NYE

We are having a perfect (in my opinion) New Year's Eve.  Lil bro and Lil Lin have gone to visit his friend down south.  We have the house to ourselves so we are having a Chinese takeaway (we only have one a month) and are watching films, the divergent series at the mo. 

Bliss

On a side note Ginger One has taken to wearing a scarf, indoors.  Not sure why, I think he thinks he looks dapper.  I can't decide what I think about this.

My Baby Brother is on his way

Saturday 17th December 9am

Operation Dirk's Home For Christmas

As I ran around the house giving it a once over and making up beds (the joy of having social worker visits on an almost weekly basis the house is always tidy) GO went to the airport to pick up Baby Bro and Lil Lin.  They had flown from New Jersey to Iceland the previous evening (I'm sketchy on details as I get confused by time zones) and were due to land in Manchester at half ten.  It was delayed...  I used every app I had to find information.  I didn't want them to miss GO but I also didn't want him to have to wait around for hours.  Eventually as BB and GO didn't have each other's number I acted as go between ad they found each other.

It was hugs all aroun a quick catch up once they got back to the house and then we all piled into Asterix and started our EPIC road trip. 

I scrub up well

It was the school end of term party and I had decided to wear jeans and a nice top.  Nothing to exciting, it was only a low key restaurant meal.  A few days prior I began hearing rumblings of getting hair done, buying new shoes and wearing leather pencil skirts.  Perhaps it's was more of a big deal than I thought.  So I made a decision to dress up a bit.  I am quite eased with the outcome.

She must be German

We went to Leeds and had a lovely time looking around the Christkindl market, the shops and the 

They were having a "Quiet Quaker Christmas" there were games, circle dances and decoration making. 

museum. 

Afterwards we got a bit peckish and decided to grab a bite to eat in the Alpen Chalet.

I tried to order in German but the waitress either couldn't hear or wasn't German.  We watched her for a while when GO said "She must he German...  She looks miserable!"  Cheeky monkey but his is quite correct.

Goodbye for another year

What a lovely Christmas, it's sad that it has to end.

Weihnachts Tag - What a wonderful day.

I long ago put away the fantasy of having a perfect Christmas, with carols by the fire and snow softly falling outside.  I have had these types of Christmases which is why I hark back to them.  After all this time of year is full of family, tradition and memories.  I am now content with a relaxing morning, some good food, and lots of laughter.  

When it is just the four of us (Ma, Pa, GO and I) we are very relaxed, it is about spending time together not necessarily about gifts or even turkey.  Shocking I know.   

GO & SIL's gifts

Mamilein & Baby Bro's gifts

Papichen's gifts

The last time my baby brother was home for Christmas he brought with him some hidden agenda which meant we were chastised for not being up at the crack of dawn ready to open hoards of gifts with mouths opened.  I warned him on the epic road trip that he would need to lower his expectations and remember that we were not five year old.  Christmas was about the whole time we were together not just one day.  

With my warning ringing  in his ears, I like to think, he was much calmer.  There were no heightened expectations of the day and it was actually rather lovely.  There were no tears and tantrums, everyone was polite and courteous (well except for papichen, there's always one) and we had a really nice day. I felt well and truly spoiled and received some very thoughtful gifts.  Everyone seemed to like their gifts from me, I tried to include something personal and handmade.  I think I actually had a perfect Christmas sans fire and snow but surrounded by the people I love the most in the world.

Twas the night before Christmas and everyone had gone to bed early

Fire provided by Netflix

Merry Christmas one and all xx

I don't like cats but I do like sleep

I can see a theme here

Old fashioned journalling

Spoilt rotten

Let's see what bundle of joy we may receive in the year to come (2017 the year of the paper pregnancy)

Pie Face Fun & Games

A newish tradition in the family is playing games of an evening.  Baby Bro and I have always loved games but Mamilein only likes to at if she gets to win.  We usually play old standards like Mensch Ärger Dich Nicht or Wii Play Tanks, but this year I bought "Say It..." and "Pie Face" nobody wanted to play initially but the results were spectacular. 

Pie Face

Was quite amusing, but after a couple of rounds we were kind of done with it.  It was still very funny to watch the anticipation on a person's face as they turned the dial.

Say it don't Spray it!

GO who is known for his quiet, mumble was so well spoken that we could all understand him. Mamilein found it quite tricky to get some words out and it ended up sounding rather hysterical.  BB and SiL were so in tune with each other that they stormed ahead. 

Card Games

Over the week it became clear the GO and his family had never played many games before, at least not card games.  We taught him UNO, hearts and Schwartze Peter.  He stuggled with the rules initially but once he got the hang of each game he was flying.  I have discovered that he it quite a sore loser.

Der Doburg

There is nothing as invigorating as winter walk in the woods.  I convinced the young ones that we needed to go and have a wander around the Doburg.  It is an archaeological interest site.  I had been once nearly twenty years ago and had always wanted to go back and have another look.  I somehow managed to convince them that I knew where I was going, I didn't.  which is how we ended on a cliff edge with me confidently saying this was the path that I had taken the last time.  We ended up sliding down the sandy cliff on our bottoms, some of us more successfully than others. 

There's trouble at mill

It was a dark cold December night.  As it began to rain we wondered if we were in the right place. 

All we knew was it was in a mill.  We went through a door that was slightly ajar and found that it was empty not a human being in sight.  

As we crept along the corridor, we heard a voice, following the voice we met a gentleman who informed us that we were early and should come back later.

Pub it was, a local pub, a very local unaccustomed to strangers, we kept our heads down and just tried to pass the time.

We headed back to the mill, the space was huge, and cold, so cold they provided us all wit blankets.  

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

We took a trip into Manchester, to see if their Christmas market could beat the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland.

The market was a treat for all of the senses.  The smell of sugar, vanilla and cinnamon filled the air, everyone was smiling and chatting and in good spirits.  There was a slight nip in the air, enough to make you wrap up, but not so cold that it was unbearable.

Dritte Advent

Preparation Training Our Top Priority

I felt so guilty, it was the first day of our nativity and after weeks of preparation I wouldn't be there. The silly side of me thought I would get into trouble, but the logical side reminded me that we are about to embark on the greatest adventure of our lives and that it needed to be a priority.

Still as we sat in the Methodist church in front of a twelve foot tree.  I couldn't help but feel a little bit apprehensive.  We were with four other couple each at different stages in the process.  It was led by a very experienced social worked who was herself and adopted child.    There was a same sex couple who were on their second course, a high flying teaching couple who wanted a baby but who came from a council that was in big trouble, a couple who were foster carers and had decided to adopt the child in their care, and a couple of NHS workers who also wanted a baby.

We sat and listened to case studies of children who had been taken in to the care system and were then adopted by hard working, caring people who had more love and affection coursing through their bodies than they knew what to do with.  We learned that it isn't the absence of love in a child's life that leads them to adoption, it the lack of life's basic needs.  Birth families just can't cope with children and give them the structure and boundaries that the children need.

It has made us think long and hard about what we really think we can cope with, we both think that for us a young sibling group is the way to go as we have the ability to make a difference but also they would have a genetic connection with each other.

Here's to the future and all it brings.

Zweite Advent

Hello December