Alles uber Deutschland

The title of this blog translates into:  All about Germany. 

Yesterday the girls and I spent the day learning about Germany.  Everyone in my family are considered runts or as my dad said "Heinz 57" which means we have a little bit of everything in us.   German and Czechoslovakian blood definitely runs through my veins which means it runs through my girls veins as well. Joe clearly has Italian blood so Ava and Emma are also a little bit of that.  Teaching the girls about their roots is fun for me.  We ended the day cooking a traditional German feast.  Researching and learning about this country taught me two things.

1. Germany is beautiful. 2. I want to travel and show my girls the world.  The images that came from Google were amazing.  The castles, landmarks, rivers, hills, nature reserves and the mountains were just a few of the breathtaking views we saw while looking at pictures of Germany. 

Neuschwanstein Castle. Bavaria, Germany

The girls had a fun time coloring the German flag and learning to say Hello "Guten Tag" and Goodbye "Auf Weidersehen." Joe got home from work and they greeted him the German way. 

 

 

                     The girls and their pictures of their Nature Reserves.


The German dinner menu consisted of Jagerschnitzel, Spaetzle dumplings and Black Forest brownies for dessert.  We learned that the Black Forest is 1 of 97 nature reserves in Germany and it's considered the biggest. 

Making their Black Forest brownies

I didn't get a picture of the dumplings and I had every intention on taking a picture of my dinner plate and the final product before I hossed it all up BUT that didn't happen.  I hossed it all up and then remembered that I forgot to take a picture.  Sorry....


Next country is France!







Enjoy your family~

Thoughts: By Ava and Emma

Emma: I love you, Momma.

Me: I love you too Emma.  So, why do you love your momma?  What do I do to make you love me?

Emma: You make me cherry pie.

*Insert Ava be-bopping into the kitchen*

Ava: Mom, I love you because you play with us and because you cook us breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

Sooooo, basically their love for me revolves solely around food.  Is that good or bad?





Enjoy your family~

Red, White and Blue

It is no secret that we are a patriotic family. 
It is no secret that I love the colors red, white and blue. 
It is no secret that I love our American Flag and I love flying it on my home to represent that. 
I love my country and I love the reason we celebrate the 4th of July.
I love that I got to spend my husbands favorite holiday with him and I loved being with my whole family. 

This July 4th was memorable and I loved every minute of it.  Spending the entire day at my parents house, the kids enjoying 8+ hours on a water slide/bouncer we rented, devouring steaks for dinner and ending with a fabulous firework show in the front yard. 

 

 

 

 

Ava enjoying the water slide. 

 

 

Emma enjoying the water slide.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy your family~

 

 

 

Wordless Wednesday

Sea World

One of my most favorite things to do with my little family is make memories together.  Last year we went to Sea World for the first time and loved it so we went again this year. 

Our flight left early in the morning so please don't mind our sleepy head hair. 

 

Sweet Ava had her first 'real' big roller coaster experience while at Sea World this year.  She was very excited about passing the height requirement and loading into the coaster with her dad.  By the looks of her walking towards me after the ride I could tell it may have been more than she could handle.  Sweet girl made it through and decided she should stick with smaller kid rides for awhile longer. 

 

Eating at Casa Rio was also on our vacation agenda this year.  Located on the River walk and absolutely the most delicious Mexican food.  This year we sat right on the river.  The girls enjoyed watching the boats float through and did not enjoy all the birds flying over them.  Joe was on constant "shoo them away" duty.  We also visited some precious family members who live in San Antonio.  We had a great time with them and look forward to seeing them every time we plan a trip to Texas. 

I am thankful for these 3 and for the memories we are creating together. 







Enjoy your family~

Recipe: Homemade Ice-Cream

Last year on July 4th I started the tradition of making homemade ice cream to enjoy throughout the day.  Here is my simple recipe that does not include eggs.  Most homemade ice-creams require raw eggs and this one in my opinion is safer for kids to eat.  If you are dieting or eating healthy then this is not the ice-cream for you but everything in moderation, right?  Splurge a little and enjoy this delicious treat. 

It's a vanilla base and the last 10 minutes you can add whatever candy or fruit you desire.  This year, I added Butterfinger candy bars and it was delicious.  Freezing it over night only makes it better so make this a day in advance. 

Homemade Vanilla Ice-cream
Recipe good for a 6 qt ice-cream machine.

6 Cups heavy whipping cream
3 Cups whole milk
2 Cups Sugar
1 Tablespoon PURE vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt

Add in options:
**Candy of your choice 3-4 normal sized Snickers, Butterfinger.
**1 bag of miniature Reese's peanut butter cups or 1 bag of M&M's
Fresh strawberries, peaches, blackberries

Mix the cream, milk, sugar, vanilla and salt in a large bowl.  Chill mixture.  After its chilled pour into your ice-cream freezer and start freezing according to your manufactures directions. 

For my ice-cream machine it takes 40-50 minutes to thicken up, I freeze it overnight and its ready to eat and enjoy the next day. 




Enjoy your family~

I need to get out of their way

"I’m often asked by parents what advice can I give them to help get kids interested in science? And I have only one bit of advice. Get out of their way. Kids are born curious. Period. I don’t care about your economic background. I don’t care what town you’re born in, what city, what country. If you’re a child, you are curious about your environment. You’re overturning rocks. You’re plucking leaves off of trees and petals off of flowers, looking inside, and you’re doing things that create disorder in the lives of the adults around you.

And so then so what do adults do? They say, “Don’t pluck the petals off the flowers. I just spent money on that. Don’t play with the egg. It might break. Don’t….” Everything is a don’t. We spend the first year teaching them to walk and talk and the rest of their lives telling them to shut up and sit down.

So you get out of their way. And you know what you do? You put things in their midst that help them explore. Help ‘em explore. Why don’t you get a pair of binoculars, just leave it there one day? Watch ‘em pick it up. And watch ‘em look around. They’ll do all kinds of things with it."


Neil deGrasse Tyson (via senoranelson)

 

 

 Enjoy your family~