Update on February 7th, 2023: For his 5th birthday, Lyons Cub got another painting by Ivan! It’s a bright blue Koopa Shell! Strictly speaking, it wasn’t JUST an art gallery, it was also a store for trading card collectors, and we took Leander’s Daddy’s baseball card albums from the 1960s and 70s there to have…
Today was one of those days…. I took my son to the city (we went to see his pediatrician to get a prescription for nose spray and cough syrup, and then, we ended up in a shoe store, because mommy needed new shoes for work and Lyons Cub needed Crocs for kindergarten). In the back…
No mommy wants to have her baby in the NICU on Valentine’s Day. No mommy expects to be widowed for Valentine’s Day, either. Both happened, so might as well make the best of it… Our biggest helper was our dear Nanny Nancy, who had secretly printed a preemie onesie with a red heart, saying, “Mommy’s…
Especially during the pandemic, you might have considered online educational programs and asked yourself: “Is ABCmouse worthwhile?” While there are other alternatives on the market, we have been happy with our ABCmouse subscription for two years now. We don’t use it regularly; my son goes to bed with two books every night (one in English,…
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase. My son just went through the stomach flu, a gift from his kindergarten. Now, he’s feeling better, but is still under the…
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase. Oh sh**, it happened, Leander brought the stomach flu home from kindergarten, which means for the both of us tea, apple juice,…
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase. Are you an artsy, crafty mommy? I love to do art projects with my son, but as a full-time working mom, I…
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase. Do you have a bilingual child? Even if your child speaks only English or German, check out this awesome, relatively new toy…
We have the “2G rules” at the Christmas market (“geimpft und genesen,” which means “vaccinated or recovered,” and our immunization status is checked at the entrance with the CovPass-App that makes sure the digital records are not forged). And of course, we’re all wearing our FFP2 masks and keeping social distance. But the German Christmas…
To be honest, I wasn’t sure it would work a second time, but it did. Lyons Cub will be four years old in a month, but he still innocently and sweetly believes in Saint Nicholas and was so excited he came on December 6th! It was his uncle again, wearing the same outfit as last…
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase. The day before Saint Nicholas is coming to visit our place, Lyons Cub, grandma, and Lyoness are busy baking Christmas cookies. We’re…
Today, Lyons Cub built his gingerbread witch’s house–and not just any kind of house from an ALDI package, but one that mommy’s friend baked herself! Fresh, deliciously smelling gingerbread… We had to make the “glue” first, so my son got to hold the mixer and I had to open the eggs and put the “slime”…
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase. Whether you have had a preemie or not, you’ll probably want to create some kind of memory of your hospital stay (or…
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase. There are so many cute porcupine children’s books out there, and guess what they’re teaching about? You’re right: befriending a special person…
As a fresh mommy, you are still healing from vaginal birth or your C-section. All you want is peace and quiet, and to be with your new baby. Also, you might not feel and look your best. (Unless you’re one of those Instagram and Pinterest mommies who have perfect hair, skin color, make-up, dress, and…
Bad things in life happen… Just when we were in pre-Christmas mood and had planned so many things (like going to the indoor swimming pool, visiting the animal park again, going Christmas shopping), the warning light in our car went on and said, “low tire pressure,” and the ride was a little more bumpy than…
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase. Are you reading Llama Llama Red Pajama to your child, too? Of course, Lyons Cub had that book when he was younger,…
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase. Lyons Cub believes in Saint Nicholas. (Just a hint: Here in Germany, Saint Nicholas comes on December 6th to bring presents for…
Big day for Lyons Cub!!! We visited the zoo in the city of Wuppertal on October 31st. Alas, due to the danger of Covid-19 transferring from people to the big cats, we couldn’t visit the lions and tigers. However, the brown bears, the elephants, the pelicans, the penguins, the seals, the deer-pig (yes, that’s a…
Today was a special day for Lyons Cub. It was raining, so we didn’t drive to the animal park to walk around outside. Instead, we drove to three pet stores to visit the animals. He couldn’t pet them, but he got to look at bunnies and budgies in their cages, and—best of all—a clerk allowed…
Lyons Cub loves parks, like the one with the climbing animals and exercisers, but most of all, he likes to pet animals. (Well, he grew up with two dogs, Honey and Sally, and two cats, Felix and Frankie, and several crested and gargoyle geckos.) So today, he was in for a treat. He had been…
Do your kids love those ride-on machines, too? Lyons Cub likes the ice-cream truck, Bob the Builder, the Minions’ space shuttle, the horse merry-go-round, and the fire-engine at the mall, but the bright red helicopter at the beer garden in the park with the climbing animals and the exercisers is something special. It costs one…
Also feel like you’re already consuming too many pre-Christmas treats and chocolates? We certainly are!! So it’s off to the park and onto the exercisers for us. Strictly speaking, this parcours was created for seniors (at least, that’s what a senior told me when my son started climbing, rotating, stepping on, and hanging from them),…
It will be Christmas soon! Have you started creating your kid’s Christmas wish list yet? If not, it’s about time–you don’t want to be stuck in the Christmas rush, especially if you (like we) live quite far away from most family and friends and get many things by mail. The post offices will be overwhelmed…
Already at 10 months of age, Lyons Cub saw a fire engine, but he didn’t enjoy this one, because it was at a pediatrician’s office in Michigan; he had gotten an ear infection while we were visiting relatives of Daddy’s. His love for fire engines remained unbroken, though. Of course, he had the little fire…
It’s the beginning of October, and the chestnuts are falling from the trees in abundance and knocking on the cars parked underneath. So we thought it’s time to collect some to make cute chestnut animals with grandma. We set out on a cloudy but dry day with a blue bucket and a green bag. An…
Already as a baby, Lyons Cub was in love with his door frame jumper. At the age of 2, Lyons Cub loved nothing more than the Jumping Spider on our frequent trips to the Governors’ Mall in Clarksville, TN. Although he was so small, he was no less daring than the bigger kids (only the…
Germany is voting today!!! Angela Merkel has been in power for 16 years (and, in my opinion, has done a great deal for our country). I admire her for how she got us through the pandemic this far (and for having a doctorate in quantum chemistry, of course!). She faced some backlash for her refugee…
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase. It’s almost that time of the year again — going to the pumpkin patch to pick the perfect pumpkin, carving a nice…
Do you also have an active, sportive child that needs constant outdoor activity? I soon was at my wits’ end what to do on the weekends. We’ve already tried out all the playgrounds in the near and far neighborhood. Nothing was enticing enough anymore (“No, mommy, not this one!”). Until, one day, his older cousin…