WHY DID I NEVER MEET BABY JESUS ?

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When I was a child and lived in Germany there was no Santa who brought gifts at Christmas. German children got their gifts from Baby Jesus (Christkind = Christchild), and I think they still do. A Santa looking like Saint Nick came on December 6th and gave us cookies and sweets. It was strange that at that day my uncle was always at the post office.

I remember my very first Christmas, when I had to wait the whole day for Baby Jesus, because he only came at 5 pm the 24th and of course I wasn't allowed to go in the room and see the tree. After having caused nervous breakdowns to my family asking all five seconds when Baby Jesus would come, finally a little bell rang, the door opened and I saw the Christmas tree which seemed so beautiful to me and an open window. The window was open because Baby Jesus had just dropped the gifts under the tree and of course had flown away ! Each year I ran as fast as I could and looked out of the window but he was too quick, I never saw him.



and so I imagined my baby Jesus, first the gifts and then he flew away



These are different kind of Baby Jesus, the way I imagined him



I found this old picture on the web, children are posing as Baby Jesus and angels.



and then came this ! Fortunately at that time I wasn't a child anymore !

SHOW & TELL - Christmas Decoration

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and

organized by BooMama

This time I didn't have to look for something to show and to tell about ! I finally put my Egyptian holliday souvenirs away and decorated our house or more exactly the Living room for Christmas. There is no Christmas tree yet, because I never put it up before two weeks before Christmas.







That stands on our dining table






and here is the mantle (Melli will recognize the cats she sent to me last year !)



A Santa on his sleigh



Even the Bamboo sprouts had to have some stars

on the radiator



The sofa with Arthur, meditating about crimes to commit

On the TV cabinet



Our little crèche, (the big one hand made from Mr. Gattino is in the attic, because we don't celebrate Christmas at home but with our son in Amsterdam).



The traditional German Christmas mill




and of course the Advent wreath with the 4 candles. On sunday the 3rd candle will be lit.



a very small "Welcome" !




Since Sunday the 14 th, we also have a Christmas "tree" it is the smallest one we ever had during our almost 40 years of marriage ! But we won't be here on Christmas we will spent it with our son in Amsterdam and there will be a very big tree !

TT -13 FUNNY KID QUOTES

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1. Mothers of teens know why some animals eat their young.

2. Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn’t have said.

3. Children: You spend the first 2 years of their life teaching them to walk and talk. Then you spend the next 16 years telling them to sit down and shut-up.

4. Insanity is hereditary. You get it from your kids.

5. I love to give homemade gifts. Which one of my kids do you want?

6. Children are natural mimics who act like their parents, despite every effort to teach them good manners.

7. Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the drive before it has stopped snowing.

8. The main purpose of holding children’s parties is to remind yourself that there are children more awful than your own.

9. Grandchildren are God’s reward for not killing your kids.

10. A child’s greatest period of growth is the month after you’ve purchased new school clothes.

11. Anyone who says “Easy as taking candy from a baby” has never tried it.

12. There is only one pretty child in the world… and every mother has it.

13. Mothers never saw the irony in calling a son-of-a-bitch

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

On December 6th the Belgian children get their gifts from Saint Nicholas, it is a very important day especially for the flemish part of the country. The french speaking part celebrates more Christmas.

But what I had never seen in my whole life was a Saint Nicholas who did hitchhiking ! He was standing there at the main street in Waterloo and tried to stop a car !





When he saw me taking the picture he smiled and made me a sign. I never knew if somebody took him, probably yes, I went in the other direction.


Just for your information the real Saint Nicholas looked like this :




and today in Belgium and Holland like this

The real story of Saint Nicholas you can find here

SOME FUN AND NEWS

to see "My World" at the Brussels' main station go here

There are only sad news lately so I found something else to laugh a little, we all need that !







and one real special news !




Lebanese finds 'heaviest' potato

Khalil Semhat insisted he had not used fertilizer to produce his potato
A farmer in southern Lebanon has dug up what might be the heaviest potato in the world.
"This giant weighs 11.3 kilos (24.9 pounds) and grew on a farm near Tyre, 85 kilometres (50 miles) south of Beirut. Do you think you have enough for a potatoe salad ?

FUN MONDAY - Christmas time

Odd Shots and Macro Monday are here



Mama Lang is our host this week and her topic is :

It's the Christmas season, and I want you to tell us what are your three favorite Christmas Carols and a picture of your favorite Christmas "thing". It could be a Christmas tree, or your mantle, or a church, you in a Santa hat.

The only "thing" I really hang on are my German Christmas traditions, which of course I had to combine and change a little with the Italian once of Mr. Gattino. He loves his crèche, I love my advent wreath and Christmas tree !

I don't have any favourite decorations or Christma Carols. When I was a child we sang "Silent Night, holy night" standing in front of the tree and then only we were allowed to open the gifts. This was always on the 24th around 6 pm. We also did this when our son was little but today we don't sing anymore, because then the night is not silent or holy anymore because we start to laugh like crazy ! So a Christmas Carols CD replaces our lovely voices !

The time before Christmas is called "Advent" time in Germany and four sundays before Christmas we put up a wreath with 4 candles. Each sunday one candle is lightened and when all candles are lit, it means Christmas is there. The trees usually are put up 10 days or 2 weeks before Christmas not earlier, when I was a child it was put up only on the 24th morning. Not before ! We did it usually 10 days or one week before.

Each year I create my own "wreath" which is not really a wreath and this is for me the most important "thing" during Christmas time.



The 2006 wreath



2007



and this year

WEEKLY WINNERS

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When I was at the Red Sea in Egypt, each day in our hotel's restaurant there were beautiful decorations carved in fruits or vegetables. It was a real pleasure for the eyes ... (for the stomac too)