The Christmas tree event

Today was the day (finally) to get our Christmas tree. Picking our tree this year actually wasn't that difficult. In fact, I think we chose the first tree we looked at! That was amazing!
It needed to be trimmed and this lovely man was so kind and nice and friendly and just a real Christmas tree kind of man!
Shave off the end...
...and wrap it up. I almost missed that part, as you can tell!
At the check-out. Our lovely tree is the one on the left.
I don't know if these stands are available in North America, but they sure are here and I am convinced that they are the best stands in the world.
Just line that baby up, pop the teeth and...
...voila!

Decorating the tree is always quite the event, made extra memorable by the antics of a certain two girls.
They got me in on it for one picture this year!
My lovely husband, recently home from good trip to Moldova.

Just my style

We came upon this sign today which tells (in French) that the bike path ahead was closed. There was work being done on the road so thus the sign. But, what really drew me to this sign was that the bike was drawn exactly the way I would have drawn it! YAY! for all the would-be artists out there!

The correction

I am happy to post this correction after a reliable source gave me the correct information. These little German Christmas men are actually called "Graettimaenner" (kind of pronounced like: gretti-menner). I am pleased to have learned something new. Thank you, Sherri!

Just for my mom....

I found this picture and could not resist posting it. Here's what the caption read:
"A satisfied-looking cow takes advantage of a back-scratching device on Friday, Nov. 7, installed by a farmer in Bernbeuren, Upper Bavaria. The farmer, concerned about the well-being of his bovine friends, attached two brushes to a water tank in such a way that his cows can get their backs and sides scratched to their hearts' content. The livestock warmed to the contraption immediately." I hope it made you smile too.

Merry Christmas to me

All the projects are finished and I even made something for myself. This sits on top of our piano and looks quite lovely there. It was definitely the craft year of the mini quilts!

A cultural moment

Wakeboad fans in the northern German city of Hamburg on Sunday, Dec. 8, enjoyed the annual Advent races. With water temperatures topping off at about 3 degrees C (37.4 degrees F), Santa himself might have felt right at home.

St. Nicholaus Tag

The girls may be a bit old for this, but St. Nicholaus still came in the night to fill their shoes that their mom put out for them (since they had forgotten). I think this is a great pre-Christmas tradition. Read more about St. Nicholaus here: http://www.nerone.cc/nerone/archivio/arch66.htmKaty and I went down to the Christmas market in our local large town/small city. It was definitely a full house today! But there was a lot more to see than just the throngs of people.

Germans will eat outside in any kind of weather, but today was actually a warmish day for December (about +6) and I think I even would have stood outside to eat today!

These three kings were raising money for needy children. Each time someone put some money in their treasure chest, they would bang their staffs two times on the plywood on which they were standing. It made quite an impression!
Mistletoe.
There's always someone playing live music at the Christmas markets.
I think these are called "Schneemaenner". They are a traditional Christmas bread.
The wooden ornaments and decorations are definitely my favourites.

Canadian Christmas Canes

Every year I manage to wrangle someone into bringing me several boxes of candy canes from Canada (after Janet from the home office carefully buys them for me) since we cannot buy them here. Then the young woman who does graphic arts for Janz Team here makes me hundreds of little tags which I then tape to the canes. Every student in the school then gets a candy cane. I do enjoy this little project!

Jr. Fundraiser

Last night was a huge fundraiser for the Jr. Class. The class has to raise money for the Jr/Sr banquet which is held at the end of the school year, as well as for their trip to Rome which is their school trip in their senior year. Here are a few very enthusiastic "volunteers" serving at the baked goods table.
There was also the table where the real food was sold. On offer: hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, chicken burgers (with meal deals too) and nachos with cheese!

Everyone LOVED the food!

Looks pretty good, hey?
I was there as an "adult presence" to help out wherever and whenever needed.

Today's the day!

This is what I saw from our window when I got home from work this afternoon. Our neighbours have been busy, busy and today they will unveil what they've been working on this year. Of course I will keep you posted (that's actually a very good pun for a blog!).
And so promptly at 5:30 the program began. First we sang some German carols... ...for which they provided the song sheets.
Then they read the story of the "Herrnhuter" Star. The German and Czech Brethren, under the leadership of Count Zinzendorff, greatly influenced the world through their missionary movement. Their children were educated in MK schools in Germany. One of their projects was making and selling these special 25 point stars to support their school and the missionary movement, and as a light to the nations.

Then it was time for the unveiling! The banner reads - "The Herrn Huter Star - A bridge between all people".

More singing - this time with the accordian AND the guitar.





Afterwards we all got some hot punch, freshly baked Christmas cookies and these lovely stars which they had made themselves. There were about 50 people on the street enjoying this special moment with these amazing people. We also enjoyed visiting with some neighbourhood people.