My little 3 year old

Hello friends,
   This past week we celebrated Isaac's 3rd birthday.  What a sweet boy he has become.  I have to say 3 is looking like a fun age.  They start to say the most hilarious things and they become compassionate for others.  What an amazing thing to see your child develop feelings and ideas.  Some of the things he has said recently that just crack me up; pointing his finger in the air saying "That's an idea," and "Oh Mama, I'll be so happy."
   Isaac had a fun filled day on Thursday.  He got to open a present in the morning when Daddy was home and have some treasured Macaroni and Cheese for lunch, followed by cupcakes and presents after dinner.

We had a Big Buzz Lightyear (as Isaac calls it) birthday party on Saturday with some of our friends.  All the kids had a great time and Isaac loved opening his presents and eating cupcakes.  I had the cupcakes on display and at one point Gabe comes walking over cracking up holding a cupcake in his hands with icing everywhere! That little stinker reached up and grabbed a cupcake, he couldn't resist. Man do these boys have a sweet tooth, I don't know where they get it :)

 Have a great Thanksgiving! And I'll leave you on this happy note, how can you resist this little guy?!  He may be wild but is so stinkin cute!

With love,
Janelle

Halloween

This past week we had our first visitors, friends from France with two little boys the same age as ours.  We all had a great time and the boys played so well together, even though they did not speak the same language! They happened to be here over Halloween and we decided they needed to dress up the boys and experience the tradition.  They didn't get the full experience though because not many people actually celebrate it here and we only went to 4 houses, 2 of which were our American friends! But the kids got to dress up and got candy so they were happy! It was impossible to get a picture of the 4 of them together but they all looked so cute.

Isaac trick-or-treating at our friend's house

Gabe knows where to find the good stuff

 We were also able to do some exploring of downtown Berlin and see some of the major sites, like the Berliner Dom pictured below.

The boys looked like regulars riding the subway

And we ran into a random Micky Mouse, which Isaac just loved!

The end of November my cousins from California are coming to visit and then we go home in December.  We are really looking forward to some much needed time with our family, friends, and pup Harper!

With love,
Janelle

Photo Shoot

Today we were able to get some family pictures taken by the wonderfully talented Nicky Walsh.  She came and took the pictures at our house and captured the boys in their natural setting (craziness).  She not only did an amazing job, but she got the pictures to us the same day!

With love,
Janelle

As They Grow

Every once in a while I will try to post updates on the boys and what they have been up to.  It's amazing how they grow so fast, especially when you don't see them in a while.  This past weekend we went to our first Halloween party in downtown Berlin at an activity center just for expats.  Gabe's costume doesn't come in until tomorrow so he had to wear Isaac's Plex costume from last year.  He made a pretty stinkin cute Plex though!

 Isaac (Spiderman) participated in a costume parade and when they called him up he shot the lady with webs, that boy kills me!

Gabriel:  He just turned 1 this past September and boy is he a wild man! We had a little birthday party for him and he devoured his entire cupcake, an eating machine.  Most days I would say he eats more than Isaac.

I thought Isaac had a lot of energy but Gabe is on a whole different level, sweet as can be though! He just started walking a few weeks ago and can already chase his brother, attack him with a sword, and climb on anything and everything. He loves walking around and riding this scooter.

Him and Isaac play pretty nicely together, they have their moments though.  Luckily Gabe is laid back and tough so not much bothers him.  There are a ton of parks around Berlin so when the weather is nice we try to keep busy outside.

Isaac:  He will turn 3 next month and what a little boy he has turned into.  He is talking so much now and the things he says just crack us up.  He is like a little me though because everything he says is exactly what I say with the same inflections.  He also loves to sing and is starting to learn words to his favorite songs.  The other day we were listening to a song by Amy Winehouse and he said "Mama this is my favorite song!" He is really into superheroes right now, so we've been making costumes out of foil, keeps him entertained for hours!  He will find any excuse to dress up like Thor below- however sadly the cowboy hat phase has ended.

The boys and I have found a couple English speaking playgroups where we have met nice new friends.  There is always something going on in the city and we have found many fun festivals and activities for the kids.  So far we are really enjoying our time here in Berlin!

With love,
Janelle

Our house

So I promised people I would post pictures of our new house and furniture so here we go.  To start off we live in a west district of Berlin called Zehlendorf.  It houses the American Embassy and during the Cold War it was where the American base was located.



We live off a quaint German street one block away from the Schlachtensee Lake.  Our house is separated into 6 different flats with families from all walks of life.  I actually really like living in a shared house because it creates a nice community.

Before we moved here we sold our house and all of our furniture.  We only brought an air shipment over with the essentials....toys mainly!  Since we did not ship our furniture over the company gave us a nice allotment to buy new furniture (yes I was very excited about this) that we get to bring back home with us!  After (too) many long days at IKEA we furnished our house!

Here is a picture of the living/dining room with a balcony overlooking the garden.

Next is the kitchen.  We were really lucky to have a kitchen already in place, the majority of time when people move out they take the kitchen (the entire kitchen) with them, and also mirrors, light fixtures, toilet paper holders!

Here is the guestroom, it is pretty small but perfect for guests, a place to put clothes and a bed that pulls out into a queen.

Here is our room.  Closets also do not come in the house so you have to get large wardrobe/closet pieces of furniture. (I didn't take a picture of our closets though).

Here is Isaac's room.  He moved into a big boy bed when we moved here.  He is obsessed with Toy Story.

And here is little Gabe's room.

We still have a few finishing touches to add, but for the most part we are all settled in.  We are realizing that we are spoiled here!

With love,
Janelle

Hello World

Hello family and friends! I'm starting this blog to document our time here in Germany, along with updates on my boys.  As many of you know I love to bake so I will also add some recipes of my favorites as I come across them.  I make no promises on how often I will post, because as most of you know life happens and with 2 boys living in a foreign country I don't always get tons of free time.  Most of the time my posts will be happy updates on the family, but there will most likely be a few rants thrown in every once in a while :) I mean what's a mother without her rants, right! 

This past weekend we went to a Pumpkin Festival and here a few pictures:

With love,
Janelle