Kid Quote: Definitions

Lucy (age 5): Mom, what’s a priced?

Me: Can you use it in a sentence?

Lucy: Ok… “Mom…What is a priced?”

Me: …

Cutting: Deep Sea Stroll

The kids watched this cutting take shape over the course of about a week, and they weren’t shy about sharing their opinions. I started on the right with his raised hand and by the time I had finished most of his helmet they had all told me they didn’t like it. I’m me said he looked scary, one said he looked mean. But opinions change and when they saw his pet fish they all reversed their position. Suddenly he was nice and sweet and liked to take his pet for walks. I guess the moral of that story is that if you’re a naturally offputting person…get a pet.

I did hit a potentially embarrassing snag for my pet loving diver. The crotch of his (or her… #feminism) diving suit keeps drifting to the left!

This makes her right leg quite a bit bigger than the left. This wouldn’t be such a big deal if it was drifting right because that would make sense with perspective, but as it is now, her back leg looks bigger than her front.

It’s a conundrum. I don’t want to glue it on anything because I want her to end up in a floating frame. Any ideas are welcome!

As always, if you’re interested in commissioning a cutting you can email me at elizabethcoughanour@gmail.com. You can also catch me at by new business email which is bonnevilleshoredesigns@gmail.com.

Cutting: Wedding Plaque

Here’s an oldie but a goodie. Our awesome friends Bele and Lukas got married last year, and I did this cutting as a wedding present. Bele said she likes tropical flowers so I went full island. The most stressful part was cutting the tiny connections between the letters in “September” and the spots where the words are connected to the leaves. My favorite part was removing the big pieces from the middle; so satisfying!

Adventure at the Lantern Festival

St. Martins Day

November 11 was St. Martin’s day here in Germany. Saint Martin was a Roman soldier in the early 4th century who was baptized as a christian and once cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm. Here in Germany, it’s tradition for the children to walk in processions carrying lanterns and singing Martin songs. When they reach their destination Martin breads (pretzels) are handed out or cooked over the bonfire. I think the lanterns represent the light and hope that kindness to other can bring into our lives.

It is a really awesome holiday, and one which I didn’t know anything about until I showed up at Lucy’s school with four kids, a lantern with no light in it, and no stroller. I was expecting to find a nice spot to sit and watch the kids get some lights to put in their lanterns, but instead everyone had already provided their own lights and they were walking off into town!

Lucky for me, our bike lights are detachable so we tossed those into the lanterns, and I picked up the heavy car seat with the sleeping baby and off we went. We marched about a mile before my pride gave way and I called Ross to save me with the stroller. My back was hurting SO badly by the time he finally found us, and that took a while because we were one group of about five in that neighborhood who were all marching along their own route. He followed one group and then another until he finally located the poor, dumb immigrant who hadn’t thought to bring along a stroller on what turned into a 3 mile hike through the dark.

We had another shot a few days later when we had another lantern procession for David’s class. You can bet I brought along all the proper equipment!

Cuttings

This week, since I don’t have any commissions pending, I cut a couple of little birds and a celtic battle axe. I love the tiny wings! It reminds me of the bird feeders at my in-laws’ house and how their cat used to watch the birds with a hungry look on her face.

German

Last Monday morning, my friend Amanda and I visited our fantastic and formidable friend Freia for a German lesson. Freia was a school teacher for about 30 years and even in retirement she still has a real gift for teaching.

Today’s topic? Cases. In German there are four cases that appear differently based on the gender of the noun in the sentence. I really loved her example. Here it is in English…

The man was sitting at the railway. A friend took care of the man telling the man a lot of beautiful things, making the man laugh.

Easy enough, right?

Here it is auf Deutsch…

Der Mann saß in der Eisenbahn. Ein Freund nahm sich des Mannes an, erzählt dem Mann viele schöne Sachen und brachte dabei den Mann zum Lachen.

Much to my chagrin, there are an additional 12 options for the word “the” depending on the gender and age of the person sitting on the train track. Lucky for me, Freia is very patient! On the way home from her house, I snapped a picture of the river because it was so pretty.

