Frohe Weihnachten / Merry X-Mas

Christmas is always a two-step celebration in our family, with German and American traditions being honored.

Step 1 (German): on Christmas Eve, we sing “O Tannenbaum“ to our tree, and the kids get to open expertly wrapped and packed gifts from my family in Germany. The traditional German Bescherung is followed by a meal of Kartoffelsalat (my grandmother’s recipe), served with Würstchen and ice cold Pilsener. As every year, a couple of new ornaments are being added to our collection of home made decorations: this time, we received a felted Santa mouse, and a classic wooden angel.

Step 2 (American): the kids set out milk and cookies for Santa and go to bed. This year, they insisted to have their toy tree right next to the big tree, which is quite adorable. Cue for Mami and Daddy Santa to leave all other presents under the tree and wait for the big X-mas morning surprise. Of course, the kids were up at the crack of dawn, so it was still dark outside when we opened presents, read new books, and set up the microscope from Halmoni and Harabogi.

I might have gotten some of the best gifts ever from the kids: Tobin built a Lego mini me, and placed me in my home office, complete with Luna on the desk, camera, books, and my favorite shoulder bag with the red strap. He had a little help from Sung though, who resourced the detailed pieces necessary.  Mika build a large, camera shaped candy tin, full of my favorite ginger candy. It has a flip-open top, glitter paint inside, and just about every washi tape imaginable on the outside. Such an awesome scuplture!