Zirkus Krawalli

The Steinberg school is participating in a week long circus project. The tent went up on Sunday morning in the open field next to the school.  Two miniature ponies are roped off in the  field area  next to the tent and can be seen on our walk to school. It is simply amazing that a circus is in the middle of a neighborhood.  I am thankful that the neighbors and city government gave permission for it to occur so this wonderful experience could take place here in Hofheim. 

For me, this is going to be a juggling act as the school days this week have been shortened to two hours and 45 minutes as they have to allow for the performance times at the end of the week. There are four scheduled performances which begin on Thursday evening and end on Saturday morning.

Monday morning, the children gathered in the tent and the circus performers did a short performance to show the kids what they will be doing this week in their respective groups. The children will spend Monday thru Thursday mornings practicing their act. They  were given a cd of the circus songs as a gift from the circus team. 

Adeline will be performing a few acts in her group. She will be hula-hooping, juggling, and exchanging rings with a partner. 

Emmie is in the pet group.  She learned she is doing an act with the white miniature pony.

On Tuesday morning, everyone began practicing their act. The girls are super excited about this and are trying not to share what they are learning as they want it to be a surprise for us. Adeline is practicing in the school's music room and Emmie is in the tent. Emmie has shared with us she is teeter- tottering with the pony and goats are also present. 

Wednesday they tried on their costumes and are feeling more confident with their acts. In addition, I can hear them humming the theme song or play the songs in their room when the door is closed.

Thursday morning, we received news that the circus project was in the local paper. I purchased it for the girls to have as a keepsake. Upon arriving home, they pointed out that Emmie was in the picture on the front page telling where the entire story could be found later in the paper.

This evening is the Premiere and we are super excited for Adeline and Emmie's debut in Zirkus Krawalli.

1st Klasse

Today is Emmie's  first day of school. She is very excited when she wakes up and quickly gets ready.

Our morning started in the Johannesgemeinde Lutheran church. We are able to sit with our neighbors and one of Emmie's kindergarten friends. The church's kindergarten class sang a song to start the service. After a couple of songs, a few school children did a skit about being kind to others and leaving no one out as they were dressed in various colors and the one in black was always left out. The service also included a message from the pastor and a nice prayer for the children, parents, and teachers. 

We then headed back to the school and into the gymnasium for a special program.  Emmie found a seat on the benches near her friends with her backpack . This is her seat for the ceremony that is going to be put on by the current students. 

We watched and listened to the various songs sung by the choir which Adeline is in and an elephant skit put on by the  2nd class illustrating how the children should include everyone when they are together.  

The faculty then calls each child up in the first class to come to the front and meet their teacher. They announced the other first class first. Emmie waited patiently until they get to her class. She is full of smiles and is waiting anxiously for her name to be called. When her name is called, she bounces off of the bench and happily walks to the front to meet her teacher, Frau Brosch. After they have called all 22 children up to the front, the kids form a line and follow Frau Brosch out the gymnasium door and to their classroom which is in the school next door. (Here is where the tears start for me.) We are then invited to the school's yard for coffee and cake, but Eric has to get to work, so I take him to the train station.

Emmie's class is dismissed 45 minutes later, so Emmie shows  me her classroom and where she sits, along with her nametag. She does point out that is states Emmeline and not Emmie, but she already informed the teacher she can call her Emmie. She tells me her class pet is the ladybug named Mia. She is thrilled her schultüte matches with her class pet. ( I was happy too as I did not plan for it to match, it was just coincidence.) She knows a few boys in the class and our neighbor.

Upon returning home, Emmie is anxious to open her schultüte. She is delighted in the variety of treats, school supplies, and other items that are contained within.  

Our celebration lunch menu of hotdogs and mac-n-cheese was selected by Emmie for this special day.

Emmie's first homework assignment is drawing what she received in her schultüte.  She sits down and starts drawing out her jewelry, bubbles, and candy along with the ladybug decorations.

Klasse 3a

Adeline had jitters for her first day of school, so getting up and ready was no problem as she was already awake.

Emmie and I walked Adeline to school. We went with her to her classroom. The kids sat in their seats from last year and waited for their teacher, Frau Kühner, to arrive. After greetings and singing, each student presented a flower to her because her birthday was over the summer break. Her teacher asked Adeline if she remembered her German. 

Emmie and I returned home to enjoy our last morning together before she started school.

We returned to pick up Adeline a few hours later. Adeline reported there was a new boy and girl in class, so now they are a class of 24 as a few students did not return from last year.  She was happy because no homework was assigned at the end of the day.

Luckily, Adeline did not forget her German, so the first day was super duper exciting!

VBS Joseph's Journey

ICF's VBS Egypt: Joseph's Journey from Prison to Palace has helped us adjust our internal time clocks this week. The church has been transformed into Egypt with camels, pyramids, mummies, and palm trees all around. The staff has done a great job of dressing up like Egyptians.

