Advent then and now

Goodness it's been a long time since I've posted any updates in this wee little space (but that photo up there probably makes up for it, right?). Since then, summer is really gone, fall is here, and winter might never come (I hear that's kind of how it goes in Texas). Seb, Bruno, and I enjoyed a two week visit in Ohio with our family, brought back a beastly cold to remember them by, and got our health back just in time to savor the magical time of Advent. When we lived in Durham, we went to an Anglican church. Our first time going to a church that follows the liturgical year closely. During those two years, I began to like Advent. When we spent last year in Germany, that like turned to love. And for the astute of you, yes I'm loosely quoting The Wedding Planner, you're welcome. Advent is such a rich time in Germany, and it was so refreshing to live in a culture, not just in a church, where Advent was celebrated by all. If there was any push for consumerism in Germany, it was to buy all the advent calendars. I've never seen so many advent calendars in my life. But the advent wreaths... a large one hung in Sebastian's Kindergarten, where St. Nicholas came to fill stockings on December 6th. The Christmas markets spread the joy of Advent and the coming of Christmas with hot mugs of Glühwein, lights, fresh greenery, and delightful crafts and ornaments. And oh the cookies. So many cookies were made! I don't know if you can be German and not make oodles of cookies, you guys. Here are the boys from last year:

Let me tell you, I needed a moment after seeing Bruno's baby chub and curls from last year. And then here is of course documentation of this year on instagram, and more below when I realized he's just as cute and chubby as ever hashtag cheeks:

Our decorations last year:

And this year:

Before I sign off, we really need to have a chat about Christmas lights. We are neither a firmly white or colored lights family (yet). We've done both. Normally I like the tidiness that comes with white lights, but whenever we use them on our tree, I just feel disappointed by the tidiness. Maybe colored lights just remind me of my Grandma's intensely fake tinsel covered tree that we would pull out of her upstairs every year, and decorate with glittery, vintage, and homemade ornaments? Or our family tree that always had a mix of both colored and white (which now that I think about it might have to do with my moms crafty, deep down folk-art-loving soul). I keep so many parts of my life tidy and simple, but a Christmas tree, to me, needs to be the opposite. When it comes to Christmas trees, one shouldn't hold back. So I'm curious... if you are firmly in the white lights camp, why? And if you're firmly in the colored (or at least sympathetic) I'd love to hear from you because I keep looking for your colored lights on Instagram and I'm not seeing them! Cheers to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law for the colored lights solidarity.

Happy Advent, friends!

Schönberg Turm

happy father's day, my love!

davy crocket? daniel boone? no no. sebastian strecker. look out, folks!

watermelon lover

the little red circle shows you where we live!

hot coffee. sleeping baby on my back. watching my older two men cook some wurst [shown below].

schönberg turm from the meadow below. our hike was 3.6 miles. cody kept close track with his spiffy new GPS watch.

so thankful for this adventurous man who says, "hey. let's go see _____ today!"

Cody and I talk frequently about what this year has meant for us, but whenever I sit down to write even just a bit of what I'm feeling or thinking, I find it hard to do anything other than gush with love. I ache to spontaneously invite friends over for a cup of coffee, and have a deep conversation in English. I long to be nearer to our families. And life sure would be grand if I had all my baking pans and mixer. But I tell you what, our way of life in Germany doesn't want for much. The relationship between land and city... public transportation that can get you just about anywhere... parks within one arm's reach, while there are castles and trails and wide open fields and farmland within reach of the other arm... it's just grand. This place has been good to us and good for us, and I am so abundantly grateful to God for placing us here. I have so much to learn and so much need for growth, but I have seen God's faithfulness here. I am so thankful for my Germany.

