[ Twice a year the grandparents are invited to spend the afternoon with their grandkids at the kindergarten. Miss Elli and Papili greatly appreciated the invitation to their first "Grandparents Day". The kids of the penguin group Luis belongs to baked a cherry pie and the participating grandparents were asked to teach games they used to play back in the days they were kindergartenkids themselves. Since my parents were born 1944 (Papili) and 1946 (Miss Elli) they did never visit a kindergarten, but nonetheless they had lots of games of their childhood to share with the kids.
Thereafter MaPa and the kids enjoyed said cake, coffee (for the addults) and cocoa (for the kids).

Of course I was very happy for my thrilled Captain Luis and my excited parents - all the more it took my breath away I had to inform them about a shocking experience: Once again Frank had to take our little princess Lily to the ER. Our nerves were on the edge until Frank finally called and told us he and Lily were on their way back home.
We will have to wait what the night will bring...

Until then I thank you for your thoughts, prayers, supportive mails and comments on my FB.
We will keep you updated. xoxo ]

© by Sanni.

34-365: Grandparents Day
is snapped by Sanni
and filed under Kindergarten, Luis, Papili.

Special thanks to: CrAzY Working Mom for taking time to comment.

1 Comment »

[ Hey, you...  Punxsutawney Phil! You, the only true weather forecasting groundhog, say you saw your shadow and hurried back into your underground home today, prediciting 6 more weeks of winter???

Seriously?

May I invite you to be our dinner for dinner and discuss this issue with you?
I promise to improve Groundhogese and compose a delicious recipe until you'll arrive.
Be my guest! ]

© by Sanni.

33-365: Groundhog for Dinner
is snapped by Sanni
and filed under weather.

Special thanks to: CrAzY Working Mom for taking time to comment.

1 Comment »

[ Excuse me, please... Did you say it's FEBRUARY already? Where did the first month of this year go?

Did we really spend a whole month mostly at home, like a family of snowbound solitudinarians?
We did have lots of snow during the past month. It's been the coldest January in 30 years for this area we live in... if it didn't snow it was quite cold and greyish outside.

A good movie, a hot tea and a cozy fire in the fireplace seemed much more inviting than marching through the masses of snow most of the time.
Of course we did take the double trouble out, built snowmen, had snowball fights and rode on my good old sleigh. We brought Luis to the Kindergarten and managed to pick him up again
(YAY for us *g*).
We walked our Jersey. She wasn't too excited about being outside. Nevertheless the poor diva got involved into one of our snowball fights. We went (grocery) shopping when necessary.
There have been parties, dates and an evening out at the cinema. But, to be honest, I mostly enjoyed the time we spent at home: Playing with Luis and Lily, painting, doing handicrafts - like the CD-calendar on today's photo. It's a digital srapbooking hybrid project I crafted for Frank's desk.
I included a photo from one of our vacations on each month's date sheet.
February is presented by the monastery of Vlacherna on Pontikonisi  (aka "Mouse Island"), located in the bay of Kanoni in the south of Corfu, Greece - one of the most beautiful and peaceful places we have ever visited.
Here we are, thankful to have the possibility of working from home, spending quality time with the family, snuggled into a blankie, dreaming of the warmth... and facing the reality:
We will have to fix a day to meet our hairdresser - just to make sure our looks won't fit our semirecluse entity.
Boy, I need a haircut! ]

© by Sanni.

32-365: February
is snapped by Sanni
and filed under Made by Sanni.

Special thanks to: CrAzY Working Mom for taking time to comment.

1 Comment »

[ After feeling sick for over a week now, I finally experienced the onset and break down yesterday evening. I'm so sorry it happened on C.'s birthday party - at least I did manage to leave house minutes before I collapsed... and didn't ruin his party.
I also managed not to puke into the car while Frank somehow managed to bring me home...
I spent the night oscillating between bathroom and bedroom. Even the thought makes me sick again - and so does the thought or smell of anything to eat
I guess I'll be spending a few more hours, maybe days in bed, wearing a nice peg on my little nose.]

© by Sanni.

31-365: Still ill
is snapped by Sanni
and filed under that stinks.

Special thanks to: Maryt/theteach, CrAzY Working Mom, and TorAa for taking time to comment.

3 Comments »

[ On our way to C.'s birthday party, this shiny white ball up in the sky caught my eye...
could this be... the SUN??? Really? Long time no see, my good old friend! Remember me?]

© by Sanni.

30-365: Shiny White Ball
is snapped by Sanni
and filed under weather.

Special thanks to: CrAzY Working Mom and TorAa for taking time to comment.

2 Comments »

[ Rich in calories and too good to be true.

The dough contains the following ingredients:

600g flour
600g butter
12 eggs
300g sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar
1 tsp baking powder

Best served with whipped cream, vanilla ice-cream and hot cherries. Bon Appetit! ]

© by Sanni.

29-365: Waffles, Waffles, Waffles
is snapped by Sanni
and filed under food.

