Christmas with Tante Sabine

Tante Sabine, Herb's sister, came to visit us again this year and spend the Christmas holiday with us. The children loved having her here to play and read with them, each morning they would ask several times when they could go and wake her up. I tried to hold them off as long as possible each morning, she is a night owl. She took them for walks, which they love. Sabine and I took them to Toys R Us, so she could get some ideas of what they like, needless to say I don't want to repeat that again. We also celebrated all the boys' birthdays while she was here (Alex 14th, Henry and Max 22nd).

Herb and I enjoyed her visit as well. It's such a busy time of year and she was always willing to help. She was the lone present wrapper, which took hours. Thank you again Sabine for doing such a wonderful job! Herb loved the whole grain bread that she demonstrated to me how to make. He now wants me to make some every Friday! I told Sabine anyone can cook if they can read a recipe, we'll see if I have to eat my words.

Sophie loved her visit as well, and the help with the window paints that Oma gave her. I hope Sabine's view of the visit was equally as positive. When I asked her if she wanted a house full of boys, she replied, "I'm glad I don't have any children!".

We loved having her with us for Christmas and sharing the excitement of the day and the children with her. Of course we also really loved all the delicious treats she brought from Germany!

Merry Christmas!

As we celebrate Christmas eve and reflect on Christ's birth, we are humbled by what He has done for us, we are greatful for the many blessings He has bestowed upon us and we are touched by our friends and family members love for us and our children.

We hope that you will find the same joy this Christmas season that we see in the eyes of our children, the same excitement for what tomorrow holds and the same true love for mankind.

We wish you all the very Best, but most of all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Roggermeiers

Here is my Christmas Gift to you!

The gift of safe!

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We've been using OpenDNS at home for several months now. It really keeps "bad" sites off of your browser of choice. It's super easy to setup and doesn't cost a dime. If you have any questions, let me know!

If you're worried at all what your kids might run across online, give OpenDNS a try!

No toilet paper!!....Henry!

So I am in the bathroom and I realize too late that there is no toilet paper. I knew Henry was putting his pj's on so I called him.

I said, "Henry, can you get me some toilet paper out of the closet with all the towels and washrags? You know, the linen closet?" He said, "Oh, the one with the little door?" "Yes Henry, can you go get me some?"

I wait and wait, when I think he must have forgotten about me, I called him. He came running with an excited look, "Mommy, Santa doesn't need to bring us any Planet Heroes because we already have some!!!"

I quickly think of possible senarios and come up with only one. Henry proceeds to show me a secret place that I know all to well!

He had gone into my closet, moved some clothes on the rack and threw some down, yanked open a "little door" and saw all the Christmas presents. I had purchased them a month ago to make sure they would not be sold out. Henry then has to run down the stairs to tell Max, who wants to see the stash!

I nixed that and thought Max would not have done that because he doesn't like dark places. The next day Max asked me where the light was for the "little door"!

Now, Aunt Maryann said I needed to find a better hiding place, why would I need to do that when that was the "perfect" hiding place??!! Why did't I make sure there was toilet paper before I went into the bathroom, isn't that a rule or something?

Great Stocking Stuffers for Christmas

My favorite site for DVDs, Deepdiscount.com, has one of their seasonal sales going on through 11/27. Use "DDAF" for 20% off, doesn't inlcude pre-orders, shipping is always free!

I usually can never find a better price anywhere else. Just bought Ratatouille on Saturday from BestBuy for $16 with tax, Meet The Robinsons the week before from Walmart for $16.00, DeepDiscount now has them both for $13.50/ea delivered with no tax! I think we'll be ordering some DVDs for all the Birthdays and Christmas coming up. Tomorrow they will have the Shrek Trilogy for $34.89 minus 20% (today it counts as a pre-order).

Frosty the snowman

Henry declared that Frosty the snowman is going to bring his presents, since Santa Clause is already bringing Max's. Henry wants a whistle and a car for Christmas, Max just a whistle. I wonder if they will still be this easy in 5 more years...

Christmas Morning 2005

Sophie was probably most excited about Christmas morning. I don't think the boys fully grasp the concept yet.

As usual we opened one present each on Christmas' Eve, to keep with German tradition.

Sophie insisted on leaving some food and water out for the Reindeer, so we placed two plastic buckets on the back porch, one with reindeer food she brought home from school, one with plain ole water (reindeer are not very picky).

We also left some cookies and milk by the fireplace for Santa. To our surprise we actually caught one of Santa's helpers eating the last cookie!