It's always a good Friday the 13th when it happens in June

I am so proud of this man. He is the most faithful and forgiving husband, and a remarkable father—somehow perfectly balancing discipline and wisdom with wild fun. Today carried with it sounds of Pettersson und Findus songs sung during the otherwise silent moments. It carried with it the unmistakable rhythm of a usual Friday, but was punctuated with moments of celebration, birthday kisses, and special foods. The boys presented Cody with homemade cards (a monkey in a tree holding a lollypop from Seb, and a snail from Bruno), and we had the most perfect picnic at the park. Seb usually picks the picnic spot, but Cody got to choose today since he was the birthday boy. I made Flammkuchen and the chocolate cake cody requested, and we mostly spent the whole time trying to convince Sebastian that we weren't going to eat the Geburtstagstorte until he ate a little lunch. I think he had one bite of Flammkuchen and then hungrily scarfed down that long-awaited slice of cake. Of course he was famished by that point! Never have I seen stubbornness like that of a child that doesn't want to eat something. How appropriate though, because he gets it straight from his daddy. Happy birthday, Cody Strecker! We love you to the moon and back. Every day is a picnic with you (sometimes literally).

P.S. The family photo above was the 3rd take, and Seb was bored silly waiting for the Geburtstagstorte of course.

Eis is the Brezel of Summer

We were the happy recipients of a heatwave yesterday, so the boys celebrated by filling up the kiddie pool outside. I brought them icecream after I did a few things inside and then Cody and I chatted about the tension between being a mom and being other things. After I verbally sorted out my thoughts, Cody very wisely said that if women focus first on being godly women, how to be the best kind of mother, friend, wife, sister, daughter, and individual will be easier to grasp and maintain, regardless of how that looks. I love that, and I am so thankful for the moms I know that are living this out and providing a real-life example of what that can look like.

I am eagerly looking forward to more days like this. It has been glorious soaking up the sun and letting the boys play with water and sand at the park. I have been loving my new shorts and sandals, and am thankful for a fun city to walk to, in, and around. And despite the fact that our daily lives will look very different in Texas, I am thrilled that we are moving to a warm climate! Warm weather + young kids is the best combo ever. In equally thrilling news (to me), we got a new budget app for my phone to compliment our budget system, which has taken a huge weight off my shoulders and made keeping track of our money that much easier and streamlined. I mean like, I buy something, enter the purchase into my phone, and bam—donezo. Oh and if I want to buy something, say a pair of shoes or something, but don't know if I have enough money in my clothing budget, I just open the app on my phone and can see exactly how much I have! Dear YNAB app, I love you. This, plus the fact that Bruno is back to his bed after bunking with us for quite a while is making life grand. Our brains have been buzzing with plans, ideas, and upcoming changes. I'm so glad the sunshine is now along for the ride.

In other news, this post on highly sensitive parents that I linked to last week turned out to be quite popular. Go here if you fall under this category and have tips to share or questions you'd like answered. I am thrilled to see that Megan is planning to share more tips and resources for highly sensitive parents in the future. Kind of unrelated... I really like this archived post from Megan's husband about being faithful in the little things of caring for our home and our belongings.

Is it summer where you live yet? I am enjoying the change in season more than ever before. I think it might have something to do with Seb and Bruno being a bit older. Carrying babies around is wonderful, but admittedly more difficult in the heat!

Seb and Cody—Year 4

Cody's parents took a photo of each of their kids with my father-in-law right around every birthday. Hanging prominently in their home they have large picture frames with all the photos lined up. It was one of the first things I noticed when Cody and I started dating and I visited his parent's home, and I made a mental note to do that if I was ever blessed with children. It is so fun to look at, compare, and see how they changed over time.

Cody wasn't crazy about this background, so we might retake these portraits tomorrow, but at least we have some now. I was starting to get nervous that we would forget entirely!

And then a nice man offered to take a few pictures of the whole family! They turned out a bit out of focus, but I love them nonetheless. The kids were w i p e d from playing at the park earlier, though. Obviously they're not that into it. I was into it, though, because I was sporting my brand new shirt that arrived in the mail today from my mama! After I checked the mail I promptly went inside to change. I just love everything about this shirt. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Links + a few photos

Quite literally just three photos from Wednesday morning with the boys. Quite ironic, really, the peace that the photos invoke. Wednesday was quite possibly the hardest day I've ever had as a mom. Hard in a whole host of respects. Praying for patience and wisdom.

