little girls

Hmm...might one get the impression from looking at our laundry that little girls live here?

Jörn's birthday

We've had three more birthdays since Jörn's at the beginning of May, but this was almost finished so I'm going ahead and posting it, just a month and a half late. Maybe after the next birthday or three, I'll get around to writing about the June birthdays...

Germans like to exchange presents first thing in the morning, with a big breakfast together. However, Jörn is the only full German in the family and not everybody wanted to be (or was) up before he left for work, so the celebration was postponed until lunch. We had an angel food cake (made from a mix, from the U.S., at Jörn's request...) covered in chocolate.

All of my children have inherited their father's love for giving presents. Lukas and Katie worked very hard for a long time, pounding lots of nails into wood scraps they'd gotten from the neighbors, and proudly presented Jörn with this...wooden object with lots of nails:

 Then it was Jacob's turn. He and Jörn share a love of plants:

And Marie's was as thrilled to give Jörn a pad of good art paper as Jörn was to receive it:

In the evening we had a party with a dozen or so guests, and two more cakes. The first was for one of the guests, whose birthday was the day before Jörn's:

Jörn had requested a Bird of Paradise plant for his birthday, but the ones at the garden shop that looked sort of okay were way out of our budget, and the ones that were only somewhat out of our budget were pretty scraggly looking and "might bloom in two or three years", so I didn't end up getting him one. However, I did attempt a sort of one on his cake:



birds on our terrace

Okay, it's taken me awhile to finish this, but here is the photo documentary of our birds' nest in April and May.

At the beginning of April, we noticed a couple of swallows flying around on our kitchen terrace and having loud discussions. They'd perch on one part of the wall and chatter back and forth like mad, then on another and continue their conversation. This went on for about a week, and we figured they were probably discussing a location for a nest, so we weren't terribly surprised to see them start building one, although we were surprised with the location. They'd done most of the arguing on one particular wall, near branches from outside that hang into the covered terrace, but they ended up choosing the most sheltered corner as far as the elements are concerned, but directly above our back door and where the humans of the house are most active. Here's the nest on April 6th, I think a day or two after they'd started building:

 

April 7th:

April 10th:                             

April 13th:

April 14th, they moved in:

Jacob stood on top of the dishwasher (which is outside, on the terrace) for ages taking photos, and got this one of a bird flying back into the nest. He also took some videos, but I haven't yet figured out how to get them onto the blog.

Sometime after this I rigged up a mirror on a broomstick and we looked in the nest and saw three tiny and very ugly babies, and one egg. The parents were furious with us, so we didn't look for long. The next day I attached the camera to the broomstick, and took a video of all four babies! (So I figure we must have seen those three babies the very day they hatched.) I was going to take a photo, as well, but I'd covered the timer button when I'd taped the camera to the broomstick. By the time I'd taken it all apart and practiced taking photos with a timer, the parents were on the nest and scolding us, so I left it. Unfortunately, I can't find the video either on my computer or on the camera, so must have somehow erased it, and I don't know what date that was.

For some reason we didn't take any photos of the little babies with their huge beaks sticking out, begging for food, but it was pretty cool seeing them. We sang "Ein Vogelbaby wird niemals satt" pretty often...thanks a lot, Rolf Zuckowski! ("A baby bird is never full", from a children's musical by a well-known German children's musician. The preschool class in which I worked the year before Marie was born performed it for the summer festival, so I know all the songs backwards and forwards, forever and ever, whether I want to or not. And then I even taught them to my children...)

The next photo we took was on May 27th, when the babies were already quite big and cute, reminding me of Helen as a baby.

May 29th--We saw the babies flying, here are three of them resting on the branches that reach into our covered terrace from the outside.

May 31st--The nest was very crowded, but as far as we could tell, all six birds were still sleeping there at night, with their tails sticking out.

All is quiet on the terrace now, but I've heard that swallows are likely to return to the same nest next year. If they do, I'll opt to put some cardboard on the floor under the nest once they move in, rather than trying to pay children to clean up the bird droppings after they move out...

bathtime

Aren't they cute?!?

starting May busy

I think I posted not long ago that Monday was my favorite day of the week, because of no outside activities?

