Everything's coming up Roses

Oompah, pah!

2009-01-08T00:34:00.000-08:00

Two days after Christmas, as we were all packing for Rome in our pajamas, we heard horns playing outside. Loudly. The kids opened the door, then slammed it and started hollering something about a band walking towards our house, which spurred Matt and I to ~~run and put on some real clothes so we wouldn't look so much like lazy Americans when they got here~~ go see what the ruckus was all about.
We opened the door and were greeted by a very enthusiastic, albeit half frozen, Oompah Band. We stood and smiled back as they finished their song (What is proper etiquette when called outside by a group of local musicians? Are you supposed to tap your toes and share in their enthusiasm or maintain decorum and effect a slightly unaffected look? The neighbors across the drive didn't even come to their door as the band stood on their stoop, so maybe we were breaking protocol altogether by venturing out to face them at all!), then sent the kids in to grab a plate of cookies to pass around. Fortunately our uber-generous neighborhood Oma had made another enormous plate of traditional German cookies for us and we had plenty to share.

As the plate made the rounds I realized we knew the cutie in the white cap below. His Grandmother made all the cookies everyone was munching on! (Probaly another social faux pas!) Matthew (the grandson) lives, as many Germans do, in a house shared by multigenerations. Oma and Opa live on the first floor and Matthew's family lives on the upper two; it's a great set-up! His family is one of the many reasons we want to stay here as long as we can. They are generous, friendly, kind, and exceptionally patient with our noisy, chaotic family! While the kids and I were in the States this summer, Oma and Opa Meier invited Matt over a couple of times for coffee and Oma Meier's fabulous cakes. For as long as I've known him Matt has despised cherries, but he nearly asked Frau Meier to run away with him after eating a slice of her Kirschkuchen! (Never mind the fact that they speak not a word of each other's language - she can throw-down in the kitchen! After we'd been married for a few months Matt confessed that if I hadn't been a good cook/baker he would have stopped dating me!! Good thing I didn't have to rely soley on my sparkling conversational skills!) Frau Meier is a phenominal baker of traditional German cookies and cakes! She sends over platters of piping hot Krapfeln, small yeast donuts almost exactly like what my family called "scones". Yummy! Her rhubarb cake is the first we've tried that we all actually liked! (Who knew rhubarb really was good for something!)
After leaving our house the band wended their way around the corner, stopping to play at each house, and finally ended at Matthew's family's home where Herr & Frau Meier invited them in (for some delectable treat, undoubtedly). I should have grabbed a kazoo and a stocking cap and tried to blend in!! The band can only manage to spread their holiday cheer through half of our village each year, so when they come back in 2010 I'll have my hat and gloves ready!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!!

2009-01-06T06:27:00.000-08:00

I always love the view out our dining room window! I took this photo the week before Christmas and all the snow was melted by Christmas Eve, but it was too pretty not to post.
Snow dingleberries! Otto (and now Sophie, too) loves the snow!! Matt's trained him to go to his bed and eat the snow off his furry little paws after he comes in. So much better than finding little puddles of cold water all over the floors.

J, Schmabbers, and Banana have really enjoyed participating in our Parish's fledgling children's choir this year. Banana, especially, is totally comfortable performing in front of everyone. She's completely lacking in self-consciousness, lucky girl! She insisted on having her own sheet of music and proudly held it upside-down in front of her as she sang. Schmabbers, on the other hand, gets a little silly and nervous, but loves being up there every week. She's even hitting the right notes more consistently! J had his hair cut two weeks ago, so he no longer looks like a hippie. ;) It was a traumatic, but neccessary trip to the barber shop. His hair is so thin and fine I didn't want to be the first one to layer it because any mistakes will definitely show! Now that it's been done, I can do the maintainance cuts to keep the slightly longer, shaggy look he likes.

The children's music was a wonderful addition to a beautiful Christmas Eve Mass. I just love taking the time to worship our Lord before starting the Christmas Day celebrations. The hymns and carols and the reminder of who it's really all about. I can't even imagine how pointless life would be without personally knowning the One who made us, and loves us, and who even rejoices over us with gladness, singing joyfully because of us (Zephaniah). Sadly though, our world is full of people who have been beaten down by hurts and disappointments. People who are feeling rejected and lonely; who live every day without knowning how passionately they are loved by the One who created them. I think most of us have struggled with the dispair, the anger, the cynicism, the feeling of hopelessness that comes from life and the people we care about letting us down. We've all covered our pain and desperation with laughter, drugs, alcohol, relationships, obsessive ambition. We've run hard and hidden well the pain we were drowning in. No one would have ever known what was really going on behind our well-constructed masks. And all the while, we had a Father who loves us unconditionally and whose arms ached to hold us and soothe our hurts ways. A Father who loves us so much He sent his Son to walk among us and show us His love, and ultimately to offer Himself as the required sacrifice for our rebellion. All so that we would be free to run into His arms and find the very things we so futily search for down here. Christmas is a reminder for me to renew my committment to pray for the hurting, confused, and lost people in our world. I was one once, and without the prayers of some very dear people in my life, I would still be one. But I covered it well, and no one would have known, so I pray.....perhaps for you.

As much as I love my fancy-dancy camera, I've been consistently disappointed with nearly every photo taken in low lighting. After two Christmases in a row without a single good picture taken on Christmas Day, I found a forum online in which several other owners of this model have grumbled about the same issue. At least I know it's not a user error! Ironically enough, Matt's cheapo little camera takes beautiful indoor photos, but of course we didn't think to use it until after the day's festivities were over. Sigh....maybe next year we'll have some photos of the kids that aren't orange or blurred or dark. We surprised the kids this year(BIG understatement!!) by getting them a Wii. (Maximum cool points with that one!!) We've all had a blast challenging each other to Guitar Hero, racing, boxing, and Dance, Dance. What a great investment! We were sure that K would feel let-down by a major family gift rather than a big personal gift this year, but she's shocked us by sneaking down to play by herself whenever she can. She's never had a use for video games, and now we can't keep her off it! The kids are looking forward to boxing with their Grandmas!

Whew!!

2009-01-06T01:08:00.000-08:00

The holidays are behind us and a new year has begun. December flew by in a flurry of activity and the plans for keeping our blog updated failed miserably! Rather than stress myself out trying to keep on top of this, too, I let it go and just enjoyed the time our family had to spend together. For the past two years we've been hearing about the Weinachtsmarkt at Hexennager, a small village with an intact castle complex 40 minutes west of us.
The market is only open on the 3 weekends preceding Christmas, which has always posed a scheduling problem for us, but this year we finally made it and discovered for ourselves what all the fuss was about. It was really wet and cold the night we went, but it was wonderful! If we're able to be here next year, Matt and I will go alone and enjoy a romantic Christmas light dinner there. :) The medieval castle setting of the market is perfect for strolling and browsing through the artisan stalls by torchlight. Open fires in the common areas provided a welcome opportunity for the kids to thaw their frozen fingers.
We found a stall selling raclette bread, which was a delicious first-time treat for us! Big blocks of Swiss cheese are slowly melted under the raclette heaters, then the top gooey layer is scraped onto slices of rustic bread and sprinkled with herbs and garlic powder. Heaven!!
This guy makes and sells twig brooms. I almost took one home as a decoration. He was great to volunteer to pose with the kids.
So, come see us in December and we'll take you to one of Germany's most beautiful, historic Weinachtsmarkts. We'll even spring for the raclette bread!! ;)

Come take the challenge!

2008-12-14T06:14:00.001-08:00

http://lovinfrommyoven.blogspot.com

Happy Birthday, Hot Stuff!

2008-12-09T06:54:00.000-08:00

After another 4-1/2 looooong months of being "the older woman", Matt is finally, once again, as old as I am! (I keep telling you it won't last, Babe!) He opted for a big batch of cupcakes rather than an extravagant cake this year, which was really quick and easy for me. (Thanks, Sweetie!) I managed to completely shock the socks off him with his Birthday gift, which was lots of fun. The kids and I drove out to the breeder we bought Otto from to ask about when they might have another litter of wirehair Dachshunds. She happened to have 6 that were 12 weeks old and as soon as I saw them I knew which one needed to come home with us. The kids went nuts at the idea of surprising Dad with a puppy and fell madly in love with her. Matt was shocked and thrilled and completely gave her his heart the first time she climbed up into his lab to snuggle. He's named her Sophie, after Princess Sophie of Prussia. Bavarian dogs need Bavarian names, right? ;) She's adjusting to our busy house really well and Otto's finally starting to around, too. We thought he'd be excited about having a live-in playmate, given the level of unbridled excitement he exhibits when random neighborhood dogs jump into our yard. But, no......Otto wanted nothing to do with her for the first 3 days. Our fierce and mighty protector literally ran from our bite-size little pup. Who's the baby?! My sister, Melanie, has two dogs and experienced a similar negative reaction in her first dog when the new puppy came home, so she was able to give us lots of good advice. Yesterday he sniffed her for the first time and this morning he actually ran and played with her! We're hopeful he'll soon love her, too.

We're thankful for...

2008-11-27T10:24:00.000-08:00

Matt -
My family. Especially my darling wife!
That I have a job.
The Church.

"A"'-
iPods
Dad providing money so Mom can make all the food.
Banana cream pie!!
Everything! I can't think of anything I'm not thankful for!

"K"-
Everything except for cold weather. I'm really thankful for the sun and heat.
My family.

"M" -
That God gave His Son for us so that we can actually go to Heaven!
For the Church.
For a wonderful family that can sometimes be boogers, but you always love them in the end.

"J"-
That Miss Julie's kids could be here today.
That Father could come over today.
That God made us.
I'm thankful for a lot of stuff!!
That we had a nice Thanksgiving dinner. Wow!! I was full!!
I'm also thankful for the pies!
And for Mom and Dad! Mom and Dad are great.

Schmabbers-
For the cook who did all the cooking today!!
For chocolate and banana pie. And the maple whipping cream that I keep on sneaking!
God!

Banana-
That the Fishers came over.
That the Reddens came over.
That Father O'Grady came over.
I'm thankful for everything God created.

Me-
My family.
My husband, who was so clearly made for me. He knows me completely and loves me anyway.
The security, peace, and wholeness we've found in Christ's Church.
For my godparents living closer! Finally!
For friends. People who "get" me, and encourage me, and accept me.
For our soldiers, who put their lives on the line every day to protect our freedoms.

Laura, Julie and me

We pray you all have a blessed Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2008-11-27T09:49:00.000-08:00

Whew!! What a wonderful day! Our priest and two of my friends and their kids came over to share our holiday meal with us. 5 adults and 12 kids! ("Crazy?!! I was crazy once...!) We ate and laughed and ate and talked and ate and sang old 70's tunes and ate and laughed and moaned about how much we'd eaten. I think it's safe to say, a good time was had by all. My friend Julie's husband is in the States at school and she and their 4 kids will be moving with him to CO in a few weeks. I'm going to really miss her! Her kids all get along really well with our younger kids. The kids ate and ran off to play dress-up and Dance, Dance Revolution and pretty much left us alone to keep eating and laughing in peace. My friend Laura's two youngest kids are tight, tight buddies of "A" &"K", so they all spent the afternoon hanging out. Laura's hubby is in the States preparing for deployment to Iraq and their oldest son is in his first year of college in the States.

We were so blessed to have our priest accept our invitation to dinner as well. Father O'Grady is new to our parish and we adore him! He's as Irish as his name and an absolute hoot. He loves the Lord and His Church and is good at really challenging us when we're tempted to slip into complacency. We're hoping he can stay here as long as we do!

(Laura, "A", Schmabbers (great look Schmab!), Laura's son "J", "K" (love the expression K!), Laura's daughter "E", Father, Banana)

Here's the rundown of our Thanksgiving menu this year:
Turkey - Duh! Fixed Alton Brown's way - the most unbelievably juicy, flavorful bird ever!

Stuffing - with leeks, mushrooms, and red peppers. Matt goes bonkers for this every year.
Mashed potatoes
Sweet potato praline souffle - too much cream and butter to be ever be considered healthy, but too good not to include.
Roasted sweet potatoes and pears with raisins and pecans. This one is definitely healthy and fantastic!
(Even Julie, a self-avowed sweet potato hater really like these. Of course, she really liked the souffle, too....hmmm..how many sweet potatoes have you really eaten before, Jules? ;)
Green beans w/ bacon
Corn custard with tomatoes an fresh basil on top - again, too much cream to be healthy, but oh so good!
Jello salad - the kids wouldn't let me get away with omitting this one
White rolls
Whole Wheat rolls
German bread with fresh chive cheese - Thanks, Laura!!

Then we had 8 pies- two each of four different kinds.

Banana cream and chocolate cream pies. Yum!

If you don't recognize this one, you're not an American and need to log off this site!!

Rustic apple cranberry tart
I enjoy cooking and I really enjoy cooking for people that enjoy good food! My only challenge was getting everything cooked in my tiny little Easy Bake Oven-sized oven. I can only fit one 9x13" pan or one pie pan at a time. I don't know how German's manage to feed their families with such little ovens and sinks. We have a one-bowl sink that my regular size colander fits perfectly side-to-side in. My roasting pan has to be scrubbed in the tub upstairs. But we'll deal with inconveniences like this any time as long as we can continue living over here.

I'm expanding.....

2008-11-21T05:19:00.000-08:00

I've started a new blog just for food. Imagine that....me, writing about food! ;) I can't keep up with recipe requests and I'm finding so many great new recipes on our journey to being healthier, that I decided I need a venue for sharing only about food.

http://lovinfrommyoven.blogspot.com

Belated (Almost) Wordless Wednesday

2008-11-18T23:17:00.000-08:00

Bulgur salad with red peppers and chickpeas; roasted pears & sweet potatoes Delicious!!

