic relief while we waited.

Finally, freshly laundered pjs:

Ahh, back to normal...

My Little Girl Turns 1!!

I can't believe it's been a year since I had Patricia. It's been a busy year, full of moves and new adjustments. It makes it difficult to sit back and take notice of the little changes that happen in a person so young. Nonetheless we are amazed at the things that she can accomplish already. She's not quite walking but can stand all by herself. She also hasn't met a set of stairs that she doesn't like. She feeds herself, sometimes even uses a spoon. Although those are the messiest feedings. She LOVES to scream. We thought that Elizabeth was a screamer. She's a whisperer compared to her sister. Not only is her scream loud, but it's also a shrill. Eric and I are scared of what's to come.

All kidding aside, she's a total love. Eric and I feel blessed to have another child who is so lovely is so many ways. She brings a great deal of joy and satisfaction to our lives.

We celebrated her birthday twice. Once with my parents, when they were visiting for Christmas.

And another a few days after her actual birthday. The second time around, Dylan and Elizabeth helped me bake the cup cakes. They were so proud to bake for their sister.

Lubeck, Germany

Last weekend, we packed up the kids and took them to Lubeck, Germany for a Christmas market. We had a great time. Lubeck is a beautiful medieval city in the northern part of the country. They have one of the best Christmas markets in Germany. We spent our time shopping for Christmas decorations, eating yummy sausages and sweet treats. Of course, when you're travelling with three kids, you can't do that much sight seeing. So we also spent much of our time going to parks and taking advantage of the amusement rides at the market.

The medieval gate at the Lubeck entrance:

Enjoying some tubby time at the hotel.

The kids do like to travel. Dylan informed us that he likes staying in hotels. Elizabeth kept saying that she missed the hotel after we had left. I wonder if they'll be bored with their life when we finally move back to the states...

Karate

We've signed Dylan up for a Karate class. He goes every Saturday. It's in Danish, although the instructor will speak English if need be. She tells us that she needs to use less and less English with him as time goes by. He has also learned how to count in Japanese.

Busy little night owl

It takes Elizabeth a very long time to settle down at night. We usually put her to bed around 8:00. However she does not fall asleep until at least 8:30. On this particular night, she found my makeup bag in the bathroom, took it back to her bedroom and went to town trying on makeup. This is how we found her. We also found a large glass of water balancing on a book that was laying on her bed. I can't believe it didn't tip over. She's such a flopper. Eric and I are not sure how she sleeps in her bed at all. It's filled with books, her lunch bag (seen to the right in the picture), her back pack and the toy of the day. She's too funny!

Halloween

I haven't had a chance to update the blog much lately. It's difficult to get much done when you go to bed at 8:30. We've spent the last few weeks fighting colds, which is compounded by the fact that Tricia is teething and not sleeping much at night these days. Poor thing is getting quite a few teeth in all at once. Needless to say, I've been tired a lot lately.

We were able to celebrate Halloween here in Denmark. The international school sponsored a trick-or-treating night. I was even on the planning commity. We picked a neighborhood that had a lot of expats on it. Then we went door to door and asked people to volunteer to hand out candy to the little ones. We supplied the candy and the balloons and even carved pumpkins for the front door steps. It was a huge success. We sold over 200 tickets. Can you imagine 200+ kids crowded onto one street for trick-or-treating? It was a mob scene. We had a great time nonetheless.

I hosted a pre-trick-or-treating dinner at my house. I invited a few families from Dylan's class over. Here's a picture of the bunch. Dylan is in a great class. All of the kids get along really well, and so do the parents!

You'll notice that Dylan is not in the picture. He was inside with me arguing about the fact that he did not want to go as a knight, as we had planned. At the last minute he changed his mind and wanted to go as a pirate. Things were so busy that night that I never got a chance to get a good picture of Dylan in his costume. We'll have to make up for that next year.

After dinner, we headed out for some trick-or-treating fun. We had a great time. 15 houses, volunteered to hand out candy. Eric informed me that he used to do 200 houses back in his prime. But 15 houses was just enough for my young trio.

My little lady bug:

My little princess: