Merry Christmas, Fröhliche Weihnachten, God jul and Glaedelig Jul!

Jaja, so international gehts bei uns zu- vor allem, wenn Aupairs aus Deutschland, Österreich, Schweden und Dänemark für ein Weihnachtstreffen zusammenkommen- wie wir vorigen Mittwoch!
Wir hatten uns zum Abendessen im Olive Garden, einem italienischen Restaurant, getroffen- Mann war das gemütlich (ich weiß, der Kontakt mit den vielen deutschen Mädels zeigt sich in meiner Wortwahl wider ;) )
So haben wir dann über Weihnachten "zu Hause", das ja bei jedem wo anders und unterschiedlich ist, gequatscht, und uns den Bauch mit Leckereien vollgeschlagen- was auch gut tat :)


Laura und ich-wiii



Miriam und Ida, wo sie ihr Dessert genießen :)

Lissy und ich- ich liiiiebe meine "Happy Holidays"-Krone!



Ida, lust wie immer (die andere- ich bin nicht lustig ;) )
Awesome!



Himbeer-weiße Schokolade Cheesecake, welche sich Johanna und ich geteilt haben --YUUUMY

As you can see, we had a fun evening and it was good to see some of them before Christmas and wish them a happy new year :)

Bye bye,

und fröhliche Weihnachten!

it's almost time.. ;)

Yeah, Christmas is coming closer and closer- and this brings also not too much homework for the kids and lots of fun activities with it!
Today Kaitie and Kyle had PYJAMA DAY, this means that everybody came to school in their PJs, and they were watching movies like "Frosty the Snowman" and the "Polar Express" and got to drink hot chocolate at school- how fun that muast have been!

Kyle and Kaitie in their PJs :)

Last weekend I also met a good swedish friend of mine, Nathalie, who stayed at the Training school with me.. we got some Christmas shopping done and were talking a lot, because we haven t seen each other for a long time... :)

Also had we a very nice time just hanging out

Kyle "dressed up"

I found this at the Christmas village in Philly- was a little hard to bite already :P

Today I got my first haircut in the USA, and as the Americans are very kind people, the guy who cut my hair was talking to me a lot and gave me a nice stay there..
I just embarrassed myself a little bit when I got there.. I said:" I get my hair cut- and I have got an appointment!"- WHAT? YOU GET YOUR HAIR CUT? AT THE HAIRDRESSER?? :D
well.. the woman looked kinda strange at me,  but still stayed very nice ;)

Btw, Americans are mostly very kind- even when you don't know them and just meet them at the street, they'll tell you that they LOOOVE your coat because it is so cute, or that you have a wonderful color of hair or whatever- really funny :)

Well.. see ya soon! (true when it comes to Mama and Claudia ;) )
Ida

I just love those days..

where you get up a little later, get ready for the day very (very) slowly and then meet a good friend to spend an amazingly cosy day (in Philadelphia) :)

Andrea and I had an awesome afternoon wandering around at the Christmas Village In Philly, looking at several boothes and enjoying some yummy stuff..

Ho Ho Ho!

 Of course, this time I had to eat some of Heli's Strudel.. we had Appel Strudel and Cheese Strudel (we wanted something sour,too, but it was Topfen! ^^)

Furthermore I bought a funny ornament at the "Adornament" booth, where they had all kind of cute ornaments- for pets, for family, sports, "baby's first Christmas",... and I immediately put it on the Christmas tree when I came home, of course! ;)

The jersey has my name on the back, hehe! ;)

a Love-Picture shouldn't be missing ;) now in front of a Christmas tree :)

So, although we had icecold feet that we weren't even able to feel them while we were running to get a warm drink, we enjoyed a wonderful afternoon at the Christmas market and made some good memories :)

In the evening Kaitie had her Holiday Show at the Little Theatre, where we enjoyed some games, arts and crafts and, of course, THE SHOW!!! :)

Kaitie before the show

The little Snowman with his Girl ;)

Kyle, dancing ;)

Kaitie's Show unfortunately can't be uploaded-but you better believe me- it was hysterical - SO GREAT!!! :)

  Alrighty, have a good one!

Brrrrrr....!

It started to snow- finally! But snow just came down from the sky for three hours or so.. it brought a school bus arrival delay with it, slippery streets - deductive a car bumping into ours, and also a lot of fun in the snow!
Kaitie and Kyle love playing in the snow and all of us are looking forward to building a snowman- till we get too cold and need some hot cocoa- yuuum!

Right now the weather is like I like it- now snow falling, but snow on the grass, and it is very cold outside- how romantic  ;)

To get some more into the winter-feeling, we decided to go ice skating- which was fun! I expected it to be a little more exhauting, but the kids did veeery well! Kyle tried out hockey-skates, so he was having some problems with his balance, but all in all they did an awesome job!
And after that we were able to watch an ice hockey game for a little bit, what the peeps really enjoyed :)




a little exhausted Kyle ;)

Take care on the slippery streets at home, heard you are having tons of snow!!
Ida

Was sich halt so tut....

• The temperatures are dropping and dropping now, we're having around 19.2 degrees right now- brrrrr!!!! Fahrenheit obviously, otherwise we would have a very very mild winter ;) So it is really cold, about -7 degrees Celsius..I am glad that my dad brought my wintercoat with him when he visited me, otherwise I would really be freezing right now..(or would have to spend money on a new one ;) )

• The cold weather brought a cold for me with it... although it is getting better, I can't spend my time on doing exercise every day right now, as I used to. But this is not that bad on the other hand, because now I have time for reading, working on my scrapbook and  planning the trip to NYC with Mama, Claudia and Susie in one and a half weeks!!!

• Can you believe that they will be here in almost a week? I CAN'T, but it is sooo awesome (excuse me, OSUM!!!)! We will see West Side Story on Broadway, go ice skating at the Rockefeller Center and get to do a nighttour through Manhatten!! Mama and Claudia are also going to spend some time in PA with me- I am so looking forward to that time!!!
• I didn't do my Christmas shopping yet...I know, it is time.. ;)

• The kids are being very good for me..of course, sometimes I have to tell them to do things five times, but most of the time we are spending quality time together like doing arts and crafts, reading, and also playing games helps to build up good relationship :)



• Yesterday I spend an amazingly nice evening with my friend Andrea from Sweden- she came over to my place and we were relaxing, talking, eating chocolate and having a great time- I can see that I can really build up some good relationships from all over the world (mostly from Europe) here- it is incredible! Thanks for this evening, Andrea :)




Andrea and me in summer


• I signed up for the Spring semester- I am going to learn some more Spanish- oh yeah! :) Neumann College can keep me a little longer ;)

Well folks, enjoy the last week before Christmas! :)

Love,
Ida

Kaitie takes a bow!

Yay- today's the day! Kaitie had been attending a Drama class for the last 14 weeks (as her teacher said: "Can't believe that time passed by so quickly!") and she had her show today! The little actors got to be different kinds of characters like a wizard, a mermaid, a fairy, a Surfer, a robot etc., and then make their own character out of it. So Kaitie got to be a Hobo (Penner, Bettler), but as she, a real cute girly-girl, is really into princesses, she made a Princess-Hobo out of it- which was really sweet!
She also had magical mind powers to make other people invisible or to help them out of tricky situations...
Kaitie was very excited, but also a little nervous today, which is totally understandable- but she did awesome! After the show she got a bouquet from her aunt and congratulations from Kyle, me, and other relatives..! It was such a nice evening! And the different performances were very individual as the kids created the characters themselves!

