Twizzy, the Elf on the Shelf

Get to know our sweet, mysterious, lovely, kind of creepy looking Elf Twizzy!
He appeared a few days ago and the kids just love him!
Here's Twizzy's story- a few years ago he introduced himself with a book that helped the kids understand what his job was...


Have you ever wondered how Santa could know if you're naughty or nice each year as you grow?
For hundreds of years it's been a big secret.
It now can be shared if you promise to keep it.


At holiday time Santa sends me to you. I watch and report on all that you do. My job's an assignment from Santa himself. I am his helper, a friendly scout elf.


The first time I come to the place you call home you quickly must give me a name of my own.
Once you are finished my mission can start. 
What will you call me- Markle or Zart?
Will it be Foddle, Criddle, or Clyde?
Fisbee's cute, too, but you must decide.
(Our elf's name is Twizzy- Kyle now made up the rule that whoever finds him in the morning, is allowed to give him a new name for the day-  he called Twizzy "Obi-Wan Kenobi :D )


Each night while you're sleeping to Santa I'll fly to the North Pole right through the dark sky.
Of course Christmas magix helps me to be quick. I laugh with my friends and report to Saint nick.


I tell him if you have been good or been bad. The news of the day makes him happy or sad.
A push or a shove I'll report to "the Boss", but small acts of kindness will not be a loss.


In the car, at the park, or even at school,
the word will get out if you broke a rule.

I'll be back at your home before you awake,
and then you must find the new spot I will take.
You'll jump out of bed and come running to see: who'll be first to spy little old me?


Maybe the kitchen, the bathroom, or den,
is where you will find me, your special elf friend.
I can hide on a plant, a shelf, or a frame. 
Where will I be? Let's make it a game.


There's only one rule that you have to follow so I will come back and be here tomorrow:
Please do not touch me. My magic might go, and Santa won't hear all I've seen or I know.
I won't get to tell him that you've said your prayers, or helped to bake cookies, or cleaned off the stairs.
How will he know how good you have been? He might start to think you forgot about him.


I can't speak to you, so says Santa Claus. All of us elves have to follow his laws.
I'll listen to you- tell me your wishes.
Would you like a game or some tiny toy dishes?
The gleam in my eye and my bright little smile shows you I'm listening and noting your file.


The final decision with Santa now rests. What do you think? Will you get your request?
The night before Christmas my job's at an end. The rest of the year with Santa I'll spend.


So blow me a kiss and bid me farewell.
I'll fly away when I hear Santa's bell.
Of course I will miss you, but wait 'til next year.
When the holidays come I'll again reappear.


Until then I wish every girl and each boy a Christmas of peace and a year full of joy.

Twizzy's hiding spots so far:

at the kitchen entry

on top of the Christmas tree

above the TV

in our shelf

Kinda creepy, ha?

The funny thing is, that whenever Shelly hid Twizzy and I didn't see the hiding spot, it always frightens me when I look around and all of a sudden I see such a small creature  sitting somewhere- it is hilarious!
Kaitie and Kyle love our little elf, they are writing lists for him and are talking to him- Kyle told him that he is sure to be on the naughty list ;)

Find more out about Twizzy's hiding spots the next days...
see ya ;)

Twizzy's watchin you ;)

Cansu's last weekend..

in the United States had to be celebrated and enjoyed!
Yes- my lovely, dear friend is leaving on Tuesday, and so we did a lot of cool stuff to make her stay in the USA even more unforgettable ;)

The weekend started with going shopping- have you ever heard of Black Friday shopping? When people get up at 2 in the morning and go to the store at 2.10 to get things cheap? It is crazy- but Cansu and I went to some shops at night, and she still got a suitcase for 30 dollars, which usually costs 200 dollars- isn't that unbelievable? I got a camera...well , had to order it, but it was sort of cheap- yaaay! The shopping was followed by going to the movies- "Love and other drugs"-you gotta see it (once it's being released at home hehe :P ) with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway! I just loved it!
Then..how come?- we went to Friendlys for a "little" desert- hey- we didn't have a snack at the movies!

Double-Fudge-Brownie- Cookie-Chocolate-Ice cream-Caramel- Swirl- Vanilla- Whatever..YUM!

On Saturday Cansu and I decided to go shopping again, as sales were still going on! I got make up and stuff like that for mostly one dollar each-haha!
We wanted to go out in West Chester after that, but we were pooped- so we were just hanging out at Cansu's house and were cooking and watching TV- it was relaxing and soooo yummy!

Cansu cooking Cous Cous according to her mom's recipe :)

desert and TV- snack- Ben and Jerry's ice-cream- always welcome!