These tips for highly sensitive parents has been a huge encouragement to me. Here I thought I just liked plants, but apparently they're essential for my well-being! I agree, and I'm okay with that. After sharing these tips with Cody, I said, "So that explains why multiple times a day I find myself looking at those three teeny plants on our counter and think to myself, 'oh that's so nice...'" Cody's response was, "I've never even noticed those plants before!"

Since home is my hub, my office, my resting place (and a teeny one, at that) I put a lot of thought into how that space can work better for me and my family. I love Jodi's simple suggestions for the kitchen, and am excited about her new series in which she'll share her tried and true simple tips and products for different spaces in the home.

I've long had problems keeping my face moisturized.  A couple weeks ago I bought a tube of this and now I'm like hey there happy face.

Also changing my life is Suzanne Bowen. I love this woman and her workouts. It's like the cheapest most effective gym memebership of my life. What are you waiting for!?

Sebastian ist vier geworden

My sweet, peaceful, kind, thoughtful, and curious little man turned four on Thursday. I felt such a mix of emotions seeing him anticipate and then experience such a special day. He certainly liked his birthday last year, but this year was the real deal. He anticipated it for the first time, with no reminders from us. He knew there would be a birthday cake, and he knew there would be a party, and he knew there would be gifts. Suddenly I was experiencing what all mothers experience eventually: pressure to not mess it all up! However, no matter how much I tried to prepare for Seb's birthday ahead of time so that we could all have a fun, calm, and enjoyable day, one thing after another went awry, and I still ended up staying up way too late on Wednesday night baking his birthday cake, and iced it and decorated for his party within 45 minutes of when people arrived to celebrate! Our apartment literally looked like a tornado had ripped through it, and I was very thankful that my husband is observant and conscientious (or maybe just embarrassed?) and politely told our guests that they could just leave things on the table in the common room and that we would clean up later. I am also thankful that we had a room that was not in our apartment in which to have the party. There are some perks to living a dorm-like life, after all.

We kept everything very simple. We wanted it to feel special for Sebastian, but we were also aware that whatever we do now sets a precedent for future birthdays. We don't want our kids to get drowned in gifts, decorations, and huge bashes with so many kids that no one can see straight. It's a day to celebrate our boy and say, "We are so happy you were born!" For Seb's party we did a Fußball theme. Just balloons, plates & napkins, and cake. Bam. I have to thank my in-laws for sending Sebastian a helium tank for his birthday, because having balloons at his party that were afloat definitely made everything seem much more festive. (Is that not a brilliant gift idea?!).

A couple things that surprised me about Seb turning 4 were 1) how I anticipated and enjoyed his birthday almost as if it was my own, and 2) how not-sad I was that he is getting older. I certainly felt a wide-range of emotions, but I have to say I feel almost like I can imagine him graduating from highschool, or reaching some other milestone that tells me officially that he's not a baby any more. I know, he's only FOUR! But I guess I'm just saying that as much as I love each and every stage that he goes through, I also love seeing how he is growing and maturing and becoming more adult. I cherish how dependent he is, but at the same time still push him to be independent. I want him to be able to be the man God has created him to be. I long, just as he longs, for him to be "big like daddy," to have maturity and wisdom, and the ability to selflessly love those around him. I loved Seb's birthday because it was a reminder of how he is growing—a thing that makes my heart sing—but here's the tension: I also wanted to freeze time because it was a reminder of how he's just a little guy that wants nothing more than to play at his favorite park in the rain, get a full-size soccer ball for his birthday and have a really big big BIG geburtstagstorte*. I cherish that he is with me all the time. I get to snuggle him before bed, read him stories, take him places, and tell him I love him any time I want. It's that tension between innocence and growth. I don't want things to change, and yet I do want them to change. I want him to become more fully himself, and that is the joy I feel when like yesterday he says with an excited whisper, "Mama! Ich bin jetzt vier!"*

*birthday cake
*"Mama! I'm four now!"