Today: to begin with, I was quite pleased with myself for remembering at 11:30 this morning that since the children were starting swimming lessons in the afternoon, it would be good to check if they all have swimsuits that fit. Jacob has two that fit, Lukas about five, Katie and Helen between them a dozen or so (almost all of them fit both of them), and I'm sure at least a couple of the dozen or so that are too small for Katie and Helen will fit Elisabeth, but she's not taking swimming lessons, and when we go to the beach, I don't care if she wears a swimsuit or not, so we didn't try any on her. (Helen isn't taking lessons, either, but no way was she going to miss out on the fun of trying on clothes. Strange child.)

Marie's, however, didn't fit, which wasn't exactly surprising, as it didn't really fit her last year, either. I called a friend to ask where one buys a swimsuit, as we bought this one two years ago at the thrift store after looking at a bunch of other stores and not finding anything she liked. My friend recommended Marks & Spencers, where I'd never been, but I was desperate. I left Katie home with Jacob and took all the others and off we went. And she found a swimsuit that she liked and that fit!! €25 first seemed like a lot, but when I realized that there were others for €40 and for €65, my attitude changed to one of, "Wow--that's so cool that the one she likes best is also the cheapest!" On the way home we stopped and bought a fourth bathing cap, also pleased that I could still locate all three from when the older three took swimming lessons last year.

Home again, lunch, then five children into the car. (Katie couldn't go to the swimming lesson today because she has extra rehearsals this week for her play on the weekend.) I filled out all four forms, able to put in the children's names and birthdates and address (I wrote the address in Greek, but their names in Latin letters), but I left "school" blank and more or less made up their grade-levels. And then I signed and dated the forms, wondering just what I had signed, as it had a page and a half of text, all in Greek. I did glance over it, and some was about paying and some was about the days and hours, but mostly, I haven't the foggiest idea what it was about.

My friend Heather was busy signing up seven of her eight children as I arrived, and then her husband called to say that the baby was awake. Her second-youngest, who might or might not end up participating but didn't want to today, also didn't want to go home with her, so I offered to keep her. So with Elisabeth in the sling and Helen and Joanna on each hand, I went to make sure that all nine children had found their classes (they all had), and then we hung out in the shade for awhile.

In the meantime, Jörn had taken Katie to Antidote (the theater) for her rehearsal, and stayed outside waiting, as she'd been pretty hyper today and has acted up during her class in the past. After swimming I stopped by the house, as Lukas had forgotten a change of clothes (and left Marie at home so she could sweep and mop the kitchen in peace), and then took Lukas to Discoveries (it used to be on Wednesdays, but as of today, is Mondays) and Jacob to his extra rehearsal for his play in a few weeks. Katie was finished not long after I arrived, so I hung out with Jörn while waiting, then Jörn and Katie went shopping and Helen and Elisabeth and I went home to try to straighten up the living room before guests arrived in the evening.

About five minutes after we arrived home, a friend who owns a canning factory dropped by to give us four kilos of strawberries. They had been rather squashed and weren't going to last long, so instead of tidying the living room I started cleaning strawberries. When Jörn got home I put Elisabeth back in the car and we went to pick up Lukas. Came back home, finished the strawberries, then called a friend to get a phone number I needed. (Four kilos ended up being only about 1.2 after getting rid of all of the moldy ones and green parts and all the snacking that everyone did everytime they walked through the kitchen, but that's just about exactly right to make a batch of jam. I put them in the freezer, though, as I don't foresee time to make jam in the next couple of days.) While on the phone I texted Jacob (he bought himself a cell phone a couple of days ago...we're now a family with FIVE phone numbers...) to ask if he wanted to walk home or if I should pick him up. He wanted to be picked up, so I put about five minutes into straightening the living room and then as I was going out the door to get Jacob (about ten minutes late), the first guests arrived. (Two couples and one more lady--Jörn's colleagues. We generally have a shared meal every other week, but it used to be Fridays, then Tuesdays, now Mondays, and hasn't happened regularly in the last few months at all because of different people traveling or being ill, so it didn't "feel" like a regular activity.)