Emmie is in the camel's group and Adeline is in the brick group. I am leading the camel group for their bible story time and associated learning craft. 

The girl's are enjoying every aspect of camp: crafts, songs, bible stories, learning about mission projects, and snacks too. During games, Emmie's group had a fun time when they wrapped me up like a mummy using toilet paper. Adeline's favorite part has been singing the songs with motions.

Unfortunately, it has been raining and cool this week, so this has been a great reason for us to get going in the morning and out of the house. However, in the afternoon, we have been moving slowly and watching the Olympics on the tv or computer. 

Friday evening, we attended the family potluck and then a small presentation about the week's activities. The children did an excellent job reviewing the week's storyline along with it's meaning and singing the songs while performing the motions that accompany the songs.

Not our Grandpa's Car

Our new vehicle was finished being built over the summer in the US and arrived here before our return. Eric finally got to pick up our new set of wheels today after delaying it for a few weeks.

The dealer gave him a quick tour on the features and then told Eric to keep it slow for the first 1000 km. When Eric asked how slow, he said under 100 mph to break in the axles.

The X3 has a 3 liter diesel 6 cylinder engine. It is quick and peppy, so we will be able to keep up with the autobahn traffic. It also has the start-stop system, which is a neat feature but is going to take some time getting used to it.

Eric did make a compromise as he did not get the heads-up display he really wanted, instead us girls got the panorama roof to enjoy during the warm and sunny days. However, we will have to convince the girls we do not want it open while on the autobahn.

Fortunately, it has parking sensors for my sake as I am still unsure how I am going to navigate this "bus" around town and in the parking structures, let alone backing it into the garage.

When speaking about our new vehicle at work, Eric learned most Germans who buy the SUV are older  because it is easier for ergonomic reasons and the families/ younger crowd drive station wagons. Oh well, we like it and it fits our tall family the best after trying out many vehicles.  I guess we are not so hip in our vehicle choice here.

Our first family drive was through the Taunus Hills with the roof open on our way to the VBS evening program at church.

Bandit update

It is an adjustment to our routine with Bandit. It is sad we cannot take him with us when we are out and about, so we are quickly doing what needs to be done so we are not away too long. He is doing great with leaving his surgery area alone while we are home. However, when we are away, I have to cover it so he does not open the open wound. 

On Sunday while we were at church and then on Monday while we were at camp, he removed the taped sock I had on his leg. From Tuesday onwards, he now has to wear the big white collar. I have learned how to get him into his cage with the "lampshade" on. 

He insists on going in his cage when we leave. At first, he constantly butted the cage head first to get in as the white collar would not fit in. Now he has learned to stand by it  and will let me back him into the cage. It is probably funny to watch me maneuver him backwards into it and adjust the white collar, but he does not fight me. He then sits in his cage and waits for his treat as we trained him. It appears that is where he wants to be since that is his routine when we leave. When we come home, he waits for us to adjust the white collar, so he can get out of the cage.

Leaving him in the morning seems to be good for him to rest because when we are home, he is constantly up and about  to be near us.

I have also learned that with a little dog and little exercise, they gain weight quickly. I have adjusted his feeding amounts to a smaller quantity too as he was beginning to look like a little polar bear.

Arriving back on this side of the pond

The overnight flight back was uneventful and peaceful. However, I have realized there is not as much room to stretch out across the three seats now that the girls are getting bigger.  We arrived safely back to Germany and with three large suitcases, three carry-ons, plus the girls' backpacks. Eric greeted us at the airport to help carry it. We managed to fit us and the luggage into the Audi although some of the small bags were on our laps for the short drive home.

Arriving home, we were greeted by a very happy puppy as Eric picked him up on Friday. We did our best to keep Bandit calm and not get too excited since his leg was still in healing mode. The girls were a little hesitant about interacting with him as we informed them about his accident before returning. They were very glad to see him and sat with him on the floor, giving him tons of affection. 

We made a trip to the vet to catch her up to speed on his current status. When Eric showed her the paperwork and she was reading it, she was amazed we were able to get the best surgeon in Germany to handle this. Eric joked that with the cost of it, it should be a good surgeon. On the positive note, she did say for the location of Bandit's break, we were very lucky to have been able to have him install the plate and six screws as he was highly skilled in this area.

After taking off his bandage and reviewing the area that had been operated on, she  informed us to keep the bandage off so the area could heal better. We had to chuckle because with his hair shaved, his leg is skinny like a chickens. I was given instructions on how to handle him so he slowly can regain his strength in his leg.

This was going to be challenging because for the next month, he had to be carried up and down our stairs to go outside and he was only to walk about a block or two to build up his strength again. Fortunately, our little garden was perfect to allow him to get fresh air on his own, but we would have to make sure he did not attempt any quick speed trips around it if he got a sudden burst of energy.

For the remainder of the weekend, we unpacked and watched some Olympics from the German point of view as the weather was rainy. We put Bandit's new collar on him and gave him a new toy to keep him occupied as we settled in.