Jane and "Roe" the bear

Since being in Germany, Jane has taken to her bear.  She calls him or her "Roe."  I believe the name evolved from the kids and I saying, "roarrrr" when we held her bear.  Nevertheless, he is undecidedly named Roe.  Now Roe has become quite the companion for our little Jane....

He eats breakfast with her every morning. 

He sits with her.  

He joins us for dinner.

 Roe joins in on her playtime.  

 Lucky for Roe, Jane even feeds him yummy cucumbers. 

 And he continues to enjoy endless playtime.  As well as dancing, car rides, and games of hide-and-seek (courtesy of Matthew).  For some reason Matthew finds it highly entertaining to hide Roe from Jane.  Jane doesn't enjoy that very much and  I would think that Roe didn't either.   

I'm sure there will be many more adventures with Roe.  As for now Jane insists I give him a goodnight kiss and that he is always close by. 

Pony ride

Last week started with riding ponies in the woods with some friends from church and then ended at the German Classics (horse competition and show).   We loved watching the jumping division.  Jane kept pointing and saying, "mmmm! mmm!" which means "horse."  

German Classics-Hannover

In the kids area there were kid sized jumping fences.  Then there were wooden stick horses.  Naturally the kids would jump their horses over the fence.  The wheels were turning for a future Christmas present.  

Warm up arena.

Tiergartenfest 2011

Tiergarten= "Animal Garden"

A large forest/wood that houses herds of deers who walk around-cage free.  However, due to all the people, the deers were hiding.  This park is right in Hannover.  There are several large wooded areas throughout this big city.

Last week, we attended a festival in this "garten."  The festival had a very natural, forestry type feel.  There were lots of wooden crafts for kids. Men were carving statues out of wood. There was a bonfire.  There were horses and ponies.  In addition, there was an old fashion type clown who the kids thought quite funny.  There was of course pretzels and brots (hot dogs).  

Matthew made a wooden advent candle holder.

Chrissie made a Santa out of a piece of wood.  Yes, my friends, Christmas has begun here in Germany.

Rick helped them make birdhouses.  In the corner of the photo is a front view of Chrissie's Santa.  She was quite proud of her creation.

Lanterns

This time of year a tradition in Germany is to walk through the woods with lanterns.  Some people made their own lanterns, others were bought.  Some lanterns actually held a candle (Matthew and Chrissie's did) while others had a light.  People were also singing a song that sadly I did not recognize.  If I had you bet we would have been singing right along.  Fortunately, in the next little, we will have other "Laternenfests" to attend.   

Matthew was having a little too much fun with Jane's light.  He had no desire to carry a lantern that had to be held still.  Forget that! He wanted something he could throw around, spin really fast, and jump with.     

At the end of the walk, Matthew decided the birds would need food in their house.  So he collected chestnuts, acorns, and...rocks.

Sunday afternoons

Since being in Germany our Sunday afternoons have slowed down.  We mainly spend them reading, cooking together, and going on walks.

 Baking pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  

There is no pumpkin puree here in Germany so we had to cut open Matthew's pumpkin, which he was so excited about, and make our own puree.  This picture is true to the kid's character. Chrissie is always talking.  Matthew is always trying to be funny.  And Jane is trying to be apart of it all.  

Our walks in the fields behind our house.

Yes, Jane is only in her wool socks...by choice.

Matthew is attacking a fallen tree with his stick.  This is us yelling,"watch out Jane!"  

 Still attacking...