On Sunday it was time to get some activity and do some walking, so we went to Longwood Gardens- they are decorated very christmasish now..are supposed to look beautiful at night with all the lights on! During the day it is just lovely to walk through a park-like area with a lot of different settings- and enjoy the fresh air! :)

Enjoying the beautiful day!

Humongous X-Mas Tree!

 After our trip to Longwood, we decided to go to Philly- ha! It's just awesome that we are able to decide to go there and be there within one hour! Talked about it, and we did it!
I also met Cariiiina there- we just had time to talk for a while, but it was so nice to see her again! It was a funny feeling to meet her in "my" city- so good to see that she is doing okay! :)

I also felt kinda home today, because the Christmas market reminded me of the one at home, although the Linzer one is a little bigger... and Heli made it happen!!!!

this says:Helmut's original Austrian strudel!

Austria rules!

We also met some people who were talking German, although we're not very fond of talking to people in German, do it all day ;) But it was nice when THEY recognized us talking German, hehe!

Apple Pie Waffles- yum yum yum!!!

And what should not be missing at a Christmas market? You are right! Glühwein..sorry, Gluwen!

And I was allowed to keep the cup! Tschaka! (this is what Cansu would have said :P )

Well....as it was getting colder and colder, we decided to go home- but before that, we had to take a picture in front of the LOVE SIGN! (if you are not recognizing it by now, you should go see the doctor and check on your retentivity ;) )

Okay folks, enjoy your day!
Tomorrow you'll get to know our elf Twizzy- you are going to love him!

xoxo,
Ida

Happy Thanksgiving!

WOW- what a great day!
As the Americans are going crazy about Halloween, they are also making a big deal out of Christmas and Thanksgiving!
The last Thursday in November is celebrated with a big dinner- turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, assortments of pies and cakes and a lot more- I loved it!

A few days ago the kiddies attended an arts and crafts activity at the library and did a turkey- they are very proud at them and did really great!

We started our day with decorating the house with Christmas stuff- this means taking off the Fall and Halloween decoration and putting up Christmas deco- fluffy trees, lights, christmas stockings, the manger, lava lamps aaaaand- putting up the Christmas tree and ornaments!
The Purvis family has a fake tree- made out of three pieces! The middle piece was as big as the tree that we usually put up at home ;)

Spreading the branches ;)

Then we continued with decorating the tree and the house- it took us all day, but we had such a great time! The kids enjoyed it and I got in "Advent- Stimmung", which I really like!
Shelly has a lot of wonderful winter- decoration, which really makes me feel cosy and gets me in the Christmas- mood... :)

It was a good project to entertain the kids (as it was raining all day) and to get us closer together- we spent all day together and were just talking, playing, doing nonsense and getting something done!

The manger- Claudia, can you remember playing with Ingrid's? :)

Kaitie and Kyle really did a great job on helping- and they were so enjoying it!

Relaxing after doing such hard work :)

Well..and then it was time for our biiiig Thanksgiving dinner! We  invited my friend Cansu over and headed off to a yummy restaurant with delicious food!!! Oh my god! It had been such a good decision to just eat some yogurt and fruit in the morning and save place for it- they had all kinds of meat- turkey, beef, pork, side dishes, stuffings, salads, veggies, soups- and deserts!!!!! AAAH we all felt like in paradise! (and I am still not able to walk properly again ;) )
We had a really good time!
What I also like about that day is that people wish you a Happy Thanksgiving already one week before that actual day! ;)

I love Thanksgiving!

Kyle's Dinner :D

As everybody is asked what he is thankful for on Thanksgiving, also Kyle was asked that question- his answer was:
" Dad....- and CHICKEN!"
He's a funny little guy..

Everybody enjoyed dinner and had a blast!

The whole bagasch ;)

It just has been an amazing time- and now I am sitting in a wintery-atmosphered living room enjoying myself.. AWESOME ;)

Happy Thanksgiving,

Ida :)

Kleine Aufschiebung

da wir an kleinen Viecherlalarm bei uns im Hause habn, werden si einige Blogeinträge verschieben, meld mi wieder am Wochenende..
Wer gerne über Wäsch- waschn und Möbelsaugen am Laufenden gehaltn werdn will, kann mi gerne kontaktieren ;)

Liiiiebste Grüße,

Ida :)

Another great day in Philly!

YES- I did it again!- I went to Philadelphia!

This time my dear friends Cansu, Miriam, Johanna and I went Downtown to see a few things - and we had an amazing time!

First of all we went to the Liberty Bell, which had a great impact of the history of America...you have to know that this city had been the first capitol city of the USA and  so a lot of historical events took place there.
The Liberty Bell gave a lot of hope to people and was also mentioned by MLK at the civil rights movement and when the suffragettes fought for the right of women to vote.
It is not as big as you expect it to be, but it is still nice to have a close look at it :)

The Liberty Bell

Can you find the word "Freiheit"?