Birthday!

In other news, Lucy is 5! She was so excited to be five and told absolutely everyone she met. She practiced saying “Today is my birthday” in German (“Heute ist mein Geburtstag”) for about 20 minutes as we walked to school, and she practically danced up the steps into her classroom to collect her birthday crown.

The birthday party was a hit. It was meant to be pretty small, but when the birthday girl invited her best friend Timmy she also made sure to invite his siblings, parents and grandparents. We moved it to the church because our apartment might explode with 10 guests.

For Ross and I, the day was hard. Ross ended up making a lot more food than he had planned as well as baking a cake (which was delicious) and cookies for her kindergarten. I was tired, spent the morning wrestling with fondant and, unbeknownst to me, was about to be bedridden with the flu. We did our level best to be cheerful though, and I don’t think our stress affected Lucy’s day. Between a quick video message to both sets of grandparents, a yellow and pink pony cake, a few gifts and lots of love coming in via messages from America, she was perfectly happy.

That night, after all the kids were asleep I went in and looked and my five year old and remembered her baby blessing. She was blessed to be “an angel to many” and I am really astonished at how true that has been. She has been our angel at the most interesting and challenging moments we have weathered. She was born back in Indiana in grad school when we really needed a sweet and lady like little baby to calm some of the storms that were brewing around us. Of course she has, since then, had many (many) moments of devilishness, but angel Lucy has popped up when we really needed it. She comes back with a kiss or a hug, a twirl in a pretty dress, a funny comment or question, an “I like you and you’re pretty”, or just a smile.

So happy birthday, little angel. I love you.

When you’re too tired to be picky…

Tonight we went to a choir concert together. It as so nice to be out just the two of us and we had a great time.

When we got back, baby CM was hungry and tired! He is usually a bit picky about his sleeping arrangements (he likes to be wrapped up and held among other things) but tonight when we got home and he finally ate…

His pose makes it look like he’s just got a gold medal. Maybe that’s what it feels like.

Ein sattes Baby ist ein glückliches Baby.

And…We’re back

It’s been over a year since I’ve posted, and things are looking SO different around here!! Between a difficult pregnancy, focus on language learning, and new responsibilities, the blog fell by the wayside. I’m excited to be back! Here’s an update:

FAMILY

The biggest change, of course, has been our newest addition. Charles Martin has been here for almost six months, and he is absolutely everything we could have hoped for. He has brought out the best in all of his siblings who love him more than ever, and every day I look at him I wonder how we ever got along without him.

During the first month or two his most remarkable feature was his head of silver hair.

As he got a bit bigger his amazing personality really started to shine through.

Another change from a year ago is just how multi-lingual this house is getting.  I’m so proud of the kids for navigating their German classes and friendships from morning until afternoon and then coming home happy and ready to speak English again.

We took a super fun trip to Paris during the summer with our two great friends Ali and Ryne. Traveling with four kids is WAY better if there are also four adults! It was great to see the kids experience some fantastic food, art and architecture and dip their toes into another new culture.

It was hot – really hot. I still haven’t adjusted to the European distaste of electric fans. Lucky for us, Ross thought ahead and packed six hand fans and a backpack full of water and there are lots of fountains in downtown European cities.

Despite the heat, I was sad to see summer end. I like warm weather most of the time and it was nice to see blue skies over Germany. Almost as if God new how I was feeling, fall has been mostly mild and sunny! We celebrated Halloween as we always do with the annual window monsters. In keeping with tradition, the kids named their monsters (Steve, Charlie, Elebelle, and David Ross the IV), and this year Alice cut her’s out all by herself.

WORK

On the work front, I’ve been enjoying cutting as much as ever, and I’ve been venturing into more complicated patterns. My most recent subject, ironically enough, have been American architecture. Specifically, I’ve really enjoyed creating multi-layered Temples. Temples in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are buildings of special religious significance in which members can go to be sealed to their families, thus ensuring that family relationships last beyond death. This month, I’ve finished cuttings for temples in Draper and Provo, Utah and Oakland, California.