The Hobo Princess

Kaitie with her Santa-bouquet :) ( I am kinda jealous at this Belle-dress!!;))

Well,... in a few years we'll get to see another star on the horizon of Hollywood- Ms Kaitie P.! ;)

Have a good one,
Ida :)

Cosy, cosy...

with this word I would describe the days that I am spending with my kids right now.. we are just enjoying ourselves with reading books, doing some arts and crafts projects, watching Christmas Specials on TV or starting some tickling attacks ;)
The past few days we were hoping for some snow, but we weren't lucky enough, as it had been very cold but rainy outside.. so we came up with some more things to do..baking a huge yummy cake that we will never be able to eat is just one activity to kill some time ;)

The cuties reading books while eating breakfast



Doing experiments- with food coloring..



siaslad,ha? ;)



The VOLCANO!



Kyle playing rockstar ;)



Kaitie hangin out and saying "Peace out People" :D

doing some arts and crafts..Kaitie: "I look pretty cute in that picture!" :)

"Schmurrln" with Kyle..mmmh so comfortable

As we didn't want to stay inside all day, we decided do go out for dinner, and went to Maggie Moos for desert afterwards-- very yellow marshmallow and blue cotton candy -yuuum ;)

The kids have been very good for me the past time, as I haven't been that well.. I really like spending time with them and I can say that we are building up a very positive and good relationship.. :)

Well. I was glad that I was able to update my blog a little bit- hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Love,
Ida :)



There you go..

Here the solutions to the cute quiz:

*cucey = cookie
*Twicey / Twisey= Twizzy (wasn't too hard, was it?)
*agen and agen= again and again
*it's osum= it's awesome (my favorite! :) )
*littul= little
*Kaitiey= Kaitie
*mey= me
*unkul= uncle
*I rot= I wrote
*wut?= What?
*chensuw= Cansu
*gluvs= gloves

To my mind he did a pretty good job on writing, because he was sounding things out, but it is just so ADORABLE to read these things and let him read the words to me :)

Uploading photos still doesn't work, unfortunately...!

I wish you a great day!
Ida

To shorten the time of waiting for pictures a little bit,

I created a little quiz for you..this time you don't have to share your guesses with me, but I am sure this will cheer up your day a bit ;)
Kyle attends first grade and is very proud of writing his own stories- he has his own journal and keeps on writing stories in it. The clue is, that adults should not tell him how to write words, so he writes everything on his own- which is amazing, and he does a very good job! But from time to time I can read some cute words, that need some interpretation.. see yourself:

* cucey
*Twicey / Twisey
*agen and agen
*it's osum
*littul
*Kaitiey
*mey
*unkul
*I rot
*wut?
*chensuw
*gluvs

I know it's kinda hard, but try to use your imagination and I am sure you can do it! :)

Hey guys,

unfortunately I can't upload pictures right now, so I have to postpone updating my blog for a little bit-- but I will keep on trying it a few times every day, I promise! ;)

I hope that everybody is great and enjoying the (often stressful but) delightful holiday time-
Kaitie, Kyle and I do so ;)

Talk to you soon,

Ida

what a FUUUUUN weekend!

Yay- we love Birthdays!- so we were excited to visit Kyle's and Kaitie's cousin in Virginia to celebrate her birthday with her! And what a great time we had- it was amazing!
The gorgeous weekend started with the cute gesture of the two- when I wanted to wake them up at Saturday, they were already fully dressed and "ready" to go see their cousin- how lovely they looked when I came into the room and they were discussing what else to pack.. :)


When we arrived at their uncle's and aunt's beautiful house they were very excited about playing together- and swinging at their coooool huge swing!

huuuuuuiiiiiii

 After that fun day we were expecting an even more exciting day the next day- the day of the B-Day Party!!!
 It took place at Chuck E Cheese, where the kids get tocans to play at gaming machines-- the better they are, the more tickets they get- which they can redeem for prices- Kaitie got 302 tickets (=points) and Kyle got over 200, too! They were awesome!
When they started playing, I was freaked out because the kids started to spread out at the whole place, and I couldn't see them anymore- however, after some time I realized that this was how it was supposed to be, so I calmed down and started my tour of taking cute pictures.. the kids had a blast!