 We also had a tour through the Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed by a lot of important people like Thomas Jefferson etc.- another important part of American history that took place in Philadelphia! :)

After that load of information we were just walking through the city, finding a place to eat and had a great time- I really enjoyed talking to my friends and just walking through the streets, inhaling the cool air..
I have been to the Love Park two times before, but it is always nice to see it again- it just gives you a great view on the art museum and people just look happy when they pose in front of the love-sign :)

Me, Cansu, Miriam and Johanna

Doesn't it  look nice?

As we were walking through the streets and talking about Christmas time, we passed an upcoming "Christmas Village"- yay- no need to feel sorry about not being able to visit the Christkindlmarkt in Linz anymore.. ;)

Now I know one more thing to take Mama and Claudia to in December ;)

After walking through Philly all afternoon we felt kinda exhausted and needed a break- where else would you go to rather than going to ---------Starbucks!! ;)
We all allowed ourselves some pastries- apple cinnamon bun, pumpkin muffin, or:

a delicious brownie! :)

We took the train back home at 5 p.m. and decided to watch "Fame"- finally I got to see it and I so wanted to do some dancing! I really got a "gusta" again ;)
And- how could it be different from other lazy watching-a-movie-evenings, we had plenty to eat! ;)

I'll miss all of these diverse ice-cream tastes...so I have to eat enough of them now ;)

Alrighty, this is what my sunday was like- pretty nice ;)

Hope yours was as wonderful as mine,

take care :)

What a hilarious day!!!

Once upon a time, when Ida was still living in a tiny tiny, forest-littered country named Austria, she used to bake scenting cookies in a cosy kitchen with her aunt Solveig- and the whole family was able to enjoy this delicious treats till Christmas eve...
Well, the idea of baking cookies does seem to be a very good one, and also BAKING cookies itself is not a very hard job to do.. you think!
When Cansu came over to my house (after we did a hard work out, because we wanted to be able to enjoy some of our sweet treats then) we decided to bake some cinnamon, star-like cookies, and so we started to get the dough ready!
We took the right amounts of ingredients, except for the grated hazelnuts..we just had the half of the needed amount, but we thought that this would be okay- so the trouble started!
First, the dough didn't get the right consistency- we weren't able to cut cookies with it- so, creative as we are, we just wanted to bake some macaroon-like cookies (we didn't even mind that they were going to look disgusting- as long as they would taste delicious! and we could tell this from the raw dough-yum!).. thought of it- and we did it!
Then we also preheated the oven to the right temperature and put the cookies, not very promising looking, in the oven...
When we opened it again after 10 minutes, we couldn't help laughing- it just looked awful! It looked like we had naked chicken-breasts inside the oven, gross!!!
When we took them out- they were burnt on the bottom side, and soft on the top...we had to eat them with knife and fork- and they tasted well, but were very sweet!
After five bites we threw them in the trash- not  a very successful baking-day!

They were supposed to look like this...

and they looked like....

this!!! YUUUUM!!

They ended up in the trash!

After that Cansu and I decided to take a Pilates- lesson, to use up some energy...
Later that day, when Kaitie was at her show and I took care of Kyle, we went to the Wooden Park and to Bruster's, the yummy ice-shop!

Kyle got Vanilla icecream and I allowed myself apple-dish and Nestle Crunch ice cream ;)

Kyle was a cutie that day- we played games, he read and played the wii-- I enjoyed hanging out with him!
In the evening, Cansu, Shelly and I watched the Bourne Ultimatum, but we aaaal fell asleep.. ;)

Well, this was my funny Friday, you'll hear from me soon!

Take care!

Kaitie, the Munchkin

YAY- this was the day!
Kaitie was actively practicing her role as a munchkin in the "Wizard of Oz" Show of the GV Highschool for weeks, and she was excited that this day she actually got to show her part!
She is going to do three more shows the next couple of days, but I am happy that I have seen the premiere! She was so awesome!
This day started with a rich breakfast that she made herself (usually I prepare it, but she was up even before I got up and started preparing it)!
She got herself three pieces of pancakes, granola with milk, a banana, a Danimal (Yogurt drink) and Banana bread- unnecessarily to say that she didn't eat everything- but most of it!


Right after school she got her make up and costume on, and when the show started and she was singing the Lullaby League song, I was so proud of her! She was one of the four munchkins that were singing this part on their own!
All in all I enjoyed the play- I wish we had that kind of shows back home! I think I would participate in one, although I guess that I'd just take small parts because I would be too shy in the end ;)

Isn't she adorable ;)

The cutest munchkin eveeerrr

 Have a great day,

see you!

It's November...