Dinner went pretty well, Helen went to bed immediately afterwards (Jörn was gone putting her to bed for about 90 seconds, and two-thirds of that time was just waiting to be sure she was really asleep), Lukas and Katie went to bed an hour and a half late, and Elisabeth fell asleep just as everyone was leaving. (And incidentally, after dinner we just stayed at the kitchen table, so I'm glad I hadn't taken the time I didn't have anyway to clear off the piano and coffee table and dust, since that will have to be done for sure by Saturday anyway, and if done today, would STILL have to be done on Saturday.)

Then as I sat down at the computer, Marie asked me if I wanted to play a game, so we played six or seven rounds of Triominos, but without keeping score. She won the first three games, neither of us went out on the fourth, and then I won one and she won another one or two.

And I just looked at the clock and realized that it's four minutes into Tuesday. I'm finding it difficult to keep track of the days of the week. I didn't go to church OR the playground yesterday and we had all sorts of outside activities today, which isn't a "normal" Monday (but it will be from now on--Discoveries and swimming lessons will continue through June, swimming through July, Jacob's extra rehearsal just for a few weeks). Tomorrow won't be a normal Tuesday (no get-together with Sue, as she's in England at the moment, and Katie DOESN'T have Antidote tomorrow, but will have a make-up swimming lesson, and I have Greek in the evening, and Jörn's going to skip his prayer meeting to stay home with the children this time); Wednesday Katie has an extra rehearsal and the boys DON'T have Discoveries anymore; Thursday I'll go to Tots in the morning, all four children have swimming lessons in the afternoon, Jacob's Antidote class starts an hour earlier than usual, Katie has a rehearsal, and I have Greek in the evening; and Friday...I think Friday will be almost normal, with just Jacob's guitar lesson and Marie youth group, just no house group.

Then Saturday is Jörn's birthday. Marie will have her violin lesson as usual and the living room WILL get straightened up, and at 5:00, as our first guests are arriving, I will take Katie to her dress rehearsal. At some point during dinner, I guess, I'll go pick her up. Her play is Sunday, and after that she'll go back to just once-a-week Antidote classes.

Whew. It almost--not quite, but almost--makes me look forward to August, when ALL outside activities stop. Well, almost. No Greek, no swimming lessons, no drama class, no music lessons, no Discoveries. Marie will probably still have Youth group (and Marie and Jacob will both go to Youth camp for a week, then in September Jacob starts Youth), there will probably be a holiday club (VBS) or two, we hope to go up to the mountains as a family for a few days or even a week, our friends will be home so we'll hopefully be seeing lots of them, and we'll be going to the beach out of sheer necessity whenever possible.

In the meantime, I guess I'd better go to bed, as it's now half an hour into Tuesday! And sometime during the course of the day, I ought to do my Greek homework. It was only assigned last Thursday, so of course, I haven't even started it...

Jacob's friends

When Jacob was five and a half, we had a social worker visit us in Germany because of Marie not being in school. (While the end of that story is long and complicated, the end of that visit was that the social worker said, "These children are lacking in nothing, and if the school authorities have a problem with it, that's their problem: this is not a case for social services.") While speaking with the children, he asked Jacob if he had any friends. Jacob rolled his eyes and said, "Oh, I have so many friends I can't even COUNT them! There's Jakey and Susan and Margaret and Florian and Konstanze and Judy and Daniel..." The social worker was reassured that Jacob wasn't isolated, and I was smirking inside.

What it hadn't occured to the social worker to ask was the AGES of any of the people Jacob listed. If I remember correctly, the youngest he listed was about two years old, the oldest probably mid-60s. Several were even his own age. But for him there was no difference: friends were friends. I've always had friends of all ages, as well, but I think I was more consious of that not being entirely typical, at least, not for a child. (Especially since friends of my own age were a rarity in any case, two of my closest for a long time being three years younger and 65 years older than I was, respectively.) Jacob was, at five and a half, and still is, at nearly 12, utterly and completely un-self-conscious of there being anything even slightly unusual about his closest friends being nine years old and 50-something.