Kaitie at a dancing machine which reminded me of an episode of Malcom in the Middle..:D

Kyle at the Spinning machine where he got the JACKPOT- 100 TICKETS! :)

Kaitie's tickets- quite a lot ;)

This has been a very American experience for me- I thought I have seen a lot so far, but this was something new- over-excited american kids running around like crazy and gathering tickets!- Kaitie and Kyle were a little exhausted after that thrilling day!

Well, you'll hear about me soon again,
take care, and Twizzy said hi, too ;)

I can't believe I met Santa today!

Yes, you are right- I met Santa!(not the real real one, like Kaitie says, because the real real one does not come down from the Northpole ever, but still "Santa"), and it was pretty awesome!
But find out about that later!

When I finished making breakfast for the kids this morning, I did not know where to look for them, and guess where I found them then:

in my bed- isn't that cute? ;)

After they got up, guess who THEY found!!!

our friend Twizzy (Twicey :) )

When the kids got home from schooln in the afternoon, we had an amazing time- they did some reading, worked on a project and then we went to see Santa- finally!
The kids had a blast- they got to do a lot of arts and crafts, ate cookies and got to take a picture with Santa! (me too :P)
This event was not that relaxing for an adult, but it was so cute to see that the kids had such an amazing time- they really enjoyed it!

on the way to Santaaaa

Kyle and his yummy cookie that he got

yaaay!!

At this point it was our turn to tell Santa our wishes..he was just chuckling when I tried to handed him my list ;)

See you soon, guys!
Hope you're on the nice-list! :)

So ein schöner Tag-

zum Einen, weil ich Kyle und Kaitie heute wegen Kaitie's Spanish-class in die Schule gefahren habe- nachdem ich Kaitie bei ihrer Schule abliefere, kann ich einige Zeit mit Kyle im Auto verbringen, da "Einlass"- bzw. School- Drop-Off mit dem Auto erst um 8.20 beginnt.
Kyle war heute ziemlich putzig und hat schon in der Früh begonnen, Geschichten in sein "Journal" zu schreiben, die er für den "Writer's Lunch Club" benötigt- ab und zu braucht es ein gewisses Maß an Kreativität, um seine Wörter zu entziffern, aber gerade das macht das Lesen so spannend und herzig :)

"Twizzy (Twicey) is an elf and he helps Santa if we are good or bad. He is red and he is hiding."

Und achja, das erinnert mich daran, dass Twizzy sich gestern und heute ja auch ein neues Versteck ausgedacht hat ;)

Im Stocking

Überm Vorhang..hehe!

Bin schon gespannt, wo er sich als nächstes versteckt- naja,...eigentlich weiß ich's ja schon- hab ihn schon "erspäht", als er sich dorthin bewegt hat ;)

Naja, weiter gehts mit Kyle's Schreibprozess...denn er fängt ja auch an, Hockey zu spielen, deswegen muss ja darüber auch informiert werden ;)

"I am playing hockey and my coach is Mr Bryan- the little legins"- littul lejins- das find ich besonders süß! :)

Kyle beim fleißigen Schreiben

Uuuuuuund, weil ich mir ja eine neue Kamera gegönnt habe, hab ich gleich ein paar Schnappschüsse gemacht, die ihr nun bestaunen dürft! (naja, so zu bestaunen sind sie nicht, aber ich bin einfach glücklich über meine Kamera! Für Interessierte: Canon SX 30..uh yeah!)

Kyle's Schulbus

pfff

very christmasy ;)

Naja...ich meld mich bald wieder!
Hoffe, jeder hatte einen schönen Tag!

Jo mei, ein Selbstauslöser Foto darf auch nicht fehlen ;)

Tschüssi