Ex Patria

One proud mommy, that's me

The kids are all baptized Catholics.  Doug wanted it so and I didn't think it would harm them.  We do raise them in a UU way - or rather, in a very hands-off way.  We give them information, and guidance, and we talk (and hopefully demonstrate) what is acceptable and good behavior.

We have the seven UU principles in kid-speak taped to our kitchen wall, and we talk about them from time to time.  Lately, I've been steering them a bit more as they have religious instruction at school -- it's Germany, where this is still common.  As nominal Catholics, the kids are in Catholic RE class.  David has taken it hook, line and sinker - he loves it all: God, Jesus, the crucifixes everywhere, the idea of an afterlife in Paradise.  He just doesn't like to go to Church because of the incense, other than that I think he'd be fine with it.  Alan is very dismissive and says that in a time of science, people shouldn't believe in something there isn't any prove of.  Mind you, we've never told them either thing, they came up with it themselves.  But we embrace it, both those contrarian sons, and try to teach them the most valuable lesson: Respect for each other's position.  We talked about Jesus, and how great a teacher he was, and what his lessons mean to us today and how we think that the most important lesson is to respect everybody.

So today at dinner time, Alan read the seven principles again out loud and we talked about each of them a little bit.  The second principle, "Be kind in all you do" prompted Alan to tell me this story:

"Frau X (his RE teacher) had us do this play - S. was the foreigner and we were the disciples and we were to tell her that she was not welcome in our midst.  All the others did that but I didn't like it, so I went up to her and said, hey, you can join us any time you like."

I couldn't quite believe what I heard -- surely something has been lost in translation here?  But he stuck with his version and he usually has a good memory.  I suppose the teacher wanted them to understand that it is not a good thing to oust someone, but I'm particularly glad that Alan dissed it all and stood up for the second principle.  Not because it's taped to our wall but because he's a kind kid with a kind heart.

I'm really very proud of him.

Whee-haw, down the slippery slope we go!

Although it looks more like a greasy pole from where I stand.

Obama's decision not to release the torture pictures has, I'm sorry to say, not really surprised me.  It's the logical continuation of the earlier announcement to "look forward", not back (i.e. let's all just move on and not talk about those skeletons in the closet) and the potentially disastrous decision to appoint Stanley McChrystal as commander to Afghanistan.  Not even six months into the new future, into Hope, and we're turning back to where we came from on the torture issue.

Yes, there are arguments to be made in favor of the decision.  Some say it's going to ignite more Anti-American sentiments, that it casts a bad light on the troops. There is even the rather funny argument that abolishing torture would draw more recruits to Al-Quaida, since they will not have to expect any worse repercussions than a cushy cell.

I find all these argument ludicrous. The photos won't ignite Anti-American sentiments, it's the act of torture that does.  The bad light that is cast on the troops is not the fault of those who are pointing fingers, it's the fault of those who committed those crimes.  It's like you have this perverse uncle who constantly molests children and you just won't say anything because after all, he's family.  All the while he goes around distroying the lifes of young women and men.  Just squeezing your eyes shut won't help anybody.

I'm sure I don't want to see the photos.  I don't really understand why we must see them as they are likely to depict cruel and sadistic practices that I'd rather not want to know about.  I'd rather not have nightmares. If they were to be published, I would not look at them.  But they are evidence - and since when is evidence harmful for the prosecution?

I see this decision as another step into the wrong direction, right down that slippery slope.  More excuses, more exceptions.  I've said before that the prohibition and prosection of torture has to be absolute.  There cannot be any excuse.  Not only has torture proven to be ineffective - the whole debate whether or not torture has saved American (!) lifes is already acknowledging torture as an instrument.  There should be no debate about this issue.  There should be a nationwide outcry against torture, and it's long overdue.

The fact that there isn't a public outrage is very chilling.

It's time to sign up for the ACLU.  Yes, I mean you.  And you.  Do it now, it the least you can do.