I was also very happy to learn that my First Vision cutting was selected for the 11th International Art Competition through the Church History Museum in Salt Lake.

Of course, I’m always looking for new cutting projects. If you would like to commission a cutting, please contact me at elizabethcoughanour@gmail.com.

GERMAN

I’m going to try something a little different on the blog. At the end of each post I’d like to add a snippet in German. This is mostly an exercise for me to practice my German and also connect with my German speaking friends, but you can read it if you want to. If not, don’t worry about it, it’s just secrets. Also, if you speak German and you want to correct my grammar, GO FOR IT! I am 100% interested in your feedback because even though right now I can turn a German phrase about as gracefully as a hippo in heels, I do want to improve!

Ich freue mich darauf, auf Deutsch zu schreiben. Wenn Sie denken, dass meine Grammatik nicht gut ist, kommentieren Sie bitte unten! Ich bin gespannt, meine Sprachkenntnisse zu verbessern.

 

 

 

The Primary Program

For anyone who hasn’t had the experience of watching a Mormon primary program, I highly recommend it. Once a year kids from ages 3 to 11 sing songs, give mini sermons and showcase the things they learned in church that year. It’s always good fun and usually very entertaining.

All dressed up and ready to go to the program.

This Sunday was our primary program, and all three kids participated in some capacity. Alice gave a scripture in German and did very well singing most of the German songs, David bravely stood and sang as many words as he could remember, and Lucy…poked, prodded and expertly distracted all of the children around her until I rescued them from her by recalling her from the stage.

Technically, her banishment from the program was supposed to be a punishment for being naughty, but I don’t know who was more relieved to have her back down in the audience, her teacher, me or her. She did run back up for the very last song and I think we were all glad of that arrangement.

It was a silly morning.

There were a couple other momentary glitches involving my children. At one point, Alice took her ponytail holder out of her hair and accidentally flipped it six feet into the air. Later, in an effort to tell me that he needed to use the bathroom, David’s less than subtle hand signals were caught by, I’m sure, most of the audience. Both children did their best to stay engaged and reverent, but it was an hour of German with no breaks and there were literal tears of boredom toward the end. Overall, however, it was a successful primary program.

Unfortunately, Ross had a concert that morning and wasn’t able to see the program. The kids missed him and during lunch they had fun pretending to be opera singers. They do this a lot, actually. Yesterday they made up, costumed and performed an opera about a “Mystery Man” who saved a ragged princess by buying her a new dress. It was very dramatic and the princess gave a wonderful aria about her gratitude not to be raggedy any more.

Mystery Man

The Raggedy Princess’s Servant

The Raggedy Princess

 

Cutting: Precarious Adventure

I like the idea of starting an adventure before you know the scope of what you’re trying to accomplish.

My friend, Amber, has been posting pictures of her rock climbing experiences and it has been so inspiring! Seeing her suspended underneath ledges or dangling from cliff sides made me think about the sheer size of the mountains she climbs. You can’t really know how big a mountain is when you start climbing it, and really you might never discover the whole thing.

This is my first attempt to illustrate the idea of starting to climb before you know where you’ll end up. It might be scary and unknown, but you never know the remarkable adventures you might have if you’re brave enough to embark.

It’s an exciting idea and I’ll try again another day to do it justice.

If you are interested in purchasing this or any of my cuttings, please send me a message at elizabethcoughanour@gmail.com

Cutting: Learning to Sail My Ship

In spite of being extremely squeamish around the ocean (and marine life in general) I have a real fascination for ships and sailing. Maybe the fact that I’m scared of sea animals makes sailing on a ship seem all the more daring. The thought putting nothing but a thin layer of wood or metal between me and three miles of water is terrifying…and the fact that other people do it every day is very inspiring.

I finished this cutting back in the summer. I’m happy with how the ship turned out and this is one of my favorite quotes about being brave.

If you are interested in purchasing this or any of my cuttings, please send me a message at elizabethcoughanour@gmail.com

Ahh…My Old Schule House!