...and not as cold as it is supposed to be- what a kind of nice fact is, though! :)

When I got the kids to the school bus today I just wore my pyjamas and my coat (as I usually do :) ) and I felt so hot! The wind was blowing and cooled it a lil bit, but the kids and I still felt pretty warm und took off our coats... this was a nice feeling! (and funny too, as I was standing there just in my jammies then)



After straightening up a lil bit I went to the gym with Cansu and we did a workout- ah!
Skyping with my sweetheart was good, too! We arranged that he'll visit me in Feburary- I just cannot wait to see him again!!! :)
I can't believe that Mama and Claudia are coming in a few weeks already- time is passing by incredibly fast!


After the nice chat with Dani I went to Miriam to have lunch with her and Cansu- we ate Pizza and Salad and had a nice time! We were watching some funny videos..I'll post them at the bottom of this entry, so that you can watch them if you're interested- if I were YOU and if I wanted to see dumb people, I would take that chance ;)

YUM!

The kids were cute, too, today- I went out to a playdate with Kyle and Kaitie had gymnastics...now I am watching survivor with my hostmum- chillin in front of the tv ;)


Take care guys,
miss you!


Watch this out! ;)


Dumme Schülerin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK3TYBCaVdY

Deutschlands Zukunft:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWdHY2VvLE0&feature=related

Yum:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANcHNS1AjY4

Enjoy!

the solution..

to the quiz is coming up soon!
First I'd like to thank you for these hilarious answers- my favorite ones are:

--> in front of a pond (hysterical!)
--> black house, is ja schon fast finster
-->library congress with beautiful popsch

aaah..I just had to laugh when I read this--good job guys :)

But now I won't let you wait any longer and give you the solution, there we go:


a)
The Washington Monument,
where we had our nice lunch with whole wheat bread from Austria, Cream cheese, peanut butter and fruits and enjoyed the warm sun

b) The White House..
Unfortunately I didn't see Barack Obama (haha), but it was still nice to see it and recognize that also Barack Obama is not living in that kind of a big house that you would expect him to live in..it just takes him five minutes to walk from one room to the other, not 10.. ;)

c) Lincoln Memorial,
where MLK held his famous speech..it reminded my of my final oral Exams that I had to take in English, because I was talking about this speech- I got racial discrimination and segregation as a topic to choose...this was kinda funny but it was also overwhelming because I knew this view from some pictures and suddenly I was standing there myself..

d) At the bus getting a ride to Washington, D.C. ;)

e) Home Sweet Home

f) Museum of Natural History
This was very interesting, but so much that we couldn't even make it through half of the museum although we stayed in there for two hours! We also went to the museum of American History and to the Arts Museum :)

g) The capitol

h) The Arts-Museum..
we were very tired already so we just went in there to be able to say THAT we went in there..sat down in a room full of beautiful pictures and sat there for 20 minutes..then we walked out and went shopping at Forever 21 :P
-....and YES: Cansu has a nice butt!

i) Ida, Miriam and Cansu in tha club!
We went to the so- called "Ultrabar", both underage and "overage" ;) club.. we got those BIIIG X's on our hands but still had an amazing time- and could see some strange people dancing in the neon light.. ;)

Well..this was my update from Washington,D.C.---hope you enjoyed it and you'll hear from me soon!

P.S. If you ever have the chance to go there- DO IT ;)

Bye sweethearts..

A Washington,D.C.- quiz!

Hey guys!

I am back from my trip to Washington, D.C. with my two cuties Cansu and Miriam- it was amazing! We had unbelievably nice weather (I didn't wear my coat during the day!!!), got to see a lot of sights and I got a first impression about the capital city of the United States..!

As I have to get up early tomorrow and it is already late, I am going to do a little quiz with all my constant blog-readers, to make your working hours in the office more interesting ;)
I'll just show you the sight, probably with a lil info, and you can guess what it is!
Tomorrow I'll give you the answers and some more info.. hope that's okay and you'll enjoy it!

Btw- please feel free to write down answers! I'd like to see who is able to google these things ;)

a)

wow!!! how monumentous! ;)

b)

shouldn't be THAT hard to identify :P

c)

"that one day my children won't be judged my their color of skin but by their content of their character!"

d)

e)

just a lil help- I am somewhere in Europe (or it is supposed to be ;) )

f)

arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!

g)

I'm sure you notice this from the news

h)

uh yeah, uh yeah.. ;) it is not appropriate..this is the hint..

i)

I feel like 15 again.. ;)

Well...hope you are enjoying my quiz..I'll show you some more pictures another day... and keep your brain active- find out where I was--muss das jetzt einfach sagen: i zähl auf eich, Mama und Solveig! ;)

Macht's es gut,

eure