One of his friends was Patricia, the 86-year-old mother of one of Jacob's sailing buddies, Tim. I first met Patricia at the anniversary party of mutual friends last summer, and as soon as she realized that I was Jacob's mother, her eyes lit up and she couldn't say enough good about Jacob. I hadn't even known that he'd met her! Turns out, he'd had lunch with her several times and enjoyed good conversations. As long as that's the kind of person my son is hanging out with behind my back, I'm not too worried about him. :-)

When I told Jacob the next day that I'd met Patricia, his eyes likewise lit up and he told me about the lunches they'd shared and how they talked about South Africa and baking and I don't know what else. But it was clear that Jacob had found a kindred spirit.

A couple of months ago, Patricia wasn't well and ended up having surgery. Jacob bugged me again and again to find out how she was and whether he could visit her, and I finally followed up and he was able to go see her. A week and a half ago she had surgery yet again. Two days later Jacob wasn't patient enough to keep waiting for me to be able to drive him to the clinic where Patricia was, so he rode his bike to see her, enjoying another visit. He didn't do it "to be nice", but because he wanted to, to spend time with his friend.

At the beginning of this week, Patricia had to undergo emergency surgery, but to everyone's surprise, wasn't recovering as quickly this time, and Jacob was looking forward to visiting her later in the week. However, Wednesday evening Tim phoned and said that his mother was only expected to live another hour or so, and would Jacob please come. So Jörn took Jacob to say goodbye to Patricia, something very difficult for anybody, but I couldn't help being immensely proud of my son. First of all, he was someone that they wanted to be there, someone that they knew was important to Patricia. That's pretty cool. Second, he went. He didn't stay long and didn't say more than her name, but he went. Several hours later, Patricia died.

This morning was Patricia's funeral. Obviously, I was feeling for Tim and the rest of his family, but Jacob is the one who is my son, the one I was hurting for most. I'd only met Patricia twice myself, and while I liked her quite well, I can't say that I really knew her. When we told Jacob yesterday morning that Patricia had, as expected, died in the night, he didn't look at me for awhile, just sat crying, quietly. But when I asked if he wanted to go to the funeral, he turned and looked at me full-on and said, "Of course!" as if he couldn't understand why on earth I would ask. He gave me more reason to be proud of him this morning, as he read aloud from First Corinthians 13 as part of the service, with a clear and steady voice.

Jacob isn't stingy with his friendship, but he is picky. He has no use for talking-down or false flattery, no interest in being popular or ever doing anything just because someone else does. (Hmm...he reminds me of someone.) Treat him like a generic such-and-such-aged boy, and you'll be lucky to even get monosyllables from him. But when he's respected as a fellow human-being and just plain liked, he really responds. I'm glad he got to know Patricia, and I'm glad Patricia got to know him.

Jacob's garden

We don't have much in the way of green space around our house, as most of it is covered in concrete. So last year Jacob built a garden box, after a lot of research about square-foot gardening, and which plants should go next to each other, and all sorts of stuff that I know nothing at all about. He didn't harvest much last year, as it gets VERY hot in the summer and everything more-or-less burned up. He sold and gave away a lot of tomato and pumpkin plants last year, and was pleased to have the feedback that other people, at least, did get a nice harvest!

This year he moved his planter (it's one meter by two meters) to a shadier area, and also rigged up an irrigation system with old irrigating lines he found lying around the property when we moved here. These are all photos that I found on my camera--apparently, Jacob was pleased with is project and wanted to document it, so I figured I'd post them here!

Last week, Jacob traded two cucumber plants to a neighbor for a two-year-old strawberry plant which had one strawberry on it. He's been carefully sprinkling salt on the ground around the planter to protect it from snails and slugs, and has been researching other (perhaps friendlier) ways to keep them away.

Last Friday he had his first harvest: two beans. Ironically, Jacob doesn't eat beans, or for that matter, any of the other vegetables he's planted! However, Jörn ate the two beans, and Jacob was very proud. (Unfortunately, Jörn made a crazy face while eating the beans and won't let me publish the photo, so all I have here is a photo of the beans about to be salted and eaten with lunch!)