It’s been another month, so it’s time for another update from the Coughanours in Deutschland. This month the big adventure has been…School! Alice and David both started school at the beginning of August. Alice is in first grade and meets in the school building directly across the street from our apartment. David is in Kindergarten (which is basically preschool) and I ride with him to school which is about 5 blocks away.

First Grade

My favorite thing about the first grade in Germany is the Schultüte ceremony. A Schultüte is a large paper or plastic cone that is presented to the first grader who is about to embark on their school career. It is filled with little gifts and school supplies and candy. I had a lot of fun picking out and filling Alice’s school cone. Even if we move somewhere else, I’m definitely keeping this tradition for all the kids.

Alice LOVES her schultüte

The Saturday before the first day of school all of the first graders and their families gather in the auditorium for a presentation put on by all the older children in the school. Then, while the parents wait, the kids meet their teachers, they see their classroom and they get to know one another a bit.

This is a really blurry picture of the cute older students singing a song about how school doesn’t have to be scary to all the first graders.

Of course the hardest part about going to a German school is the German! The choice to put our kids in German schools rather than their international counterparts was very intentional, but this month has been an emotional roller coaster. I saw my little girl wiping away silent tears after she thought I had gone as she sat hunched over her desk in the middle of 20 little Jungen und Mädchen. My heart broke when I peeked through the school yard fence to see her playing by herself, surrounded by a sea of children who were playing near, but not with, her.

Just tonight, I attended a parent meeting at her school. I sat in her desk surrounded by the parents of her classmates who were talking and joking and understanding and I felt completely isolated. I felt anxious and stressed and embarrassed. I feel like I understand what she is going through a little more. So tonight I am making a promise to myself. No matter what happens during my day, I will be a safe haven for my little girl at the end of hers.

In spite of the heart breaking moments there are so many victories every day. She walks to her class by herself and she comes home happily. She has made a few friends. She played with some girls in the playground today. She was able to tell a boy that she understands “ein bischen Deutsch” and he understood her. The triumphs are small but they are so so important and they come faster and faster.

Kindergarten

Literally “Child-garden”, Kindergarten in Germany is full of outside play. There is a very minimal structured curriculum (as far as I can tell, the only really structured time is a 15 minute circle time at the beginning of the day). Other than that, the children play. They play and play and play. This is the prefect environment for David to learn German. Already he knows German words without thinking about them in English.

“What’s all over your hands David?” I ask

“Oh…” he replies non-nonchalantly “It’s Kleber”

“What color do you want to wear?” I ask

“Blau of course” he says.

“See you later, buddy!” I say

“Bis Später!” he calls back.

Of course he has his challenges as well. He gets lonely and bored sometimes and he sometimes sits in the window for several minutes at a time waiting for me to come back and get him, but I’m not worried. He has very sweet and patient teachers. I absolutely love his adorable Polish born teacher who says in her heavy accent “Oh! He is so nice! I just like him!” as she tousles his hair (which makes him blush and duck his head with a coy little smile).

Dave loves to ride his balance bike to school. He’s pretty fast!

Homeschool 

Lucy is at home with me. This is unusual for a 3 year old in Germany. Many children start attending Kindergarten at 1 year and prenatal registration is a must. I wouldn’t mind sending Lucy to school but while enrollment is free for 5 year old children there is a cost for the younger ones. In the mean time she helps me with laundry and tidying, she is learning to be independent, she keeps me company with ceaseless adorable babbling about this or that thing, and we go to parks.

One of her favorite things to do is climb the 4 flights of stairs to the attic where we hang our laundry on rainy days. It is old and strange and exciting up there and she plays out her fantasies with gusto.

And now…Grownup Classes! 

This week I’ll be starting an adult German class which is offered at Alice’s school with babysitting provided! I’m so excited to improve my language skills. More on that later.

Pictures

Here are a bunch of pictures I’ve taken recently…

Headed to church

At Alice’s School.

Headed off to School in the morning

Date with mom

I like this tiny person.