And Then There Were Two

Easter trees, I mean.  Not another baby, which I'm sure my parents would love to be true.  So remember a few weeks ago when I posted about our German Easter tree?  Well, at that point, there was only one.  Let's just say that I've amassed quite the collection of Easter eggs and ornaments.  So, now there are two!

 Around this time, you can find lots of cool branches (some painted) at the farmer's market and some floral shops.  I got a bunch of them and actually had to put them all in a big vase.  Would you believe that I snagged that vase for $1 at a flea market months ago?  I love it.  I've since added over half a dozen more eggs, most of which were painted by my friend, Zinda.  Sadly enough, I don't have any pictures of the beautiful eggs she painted, although a few are pictured here.  Even Sina knows which ones she painted.  I have such talented friends!

Anyway, these are pics of three eggs I picked up at the spring bazaar on post a few weekends ago.  See how those holes have been carved into the egg? 

The design on this one is made of candle wax.

This one is just hand-painted.

Now, here's the second tree...also known as Sina's Easter Tree.



No eggs, just lady bug and bumble bee ornaments that I picked up at an Easter market last year.  I'm definitely going to add to this one next year.  I've only got one more year left of this, so I need to get a move-on on stocking up!

When Malu returned from training, he noticed that the house was particularly decked out for Easter (both inside and out) and loves it.  It's been so much fun.

The fun will continue this weekend because we're spending it in Prague with Team Finch.  And...there's going to be a huge Easter market there!

That being said, it's a short week and I'm already ready for it to end!

I owe you guys tons of posts.  We had an absolutely gorgeous weekend in Stuttgart and spent it downtown and at the zoo.  I'll have to try extra hard to blog about it this week! 

Hope everyone's week is off to a great start!



One Sweet Day

Malu returned after a month-long training event on Saturday afternoon.  Sina just about died when she saw him walk through the door.  I mean, she screamed as she ran to the door to greet him.  For the first few minutes, she wouldn't let him go.  She'd hug him, then look up to stare at his face repeatedly as if she didn't believe he was really here.  It was so precious.  We knew we didn't have much time to work with; just over a day, in fact.  He actually left yesterday for another TDY (business trip), so it's just me and the mini-me again this week.

However, Sunday with Malu/Daddy was a fantastic day!

The weather was absolutely perfect, so we spent a lot of time outside at the playground.  When Malu's around, I feel so much more at ease as far as Sina is concerned.  Up until that day, I was killing myself going up and down the slides with Sina because I didn't think she could do it on her own.  After all, she wanted to be on the "big kid" playground as opposed to the one nearby made especially for toddlers.  I mean, this playground is high up and the thought of her falling freaked me out.  But then Malu shows up and all that goes out the window.  He encourages me to let her try it on her own.  And you know what?  She's great at it.  He showed her how to climb the ladder on her own.  It totally freaked me out...but she did it!!!

We also spent some time shopping at the PX.  Sina kept pointing at our sunglasses curiously and I'd forgotten that she had a pair in her diaper bag.  I pulled them out and she put them on.  She loved them, whereas months ago, she didn't want anything to do with them.  She didn't even want to take them off when we got inside the PX.  Isn't the picture of Sina and Malu adorable?

After the PX, we went back to the playground before dinner.  After dinner, Sina and Malu did a little crafting and made caterpillars out of egg cartons.  It was quite messy, but tons of fun. 

So even though we had just a short amount of time together, I'd say it was time very well spent!

Lucky for us...Malu returns on Friday afternoon, so it won't be too much longer.  And we intend to do this weekend up big, as in a trip to the zoo!

Happy Tuesday to All!  Thank God this week is just whizzing by!

P.S.  I finished the Hunger Games and am on the second book now!