When you need calm your fussy baby

Just sit her in front of the washing machine. Trust me, it works.

She's been sitting like this for the last ten minutes, giving me a much-needed respite.  Baby television, we used to call it.  Jacob loved it the same way.

And no, that washing powder box next to her is completely empty.  I do foolish things but I usually don't document them for all to see.

Photography

I have a few goals in my life at the moment.  Becoming a better mom is one (patience, where art thou?), loosing the baby fat is another.  About time for both of them if you ask me.  Improving my sewing skills and finally getting into gear to making those baby clothes quilts that I have been meaning to make for the last, oh, five years or so.

Another goal is to become a better photographer.  While being a professional photographer is definitely on my list of dream jobs, that's not what I aspire.  But I take decent pictures and I want to become better.  We have cute kids, and we go interesting places.  Both are important parts of my life that I want to document.  Then, a few days ago my friend M., who is one fantastic photographer, wrote me an email and encouraged me.  I was incredibly flattered and happy, and this turned into motivation and, well, here we are.

I love the creativity of photography and I'm much better at composition than at the technical side - so the technical side is what I need to work on primarily.  I spent the day reading and futzing around, and for the first time in too many years, I think that I've finally wrapped my brain around f-stops, ISO and shutter speeds.  So much so that I'm thinking to myself - hey, that wasn't hard.  Why ever did this seem such a mystery before?  Today, I've ventured beyond the artsy mode on my camera (a Canon Digital Rebel XT) and started playing around with the manual settings and for the first time, the results didn't completely suck.  So I guess some learning has occurred!

My (self-given) assignment today was to work with aperture.  I love blurry backgrounds for kid's shots and so I lean towards larger apertures.  It's a steep learning curve for me.  Here are some results of today (and if you're wondering why the pictures are mostly showing Leah - well, she's at home, the others aren't!)

Monday links - Your public service: Time sinks

Some time sinks for those who like silly time sinks. 

Neatorama has funny stories, stupid stories, silly stories, amazing stories.  Via them, I found Yofavo - All Things Awesome.  And awesome it is.  How about this story about the world's largest beer barrel and whatever happened to it? Or the world's largest insect?  Or a link to a post on a monastery that's built on a volcanic plug?  Or do you prefer 3D pavement art?

The world is a strange and wonderful place.

Oh, and if you like strange and wonderful games - here's a good site for you: Vectorpark.  Awesome design, awesome play.  My boys love it and I love it too.  All games are for free, only the second half of "Windowsill" costs you $3.  If you ask me, those are $3 well spent.  Those games made me laugh in delight and not many games will do that for me. (Don't click those links at work.  You won't get anything done today!)

Sunday day trip: The Wartburg

I'm too beat to tell much about the Wartburg, the famous castle where Luther was hidden from the Catholic church by a well-meaning noble man.  Inkwell, and all that.  Also, kids who were just a smidgen out of sorts today, a toddler with a stomach bug (good timing that, what with the barfing after the hour-long car trip and before the shuttle bus), and the feeling of getting royally ripped off (as stupid tourists ought to be?).

The Wartburg is definitely worth a visit but bring your wallet and don't bring your stroller.  There are a gazillion stairs and you are far better off with a baby carrier than a silly stroller.

So, here some photos:

(Don't mind the bright halo in the pictures, please.  Some kid finger print that I didn't see until I already had taken 50 pictures or so. Grumble.)

These next two, Alan shot.  He is a budding photographer, is this boy!

Saturday Photoblogging

First, two more photos of the new bed - after the clean up.  I'm quite pleased with the outcome.  The room is rather small, so the newly opened-up floor space makes a huge difference. 

The mattress we had (aka The Secret Mattress, for visitors) was about 10 cm short.  That was not good!  But we came up with a great solution: we stuffed the headpiece of his old IKEA bed into the crack and now he has a wonderful head bumper and it's almost not visible.  In any case, it looks intentional! Best solutions, those - cost nothing and work great.