Applying the arguments used to defend abortion to other moral issues.

"Let's move it, move it, move it!"

2008-11-17T04:59:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading a post on my brother and sis-in-law's blog that has given me what I've been looking for. Matt and I have been struggling with watching our weight go up while not having a real motivation to do anything about it. We moan and groan about our "over 40" bodies, read health articles about losing and maintaining extra weight, and talk (a lot!) about how we need to start walking/running every day and lifting free weights. And that's where it always stops. I have a closet full of cute pants that I couldn't button if my life depended on it. Matt cleaned out his closet last weekend and handed down a bunch of pants to "A". Pants that fit Matt a year and a half ago now fit our 6'1" 145lb son. It's time to stop blaming the dryer for running too hot and shrinking all of our clothes!

My darling little brother bravely shared his weight loss/life-style change story with a healthy minds and bodies group that his wife leads. And his story has completely motivated me. I realize how much I sabotage myself and set myself up for failure. Knowing I tend to be completely controlled by my outrageous sweet tooth, how can I expect success when I have a pantry full of sugar laden, nutritionally bankrupt foods? When given a choice, I'll choose the bad EVERY time! "I don't have time for a bowl of oatmeal this morning. Three or four of those peanut butter oatmeal cookies (Mom's delicious recipe!) should have about the same amount of oats in them. And they've got peanut butter to boot! Protein!!" Sigh...I'm my own worst enemy. My fondest childhood memories revolve around food. The smells, the tastes, the textures..."nothin' says lovin' like something from Mom's oven."

I've never struggled with obesity, just "fluffiness". While Scott needed to lose over 120 lbs, I need to lose 20-25. But it's not just about the numbers. I'm tired of being shocked and grossed out when I see my reflection in a store window. I'm tired of jeans rings at the end of the day (you know...those unsightly red rings that form in the folds of swishy belly bulge. Yuk!) I don't want to hear any more comments about how I "look good for having had six kids". What does that mean, anyway?! Like everyone who has more than the average number of kids is supposed to look terrible?! Like a woman's body shape should be an indication of how many children she's birthed? Ridiculous. I just want to look and feel my best and I know I don't.

I've got a lot of bad habits to break. Dad taught me how to be a sneaky-eater. If no one sees me eat it, it doesn't count. And secretly gobbling numerous tiny slices of cake or pie throughout the day doesn't count either. Not unless it's a whole slice eaten at once, which we ~~only do when the kids are downstairs so we won't get caught~~ never do! The best way to sneak-eat is straight out of the pan. Just keep a fork at the ready for grabbing quick nibbles when no one is watching. But be smart about it! Cut your nibbles carefully always trying to maintain the appearance that it hasn't been touched since everyone last had some together. Just DON'T get caught!! I've never understood why that's so important, but it is. A champion sneaky-eater can consume whole cinnamon rolls, multiple cookies, and rows of brownies while in the kitchen with other people, without anyone being less than completely oblivious to the sneaky-eater's accomplishments. It never dawns on us champions that our growing girth will eventually give us away. It's phycho!!

http://beanland.wordpress.com/2008/11/13/hmbg-recap-achieving-and-maintaining-a-healthy-body-weight/#more-383

Seeing Scott's success at changing his lifestyle and physical appearance have completely motivated me. I'm sure there will be no shortage of complaints and sighs when the snack forays turn up nothing but nuts and veggies. And it'll probably take a while for a piece of fruit to satisfactorily take the place of a warm chocolate chip cookie. But a more balanced approach that allows the occassional treat is much more sensible and definitely doable. My Grandfather had type II diabetes and died after multiple heart attacks. My father's life was cut short by colon cancer. Every one of his living brothers and sister have had either precancerous polyps or colon cancer. Matt's brother has type II diabetes. It's time for us to stop ignoring the scads of research clearly linking heart disease, diabetes, and cancer to dietary habits and weight. I want to be healthy and strong enough to play with my grandchildren and chase my hubby around the house! ;)

Wordless Wednesday

2008-11-11T06:22:00.000-08:00

Introducing......

2008-11-04T22:56:00.000-08:00

In an effort to be more consistent with my blogging, I've decided to follow the lead of other homeschooling, frazzled, blogging mamas and institute "Wordless Wednesdays". This is the day I'll omit all commentary, barring today ;), and just post pics of our week. Here we go...

All Saints Day - St. Ann, St. Joan of Arc, St. John The Baptist (w/a platter for his head)

Molly Pitcher

Outrageously delicious - cinnamon, molasses, ginger-spiced muffins w/lemon glaze

"K" & Guitar Girl at the Harvest Fest

Robinson Crusoe

Congrats, Sargeant First Class!!

An argument for "Un-Schooling"

2008-11-04T00:16:00.000-08:00

When Matt and I first started looking into homeschooling, eons ago, I read a book about the "Un-Schooling" educational method. It went against everything I'd had programmed into my brain about education, while sounding much more natural than what I thought education should look like. I set it aside and didn't give it another thought. The premise is that children do better when allowed to learn naturally and at their own pace. So, rather than sitting a 5-6 year old in a chair at a desk for several hours each day, the child is exposed to lots of books for perusing and plenty of read-aloud stories. Instead of a structured educational plan, until about the age of 8 a child is exposed to math concepts through everyday experiences. "I need 2 cups of flour for the bread. We have a cup that hold 1/2 cup, so how many 1/2 cups will we need to use?" Grammar and language are taught by correcting speech errors and by exposing the kids to books with a broad, rich vocabulary for read-alouds. Pretty low key and laid back. By default Banana's education has fallen into this category for the past year. I fully intended to walk her through a structured Kindergarten year, but when push came to shove the teenagers' education took priority. She's our flitter, too, which often makes structured sit-down time a struggle. She can hardly read a line from a book without jumping up and acting out any new words or sounds. Did you know that the sound "sh" can be acted out? Well, she showed me that it can. It consists of running back and forth waving your arms while opening your mouth as wide as you can (noisy children), quickly followed by standing with one hand on a hip and the pointer finger of the other hand held in front of your mouth. Pretty creative, but exasperating when I'm trying to keep her on track. Allowing her to flit and play and color while I read, and involving her in basic math operations throughout the day has fit her personality. She's doing an actual sit-down-and-focus math curriculum for the first time and is already a couple of weeks ahead of where she should be because she was ready for it. It's amazing to watch her go through two whole pages of addition, including story problems, without once stopping to count. She just seems to know each answer as soon as she looks at the problem. Had I pushed her sooner I'm sure she wouldn't have been doing this well. She's exeptionally bright, very, very active and creative, and has always had communication skills that are off the chart. While I've known this laid back approach was the best one to take with her, I'm not always sure just how much she's really learning. But every now and then she puts my fears to rest. Without ANY instruction in the use or purpose of apostrophes she's begun using them appropriately in writing. It caught us off guard when we found a picture of a circle covered in spikes with the caption "Jesus's" (crown of thorns). Not bad for never having had anyone explain even basic grammar/puctuation. Last week found the following picture on our dry erase board in the dining room/school room.

I took one look and said "Banana, this looks like a heart. What is it?" She then explained that it was indeed a heart, with one tube marked "B" for blood and the other marked "A" for air. "The red circles are the blood cells, and I put blue in the air tube to show that it's mostly air mixed with the blood. I saw it in a science book once and figured out that one is for air and one is for blood. Maybe I'll be a scientist!" Then off she skipped to play princess or puppy or some other make believe game. I think she's going to be just fine.

Woohoo!!!

2008-11-03T23:08:00.000-08:00

We've got some good news to share! Matt received his promotion orders this morning and will have his promotion ceremony some time this week; most likely today or tomorrow. We were hoping he'd be pinned before the end of the year, but hadn't anticipated it coming so quickly. The November promotion list was posted a couple of days after he returned from school, but his graduation papers didn't make it in on time for his name to be on the list. This morning he found his promotion papers waiting for him when he got to his office. This is a huge blessing for us and we're thankful for God's continuing provision.

The other fun news is that my youngest sister and her husband are expecting another baby! Thank goodness for Yahoo IM and another sister (Tammy)who likes to "chat", or I wouldn't have known for a while still. Kristin and her husband moved to California a couple of weeks ago and she announced their good news at their farewell brunch. (We miss out on so much living so far away!) So, their adorable son "E" will meet his first brother or sister within a day or two of his third birthday. This kid will have his/her work cut-out climbing out from under the shadow of super-overachiever "E"!
Tammy and her husband are also expecting another little girl in February, so the only one left to jump on board the Bean Family Baby Train is Anne. Tammy's little guy, "R", will be three in July and is hands-down the most mellow little boy I've ever seen. He dwarfs his cousin "E" and is every bit as gentle and calm as "E" is bouncy and excitable. It's hilarious to see their starkly different personalities together. "E" is a tiny little ball of energy. Much like Taz. "R" is a gentle giant with killer blue eyes. Congratulations, Krick and Tam!

Family Reunion

2008-11-03T01:13:00.000-08:00

As soon as Banana's party was cleaned up we piled into the car and drove three hours to where our god parents are stationed. We'd been anxiously waiting for nearly a year for them to finally move over here, and we were all really excited! The ever-efficient military had managed to misplace their car, so they'd only been able to venture out on foot or via military shuttle bus. Workable during the week, but with no Sunday bus service they hadn't been able to make it to church since arriving a month ago.

What a good sport! Doesn't the girls' cap look lovely on Uncle Greggy-poo?

After gorging ourselves on Uncle Greggy's fantastic bbq sammies and Auntie Debbie's phenomenal potato salad, the kids ran off to play while the grown ups tried to catch up on the last 2-1/2 years. The next day we piled everyone into our cars and went to church. What a blessing to worship with our dear friends! It was amazing. Any further descriptors will only sound mushy, so I'll leave it at that.

We brought Katie's best friend, Guitar Girl, back home with us for the week. (One of the many joys of homeschooling is the freedom to do things like this!) She brought her books and the two girls did their work then played and talked and sang and talked and laughed and talked. Oh, yeah, they also talked. Guitar Girl is a very spiritually deep young lady and a joy to have around. We considered telling her parents we'd lost their daughter so we could keep her.

Fall is soup weather in our house, so one night I threw together a pot of this wild rice soup. Wild rice, leeks, carrots, vegetable broth and herbs. This picture was taken on day two, so the broth had become a bit cloudy, but it tasted every bit as good. We ate it with thick slices of warm whole wheat bread. Yum!

"K" and I took Guitar Girl back home over this past weekend which gave me and Deb some much needed one-on-one time. After Mass on Saturday we dropped the girls back at their home and Greg and Deb and I went into downtown Weisbaden for dinner. Weisbaden is HUGE and has a beautiful downtown; when the Christkindl Markt opens it'll be breathtaking. We had dinner at the Ratskeller, which has great ambience and delicious food. Of course, the company was so good I would have been happy with a plate of french fries!

Another Birthday!

2008-11-03T00:40:00.000-08:00

Banana is now required to use two hands when showing her age. Not that she would use her hands. Why use your hands when you could communicate the same information while talking the inquirer's left leg off?! I wonder where she gets that? The best Birthday gift ever arrived the day before her big day. She woke up in the morning to find Daddy home! The squeal of delight and look of sheer joy were priceless.

On the day after her birthday she had several friends come over to celebrate with her. We cut a sheet cake into small rectangles and taught them all how to torte and decorate their own cake. Fortunately I had a friend drop in and decide to stay and help clean up the enormous mess, which otherwise would have taken me all day! Thank you, Laura!!

Not bad for a 6-year old's first attempt! Hmmmmm...a budding business partner, maybe?
Silly me, I forgot to take into account the fundamental differences between boys and girls. Girls like to make things pretty and generally stay fairly clean. All part of our Princess Mentality. Little boys are all about messes and noise and messes. Did I mention messes? These two brothers are more "boy" than any other boys I've ever known...I should have been ready for this!

"I love brother; he loves me!"

2008-10-18T04:44:00.000-07:00

(Title sidenote: If you are one of Nancy Bean's kids, you should be humming one of our old favorites right about now.)

Our week didn't start out very promising. I managed to let myself be talked into getting the younger kids immunized against the flu on the previous Friday. We won't be doing this again. We generally have really strong immune systems and seldom get sick. If one of us does start to come down with something, we're usually able to head it off within 24 hours and confine it to one or two of us. Not a big deal. But this time, Banana started running a fever Sunday afternoon and it spiked and dropped in cycles until late Monday night. She slept with me so I wouldn't have to try to hear her from two floors away, and neither of us got much sleep. Tuesday morning, though, she woke up feeling great and started the count down to her first time having a friend sleep over. Yesterday Schmabbers and Banana each had a friend sleep over (two sisters) and the girls had an absolute blast making cookies, playing dress-up, watching movies, and giggling. Banana is proving to be a most formidable control freak (in all caps!!). She spent the week writing and rewriting an "activities map" for the sleep-over, complete with a timeline for each activity. #1-play Princess, #2-makeovers, #3-tea party, #4-picnic,........#24-color. Good grief!! Fortunately, no one tried to override her well-laid plan. We might have had an ugly 360-degree head rotation to deal with!

