France/Belgium

We had a really nice simple Christmas at home this year, and then spent the rest of the week visiting the eastern border of France and Belgium and ending up in Bamberg for New Years. I've been wanting to get over to that region for quite a while and the kids all had vacation from school still- so it worked out quite well. It was cold and snowy, so that added to the adventure for sure. A lot of our trip was educational too, and the snow definitely made the experience more "real". And yes - I will bore you with lots of photos :-)

 Our first day was spent in Lorraine, France, and very humbling. Lorraine is known for Quiche, but much more importantly, within Lorraine, near Saint-Avold, is an American Cemetery with 10,489 American Soldiers from World War II. It is the largest American Cemetery in Europe (something prior to moving over here, I didn't even know existed) - and it was definitely something to remember always. There are several other American cemeteries over here too. All of these soldiers died in that war. They never came home. They were so young and gave so much. Arlington (in Washington D.C) is filled with Veterans, but many of the Veterans lived long lives, dying of other causes than war. This was filled with nothing but sadness - so much young loss of life. We walked around for quite a while just looking at the names, dates, and the places that these young Men were from. There were just so many. I can imagine that a huge percentage of the family members of these young men have never even visited their graves (just because it is so far away from home). Many of the graves are adopted by local people (even local classes from the schools adopt a soldier) and put flowers on for birthdays and special remembrances. I wanted my kids to see this and they were really quite moved too. Many of the headstones read that the body was never identified - absolutely heartbreaking. As sad as the cemetery was, it was a beautiful final resting place for these men, and it is kept in immaculate condition.  It was definitely a memorable experience.

The grounds are immaculate...

and it is truly a sea of nothing but head stones...

at first it seems much too over whelming

but as you get closer, and read the stones, it gets much more personal...

The star is that of a Jewish soldier....

Here is an unknown stone, "known, but to God" - there were hundreds of these...

This man died on Mia's Birthday :-(

This man was from Maine

Another Jewish soldier in a sea of crosses...

This picture makes me realize how lucky we are. Bailey is taking a picture of  flowers (probably put there, by a local who adopted the grave - in a sea of sadness, there is beauty.

You can see Mia's little pink jacket, and Camden's dark jacket, among all of the headstones. The kids were really touched by the experience.

This soldier dies on Sept. 11

We saw a few of these (Medal of Honors). I wonder what they heroically did to receive this honor?

So much to take in...

This was the wall of soldiers who were never found/identified.. Again, another Man from Maine. So sad.

Merry Christmas / Frohe Weihnachten!!!

                                               Merry Christmas und Frohe Weihnachten!!!!

                                                               Love, The Rhodes Family

Bequem (Cozy)

The German word for cozy is Bequem. I love the coziness of Christmas. There is something so special about it. Bailey and Camden are off from school and loving every minute and today is Mia's last day (they only go for a few hours - which is nice). She definitely gets that feeling of coziness in her school too. Every day (all year long), the kids wear slippers (haus schuhe) - which just makes life a bit cozier. As you walk in her school, they have a huge (real) Christmas tree with handmade decorations. They also have a huge Advent wreath with real candles. The "party" that they are having today is student led, which means it isn't over planned - instead, they just let the kids "create" the party. The directions were to bring a favorite Christmas book (Mia brought Twas the night before Christmas - in ENGLISH - the funny thing though, is she is worried that if she reads it to the class, she will be expected to read it with an English accent - where does she come up with this :-)?), candles (yes - you can bring candles for the table if you want :-)), a musical instrument (if you play one), hot tea or cider (yes, most German kids LOVE hot tea), handmade Christmas Cookies (nothing store bought of course) etc.. It is so cozy. A Thermos and a real mug (no plastic). The simple pleasures are so nice - so natural, and so bequem!

The huge (real) tree 

Adorable!

Mia and I went to the grocery store last week, and as we entered - this is what we saw (see picture below). The little fella had no leash (which is quite common here), but he knew to wait outside until his owner came back out. As people walked by to go in the store, he just waddled his little self out of the way and then immediately went back to the very edge of the door (being very careful, not to go in). Mia and I stood outside for a few minutes just watching him - one of the cutest things I have ever seen! We always say, that if we were ever reincarnated as an animal - we would definitely want to be a German dog!!!! Oh the good life!!!

