The big "two"

A two-digit birthday! Our son Jakob entered the two-digit age last Sunday. He is now 10 years old!! A whole decade! On the one side I am so happy he is getting older, more independent, but on the other side it just scares me. Soon, the easy (??) years are over and the teenage problems start. And once this is over (I hope we survive!) he will go to collage… Well, but first we celebrated his big birthday with a party. His words: “Awesome!!”

And Darth Vader was here too…

Vermont, we are coming!

It is already a tradition, our annual ski vacation at Burke Mountain (where the Burki bear lives…). We usually never go to the same place for vacation, but Vermont is an exception. We meet there our friends (and always the same people in the small Inn where we stay, ha, ha). What can I say, we just love it. My boys went for skiing, I did this year snowshoeing.

I almost like it better than skiing: no waiting, no freezing in the ski lift…and peace. If you meet one or two people on your way, you are lucky. You just listen to your own breathing (oh yes, like an engine…it is exhausting!). And you have to be able to read the trail map – obviously always a challenge for me… But we had fun!

And the New Years Eve party in the lodge was a blast! So, we decided to break with our annual tradition. We do not wait until December, we go in February again! Of course, to the same place. And to the same people.

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

Happy New Year!! Here we go again: a new decade! Just decorated the Christmas tree and it is all over again (until December!).

And Santa found the way to our house too…

O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree...

The Christmas tree hunt is one of our favourite things to do. My men just love it! It is such a “manly” (ha, ha) thing to go in the woods (in our case a farm), to pick the tree and to cut it down with a saw, to carry it to the car… (ha, ha). The picking part took us two days last year (I have to admit it was my fault), it is not easy to find the perfect tree, you know. The least funny part is to get the tree in the stand. This can cause small fights between the married couple (in this case us). Who put the ornaments on the tree there is no arguing about it : me.

My husband watches this process from a distance; our son sleeps at this time. He gets up in the morning, surprised and excited: Christmas is coming!

I am back!

Hallo everybody! I am back! It has been a while since my last posting. Sorry… No, I was not travelling, I was in the hospital for a major surgery and the recovery took longer than I thought. Once again, there have been good friends who helped us to go to through it, took care of Jakob and supported us in any possible way. Thank you to all of you!!! I hope to get in my “old shape” soon, especially because Christmas is coming, my favourite time of the year!

Pasta nights

We established a new tradition in our family life: pasta nights! That means we are not just eating pasta- we are making it by ourselves. Inspired by our son who loves pasta and also enjoys baking/cooking with me we started with this new tradition two weeks ago. Last Sunday was our second run. It works pretty good! But you need time, a lot of time… The Sunday before, we made raviolis (but in shape of “pierogi”, much easier) with a delicious meat filling. I love Jamie Oliver`s recipes, and he has a few good pasta recipes, especially for the dough. Rolling out the dough was physically very exhausting, so this was my husbands part. With a glass I cut round shapes and Jakob put the filling in and finished. Our dog, who kept us company the whole time, deserved the leftover filling. He loves pasta nights now too. It was such a fun!!!

By the way, they tasted excellent, too. Yes, even better than my favourite Barilla pasta. (And we had enough to feed two more families…) My husband discovered his love for cooking and went to buy the “absolutely” necessary supplies for the next pasta night, that was last Sunday. This time we made fettuccine with our new pasta machine. Each of us had a part to do again: Olaf was putting the rolled out dough in the machine, Jakob was moving the curb, I was placing the fettuccine on cut boards. Joey was licking the flour from the floor.

Needless to say, we all were covered in flour. And laughing! The dinner was great! Maybe next time the fettuccine should be a little bit thicker. But this will have to wait two more weeks. Our next pasta night will have home made gnocchi on the menu.

Good friends

Three weeks ago I had to go to the ER , I got pneumonia. Because of my Crohns therapy it can be dangerous, so they kept me in the hospital. By the way, I was not in shape to go home anyway. Of course, when this happened my husband was on a business trip in Europe. I was all by myself, just with my 9 year old son, and no family who could help. But help came: from my friends and neighbours. They did not mind that I called them at 6 am in the morning. Our friends were happy to get Jakob ready for school and even to have him over night. They took just wonderful care of him. My neighbour came right away and drove me to the hospital, he did not leave me until a doctor approached. To be honest, I was scared, lying in the ER, my husband far away, not knowing what will happen, feeling terrible and completely lonely…and then I saw my friends face through the glass door. I don`t think I`ve ever been happier in my life to see somebody as in this moment. Àfter putting the kids on the bus she just rushed to the hospital. She kept me company until I was in my room and made sure I was okay. My neighbour who drove me also took care for our dog. Another neighbour called and asked what I need from home. He had our home key and was offering to stop by, which he did. In the afternoon another neighbour (who is more a friend) came for a visit with flowers and magazines. And for a talk, which was the best for me. On the next day there was a visitor already after breakfast. Another friend. She brought me chocolate croissants. Just on time. We talked and laughed. I found my humor again. Or even better: I found out that I can count on my friends (and neighbours) when I need them.

My husband got an early flight and was back home on the same day. He picked up Jakob and in the evening, me. I responded well to the medication so I could continue the therapy at home. Everybody called and asked if they could do something for me. What more could they do ?!