Sick little Banana being safely guarded by her faithful John and Leah.
On Wednesday "A" started coming down with what promised to be a kick-booty cold. By Friday morning it had settled in his chest. Wet, barking, rattling cough; total congestion with non-stop nose dripping; prickly, goose-bumpy skin; achy joints; splitting headache. I woke up Friday with a splitting headache and a really sore throat, too. So, go ahead and laugh, Dr. Bean, but I started pumping herbal tinctures and lots of water into him and he woke up feeling 100% this morning. I took the same tinctures yesterday and feel terrific today, also. Placebo effect or not, these are the type of quick rebounds we've come to expect, which is why we keep using the hippie stuff! ;)

One of the greatest joys in "A's" life is irritating "K", and his schenanigans are escalating. Several months ago she went to bed one night and came down shrieking about "A" doing something or other to her bed. Once she cooled down, which took a while since he wouldn't stop laughing, she was able to tell us that she'd found a couple of smelly, old milk jugs under her pillow. That would tick me off, too, but Matt has a hard time hiding his amusement, which only serves to spur his son on. (In all honesty, it doesn't take too long before we're all laughing, "K" included. Her big brother's pretty hard to stay mad at.) "A" doesn't pull his little stunts all that often; he manages to space them out enough that "K" lets her guard down, then he strikes again. Paper from the recycling bin between her sheets, random pieces of her clothing tossed out on the lawn, and until we started making soy milk the occassional milk jug was a recurring theme. This afternoon "K" (finally!!) decided to clean out from under her bed and came stomping downstairs with two arms full of dishes! I'd been looking everywhere for my big blue bowl! "A" thought it was just about the funniest thing ever. Apparently, he decided to get another rise of her THREE WEEKS AGO and pulled a bunch of dishes (DIRTY DISHES!) out of the dishwasher and shoved them all under her bed!! He was still laughing at himself as he washed the last of them. By hand, of course!! ;)

"He loves us and so you see; we are a happy family!!"

The Real Issues

2008-10-13T23:56:00.000-07:00

The following video is now one of the top ranked vidoes in the world. Although made by and for Catholics, the message is for every American who believes in God, and it's too important not to share in these final weeks before the election.

When did THIS happen?!?!

2008-10-13T00:25:00.000-07:00

How do kids grow up without us noticing???! K and A went to their first Homecoming Dance this weekend and had a great time! I dropped them off at a friend's house so the girls could all get ready together (poor A!), then off they went for a night of dancing, laughing, and being goofy teens.
It's great to have teens who are as close as A & K. They share friends, totally crack each other up, and are seldom found apart. It's made the teenage years a lot of fun for all of us. Their blow-ups can get pretty heated (usually on K's part; A tends to thrive on being the antagonizer), but never last long. Last week K told me she's hoping A does something "stupid" and has to be held back a year, so they can go to college together. She's dreading being the thought of him heading off to college and leaving her home alone. (Kind of funny, since none of us are ever "alone" around here!)

They went with a nice group of kids and met the rest of the "gang" at the dance. (K's friend Kathy, standing next to her is also home schooled.) Melinda- the girl in the black dress on the end is Jillian. "K" found the cutest pair of Converse-looking pumps to wear with her dress. "A" thought she should just wear her Converse, since they're comfortable and he was wearing his. (This is why we don't take fashion tips from teenage boys!)

While the older teens were socializing, "M" was running around in the Alps with his Boy Scout troop. He went on his first camping trip over the weekend and is already ready to go on the next one! His only complaints were cold mornings and a snoring tent mate; not bad for a weekend spent with strangers. The next trip is scheduled for May over the week of our anniversary and will be in Berlin! We're hoping to be in Greece that week as we celebrate our 20th, but I'm not holding my breath. Matt's schedule changes too frequently to really count on anything other than more changes. Hooah!

Fall is here!!

2008-10-08T01:26:00.000-07:00

I love Fall!! I love the explosion of color that nearly takes my breath away. The brilliant yellows, crimson, and oranges that fairly shout to be noticed; as if it were possible for passersby to miss their showy display. I love the smell of wood stoves burning and the sound of our little girls laughing at seeing their breath. When the morning fog rolls across the fields for most of the day and the air stays cool and damp, I find myself unable to resist the compulsion to simmer cinnamon and cloves on the stove and light pumpkin scented candles. So, to indulge my urge for Autumn-spiced goodness, I tweaked our favorite pancake recipe and dished up plates of steamy pumpkin pancakes for breakfast yesterday. Topped with applesauce or a little pure maple syrup, they were beyond scrumptious!

I'll share the recipe in case anyone else wants to share in our Autumn-love!

Perfect Pumpkin Pancakes

1C. whole wheat flour (fresh is best!)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 Tbs. canola oil
2 Tbs. honey (or sugar for vegans)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs (I use 2 Tbs. ground flax whisked with 6 Tbs. water)
1/2 can pumpkin
1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon (Penzey's!)
1/8-1/4 tsp. ground cloves (to taste)
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1C. soured soy milk (or buttermilk)

We frequently use the same basic recipe, omitting the spices and pumpkin, and adding diced bananas. (And chocolate chips if Mom's feeling benevolent.) Another variation we like is to add orange peel and dark chocolate chips. Yumm!! They're delicious without any fruit additions, too.

Baking fun!

2008-09-27T06:20:00.000-07:00

This is what I spent last night and this morning working on. My first castle cake! After delivery (a 12 mile drive that took 25 minutes and resulted in some melted frosting and loose turrets) I reassembled the top and piped beads around the tower bases. My plan was to have the vines going up all the towers, but I didn't do such a good job of figuring out the logistics first. Next time I'll decorate each tower a day ahead of time and assemble the whole thing on site. Now I know! I also need to come up with a crustier frosting for castles, so I can carve "stones" into it, as well.

Time to brag!

2008-09-24T10:41:00.000-07:00

My dear hubby has had an interesting couple of weeks at school. Last week the students had their Class A's (the green formal uniform) inspected. Poor Matt was in misery for the 3 hours they stood in formation because his uniform is so snug he can't take a full breath. (The Army is phasing out the green formal in favor of a new blue one, so Matt's trying to hold out on buying a new set until the blues are in.) He stood there for three agonizing hours in the sun while each soldier was painstakingly inspected. Lucky Matt was 4th from the last! When the inspecting Sgt. Major stopped in front of him, Matt held his breath and waited for what he was sure would be a blasting for his too-small uniform. Instead, the SGM looked at his medals and asked what he did to merit the Bronze Star w/Valor. Matt told him he'd been in the ambush of the 507th Maint. Co., and the SGM turned to the 1st Sgt. and said "We were just talking about that, weren't we?" Then he told Matt he'd watched a special on tv about it the night before. It didn't take long for him to put two and two together, and he told Matt he wanted to talk to him after the inspection. So, everyone was called into formation again and the SGM began to lecture them about how important it is to pay attention to detail. Then he called Matt forward and asked if anyone knew who he was. Of course no one did, so he proceded to tell them that they would have known if they'd paid better attention, and that he knew who Matt was because he'd seen him on tv the night before. Matt was embarassed and figured that would be the end of it, but the next day he was called into the Commandant's office. The Commandant kept him there for an hour while he made a bunch of phone calls trying to figure out the best way to get an article about Matt written and published in the Quarter Master Bulletin, a widely distributed military professional magazine. He coined Matt, which was very cool, and sent him on his way. (Ranking military leaders each have a personal "coin" minted to give away at their discretion, usually as an indication of some outstanding performance on the part of the receiving soldier. The higher ranking the giver, the more prestigious the coin.) Two days later Matt was called out of class to see the Commandant again. When he walked in the room he recieved the shock of his life. CSM Preston, the Command Sargeant Major of the entire Army was waiting to meet him!! They visited for a few minutes, then CSM Preston coined him. The Ft. Lee post commander was also there to coin him! Such an amazing experience to meet the ranking NCO of the entire Army, let alone be coined by him! But any of you who know Matt, know how laid back and unassuming he is. He was excited about it, but mentioned it almost matter-of-factly, and that will probably be the only time he'll bring it up.

As expected, he's doing really well in his classes. The days are long!! He has me call to wake him up at 4:30am and he usually gets back to his room by 8:00pm. He's the class leader and is acing all his tests (of course). Only four more weeks and we should finally get him home again! At least for a while...in February his team is flying to the States for an extended training mission. We're not sure how many weeks this one will last, but he'll be on friendly soil, for which I'm thankful!

Cake purse

2008-09-23T11:08:00.000-07:00

This was fun! Vanilla sheet cake with custard filling. The purse was chocolate cake with custard filling. Figuring out how to build a purse was a blast! The birthday girl had no idea what she wanted because she doesn't like cake. Her only stipulation was as little frosting as possible and to use hot pink and brown in the decorations. How easy!

Happy Birthday "A"!

2008-09-20T12:36:00.000-07:00

I can't believe we have a 17 year old now! How is that possible?! It seems like yesterday that I was kissing his tiny fingers and breathing in his sweet baby scent. Now I stand on tiptoe to kiss a beard grizzled cheek and breathe in a whiff of Cool Water. The little boy who loved to run and tackle his daddy, who belly laughed himself into hysterics over wrestling and "pinning" Daddy, now towers over his Dad. The two of them a sweaty knot of arms and legs rolling from the living room to the dining room, then into the yard and down the grassy hill. Panting, laughing, grasping for a better hold; neither one willing to concede defeat. The camaraderie borne of years of playful tussles followed by exhausted, testosterone-laced banter. "You did good, Bubbie!" "I let you beat me, Dad. I know how embarrassing it would be for you to be beat-down by your kid." "HA!! WhatEVER!! Did you already forget how that choke hold felt? When everything started getting a little fuzzy around the edges? Remember that!?" "Yeah, yeah...I had plenty of air. I was just laying there thinking of a way to break your hold!" Watching my two biggest boys play together makes me smile from deep inside. And a little piece of my Mama-heart starts to crack with the realization that all too soon this man-child, who so completely captured our hearts 17 years ago, will no longer be lying in wait to ambush his unsuspecting father at the end of the day. He won't be here to send us all into fits of laughter over his daily antics. No more daily hugs from this silly teen who insists he can't get too many hugs from his Mom. Instead, we'll be trying to find contentment in sporadic text messages and infrequent emails. We'll look forward to hearing his voice on the phone, and count the weeks, the days, the hours until he'll be home for a visit.

We've entered the transition years, and I both hate it and love it. Our goal has been to raise independent, kind, thoughtful young adults who love the Lord and are ready to head out into the world and make a difference for Him. But there's a part of me that wishes they didn't have to leave home in order to do it. Despite the occasional desire to scream like a Banshee or run away for a few days, I really enjoy raising our kids. So, I rejoice in the gift of another year with our firstborn and place my trepidation about the "letting go" to come in the capable hands of my loving Father.

(The car A wishes we'd gotten him for his birthday! Dream on, Bubbie!)

Busy, busy, busy....

2008-08-11T11:19:00.000-07:00

I've had a lot of fun with cakes these past couple of weeks. This first picture wasn't as well focused as I'd thought. Too late, now! I really liked the way the cake turned out, though.

This second one was for the post library's summer reading program. The theme was "Catch the Reading Bug!". I made a banner with the theme printed on it and hung it between two tall skewers on either end of the cake. Without a close-up shot it's hard to see the trails of ants going up the sides of the cake and into the ant hill. Other than the comment from one friend (well-meaning, I'm sure!) that the handle of the butterfly net looked like something left behind by a large animal, I was pretty pleased with it.
This last one was totally different than what I usually do. It was for the birthday party of 2 six-year old boys who wanted a Spiderman/Super Hero kind of theme. I didn't get a good shot of The Thing's other hand, which was smashed through a window as he tries to topple the top of the building, but you can get the idea. The kids loved it and thought it looked like a scene from a comic book with Spiderman hanging on for dear life. It was fun.
When I get a cake order, unless it's really specific, I sit down with the kids and we brainstorm ideas. We end up with a pile of papers with different ideas on them, then narrow it down to something I think I can actually pull off. It's fun to involve everyone in the process! After I'm done decorating the kiddos all fight for the decorating bags and cover every plate in the house with frosting creations. We've had everything from portraits to a 3-D plate of spaghetti and meatballs! I like the uniqueness of 3-D cakes and wish I could find someone to teach me how to really do what I'm trying to do. It's fun to play, but I'd feel more confident with some real lessons under my belt.

Blue Whales in the Toilets

2008-08-03T10:30:00.000-07:00

This morning during Mass, Banana excused herself to use the bathroom. She came back several minutes later, still doing the Potty Dance and whispered that she hadn't been able "to go" yet, and then asked if Schmabbers could please go with her. I told her that if she really needed to use the bathroom, she'd better hurry up and take care of her business and get back in her seat. At which point she looked up at me with her soulful green eyes and said,"But, Mommy! Ever since I heard about Blue Whales I just can't go potty in those big toilets!!" (Social tip: snorting out loud in church is not only considered unladylike, but can serve as a distraction to others during the scripture readings.) I reassured Banana that Blue Whales are much too big to fit into our chapel, let alone swim up a sewer pipe and lie in wait for unsuspecting little girls who need to go potty during church; she then took Schmabbers' hand and bravely walked back to the bathroom.

Why did I deem this little story about a 5 year old's fear of a hungry, child-chomping Blue Whale bursting through a public toilet worthy of blogging?

Because in her fear of the irrational and her need for the reassurance of companionship, I saw myself. In her inability to comprehend the impossibility of her fear materializing I saw my own tendency to magnify the threats I face, whether real or imagined. In her need for her sister to walk with her as she faced her fear, I saw my own need for the physical and emotional presence of others when I face my "whales".