Gotta Love it!

Yesterday, Mia's teacher came to school sick and then went home early. A couple of other teachers had available time at the beginning of the day to take over her class, but the last couple of hours, no one was available. They don't hire substitute teachers (because it costs a lot of money and it would be a waste of time for the kids), so what do they do? They send the kids home! I was surprised after my class to find that Mia had made her way home. She knew I was in class, so she called Bryan to tell him that she was home safely. The old me would be have been livid about the scenario, but here it really makes sense. Why should the kids basically be "babysat" with a substitute teacher, when they all can function as responsible kids and make their way home alone. Gotta love it!!!  *this happened several times with Bailey and Camden in the Gymnasium, but was the first time here for Mia - so funny!

Our little Christmas Market

I told Bryan the other day, that if this town that we live in had been the first town we had moved to in Germany, we probably would have been enamored. It really is a cute little town, with lots of potential. They have a cute little Christmas Market (little being an understatement) in the Market square. We live quite a bit closer to the Market square here, so we found ourselves at the Christmas market several nights last week.  One night, St. Nikolas was there and he brought treats for the kids (he also came to our house and delivered a few candy and chocolate items on the 6th - the tradition is that the kids lay their boots outside and in the morning, they are filled with little sweets and nuts). The best thing is that like everything else here, it is very reasonable to buy food and drinks (which allows you to go a lot more often then if it cost and arm and a leg). The Christmas market definitely helps to get into the Christmas spirit :-)

Christmas stands filled with goodies

St. Nikolas

They handed out treats to the younger kids - very sweet!

This was funny... Mia and I shared a 1/2 meter long Bratwurst for dinner (I have to add that the the bratwurst was only 3.50 - and it was probably the best one that I have had in Germany). The bread was an entire baguette!

They have a beautiful huge Christmas tree in the middle!

It definitely feels "Christmassy"! 

Mia and I baked sugar cookies one afternoon

She loves to cook/bake!

And the tree makes the house smell so good!

And makes it feel like Christmas is finally here!

Christmas Markets

One of the coziest feelings that you can imagine is that of the European Christmas markets. The cold air, the smells of roasted chestnuts and bratwurst. The warmth of a Gluhwein or Kinderpunsch in your hand. It really is the quintessential Christmas feeling. We went back to Bamberg this weekend (yes, again), and had another weekend with just Bailey. Mia and Camden had what they call "double sleepovers" at their respective friends' house. We all joined back up on Sunday to celebrate the first of Advent with some of our friends.  One of the funniest things happened and it totally made us smile... Bryan, Bailey, and I were walking around the Christmas market, just about to meet up with some other friends for lunch, when we saw Mia and her friend walking around together. She went with her friends twice into the city center to enjoy 2 different Christmas markets - no parents - just friends! It is perfectly normal here to be 9 and go into the bustling city with your friends. I have a hard time getting used to it, but in the same sense - I love it! I think it is giving Mia the opportunity to be self sufficient and responsible. People watch out for the kids and it is really the way life should be. Mia told me that she really had to use the restroom, but there are very few public restrooms here. She had to deal with the situation on her own, and decided to go into a restaurant and ask if she could use the restroom there. If it was an adult, they might have said "no, it is just for paying customers", but as a child, she told me they were very nice and let her go in.  I asked if her friends parent gave them a certain amount of time to spend in the city - she told me the only stipulation was that they were back by 5:00 for dinner!  Gotta love it!!!

The lights...

the smells...

The cold air and bustling streets...

I persuaded Bailey into a photo 

And another...

And then she took one of us :-)

Zum Voll (cheers) to a fun weekend!!!!

I fell in love with this picture. Dogs are always allowed in restaurants here (as long as they are well behaved). As we walked by this cafe, there was this gorgeous White Lab peaking out the window while his owners were having dinner. Adorable!!! It almost looked like a postcard!

More lights - magical!

And even in the cold winter, everyone still bikes :-)

This was the coolest sculpture. We stopped in at an Italian restaurant that is in the basement of an old building. I looked up and  saw this. The owners didn't know the history of the sculpture, but it could very well be over 100 years old. Look closely - it is crazy to think of what people dream up!!!  

The Blacksmith is always there

Mia and Bailey decorating Lebkuchen for Advent

Yummy!