Last Week at Nutcracker Auditions...

Another year seems to be flying by. I could not believe it when I looked at my calendar last weekend and saw that it was time for Nutcracker auditions again. Really?

It's our families 7th year of being thrown into The Nutcracker Machine with the Colorado Dance Theatre. Our daughter has been cast as a parrot twice, then angel, next came the angel-clown combo, then just clown. And this year, guess what?
Clown again. Just a clown - not the lead part she had hoped for. Our little aspiring ballerina was a bit upset when she saw the list. Life is tough. You get what you get and you don't make a fuss, right?

Little Ballerina - you can buy her thru comments

No matter what, I'm looking forward to the show. I so enjoy seeing the beautiful dancers every day. Maybe some time I will actually remember to take my sketchbook and do some drawing. That would be a good thing. Still feeling a bit rusty and scared.

But watching the ballerinas go by to auditions I was inspired to make a little ballerina doll. This year I'll be on my game. This year I will make some dance related items for my doll shop.

Sweet Little Waldorf Pumpkin

blond pumpkin baby 2, originally uploaded by germandolls.

I think this little one turned out so perfect. I love everything about her. Her sweet little apple cheeks, her deep blue eyes, wheat colored hair. I hope she finds a good mama & home soon.

Drawings for my new website...

I have been dreaming of having my own website for years. Will it ever become a reality?

I am currently working on some drawings for my new website. It's been a while since I held a pencil in my hand. I have not had much practice lately. A sewing needle and a pencil are animals of a different color. Wouldn't you agree? All my energy has been focused on sewing over the last few years.

 But my daughter got very excited when she watched me drawing. She is my greatest fan in the world. "Mom, I think that drawing looks really good", she kept saying to me.

What do you think? Do you agree?

something you don't know about me...

or maybe you do know? I used to paint before I became dollmaker.

as a teenager I always toyed with the idea of studying art. I had good grades in art. I took figure drawing classes in every town I moved to. but I didn't have the guts to apply to artschool in Berlin. I saw many of my friends portfolios. people who were much better artists than me. I felt very intimidated by the whole process. I was too chicken to ever try.

following your dreams is very hard. I studied English literature and languages instead. but the need to express myself through art never went away. if you are an artist you may understand. I am not a happy camper unless I create with my hands. when I first moved to the US I went back to painting. I created the oil painting you see below.

selfportrait "empty glas" also referred to as "banana girl" by DH, oil painting 1998

I did many drawings and finished about 10 oil paintings during the first two years that I lived in the US. once I had kids I stopped painting because I did not want to expose my kids to the harsh chemicals. also I lacked the time and energy to paint.

next thing I knew the dolls took over and I started putting all my creative energy into them.

but I feel like it's time to go back to drawing and painting again. do you like my painting?
are there dreams that you have been too afraid to follow?

Good Bye Babies

I can't believe that another summer is gone. Tomorrow my babies are going back to school.

The good news is: I will be able to make more dolls - no interruptions. Peace lots of Zen moments.
The bad news is: I will miss them so much! Even their little quarrels and  constant complaints: I am so bored.
How do you explain to them that once they grow up they will NEVER be bored again? Life will pass by in jiffy.

Where does time fly?  I have two middle schoolers now.

 They will always be babies to me.

Waldorf GermanDoll Giveaway

COMMENTS ARE CLOSED NOW!

The name of the WINNER is MIRYAM. CONGRATULATIONS! thanks so much to everyone who participated in this contest! I will have another one in the near future so stay tuned!
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So you have been ogling my dolls FOREVER but don't have the money to buy one?

I totally get it. I know all about being broke. Our trip to Germany this summer cost us an arm and a leg. Plus a couple more body parts it appears....

Still, I want to offer you a chance to win one of my 12 inch precious GermanDolls with a three piece outfit (can be boy or girl) free of charge! Please, note that handknit sweaters are not part of the clothing selection. If you would chip in some money for the shipping that would be swell. I am so broke right now...