In Banana's little-girl mind the fear of creatures that could gobble her up outweighed the fact that there are safety measures in place to prevent children from being swallowed whole while going potty. "Blue Whales are so big they can just break through all the pipes!" (Of course we won't be telling her about the snakes and alligators and rats that occasionally frighten unsuspecting homeowners!)

I sometimes seem to suffer from a similar lack of perspective. When a new potential threat to my comfort and safety rears its ugly head, I tend to focus on it so intently that I lose proper perspective and perceive a more grave danger than actually exists. In that mindset I too quickly forget that the One who spoke everything into existence has counted the number of hairs on my head. I see evidence of His loving kindness all around me everyday, but when my eyes aren't locked firmly onto His, how quickly I forget. He has loving placed safety measures in my life to protect me from the things in this world that would gobble me up. His Word, His Church, the Sacraments, through which He interacts intimately with me, a physical community of fellow believers with whom I can pray and worship.

I was reminded today that although the threats to our souls and our peace are as varied as we are, in the words of the great lyricist Phil Vischer, "God is bigger than the boogie man...and He's watching over you and me!"

Oregon is....

2008-07-21T06:20:00.000-07:00

Clouds.
Spending time with Grandpa and Grandma R.
See's candies!
Sneaking frozen cookies from Grandma's freezer.
Riding the carrousel in the park.
The Oregon Coast Aquarium!! What a totally rockin' day!! Even the teens had a blast!

Riding the carrousel in the park.
Hanging out with Grandma and all the cousins, uncles and aunts (Deb's brothers & sisters) at our family reunion at the coast!! An absolutely terrific, memory-filled time! Thanks so much, Aunt Kristin!!

(Grandma and Cousin E)

Sandcastles.
"A" starting a bonfire with half a can of lighter fluid!
Teen cousins hanging on the beach making s'mores and laughing until midnight.

Climbing over the rocky outcroppings at low tide.
Exploring tide pools.
Sea anemone.
Shells.

Touching Manta Rays at the Aquarium.
"B Family Beach Olympics" - hilarious and lots of fun!

(A, J (Steve's), Uncle Travis, Banana. The losing Olympic team! Don't believe Travis or A when they try to deny it!)
Sand mermaids.
Seeing Uncle Paul after such a long time!
Girl cousin giggles.
Salt water taffy.

Aunt Melanie breaking two bones in her foot on Uncle Scott's leg during a rather aggressive game of soccer.
Finally meeting Scott and Anne's adorable baby girl!

(My handsome little brother and his wee little princess - I stole this from their blog! It was too cute not to swipe, Scott! And since it wasn't copyrighted I don't think Steve can come after me.)

Cold. Wind. Clouds. Cold. Rain. Cold.
Going to the classic car show in downtown Salem; munching on free snacks. Great dogs!

(M pretending to drown at the aquarium)

See's candies.
Schmabbers' trip to Build A Bear with Grandma R and cousin M (Matt's brother's daughter).
New Build A Bear bridal dress, veil & shoes that quickly became a First Communion outfit.

Sleep-overs at Uncle Tim and Aunt Brenda's house with M and her sister E! Lots of fun!!
Watching fireworks at Riverfront Park.
"A" loved picking on Grandpa!
A & K spending not-enough time with their buddies Alex and Katie S. and Josh & David K.

(Schmabbers and M on the way to Build-A-Bear)

The big downer of our trip was that Daddy wasn't able to catch a hop and join us before deploying for a month. We were really looking forward to him coming and he was really excited about seeing everyone again. In the end we knew it was God's loving kindness that prevented Matt from coming, because the first military hop back to Germany didn't get us here until 4 days after he left. Had he been in the States we would have had to pay an outrageous price to buy him a commercial ticket. His absence put a big damper on the trip for us, though. The other big disappointment was our lack of time and transportation to get all of us around to see the other really special people we were hoping to visit. Circumstances prevented that this time, but we're looking forward to making up for it on our next visit.

Utah is....

2008-07-21T05:39:00.001-07:00

Fun times meeting new cousins (Kristin's son "E" and Tammy's son "R", both almost two).
Helping Aunt Melanie build her porch.
See's candy!

Ice cream cookie sandwiches with Grandma at a shop near her office, then rolling races down the grassy hill outside the BYU library.
Uncle Steve's catamaran.
Actually floating (REALLY floating!) in the Great Salt Lake. (The kids had so much fun hanging out with their cousins that day! Sinking is literally impossible in the brine shrimp infested waters of the Great Salt Lake. The kids were all laying flat on top of the water, "standing" in 20' deep water, and sitting cross-legged in it while they chatted with each other!) Lots of fun! Thanks, Uncle Steve and Aunt Suzie!
Swimming pool fun with cousins.
Walmart.
See's candy!!!
Swinging on the rope swing at the creek.
Costco!!!!
Playing Bonko with my sisters! (Deb)
Princess Dress-up Party at the local library. (Schmabbers, Banana, Cousin "K" (Tam's))
"Watching Uncle Travis hack up a watermelon"
Planting flowers in Aunt Tammy's yard to surprise her.
Playing with cousin "B" (Tam's oldest)
J's 10th Birthday! Complete with a killer-rich Reese's Peanut Butter cake. (Four chocolate cake layers filled with peanut butter mousse, frosted in chocolate frosting, topped with more peanut butter mousse and chopped Reese's. Elastic-waist pants, anyone?)

A's first unaccompanied flight (to El Paso to hang with his buddy for 10 days).
Our first Stateside Mass.
Miss Jana's amazing hot dogs and homemade fries and fry sauce! If you're in SLC, look up MUTTZ for a great lunch and tell them Debbie sent you!
Getting hooked on Heroes with Aunt Tammy.

"Oooowww!!! It hurts!!"

2008-07-21T05:15:00.000-07:00

Banana had been begging to have her ears pierced so she could look like a "real" princess. We'd promised her we'd let her when we got back to the States, and she repeated reminded me until we finally went to Claire's. Here's our little princess excitedly anticipating this rite of passage!

She happily chose pretty little pink stones that were labeled as being her birthstones. (Are October's stones really pink?) Unfortunately the store only had one employee working and she wouldn't let me pierce one ear while she did the other so we could get it done all at once. Here's Banana right after it was over and she'd stopped crying. "I did this for a green sucker?!? Are you kidding me??!!"

And here she is with her bright, sparkly earrings, red eyes, and tear-tipped lashes.

10 minutes after leaving the store she announced that they didn't hurt anymore and happily skipped away sucking on her lollypop.

God is so good!

2008-07-21T03:26:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks after our last post I received an email from one of my sisters informing me that one of our other sisters, Tammy, was in the intensive care burn unit at the University of Utah Medical Center. Tam had been fighting a Staph infection in her eye for two months and had been suffering through disfiguring facial swelling, constant oozing from her nearly swollen shut eye, and excruciating pain that radiated to her throat. After further diagnosis, Tam ended up having a PICC line inserted to administer a powerful antibiotic concoction 24 hours a day. After 28 days of IV antibiotics, the line was removed and we were hopeful that she was firmly on the road to recovery. But within a couple of days her face and head began to swell and turn bright red. In a matter of hours her left ear was so swollen that she couldn't hear out of it. By the next morning, when she went to the ER, our Mom almost didn't recognize her. In the ER she began developing huge, quarter-size blisters all over her body while the swelling continued at an alarming rate. The oozing blisters posed a serious infection risk, so Tam was transported to the burn unit at the University.

Mom, Kristin (baby sister), and my two sisters-in-law were planning on meeting in NYC that weekend for a few days taking in the sights and a Broadway show. Over the next few days, as Tam's condition grew more serious, we decided to cancel our trip. Super Travel Agent Nancy (Mom) worked her magic with the airlines and my siblings graciously pitched in financially to trade my NY ticket in for a ticket to Salt Lake City. Wonder Stud-Muffin juggled all the kids and his work schedule, and sent me jetting Westward for two weeks. (We've been blessed with amazing kids! They did an absolutely awesome job of taking care of each other, fixing all the meals, and running the house for two weeks while Dad was at work!)

Tam spent nearly two excruciatingly agonizing weeks in the burn unit being deemed healed enough to go home. She was released the day before I got to her house, so I was spared the horror of seeing her in the hospital. I did see photos of Tam while in the hospital and can't adequately describe how completely disfigured she was. Her swelling increased to the point that she was put on a respirator for several days. Her skin was an otherwordly shade of deep, purple-red (almost like an electric magenta). She looked like she'd gained a hundred pounds which made her face lose all it's features. No chin, no ears, slits for eyes. Her skin, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes was covered in huge blisters and crusted, oozing sores. Her head had been shaved so the sores on her head could be treated. Her fingers were so grotesquely swollen that she could barely bend them to hold a pencil. And she was covered with little staples that attached a synthetic "skin" to the 80% of her real skin that hadn't been surgically removed. When he first went to visit Tammy, our brother, Steve, walked out of her room to tell the nurses they'd given him the wrong room number. He didn't recognize her at all. Picture Will Smith in "Hitch" after he eats the shell fish.

Over the last couple of months Tammy has made an amazing recovery. The upside to all of this is that her skin looks fabulous! She looks like she's had several chemical peels and just glows like an 18 year old now. She's gone through two very painful cycles of her skin completely sloughing off; all part of the healing process. The result is that she has very tender, almost premature baby skin that has to be protected from all sun exposure for at least a year. Her hair is growing back and her sassy, smart-alecky, stubbornness is back in full force. (That unbelievable stubbornness is most likely the reason she survived!)

I treasure the two weeks I had alone with her (before I brought the kids back with me) and I miss her terribly. Thank you all for praying for her recovery!

I love you, Tam!!

Whew!!

2008-07-21T01:46:00.000-07:00

What a busy, tiring, fun trip we had! I left Tammy with the intention of going home to gather up the kids and get back as soon as possible to continue helping her. We diligently watched for a military hop (read: free flight) to our preferred Stateside destination and when one finally popped up over a weekend we headed to the airbase to try to get on it. Having never flown in a military plane we were anticipating "bare bones", but had no idea what fun we were in for! We sat in jump seats that lined the walls of the plane and faced pallets piled high with mysterious cargo. The planes are so loud that earplugs are handed out before the engines start warming up! Our only view of the world below was a small window in each of the two doors at the front of the plane. We came prepared with fleece blankets and big German pillows which definitely came in handy. Once the plane was at cruising altitude we were able to spread out on the spacious walking path and play or sleep. The girls thought it was great to sit on the floor and play with Polly Pockets and color!

The little boys killed time watching a couple of movies on a portable DVD player and A and K had fun talking with some of the retired military people/couples on board. "A" really gets a kick out of "old people" and struck up a couple of friendships with retired servicemen who were openly impressed with our goofy man-child. One of the gentleman suggested we ask the flight Load Master if the pilots would let the kids go up to the cockpit. What a great suggestion! That turned out to be the highlight of the flight for the kids. They were able to go up, two at a time, to visit with the pilots while we were flying over the Atlantic. "A" thought it was a hoot that the pilots were playing online games with each other while the Autopilot did its thing. And "K" disappeared a couple of times to go up and just hang out with the young hot shots!

Another of K's highlights on this flight was the friendship she struck with the older couple sitting next to M. He was retired military and she's a German national. She was such a loving and doting wife; it was just precious to watch them together. During one of their conversations K complemented the woman's bracelet. The woman asked K if she knew what it was, and K said that it was a Rosary bracelet with pictures of the Divine Mercy. This sweet little lady then took it off and handed it to K and told her she'd like for K to have it as a reminder to pray. K was very touched by such a kind and personal gift!

Spring Break

2008-04-15T00:25:00.000-07:00

I didn't intend to give the kids a formal Spring Break, since I knew we'd end up missing a lot of school days this month due to company and my running around. But Matt took some time off, which is wonderful, and I'm just not motivated to stick to our school schedule when he's home. I'd much rather work on projects around the house and spend hours just talking with him! As a result, we've accomplished a lot around the house, but the kids aren't any better educated for it. ;) 'A' spent the last week on a service project in Czech, building a playground at a school. He had a fantastic time and came home really spiritually motivated. He really connected with the man who went as the speaker to the teens, and it's been fun to listen as he shares about their conversations.

Matt and I took advantage of having one less body in the way and, in a moment of supreme insanity, decided to rearrange most of the rooms in the house. Only the kitchen and dining room were left unmolested! Matt drove his mom to the airport Monday morning and that afternoon we began our attempt to permanently damage our bodies with extreme physical labor. (We've eliminated "moving man" from our list of possible second careers.) Our house has three livable floors and an attic for storage. The top floor has three bedrooms and a bath; the main floor has a half-bath, living room, dining room and kitchen; the basement has an enormous room we'd divided with schranks into a bedroom for 'A' and storage, a tiny laundry room, another room we used for the younger boys' room, a school room/sewing room, and a bathroom. By the time we were done we'd moved 'A' from the basement to 'K's room, moved all three girls into our room, moved 'J' and 'M' into the girls' old room and moved ourselves into the school room in the basement. The boys' old room has become the sewing room/library. (We've got to have a place to put all these books!!!), and 'A's old room has become the play room. When we realized we were still capable of small muscle movement without much discomfort, we knew we still had work to do, so we moved the entertainment center/tv into the play room and painted the long living room wall a beautiful, deep red. Friday night will be family movie night; other than that the tv doesn't go on. No movies, no games. Just sad, slightly confused children, whose imaginations need to be stimulated again. ;) I've been pushing to axe the tv for years, so I'm thrilled with the new direction! Now the living room is a quiet room people read and play games in. And we have a our own quiet place to retreat to in the basement. Far, far away from young voices (and ears). Today we'll be shopping for a German schrank to place against our beautiful red wall.

