Wow the thread has been whizzing along today!
Canella Shortbread is the easiest thing in the world to make, dd can practically do it on her own, (though it was me making it today) there are only 4 ingredients :) I had to make more as I sent what I made this morning to dd's football training party this afternoon when I suddenly panicked that I didn't know whether I was meant to contribute food!
Nope Ds2's sleeping continues to be rubbish - last night was a "good" night by currant standards, I got one block of 3 hours and a couple of 1 hour sleeps, and was up about 5.30. More often he is waking hourly and impossible to re-settle after 4.30am at the moment, so I give up and come downstairs sometime around 5am a lot of days, trying hard not to let the older 2 realise and bounce down after me before the house rules earliest allowable time of 5.45am.
Your MIL sounds a right dragon, well done for standing up to her! In what way is it her place to act like that? GGGRRR on your and dd's behalf!
Canella and Linzer dd didn't turn 6 until she'd been at school for a week - her birthday is 19th Sept, and the cut off here is 30th Sept. Loads of parents chose to keep there kids back though, so there are children up to 18 months older than her in her class! It seems parents can make the decision to keep back pretty much, from the advice I was given, but KiGa said they couldn't tell me what to do but felt she would be incredibly bored at KiGa another year, and that was the advice from the Kinderartz and the tester who came to KiGa (whatever the proper name for that job is). However DS1 is also a late September birthday and I am less sure about him being so young for his year - he is physically big, almost as tall as dd and the same weight and shoe size, and he has just learnt to write his name pretty much all by himself, but he is not very mature and is a "typical boy" in terms of not liking to sit still and being prone to wildness! We will have to decide whether he goes into the Vorschule group next year or not, I am thinking not (there is an aspect of keeping him away from a friend I think is not good for him and with nicer friends to this thinking too, which may or may not be bad!).
Our English TV is via satalite and a freeview box, to the regular TV, kids watch mainly cbeebies rather than German kids TV - I say it's good for their English and dual cultural identity 
Admysteltoe we live in a tiny Bavarian village where at least 80% of people seem to have been born here and live in a 2 family house with, or next door to, one set of grandparents, but I am very open about the fact don't go to any kind of church (though I have not actually said I am a non believer), and I don't feel ostracised at all and the kids have no problem at all with friends to play with - we live right next to the playground and kids come out when they see my kids (or any kids, just somebody to play with) they certainly don't pack up and leave! DD is a social butterfly and gets more phone calls than DH and I put together and has a friend here or is at a friend's pretty much daily, and DS has friends too though not to the same ott extent! What a horrible village you must have lived in! One of my neighbours grew up in a town 20km away and appeals to my fellow feeling as a fellow outsider though, which does make me laugh - I think people are friendly to me because I am an oddity and they are nosey though, I am the only foreigner in the village and there is no racial diversity at all, in fact it is something I think I possibly need to make sure the kids are open minded about as they don't come across many non white people at all.#
ladder thanks for the warning about the drive to the ferry - dh is good on route planning and the ferry is 9.30pm and we will set off early morning, as with a 1, 4 and 6 ear old (as they will be then) we will need lots of breaks!