IN ORDER TO ENTER YOU HAVE TO HELP ME PROMOTE MY BUSINESS ON FACEBOOK!

'LIKE' my Facebook page  and leave me a comment about it here. Maybe you are already a fan? That's super!

You can get extra entries by "SHARING" this giveaway with everyone you know. For each NEW person you bring to "LIKE" my Facebook page you will receive another entry. Just make sure you  leave me a another comment here letting me know WHO YOUR FRIEND IS.  I can't wait to meet you and your friends.

This Giveaway is open worldwide! You must leave a comment here to be entered. Please don't forget to leave me a way to contact you! I need an email address so I can inform you if I pick your name.

CONTEST LASTS FROM TODAY THROUGH THE END OF THIS MONTH AUGUST 31, 2012!
I WILL ANNOUNCE THE WINNER SEPTEMBER 1RST - RIGHT HERE!

Colorful Carrots

Today we harvested carrots from our community garden patch. They were so pretty I just have to share this photo.

They come in red, white, yellow, and orange. The yellow and white ones taste more like a parsnip. I made a carrot salad for dinner.

Filling for Apple Sauce Pie

Since to many people asked me for the recipe on Facebook. Here is the recipe my husband uses for the filling of the Apple Sauce Pie:

1 cup apple sauce made from tart apples
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder
2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 9inch pie shell

Sorry he is not giving up his secret pie crust recipe....

Stir all the ingredients together.
Bake at 350 degree preheated oven for about 45 minutes or until nice crispy sugar crystals appear on top.

Yummy!

Foraging for Food

It's been a summer of foraging. Foraging for what? Well you wouldn't believe how many people in this town have fruit trees and just let their fruit go to waste. It's quite astounding. In fact, there is a whole orchard on our street, and the people who own it never pick a single piece of fruit ever.
So we asked if we could have some and they said:Take whatever you want.

I made a jar of the most delightful Apricot jam the other day. Soon I will turn the neighbor's apples into applesauce and apple butter. Remember my recipe for Apfeltaschen?

I wonder who ate the missing slice?

Have you ever had an applesauce pie? If not you must try it. I am not the piemaker in this household. My husband is a Weld County Blue Ribbon Piemaker Champion. He created the pie you see in the picture. And it was oh so delicious!

The pie gets this kind of yummy crust on top that tastes like caramel. It's good with regular applesauce but there is this amazing crabapple tree.We keep it's location a secret. It has delightful tiny red apples that are tart and sweet at the same time. I think I talked about it before.

It's a bit labor intensive to make applesauce from those tiny apples. But the results are simply stunning. Even if it breaks my fingers I do I'll do it again next year. I made 6 jars crabapple butter to put away for the winter. I froze 3 packages to make more pies.

I am so very proud of myself. Any trees in your town that have fruit falling down? I think it never hurts to ask...

Hunting and gathering is a lot fun. You should try it some time!

Fast Learners...

Here is a new sweet babe. Baby was in the works for a few days but saw the world (when I embroidered her eyes) for the first time this morning.

My babies grow fast. They arrive and know how to read in a jiffy. This little one instantly started reading a German book about a girl learning to ride her bike.

Seems like ages since my kids learned. It's a tough job for a parent to teach a kid how to ride a bike.

Conny learns to ride a bike

How did you learn? I have traumatic memories of my dad putting me on an orange hand-me-down little bike. No training wheels here...Here I was standing on top of the hill on the street where we lived. A pretty big hill. Dad gave me a push and just yelled: "Peddle!" That was it. I rolled down the steep hill balancing nicely. That is...until I reached the bottom of the hill, went over the curb and landed splat - like that poor German diver in the Olympics this year. What the Feck!

What dad didn't tell me "Make a sharp turn and keep peddling when you reach the end of the hill." And this is how I learned to ride my bike. The traditional German way. No pain, no gain, right?
I think I did a much better job with my kids. We practiced on a grassy hill until they got a feel for it.