Sunday was our Priest's last Mass with us. I was asked to make two cakes for 100 people for both his last Sunday and an award ceremony for him on Monday. (Side note on the roses- Being the far-sighted planner that I am, I decided to try to learn how to make frosting roses as I was decorating the cake. Youtube has several videos demonstrations posted, so I sat at the computer with a flower nail and pastry bag and tried to copy the experts. Some of my roses actually looked like roses, but others looked like "cabbages" according to my darling husband. The next day, Matt asked if he could play with my left over frosting and tips and sat down to give it a try. I should add here that he comes from a long line of accomplished artists. His great, great grandfather's paintings are sold at Southeby's, and both his maternal grandparents were phenomenal painters. That being said, I should have come up with some story about how the pastry bags are specially fitted to my hands and won't fit me any more if someone else uses them. But no...I said "Sure, honey!" Silly me. After his very first attempt I knew I'd been outdone. He sat there turning out and eating perfect rose after perfect rose, saying "This is fun!" around mouthfuls of frosting. I guess I have a new decorator now!) So, I spend a small fortune and invested in a full-sheet cake pan. A full-sheet cake is huge. HUGE!! I wouldn't fit in anyone's oven, so I took it to the chapel where there's an industrial size oven. An industrial size oven with a faulty thermostat. It took an hour and a half for the cake to finish baking, and I had to cut the top off because it was so dark and dry. Fortunately several of the wonderful ladies in our congregation were willing to make cupcakes for Sunday and additional cakes for Monday, so I only had to make one full-sheet and cut it in half for both cakes. Sunday's cake was wonderful, but Monday's half completely fell apart. I ended up with a ridiculous looking huge mess. So Monday morning I decided I was going to have to start all over, but not having a big enough oven, my plan had to change. I ended up throwing together a spice cake (16 & 12" rounds) with apple pie flavored filling, but I'd used all my powdered sugar making frosting for the cake that flopped. The store is closed on Monday, so Youtube (my new cake making friend) rescued me once again. I found a video on how to make Swiss Buttercream, which is made from granulated instead of powdered sugar. Oh, my gosh!!! Real buttercream is to die for!! Roll me over, dump a bucket of dirt on me, and stick a flower on top! It was all I could do to not stick my head into the bowl! I didn't have time to freeze the cakes before frosting, so it stayed really soft which is wonderful for eating, but impossible to really smooth. Father Mitch was awarded the Legion of Merit, so I tried to make the medal out of frosting.

Pope Benedict's older brother, Monsignor Ratzinger (Monsignor is a title of honor bestowed upon certain priests), came up for the ceremony. He's the most gentle, joyful, little old man. He looks just like Ernie, the Keebler elf! He loved my cake and asked if he could take a piece home with him! When I started to cut it, Father Mitch stopped me and said that Msr. Ratzinger wanted the the fourth of the cake that had the remaining medal on it, so he could share it with some of the other priests in Regensburg, so we sent him home with an enormous amount of cake.

I can't get the hang of the German cake filling, yet, but my German neighbor has offered to invite me over the next time she makes a cake. (I'm wondering if something didn't translate quite right when her daughter wrote out the recipe for me.) She makes absolutely delicious German-style cakes and I want to be able to add them to my repertoire.

I think that catches us up for the week. Life is as hectic and fun as usual; and we love it!

A jug of wine, the beautiful Rhine, and Thou, my love...

2008-04-06T23:55:00.000-07:00

Matt and I had a wonderful 3-day getaway this week! His darling mother stayed with the kids and we headed West to the Rhine. In the almost 6 years total that we've lived over here we'd never seen the Rhine. Heard about it, seen photos of its castles and ruins, even enjoyed the occasional glass of wine grown on its steep banks, so a Rhine exploration trip was long overdue. We had a wonderfully, relaxing time hiking to and through castle ruins and meandering the halls of those that have been restored. Had either of us been camera savvy enough to think about changing the light meter to compensate for the cloudy weather, we would have ended up with far fewer blue photos. (I'm hoping Photoshop can fix our goof.) Our 19th Anniversary is coming up next month, so this was like an early celebration trip for us. The riverfront towns were beautiful to look at, but not all were worth exploring. Our favorite castle was the Marksburg, which has the distinction of being the only Medieval castle on the Rhine that was survived the Napoleonic and subsequent wars completely intact. Its setting, on the top of a hill overlooking the Rhine, is spectacular! The tour was in German, but with a guide book, a passable working knowledge of German, and a very expressive tour guide, we did just fine. One of our favorite parts of the tour was the explanation of the medieval punishment masks housed in the castle dungeon. This first one was used on people who were charged with exhibiting excessive pride. Because of the length of the mask and the weight of the iron ball hanging from the end, the person's head was pulled to the ground and they were made to crawl on the ground. Hence, the term "pig-headed". What fun it must have been to live during Medieval times! There was an iron mask with long, exaggerated ears for busybodies who listened in on other people's business, and a gossip mask with an iron bulb that fit in the mouth so the offender couldn't speak. What a hoot! Our hands-down favorite little town was the town of Bacharach (as in Burt). Narrow, cobblestoned streets lined with houses built in the 1300's. The 1300's!!! (Sorry about the blue!!) We found a fabulous little restaurant there that was run by a couple who had been married for 51 years. We ate dinner there two nights in a row and thoroughly enjoyed visiting with the wife. She shared a great soup thickening trick she uses to make an outstanding, simple vegetable soup. Yum!! Our god parents will be moving to this area later this year, and Matt and I are already planning the places we want to visit with them! We've found a couple of definite gems along the Rhine to share with them and can hardly wait!! :) They're going to love it over here! "Do you hear water?" "Yeah, I think it's coming from over there." "Huh. I wonder where this little path leads." "Hey, Babe, come check this out! I found the water!" "Back there?" "Come on! There's a creek running between the houses back here! How cool is this?!" We ended up wandering around in people's back yards before finding our way back to the street! What a fun little town! We enjoyed the small village feel so much that we checked out of the place we were staying in and rented a room in an older couple's home for the night. The cute little old lady didn't speak any English and kept gushing about how good my German was (yeah, right!). In the morning she'd set up a table in their living room and covered it with linen and china so we could have a private breakfast. Her other guests ate in the breakfast room, so we assumed she didn't want us to feel awkward being the only English speakers in a room of Germans, and gave us a place where we could talk without feeling rude. She was so cute! She had a jar of fresh honey on the table and proudly told us her husband keeps bees. It was so good, we brought a jar home with us! That's definitely the way to travel; tromp around through town and stay with people who let rooms in their homes. Who wouldn't want to stay somewhere this cute! Thank you, Mom, for blessing us with a wonderful time away!!

No such thing as too much Polish pottery!

2008-04-06T11:37:00.001-07:00

Mom R. has been visiting for the past couple of weeks. We were so happy that she was able to come for Easter again this year, but the weather has been the pits! It started snowing the day she flew in and kept snowing off and on for the first whole week. Yuk! It looked pretty, but was too cold to go out and do much in. We had one nice day the next week and have been rained and drizzled on ever since. But no self-respecting Polish pottery aficinado would let something as insignificant as horrible weather prevent her from making a run to Poland, so off we went! We spent the night at our usual stop, the Elim Christian Center, affectionately called "The Mission". The Mission is centered in an old palace built in the 1500's by a German nobleman. It had fallen into near complete disrepair and was purchased several years ago by a Christian mission organization. Volunteers have spent countless hours and money slowly working to transform the building into a viable retreat center. The hosts are wonderful and we always enjoy visiting with them. Spending time in such a poverty stricken country is always eye-opening. We have so much! And take most of it for granted. But due to the skyrocketing prices of the pottery, Mom and I did our best to help the local economy. :) I was stunned by how much prices have increased in the 5 months since I was over there with my Mom. I'm not sure if I'll be able to continue shopping like I'd hoped to; it's no longer the bargain it used to be, but I just love the stuff! On our way to the factories we stopped to explore one of the local cemeteries. I was so saddened by the neglect and obvious poverty. Rusty, slipshod iron crosses and toppled grave stones on the few marked graves. By contrast, the cemetery in the next little town is always well tended and bedecked in colorful flowers. I've passed this cemetery on every trip and am surprised each time by the explosion of color. Poland is definitely a country of contrasts. If anyone is looking for some Polish pottery, let me know soon, before it's no longer worth it to make the trip! Better yet, come over and we can go together! :)

First Communion

2008-04-06T11:18:00.000-07:00

A's Sunday School class celebrated their First Communion last week. It was wonderful to see all the children dressed up in their beautiful white clothes to receive Communion. Here's our little princess... 'A' received her First Communion with the rest of us last fall, when we entered the Catholic church, but was allowed to participate with the rest of the kids her age. It was a beautiful, special day for her! She fairly glowed! Again, I did the cake for the after church celebration. White, with a layer of lemon curd off-set by a layer of vanilla cream.

Fun with fondant!

2008-03-27T12:49:00.000-07:00

I was asked to make a cake for a friend's daughter's 4th birthday and came up with this. The instructions left me lots of play room. "Strawberry or raspberry filling, and 'Happy 4th Birthday, *****!'" I copied the lion from the party invitation and made him and all the polka dots out of marshmallow fondant. K and I have decided fondant is a lot of fun to play with because it' s like playdough. In contrast with regular fondant, this marshmallow stuff tastes great, so it gets eaten with the cake.K made a great little tag that read "Happy 4th Birthday" and we stuck it in the top of the cake with a paper clip we'd straightened and spiraled the end of; it looked like a cute little photo holder. I still need lots of practice, but I think it turned out pretty well for a first attempt. I'll be spending lots of time practicing on bigger cakes over the next couple of weeks, as I have 3 cakes for 100-110 people to produce.

A Letter for Mr. Scott Bean

2008-03-25T08:41:00.000-07:00

Sir,

I pray the above title is neither presumptuous nor egregious, but, instead, conveys the utmost respect due a gentleman of your advanced years.

I fear a lack of verbal skills will prevent me from adequately expressing the shame I felt upon your gracious disclosure of my blunder. Please accept my heartfelt apology for any distress caused by such blatant carelessness. My intent was certainly not to place less importance on any one of your auspicious years. After all, one would then have to assess each year in order to determine which could most easily be done without. As you have been a continuous source of joy and levity in the lives of so many, the task would undoubtedly prove futile, thereby leaving us with an extra year to somehow squeeze in amongst the others. Reflecting on the youthful enthusiasm you continue to exhibit, must have, I'm afraid, distracted me from the daunting task of accurately counting your years on earth.

Rest assured, dear Sir, that I have made careful note of this most embarrassing error, so as to avoid it in the future. My best, though slightly belated, wishes for a glorious 27th year for you!

I remain your most impassioned supporter,

Ms. Mai Tungin da Cheek

Five years ago....

2008-03-24T10:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a great day on many levels. First and foremost, it was the Resurrection Day of our Saviour. It was also my greatly adored little brother's 26th Birthday! Happy, happy Birthday, Scott!! We love you!! In addition, yesterday marked the 5 year anniversary of the "Ambush of the 507th".

One of my dearest friends, and fellow blogger, asked if I'd consider posting about that day; at risk of being labeled a bore, I'll attempt to put in writing our experiences during the days leading up to and following the ambush.

Sunday, March 23, 2003 started early. The kids and I had stayed the night in Moab, Utah, on our way back to El Paso, after spending Spring Break visiting family in Salt Lake City. Matt had enlisted in the Army (for the third time!) several months earlier and had deployed with his Battalion in February. We all missed him terribly and needed to do something fun to distract us from Matt's absence. I had intended to start heading home a couple of days earlier, but the kids had all been sick during our visit, so we stayed an extra day. Between the six kids we had four kids with Strep throat, three with bronchitis, and two with walking pneumonia. What a fun time we had running between the local Urgent Care clinic and the pharmacy! Our little Banana was just days shy of 5 months old, and was one of the kids diagnosed with bronchitis earlier in the week. I spent most of Saturday night hovering over her while she slept next to me, her nursing was weak and she didn't seem very hungry. We loaded the van and continued heading south, stopping in Gallup, NM, so the kids could run around in the McDonald's Playland.

As I held Banana I noticed that her breathing didn't feel right; she felt like she was tugging with each breath. I debated whether we'd get the best care for her in Albequerque (an hour's drive) or back in El Paso (6 hours), and decided if the Gallup hospital was right on the way, we'd stop and have her checked, otherwise we'd continue on to Albequerque. The blue hospital sign on the side of the road made the decision for me. I checked little Banana in and the older kids spread out across the exam room floor with color books while we waited for the doctor. Within half an hour Banana had been diagnosed with severe pneumonia and put on oxygen. The doctor informed me that we could anticipate up to a week before she would be ready to leave the hospital. A week in a strange town with an oxygenated, nursing infant, and five older kids. Leaving my baby alone in a hospital while I slept in a hotel with the other kids was not an option, but I had no idea what else to do.