I also turned the shelf units around and this opened up even more space. Very nice.

Earlier that day, Leah tried to escape in an unwatched moment.  The wild, it was calling me!

But we caught up with her, and then we fed her, stuffed her into her sleeping sack, she barfed on it, and all is well.

Good night.

MSCE Day 24 through 30

Oh, well, yes.

I did stuff but I had no time to blog about them - husband got "let go" and although this doesn't change much (other than that we have to pay health insurance premiums now, so it does change quite a bit, when you make up the tally) I had a slight panic/depression/panic episode.  I totally trust in my husband's abilities and his knack for finding work but you know, the economy, it's bad.  These days, it's not all "those who want to work will find work".  There is also this "we would hire you but you know, we just filed for Chapter 11" thing going on.

Oh, well.

Hm.  I did say that already.

So, the things I made:

Day 24 - A little boxy pouch.  Here are the very cool and great instructions and here is the picture of my result:

Yeah, you noticed, yes? No picture!  Why, oh why?  Because the husband took the pouch to the pool and promptly lost it.  Yes, I was just the teeniest tiniest bit ticked.  It was really, really cute with an adorable Amy Butler Midwest Modern fabric.  Sob.

Moving right along.

Day 25 - Finished up Leah's cardigan, and adding socks:

Isn't it cute?  It's a Drops pattern - I adore the fact that all the patterns are free downloads! - and the yarn is, hm.  I forgot.  I know it's cotton sock wool but I really don't remember.  Which is a shame since I like the bright cheerful color combination quite a bit.

Day 26: Knitting needle roll.  There are loads of instructions on the net but in the end, I eye-balled it and sewed it up on the fly.  It does show a bit because the pattern is slightly crooked but hey, the needles fit and it looks cute anyhow.

Day 27: I'm stretching a bit because we didn't do much that day, other than finishing those hand prints we made some days ago.

They turned out very cute, though.  One can even see at first glance who of my kids is the leftie (it's Jacob).

Day 28 and 29.  I'm sorry to report that I spent two days cleaning and picking up my house.  It was very necessary, I disposed of donation clothes that had been piling up for months, I threw out a big bag full of old broken toys or pieces thereof, and the house feels nice, clean, and roomy. 

Well, it did, anyway.

Day 30:  (I'm cheating just the tiniest little bit - it should really say Day 32.)  Jacob's new bed!

Jacob got a new bed, part of his transition to being a big boy!  He's completely out of diapers, accident-free for a week now, and mostly dry at nights too.  So, he deserved a new bed.  Also, he shares a room with Leah and there is the problem that we always had to tread carefully when going in to change her because Jacob builds elaborate train sets.  With the new loft bed (not too high, he can just about stand under it), he now has a space where he can build a train track and leave it up for days, if need be.  No more enforced de-construction!  Everybody's happy.  (Although Mommy didn't quite foresee the ensuing chaos...  I'm working on it!)

Doug and I built it and we didn't even squabble during it.  We're getting good!

So, MSCE.  It was fun!  And exhausting.  But it got my brain into gear and you know, I'm looking at things differently and there are lots of things that are cool and take very little effort to make.  Thank you, Dot!  And do go over to Dabbled to read up on the round-up of the month.

Thank you for bearing with me.

Next, we resume to kids and politics and oh!  Swine flu, or "new flu" as it is called in Germany now.

UPDATE: Oh, I forgot.  Jacob and I made little marzipan carrots for his nursery school group on Wednesday.  They were baking carrot cake and I suggested we bring the decoration.  He was really good!  We dyed the marzipan orange and green and just rolled little balls and then rolled them some more into carrot shape.  A little green ball pressed on the top for stylized greens, done! It was very easy and much more fun that buying ready-made ones. And Jacob was so proud of himself and his work and that made me very happy.