Now tell me your story how you learned to ride your bike? Hope you had an easier time than me...

Magic nur auf Englisch

Tut mir schrecklich sorry. Das Buch von Rhonda Byrne gibt's anscheinend nur auf Englisch. Habe gerade bei Amazon.de nachgeschaut. Man muss also Englisch lernen um den Zauber von Rhonda Byrne zu erfahren. Und weil ich schon gerade mal dabei war, habe ich ein paar Buchrezensionen ueber Rhonda's fruehere Buecher gelesen. Das Buch mit dem Titel "The Secret" wurde nur verrissen und als typisch amerikanischer Egotrip abgestempelt. Hmmm.

Das muss ich mir unbedingt von der Bibliothek ausleihen. Einige Kritikpunkte bezueglich des aelteren Buches treffen genauso fuer "The Magic" zu. Das Buch wiederholt sich oft, und wenn man ein Kapitel gelesen hat, weiss man schon in etwa wie das naechste aussieht. Trotzdem, finde ich die Grundidee des Buches gut. Dankbarkeit ist eine gute Sache. Positives Denken ist auch nicht verkehrt.

Ich hoffe das Buch wird irgendwann auf Deutsch uebersetzt. Ich finde so mancher Deutsche koennte sich mal ein Scheibchen vom amerikanischen Optimismus abschneiden.

Die Rezensionen des neueren Buches sind zum Glueck besser ausgefallen.

Book Review: A Magical Book For You

Have you seen this book?

This book was recommended to me by my friend Linda Dawkins. I am ever so grateful to her for telling me about it. It is a really wonderful book when you are feeling down in the dumps and very negative about the world.

It's a type of self-help book. I am usually not so much into those and find them kind of cheesey. 

But this book was somehow different and drew me in when I started reading it. It just seemed to make so much sense. One could say the main motto of this book is:

Stop saying the cup is half empty! Look at what you have in your cup right now and be thankful!

The book is organized around a bible verse which is complimented by quotes by famous writers and thinkers.  Rhonda Byrne argues in this book that the main reason people are unhappy in this life is that they lack gratefulness for all the good things they have received. But even more so, Byrne says that the less gratitude we show the less good things we will receive. We are sort of stuck in this vicious cycle of negativity that can only lead to more rather negative things happening to us. It's almost like a magnet.

At first I was very dubious about the book. Being more of a rational human being, a German headperson, I thought some of the exercises that were suggested to me were rather silly. For example, the author suggests that you go outside, pick up a rock, and talk to it every night, telling it about the best thing that happened to you that day.

Hmm, seems a tad strange. But if you are not into rocks there is so much truth and wisdom in Rhonda's book. The author says that we spend so much time thinking negative thoughts and focusing on all the negative aspects in our life that we become blind to the good things we have.

I did not do the rock exercise but I followed the author's other advice. I started making lists of all the good things I have received. I also started to be more grateful and express gratitude to people around me.

 And guess what?

The Magic does work!

One of my favorite quotes from the book was by Buddha:

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little,  and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.

I hope you get a chance to read this book and find the magic. I promise it will change your life - even if you don't believe in that sort of stuff. =)

Freckles

I decided to put some freckles on this sweet redhead named Ryan.
Ich habe entschieden das dieser kleine Rotschopf namens Ryan Sommersprossen bekommt.

Do you like them? I think they suit her well.
Gefallen sie Dir? Ich finde sie stehen ihr gut.

Here she is reading a little German book. Ryan is growing up bilingual.
Hier ist sie gerade beim Lesen eines deutschen Buches. Ryan ist waechst zweisprachig auf. =)

Sweet Little Teething Dolls

It's been a while since I made a teething doll. I look at them missing those days when my kids where infants. The miracle of growing a first tooth. How long a ago was that? Seems like in another life. They are so big now. My boy is officially taller than me now. Where did time go?

Being a parent is a wonderous journey. I cannot imagine what life without children would be like. Every day with them is a huge gift.