I used the phone in the exam room to call my in-laws to let them know where we were and what was going on. When I finished filling my father-in-law in, he asked me if I'd been watching the news. Of course, since we'd been on the road all day, I hadn't. He then told me that the 507th had been ambushed that morning and that there were several soldiers killed and several taken POW. He'd already been in contact with our commander's wife, who confirmed that Matt was involved in the ambush, but that his status was unknown. I don't think we can ever be adequately prepared to hear words that could change our lives forever. How can something as intangible as spoken words have the power to alter our realities? At the very moment I heard those words my world split in two. The inconceivable had violently forced its way into my ordered little universe. As uncertain as the future appeared at that moment, I was absolutely certain of one thing. My husband was not one of the dead. He might be wounded, or he might have even been captured, but he wasn't dead. I knew he would be coming home, and nothing could have dissuaded me otherwise. During my quiet prayer time before the deployment, the Lord had given me absolute peace about Matt coming home. He also impressed on me to pray Psalm 91 for Matt every day during the deployment, and I did. My biggest fear was that Matt would be identified as one of the POW's and that he'd suffer horrific abuse that would psychologically alter him. I knew he was coming home, I just didn't know in what condition.

Making sure we were in that hospital at that very time was the most loving thing God could have done for me. The hospital staff were unbelievable! After hearing the news, one of the nurses took the older kids on a tour of the hospital so I could have time to make phone calls to the rest of my family. Another one ordered food to be delivered for the kids since it was after 8:00 and we hadn't eaten. Without exception, every doctor and nurse we saw during our stay took the time to tell me they were praying for Matt and for us. When Banana was ready to go to her room, one of the nurses came in to tell me the hospital administrator had approved them clearing out a large room and moving extra beds in there for all of us. They brought up pj's, towels, and toothbrushes, and they let Banana sleep in my bed so I wouldn't have to get up to nurse her. "A" was in the room when I spoke with my father-in-law, but none of the other kids had a clue that anything was amiss, other than their baby sister being sick.

My darling sister was able to find one open seat on a flight from my mother-in-law's home to Albequerque, so Mom-in-law flew in and drove to Gallup the next day. That she was able to find a seat at all during spring break and at the last minute, was more evidence of God's loving hand over us. I was so humbled by her willingness to drop everything and come to us, without even knowing if I was going to have to give her devastating news about her son.

Shortly after Mom-in-law arrived, the Diabetic Education nurse came into the room, introduced herself, and invited Mom and the kids to stay at her house. She was a widow and had a large home and wanted to do something to help us. She and Mom hit it off, so the kids packed up and left with Grandma. I've never before experienced the level of love and caring that the staff at that hospital showed us. It was such a gift from God. One afternoon an employee came in our room and offered to take our laundry downstairs and wash it for me. She knew we were living out of suitcases and wanted to help. Countless people from nearly every department stopped in to check on Banana and let me know they were praying for us. An employee from the local grocery store brought in bags of food and snacks (I think my darling sister was behind that, but she's never really fessed up!). Nurses came and took the kids out to play in the park so Mom and I could have a few minutes of down-time. One employee brought in a portable dvd player and a stack of Veggie Tales and Disney movies for the kids to watch during the long days. The hospital Vice President personally visited us and brought an age appropriate book for each one of the kids to read on the way home. The hospital Chaplain gave me a little pewter box shaped like an angle with an angel pin inside to wear as a reminder of her prayers for Matt's safe return. There really was no better place for us to be that week, than in that hospital.

I spent the evenings reading my Bible, praying, and trying to write to Matt. I refused to watch the news and everything else on tv seemed completely inane. My husband was, literally, God-only-knows-where. My baby was very, very sick. And my other kids needed to be shielded from what was going on until I knew for sure what really was going on.

Banana made a recovery the doctors deemed remarkable and we were able to check out on Wednesday afternoon. I'd been told that the official list of KIA's, MIA's and POW's would be released sometime that day, so we headed out knowing that we wouldn't have specific information until we made it home to El Paso. I think the first thing Mom and I did, after walking in the front door, was turn on CNN. Within minutes we saw the confirmed list and cried with relief that Matt's name wasn't on any of them. But Jessica Lynch's was. Jessie was Matt's clerk and driver. Knowing she was missing, while he wasn't, kept me praying all the more for him. My darling husband won't even pretend to be progressive. He firmly believes, as do I, that men are meant to be the natural protectors of women. Men have an instinctive desire to shield and protect us from danger. I knew that seeing Jessie taken by the enemy would have been very difficult for him; he would have personally borne all the responsibility for anything she suffered from that point on. So I continued praying Psalm 91. When I realized that Jessie and Matt were riding in separate vehicles at the time of the ambush, I knew it was further evidence of God's protection.

The following Monday, as Mom and I were enjoying a morning cup of coffee, the phone rang. My "Hello?" was answered with "Hey, Babe!", and, for the second time in 8 days, my world seemed to come to a screeching halt. I was so flooded with emotions, I could hardly breathe for a moment. Time stood still. And once again, God's goodness shone brightly. Matt's mom was there, so she was able to talk with her son before flying home a couple of days later. As a mom, I know how much that meant to her and I was so grateful for the perfect timing of that call. During our conversation Matt shared many of the details of the ambush, and I was left speechless at how Divinely protected he really had been. So many details all worked together to put him exactly where he needed to be. From his personal truck breaking down, to the truck he was squeezed into, to the next truck he was put in, to the position of that truck in the convoy line, to the fatigue of his substitute driver. Everything perfectly orchestrated to place Matt exactly where God needed him.

Because of his actions and leadership in the moments following the ambush, Matt was credited with saving the lives of 4 of the wounded soldiers, while putting himself at mortal risk due to mortars being fired at him as he worked to stabilize and move the wounded. He was awarded the Bronze Star with V-Device for Valor in a nationally televised ceremony in July. Needless to say, we were all very proud of him. In the weeks and months following the ambush, Matt and I both had several opportunities to share our experiences through television and newspaper interviews. It was exciting to be able to talk to so many people about the fact that God was very much present in the midst of the chaos and devastation. Not to ever make light of the senseless and mind-numbing loss, but He was there. Ten of our soldiers came home draped in the American flag, as did nineteen Marines. It was ugly and mind-bogglingly painful. But God was there.

Two days after the ambush a group of Marines was sent in to recover whatever they could from the remaining vehicles. The truck carrying Matt's gear had been hit and almost everything in it destroyed. The only things the Marines were able to salvage for him were his toothbrush and his unscathed Bible. He'd someday like to have a shadow box displaying both his award and that Bible, opened to Psalm 91. "Though a thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, it will not come near you...For He will give His angels charge over you to protect you in all your ways. With their hands they shall support you lest you strike your foot against a stone...Whoever clings to me I will deliver; whoever knows my name I will set on high. All who call upon me I will answer. I will be with them in distress. I will deliver them and give them honor." Matt lived these verses. The soldier sitting next to him, who was the only licensed truck driver and should have been at the wheel instead of Matt, was hit in the face with glass and had shrapnel in his foot. Matt didn't have a scratch. I could almost hear the Psalm being sung in the background as he walked me through the details of that day. Guns pointed at his head, bullets flying through the windshield and out the back, glass shattering, mortars exploding and sending dirt and debris flying. So much chaos, and he didn't even strike his foot against a stone. Both physically and psychologically, he was completely protected.

It doesn't seem possible that five years has passed since that day. Yet, on the other hand, it seems like a lifetime ago. I pray that we all really become a praying people. Praying for the thousands of families living every day with the painful void of a beloved soldier. Praying for our leaders and the leaders around the world. Praying for peace. And praying that in any way He chooses, we each might be instrumental in the name of our God being glorified throughout the earth.

Great News!

2008-03-24T00:18:00.000-07:00

Or "When God inexplicably opens a door that by all accounts is sealed shut"

For those of you unfamiliar with military jargon, please don't be dissuaded by the occasional acronym. :)

We've been fighting bouts of spontaneous grateful giggles, since confirming an 'inside' rumor that Matt had been selected for promotion. We knew he was potentially eligible because he'd hit the first benchmark of 18 months since his previous promotion. That benchmark put him into the "secondary zone" for promotion, or the early promotion zone. Most promotions come in the "primary zone", which is another year to 18 months down the road. In December Matt received notice that his ERB (military records) were eligible to be sent to the promotion board, unless he declined. Several weeks earlier he checked his records and found that almost 8 years of his service had disappeared; including his deployment to Iraq. His ERB included his award citation from Iraq, but no other record of his even being there. (The personnel office at our former duty station has somehow managed to "lose" the deployment records for the entire Battalion that Matt deployed with!) Our local personnel office was proving unable to track down the missing records as well, so Matt nearly opted to decline submitting his records. He can't explain why he didn't decline because he "knew" he didn't stand a chance with an incomplete ERB; the promotions are too competitive from this point on.

But, against all odds, he made the list! He hasn't even completed the required pre-promotion school yet!! He'll be finishing the last half of the school in the fall, and his promotion number places him in line for a late fall/early winter promotion, so the timing will be perfect. When looking at Matt's incomplete record, it makes no sense that he'd be promoted above other soldiers we know with complete records, completed school, and great assignments; but he was. The promotion comes with a pay raise of almost 30%, which adds an extra layer to our gratitude. ;) It also provides the change of job Matt we'd been hoping for. His current leadership is more than a little challenging which has turned his work into drudgery lately. Because of the upcoming promotion, he's now overqualified for his current position and is being moved to from the company to the battalion level on the 15th.

One more reason we're excited about this, is that Matt will no longer be "traveling" with his soon-to-be former company, which MAY provide the opportunity for him to try to go to our family reunion with us this summer! Yea!!

The humbling lesson in this has been that nothing can stop God's blessings when you're truly in His Will.

Easter Blessings

2008-03-22T01:54:00.000-07:00

We want to share our favorite Easter song and wish you all a blessed and meaningful Easter.

Dining Room Math

2008-03-16T08:39:00.001-07:00

I just love learning breakthroughs! Our dear Schmabbers struggles with spatial and abstract concepts. God bless Grandma B! When she visited in November, she spent what seemed like hours sitting with Schmab and going over how to round numbers up and down, and it finally clicked! Thank you, Grandma!! We've been cruising along until this week when it was time to introduce measurement conversions. Story problems like "Timmy is 4 feet tall. How many inches tall is he?" resulted in glazed-over stares and answers like "13?" "10?" "40?"
After praying for a bit of inspiration to help our little princess wrap her mind around this new concept, I realized she needed to see concrete examples of what feet and yards look like and how they break down into inches. We have Italian tile floors that are the bane of my life during school hours. Someone inevitably drops small pieces of mechanical pencil lead on the floor, which then get stuck on the bottom of the chair legs, which wouldn't be such a big deal if the chairs never moved. But we end up with black pencil marks all over the floor near the dining/school table, and it drives me nuts! This week, however, they became the spark we needed for a hands-on activity in measuring.
Banana was the first victim in our little game, but all the kids took turns being measured, even our biggest dorks, who were upset when they thought we'd left them out! Everyone's length was measured and marked with the wonderful mechanical pencils I was earlier cursing. The the kids worked together to mark off 1 foot increments, then inches within each foot. Schmabbers got to count the number of feet and try to figure out the inches, then she counted the inches to double-check her answers. After a couple of tries, by Jove, she got it!! (As did her younger sister!) "Every foot is 12 inches, Schmab, so 2 feet is just two 12's!" (Banana's been having fun writing out and solving multiplication problems this week. Between dress-up princess games and coloring, of course! I don't think she realizes 5 year olds aren't supposed to understand any of this stuff yet.)
Daddy came home to find the floor covered in markings, with one tile listing everyone's stats, and a proud 7 year old eagerly waiting to explain it all to him. These are the homeschool moments that make the nutty moments worth it. I didn't even grumble when I mopped the floor that night.

How sexy are you?

2008-03-14T02:25:00.000-07:00

What a little ragamuffin!!

Let them eat bread!

2008-03-12T13:22:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd share a loaf of fresh bread with all of you this morning. One of these days someone will invent smellavision so you can get the full effect; but until that time pictures will have to do. I love having a machine to do all the messy work for me, so all I have to do is shape it and put it in a pan. Look at the dome on that baby!

Washing machines aren't the only tiny appliance we get to make do with over here; check out our tiny oven! I can get one 9x13 in with the handles almost touching the sides. I can barely close the door to fit my Pampered Chef bar pan in with the short side to the back of the oven. The long sides are 2" longer than the oven is wide. I think I'm going to have to start baking right on the floor of the oven because it's baking too hot on top and browning too much.

All done! Mmmmm....the house smells sooo good! As soon as it cools I'll be fighting K for the heel.

Ha! I won! The top is a little darker than I prefer, so I'll try it on the oven floor tomorrow. But the texture is perfect! For those of you who bake, I suggest trying white or golden wheat for your bread instead of red. I've never been crazy about the harsher flavor and denser texture of the red. White wheat has the same nutritional value as the red, but makes a loaf so light no one will believe it's whole wheat. I'll be happy to share my dough enhancer recipe, if anyone is interested.