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[ Feeling worse every day. Frank even felt forced the need to present me with these beautiful
"Get well soon"-orchids. ♥

I will stop whining and complaining about my lack of health now to wish my dear friend Desert Songbird the happiest Birthday! We're wishing you a year filled with the same joy you bring to others! *mwaaaah* ]

© by Sanni.

28-365: Orchids
is snapped by Sanni
and filed under flower power.

Special thanks to: CrAzY Working Mom for taking time to comment.

1 Comment »

[ Tonight on our TV: DSDS (Pop Idol) - the last casting show of this season. As usual, we enjoyed watching the show. We're also proud to announce there's a new fan in our family: Miss Elli, my mom, got finally caught by DSDS. She didn't miss a single episode and also looks forward to watching the recall-show on Saturday. One of my personal highlights has been the "shit"-piggy bank of jury member Dieter Bohlen. He tossed a Euro-coin into the piggy bank whenever he said "Scheisse". Well, since he's known for the extended use of the word "shit", I'm pretty sure the piggy bank now contains lots of money to donate to charity. ]

© by Sanni.

27-365: DSDS 2010
is snapped by Sanni
and filed under TV.

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[ I bought this nail polish a few months ago, back when "Twilight New moon" was released in German cinemas. It came along with different eye shadows, lip glosses, eye liners, sparkly powders and all that glitter. I had to buy the hole set, and - as usual I burried it deep down in the vanity case. Today, not feeling well, I was bored enough to dig the nail polish out and did my nails. Looks cute, but not cute enough to justify I bought a huge bag of shiny crap make-up again.  Will I ever be able to stop this???
*grin* ]

© by Sanni.

26-365: Moonlight Collection
is snapped by Sanni
and filed under irresistible stuff.

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[ My granny Anni and I watched sundowns together as often as possible. She told me the beautiful color of the sky was caused the angels in heaven baking christmas cookies for the season.
I guess one of those angels must have knocked over a huge sack of powdered sugar last night. The world outside my window looks like covered in powdered sugar... must be powdered sugar, because this can't be retro weather... or is it snow again? No. Having snow again would implicate our furry diva Jersey was mistaken when she began to get rid of her winter coat last week.
Thus far, she never erred... Snow or powdered sugar - what ever it is - the world looks so much friendlier now. Good for me since I tend to suffer from seasonal affective disorder when it's all greyish and dark. I feel good and can hardly resist munching a sugar-covered branch.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure the rest of the family won't be satisfied munching branches for dinner.
How about Italian cuisine?
Something easy... spaghetti with meatball sauce... or carbonara à la mama? ]

© by Sanni.

25-365: Snowy with a Chance of Meatballs
is snapped by Sanni
and filed under world outside my window.

Special thanks to: CrAzY Working Mom and RennyBA's Terella for taking time to comment.

2 Comments »

[ I could hug the whole world. The "lazy" weekend did me so good. We spent the whole weekend at home, doing what we wanted to do, including DVD afternoons on the couch - watching Disney-Pixar movies with the kids, suggling on the sofa, reading, playing board games, baking cake, taking a relaxing bubble bath,...
Luis didn't even make an issue out of hair washing - which usually is an unpleasant undertaking. Thumbs up, my Captain!
I enjoyed the weekend home with my family so much I cancelled the planned "girls night out with my boys" this evening. I just didn't feel like leaving this cozy home and go out.
Instead I prefered drinking tea and watching the snow flakes dancing outside
after I kissed Luis and Lily "Good Night".
So, how was your weekend...? ]

© by Sanni.

24-365: Thumbs up, Captain Luis!
is snapped by Sanni
and filed under Luis.

Special thanks to: CrAzY Working Mom, Misty Dawn, Lifecruiser Travel Blog, and Gracie for taking time to comment.

5 Comments »

[ One of the reasons I loved the job at the catering company I worked for ages ago so much was I learned a lot about traditions from foreign countries near and far. Nico, one of the French cooks, introduced "galette de rois" to us. Every year around Epiphany he baked the famous king cake using his mom's secret recipe. The delicious cake is made of puff pastry and frangipane. A single bean or figurine gets baked inside the cake. Whoever stumbles upon the figurine / bean will be crowned king for the remaining holiday. The king also holds the next "Three Kings Party".

While he shared the tradition with us, Nico never revealed the recipe - and ended up baking at least 4 or 5 king cakes during January.

I bet you can imagine I was so thrilled to read a post over at my friend Claudie's blog about my beloved king cake. Besides explaining the tradition, Claudie also shared a surprisingly easy to bake recipe for galette des rois and some funny facts.

We baked our very first home-made king cake today. So much fun. Of course Luis couldn't wait. He crowned himself before the cake was placed inside the oven. His enthronement was well deserved - he also found the trinket in his piece of cake.

The whole family is in king cake heaven - thank you so much, Claudie! ]

© by Sanni.

23-365: La Galette des Rois
is snapped by Sanni
and filed under food, traditions.

Special thanks to: TorAa, Claudie, and Lifecruiser Travel Blog for taking time to comment.

4 Comments »