A Day In Our Life

2008-03-10T08:03:00.000-07:00

I'm often asked what our typical day is like, so if you've ever wanted a voyeuristic peek into a 'normal' day at our house, here you have it:

0445- Superman wakes up, brushes his teeth and dresses for PT (physical training).
0500- Superman wakes me from a semi-coma. I stumble to the bathroom, where he's loaded and laid out my toothbrush (how sweet is that?) and brush my teeth.
0505- We meet downstairs for 30-45 minutes of prayer/scripture reading.
0545- Superman grabs his uniform and boots, kisses me, assures me of his undying devotion, and heads out the door for work.
0550- The bread machine beeps. I dump the dough into my hands, shape it, place it in a bread pan, cover it, and leave it to rise while the oven preheats.
0550- I sit down with a cup of tea, my Bible, and a journal and take advantage of the only minutes of quiet solitude I'll have for the day.
0600- The washing machine beeps, informing me that I programmed it correctly the night before and is now starting its first wash cycle of the day.
0630- Bread goes into the oven. I check the day's menu to see if anything needs to be pulled out of the freezer. Back to my Bible and notebook.
0640- Schmabbers and Banana come downstairs and are sent back up to rest quietly until 0700. (I need my alone time!)
0700- Both little girls are back downstairs with happy grins, big hugs, and dragon breath.
0705- 0715- I wake up the remaining sleeping kiddos and make sure whichever teen has class at the high school is up and getting ready for the 0815 bus.
0715- Another beautiful, feather-light loaf of whole wheat bread comes out of the oven. Yum!
0730- Breakfast is started while the kids de-stink their collective mouths.
0730- The washing machine beeps again, this time to announce the completion of the washing. (These crazy German machines take 1:45 to finish a load and only hold 8 lb. of clothes! We do laundry all day long!) 'A' usually hears the machine and puts the clothes into the dryer for me, then starts a new load before coming up for breakfast.
0800- Kids clear their dishes and head in different directions- getting dressed, making beds, picking on each other and starting fights...If all is going well, this is when I can jump in the shower.
0830-0900- We try to start the school day at about this time, depending on what else I'm involved in at the moment. If I'm at all distracted; forget it! Nobody is motivated to start until I'm looming over them.
0900-1200- School, reminders that siblings' body parts were intended to be neither pin cushions nor punching bags, questions, answers, laughter, bickering, reminders that bad choices mean earlier bed time (Horrors!), moments of frustrated mental-blocks, and victorious accomplishments.
0930- Dry clothes out of the dryer, wet clothes in, new load started.
1145- Lunch prep and table/kitchen clean-up.
1145- Dry clothes out of the dryer, wet clothes in, new load started. This is ridiculous! Couldn't we just try having a Naked Day once or twice a week?
1200-1230- Lunch. We like to read a book during lunch, but we've been out of our groove lately. I'm trying to decide which one to start next. In the meantime, 'J' has been occasionally been reading excerpts of whatever book he's reading. He's a great read-alouder!
1230-1315- Recess/free time. Now that the weather's warming up the kids usually head to the back yard to kick the soccer ball around or play tag. If it's cold we have characters in all sorts of dress-up clothes running around in make-believe land. If I'm feeling especially benevolent I might let the older kids play "Dance, Dance Revolution".
1315-1500-The younger kids are often finished with school work by lunch or right after recess. The older ones are usually done by 1500. (It would be earlier if they didn't all suffer from such severe ADD!)
1330- Another laundry switch-out.

('M' working on history while I start beans for tomorrow's dinner of Mexican waffles.)

1500-1630-The kids earn tickets for school work completed and can turn them in for minutes on the computer, playing video games, or watching a movie.
1500- Today's snack is apples and peanut butter. Banana came screaming into the room with her mouth wide open crying about the hot peanut butter. 'A' didn't realize we were out of regular, so he gave her the spicy kind (peanuts, honey, cinnamon & cayenne). Oooops! Banana and I made up a quick batch of plain, boring p.b. in our fabulous new Vitamix.
1630- Kids work on a quick check of their weekly chore responsibilities while I start dinner and go over school work. I try to enter grades into the computer daily, but I'm usually a couple of days behind.
1730- Superman is usually walking in the door. After recovering from an onslaught of tackle-hugs, he goes upstairs to change for dinner.
1800- We try to shoot for dinner at this time, but life seems to get in the way an awful lot lately. We're almost always done, though, by 1900.
1900-1930- Either Superman or I usually help the child whose dish day it is, so clean-up goes faster.
1930- The last load of the day comes out of the dryer to be folded while we watch our show. Tomorrow's first load is programmed to start at 0600. One of the little kids grinds flour for tomorrow's loaf of bread and the bread machine is programmed to be finished with our dough early the next morning.
1930-2000- Baths/brushing teeth/story time/prayers/kisses. We try to get the little girls into bed by 2000. 'J' heads downstairs to his bed to read until 2030.
2100-2200- Superman and the older two or three kids and I sit down and watch an episode of whatever tv series we've borrowed from the library. (We don't have cable, so we don't watch regular tv) Lately we've been watching season 7 of Gilmore Girls. Season 3 of House is next. On Sunday, our electronics-free day, we challenge each other to Blockus or chess or Apples to Apples or Labyrinth.
2200- I check the menu for breakfast and set out anything that needs to thaw. We hug our teens, send them to bed, brush our teeth, and turn-in.

I need to squeeze a block of work-out time in there somewhere, but I haven't figured out how to do it consistently yet. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!!

Canadian idiots!

2008-03-10T05:38:00.000-07:00

We've come to the realization that our kids probably listen to too much Weird Al. Our youngest four can't get enough of him, and I must admit (with my head appropriately shamefully bowed) that "Weasel Stomping Day" and "The Night Santa Went Crazy" always make me laugh. But the other day Banana and I were talking about different Bible characters and she was telling me the story of Samson, who really impresses her because "he had these really huge, big muscles". This is what followed:
(Five year old hands on skinny five year old hips) "Delilah would NOT have tricked Samson if those Canadians hadn't told her to!"
"Canadians?! What Canadians?!"
"The Canadians that poisoned her and made her turn evil so she'd trick Samson." (Duuuhh, Mom!)
"Honey, there weren't any Canadians in Bible times. It was the Philistines who captured Samson, and no one poisoned Delilah."
"Sigh. The Philistines worked for the Canadians, Mom. And that's who poisoned Delilah so she'd want to trick Samson into telling her about his hair."
"Where in the world did you get the idea that the Canadians were behind all of this?"
"Mom! The Canadians are idiots! That means they're evil. Evil people poison other people and trick them into being bad!"
"Sigh. 'J'! Please put in different music. Let's listen to some Vivaldi or Mozart."

ROME!!!

2008-02-17T06:37:00.001-08:00

Wow! What a great trip this was! It wasn't everything it could have been, since Matt wasn't able to go with us, but the memories will last us a lifetime. There are so many amazing things to see in Rome, and three days just wasn't enough time to see it all. The tour bus broke down on our last day which threw off our tight schedule by several hours. We were afraid we'd end up missing out on seeing the Collessium, which A was dying to see, but managed a walk around the outside on our way to dinner before leaving for home. The sheer size of it is staggering!

Those of us old enough to grasp it were very sobered by the reality that the walls we were looking at were the last things thousands of Christian martyrs saw before being eaten alive by wild animals. It's so easy to take our religious freedom for granted, and this was a good eye-opener for us.
This shot of St. Peter's Square was taken from the top of the Basilica Cupola. The view was breathtaking and the weather perfect for gawking out-of-towners, like us! Having nearly died climbing up 380 steps to the top of the cathedral tower in Prague with my mother-in-law, the thought of dragging my sorry behind up the 550 steps to the Cupola balcony held no appeal. Enter my 16-1/2 yo son, who still thinks I'm the coolest mom on the planet, and his unbridled enthusiasm won me over. We managed to lose M on the way up (still can't figure that one out!), so our 550 steps grew to over 750 as we walked up and down looking for him. Little Banana was a trooper!! Towards the top of the Cupola the stairs become extremely narrow and steep as they spiral upward, and our only handhold was a fat rope that hung from the top down through the middle of the spiraling stairs. Turning around wasn't an option. There wasn't even room for us to share a step, so upward we climbed. Bananas little legs were really worn out, so I ended up squeezing up the stairs while carrying her for quite a while, and carried her most of the way back down, but we made it! People were starting to gather in the Square for the Sunday Papal Blessing, so I was a little nervous about not being able to find M. Still got a great shot of the Square, though.
I absolutely love this pic of K and Schmabbers! A group of British teenage boys saw K and started talking about "the gorgeous girl in the red sweatshirt". They were joking about which one was going to talk to her, but decided none of them spoke Italian well enough to attempt it and wandered off. K thought it was a hoot as she stood there pretending she didn't understand what they were saying!
A was a great help with Banana. She thinks he's the coolest thing on two legs and loves hanging out with him. He gives great shoulder rides, too! On this day we were walking from out hotel to Vatican City and she was explaining to him why there were so many mopeds in Rome. Apparently mopeds are the fastest things in the whole world. Moped engines are also used in 'Midget Cars', which are made for midgets, even though they don't really exist. A lot of people think midgets are real, but they aren't! Only 'Midget Cars' are real and they have moped engines in them so they can go really fast. A's so good at playing along with her and letting her think she's sharing new and important information with him!
We made it down the Cupola steps and through the Basilica in time to gather for the Papal Blessing. We even found M wandering around in a state of mild panic before we left the Basilica. Thank God! During his address, the Pope welcomed our group from -------, US Army Base in -------, Germany, (which scored big points with the kids) before praying for us. Very cool! He spoke in 6 different languages during his address, and speaks at least 2 others! Good grief...I have problems with one!! Matt's more determined than ever to make it to Rome after hearing about everything we were able to see and experience. Maybe in the fall or next spring. (Lord willin' and the creek don't rise!)

2008-02-03T23:25:00.000-08:00

Hi, it's K. I would like to ask for your prayers. We have some family friends who live in Oregon, they have five kids. Yesterday morning we received a phone call from my grandmother, who told us that their oldest son had been killed in a snow boarding accident on Saturday. Thank GOD that the family and Jared(their son) are Christians, but, um.. it's been really hard on our family and I can't even grasp what they must be going through. Their other children are: Sarah(23), Becca(21), then Jared(20), James(14),and Grace(9) and the parents are Scott and Joyce Nagel.
Please keep the Nagel family in your prayers this week so that through your prayers they know that their son and brother are in the LORD'S arms.

Thank you, K.

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's.....

2008-01-29T00:51:00.000-08:00

A asked me to go on the latest JROTC (Jr. ROTC) ski trip with him this past weekend. We went to church Saturday eve. and left early Sunday morning, leaving hubby home with the other kids. We ignorantly anticipated weather mirroring the last trip, and ended up sorely ill prepared. The younger boys had misplaced one of A's good ski gloves, so we grabbed another pair as we ran out the door and thought we'd be fine. The weather started getting uglier as the bus made its way up the mountain, but my latent Pollyanna tendency raised its head and tried to convince me that all the extra snow would make the skiing more fun. Pollyanna's an idiot. It wasn't snow being blown by gale-force winds, it was ice. Ice is hard. And cold. Did I mention that it's hard? Not as hard as cobblestones, but nothing you'd want being thrown at your face. By the time we made our way up to the lift-ticket booth I was done. My face felt raw. My new plan was to crawl to the lodge and spend the day reading and listening to hubby's iPod, but the JROTC Commander somehow managed to convince me that it wouldn't be so bad once we actually started skiing. The Arctic ice-blast was blowing from the top of the mountain down, so, in theory, if we were also going down the mountain it wouldn't be bad at all. Not all theories hold up under experimentation, and this one completely collapsed. This was no ordinary Arctic ice-blast. This one was possessed by Satan himself and managed to blow right at us regardless of our direction. It's not easy to ride a T-bar while covering your face with both hands. Although, had we included goggles and neck socks or face masks in our ski wear we might not have picked up that helpful little tidbit, so it all works out. Pollyanna once again raised her deceptive head and pointed out that there's always a bright-side. Maybe having ice gravel blasted into my face would be like a natural microdermabrasion treatment. Pollyanna lies. There was no bright -side. No youthful, dewy glow for me! No, sir. By lunch time I looked like I'd had gravel thrown at my face for hours.

After lunch Major (the Commander) decided A and I had progressed enough to go to the chair lift and make our way down a couple of blue hills. The blue runs were more protected from the flying ice so we were actually able to focus on improving our technique rather than making sure we weren't blown into the oncoming T-bar. Major and his wife are great teachers and A and I made it down the blue slopes without dying, which on first glance I wasn't so sure we'd accomplish. But we pulled it off with only one mishap while disembarking the chair, which resulted in my skis and legs wrapping around me in an unnatural and extremely painful position. Forget standing gracefully when your feet are twisted up around your head with 5-foot sticks attached to them. It wasn't pretty.

The highlight of the day, however, happened on our final descent. Major took-off after telling us he knew another way down. Being obedient little cadets we followed him and suddenly found ourselves heading off the slope onto the untouched powder of the treeline. "A" thought it was awesome and his exuberance led to a burst of pure teenage wisdom that sent him off in a different direction than Major in an attempt to "beat him to the bottom". I was pulling up the rear and desperately trying not to lose control as I straddled small fir trees and brush. Before I knew what had happened I found myself face-first in a cloud of powder with my feet around my ears again. I learned something else, though. Avoid having to put your skis back on on virgin powder. It's hard to push back into the bindings without anything of substance under the skis. When I'd stopped laughing and picked myself back up I noticed "A" way off one direction while Major was way off in the opposite direction. "A" was slowly trying to maneuver his way back through the scrub and trees and was having a hard time of it, but laughing at his own stupidity in thinking he could randomly take-off and guess at which direction Major was heading and beat him. He passed me to try to catch up with Major, (testosterone at work, once again!) and as I came around a bend I heard him shout as I watched him fly off an embankment, land for a split second, then splat face-first and skid to a stop. His skis popped off and landed next to him, missing his head, thank goodness, which is obviously not always working at full-capacity anyway. I laughed so hard I cried. It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life! I stood there holding my sides and wiping my eyes as "A" laughed and shouted about how "totally cool" it had been. It was the perfect ending to our trip!

My tired, old body needs to be better conditioned for this type of activity. The muscle spasms in my back aren't as bad today, but I'm definitely still stiff. "A" and I may be going on the JROTC overnight hiking/ski trip next month and I certainly can't be moaning and groaning around a bunch of teenagers. How "uncool" would that be! Because of the bad gloves he had to wear "A" ended up with cold weather injuries to his hands; mostly his fingertips. We got him warmed up just shy of frostbite, so he had the subcutaneous blisters without the skin discoloration. Only his fingernails hurt today and his grip is still weaker than it should be, but he's on the mend. Unfortunately, he'll probably always suffer from hand/finger pain in cold weather now; but Pollyanna tells me this was an important, albeit painful, lesson for him to learn about knowing his own limits and being humble enough to risk looking like a wimp and quit when he needs to. (She'd better not be lying to me again.)

Zoom, zoom...

2008-01-28T23:58:00.000-08:00

"Schmabbers, can I sleep with you?" "Sure, Banana. Come on up!" Aren't sisters great?

This month has flown by! With hubby away at school until last weekend and juggling school and extras without him, blogging was at the bottom of my priority list. Above trimming my toenails, but way below forcing time for a daily shower. In order to conserve energy our water heater is timed and usually only functions for a couple of hours at a time each day. If we don't jump in before 0700 (Yeah...right! I'm going to get up, have quiet time, work out, make breakfast, AND take a shower by 0700!) we're often out of luck until close to dinner time (another really convenient time for a stay-at-home mom to wash the daily grime from her tired, squishy body!) or after 1900 (7:00 pm for you civilians). Sigh... But hubby's home again so we're back into our normal groove while we wait to hear when he'll have to fly Stateside for the final 7 weeks of this course. Hopefully sooner than later, so it won't interfere with our vacation plans. Oregon coast here we come!!!

School's going well. A and K are a few weeks behind in biology because the pond water required for several experiments is locked under inches of ice. Who knows how many microbes survive months of winter ice anyway; so we wait for the spring thaws. They're going to jump ahead to disecting the poor stinky creatures that have inhabited the dark recesses of our storage cubby and catch up on the pond water later. The kids have all voted for doing school year-round rather than take 3 months off in the summer, so it'll all work out. ("Summer's too long, Mom." "It gets boring after a couple of weeks.") We're shooting for 9 weeks on, 2 weeks off, but will keep it flexible to fit with travel plans and company.

Our big excitement lately is an upcoming trip to Rome! We leave on the 8th for a 5 day trip with others from our parish (congregation). We have aschedule full of sight-seeing and eating "real" pizza and have been invited to have tea with one of the Cardinals in his private apartment! The kids are going nuts with excitement, and we're just hoping nobody drops a cup or breaks something.
"I'm so sorry about your grandmother's cup, Your Eminance! If you have some seltzer water I'm sure I can get that stain up!"
"M! Get your feet off the coffee table! And J, do NOT lean over the balcony railing!"
"It's not a dress, girls. It's a ROBE."
"Boys! 5 sugar cubes is more than enough!!"
"What's that, Your Eminance? Yes, children ARE such a blessing, aren't they? More?? Why, we'd just love to have as many more as the Lord sees fit to give us."

(Note to self: Practice sincere tone of voice.)

Three teenagers!! EEEEKKKK!!

2008-01-09T02:38:00.001-08:00

It's official! We've entered the crazy zone. On Sunday (Epiphany) M turned 13. How does this happen? How do our kids get so old when we don't feel any older? O.K., that's a slight glossing over of the obvious signs of our aging, but we certainly don't feel old enough to have 3 teenagers! We've always lumped M in with the younger kids, as in "We have two teenagers and 4 younger kids". Guess we won't be doing that anymore! He's such a sweet boy and we're so blessed that he's part of our family. I'd been hired to make a cake for a promotion reception on post and it took me hours longer than it should have because my head hurt and I couldn't bend my neck. M decided he'd rather open gifts on Sunday and wait for his birthday dinner and cake on Monday so I could focus on the promotion cake first. That cake turned out really well (pics below)and was picked up Sunday evening, then Monday I put together M's chocolate mint ice cream cake. Yum! We enjoyed his favorite meal of Stackee-up, then ate cake and played Apples to Apples. It was a great day!

More snow pics

2008-01-09T02:32:00.001-08:00

Snow fun!!

2008-01-09T01:03:00.001-08:00

We had so much fun last weekend! A's JROTC instructor is really involved with his group and plans lots of outdoor activities for the kids. They sponsor several ski trips each winter and welcome the families to join their students, so we took advantage and tagged along on Saturday. I hadn't been skiing since before we were married (19 years ago!!!) and had only skied a couple of times before that, so J and I took a beginner's class together. Both the JROTC leader and his wife teach the beginner's class and are fantastic instructors. It "clicked" for me this time, which it hadn't ever done before. Skiing had always consisted of me squeezing my knees together and splaying my feet in a desperate attempt to hold an ackward wedge as I careened down the slope. Skiing was always both a slightly spiritual and terrifying experience. Spiritual in that I consistently witnessed the hand of God miraculously move other skiers out of my Kamakaze path. Terrifying because I felt as out of control as I looked. This time was different; it was fun! This was A's second time and he's caught on really quickly. He'd much rather be snowboarding, but he's learning to enjoy skiing, too. J was a trooper! K tried to learn how to ski but wimped out and spent the afternoon sipping $5 hot chocolate in the lodge. (Big baby!) J pushed himself through lots of frustration without much progress and ended up deciding he wants to keep learning. He managed to successfully take down 2 hapless Germans before having the tables turned and being knocked down by another little girl. One of their skis (the jury is still out on who's) popped up and whacked him in the mouth chipping his front tooth. Hopefully it won't take too long to get him a dental appt. Matt spent the day alternately sledding with the kids and forking over wads of cash for overpriced cocoa and french fries. The younger kids passed out on the bus trip home which gave me some quiet time to read.
Our area was hit with a freak frozen rain storm while we were skiing so we arrived to a world coated with 1/4" of solid ice. Talk about a slow drive home! Our driveway is up a narrow little dead end road that's shared with three other homes. The only way to fit our cars in the driveway is to drive up the end driveway (on an incline) and back up while turning sharply into ours. My hope was that if I had enough momentum going up the driveway I'd be able to slooooowly back into our spot with room left for Matt to park when he got home. I must not have spoken my wishes out loud, because the car clearly didn't understand my expectations and had a plan all it's own. I was barely able to get the wheels to turn, just enough to be angled right at the front bumper of our waiting van, and there I sat. The ice was so thick I couldn't go forward to straighten it out, and continuing backward would have plowed us into our van. I climbed out and slid across the driveway hoping I could find something to throw under the wheels for traction when I heard the ice crunching again and looked up just in time to see the car sliding sideways into the van. Banana was still buckled in the backseat so I hurried to get her (note to self: do NOT try to run on ice again, Dummy!) and instead discovered that German cobblestones have lasted for centuries because they're really hard. And unforgiving to human heads. K came up with the brilliant plan to dig up loose dirt from around the shrubs out front and throw it on the ice. (She gets her brains from me!) It worked like a charm so we completely covered the driveway and road before Matt came home. So, if you don't have salt to deice with try dirt! This is the first day I haven't sported a headache and I can finally turn my neck again, so the self-inflicted mild whiplash is losing it's grip. Maybe I need to buy some golf shoes for winter walking over here...

The new Miss K!

2008-01-01T12:43:00.000-08:00

Drumroll, please!

2008-01-01T12:33:00.000-08:00

My friend Julie and I had a lot of fun cutting and playing with K's hair tonight. It ended up a little shorter than I'd planned (Oooops!), but she looks so cute! She really likes it, too, which makes me feel better about taking so much off. I've never known anyone with hair as thick as hers! We cut off half a pound of hair!! (Yes, we weighed it. What can I say..we're dorks!) Dad says he thinks the cut is great, but it makes her look too old. He'd like to keep her in pigtails so he can pretend she isn't growing up. Enough rambling...

Oh, well....

2008-01-01T01:38:00.000-08:00

While making smoothies and soft pretzels for breakfast this morning my ears were suddenly filled with the sounds of our comical 5 yo singing Christmas carols at the top of her lungs. I quietly stepped closer to the curtained pantry (her oft times secret stage) to fulfill my need for affirmation that at least one of our children is in possession of the Bean musical genes. The tune was clearly recognizable, but the words...... "Oooooh, welllll.....Oooooh, welllll....Ooooooh, wellll....Oh, well! God is the Kiiiiing of Iiiisrael!" After a swallowed snicker and a big smooch I gently explained to her that the words of the beautiful carol she was lyrically butchering were "Noel! Noel! BORN is the King..." to which she looked at me and shrugged as if to say, "Oh, well..."

Career ambitions

2007-12-31T04:45:00.000-08:00

Andrew wants to be this guy when he grows up. (He says, "Not really....but...") This guy is a hoot! Should we be making fun of such a great original song by promoting this parody? Too late, now!

Help settle our debate

2007-12-30T07:33:00.001-08:00

K has been begging me to cut her hair short for several weeks now. She hasn't cut her hair since May so she thinks she's way over due. Matt and I love her hair long and have been trying to stall another haircut, but she won't stop pestering us about it. A few minutes ago she came downstairs (where I was making skirt patterns for the little girls) wielding scissors and asking again if I'd cut her hair. She wants an angled chin-length bob in the front with the back cut in short, spiky layers so she can make it "funky". She almost never wears it down and was surprised to see how long it 's gotten when she saw these pictures. Anyway, we all decided to bring it to the rest of you and ask for your votes for or against K cutting her hair. (This really isn't that big of a deal, but we thought it would be fun to involve the rest of you in our ongoing debate.) So...what do you think? Should she grow it or cut it? And no fair giving a cop-out answer like "It's K's hair, she should do whatever she wants."

We have a new niece!!

2007-12-28T02:27:00.000-08:00

My little brother Scott and his adorable wife Anne welcomed their first baby into the world Wednesday evening. We've been eagerly anticipating the news of her arrival, so we're just bursting with joy for them! Her name is Mackenzie, no middle name has been announced, and she's darling! Anne's dad flew out just in time for Mackenzie's birth and took a bunch of fabulous pictures and a video that he's posted on their family website. Here's the link to little Mackenzie's first moments...http://beanland.wordpress.com/2007/12/27/mackenzie-arrives/#comments

We've now had two nephews and one niece born since we've been overseas and I'm dying to get to the States for a visit so I can get my hands on them! I even had a weird dream last night that we were shopping for a German bunting bag for Mackenzie and found a newborn baby girl tucked inside a hanging bunting bag in a baby boutique. We took her home and were so happy to have another little baby without having to go through the *fun* of body bloating and labor. How strange! (I've been dealing with insomnia for the past many months and often have weird dreams when I finally get to sleep.)

All that to say...Welcome to the world, Mackenzie!!

"Where's the beef?"

2007-12-27T02:08:00.000-08:00

After talking about it for quite awhile now, Matt and I are finally ready to make some major changes in our family's eating habits. Over the years we've tried eliminating all sugar, refined sugar, refined flours, white rice, and red meat at various times and with greatly varying success, but nothing really "stuck". Seeing the health issues in both sides of our families and the chronic congestion/allergy symptoms our kids suffer from has led us to revisit our food choices. And visit to my darling brother and sister-in-law's blog (looking for an update on their now one-day-over-due firstborn daughter) has provided the impetus we needed. My little brother, Scott, is a fabulous cook and a recently converted vegetarian to boot. The dishes he's come up with lately have opened my eyes to the wider variety of menu options out there, and I'm starting to get excited about it. Most of my hang-ups with vegetarianism stem from being raised in Oregon where "vegetarian" means tie-dye wearing, barefoot, unshaved, pot smoking, rarely bathed, liberal wacko, throw-back to the 70's, hippie. Eeek!

Everything we've read says that the easiest way to make sure teenagers get the nutrients and vitamins they need is to include some dairy and eggs in their vegetarian diet. We're fortunate to live overseas where growth hormones and antibiotics aren't fed to the cows and chickens, although food on the German economy is more expensive than it's American counterpart.

The *fun* challenges for me will be: maintaining my Wunder Cook/Baker Extraordinaire status and decreasing our food budget. I usually do a great job of feeding us well without spending too much money. Our monthly food allowance is $350 which includes dog food, tp, etc. We eat well and we eat a lot; too much from the looks of us lately! I know $350 is a lot less than most families would spend to feed 8 people 3 meals a day, 30 days a month, but a fair portion of that amount is spent on sugars, butter, chocolate, eggs, and other baking supplies. We bake a lot! I think it'll be fun to see what happens to our food budget when we're only buying fresh produce, dried beans and fish. (Most of us like fish and the rest will learn to.) I'll still probably use fresh turkey breast now and then and maybe the occasional fresh chicken, but again, animals aren't injected over here. All this to say if any of you have some tried and true, great family-friendly vegetarian recipes you'd like to share I'd love to try them.

Is it Sunday, yet?

2007-12-26T06:03:00.000-08:00

My kids have completely fallen in love with Jesus and love going to church. Banana and I were cleaning her room this afternoon and she stopped working and asked "Is tomorrow Sunday, Mom? Please tell me tomorrow is Sunday! Please, please, please!!" I told her tomorrow is Thursday and asked why she wanted it to be Sunday, and she answered "I know today isn't Sunday, so I was hoping tomorrow was. I just really want to go see Jesus again!" I told her we could call tomorrow and see if there will be daily Mass sometime this week, and if so we would go. She gave me one of her world-class grins and said "Thanks, Mom! That'd be great!" The funny thing is that we've been to church three times this week already; this is the first day we haven't gone and she's already wanting to know when we get to go again. It's not uncommon for me to have to settle a squabble over how many more days it is until Sunday, and several of the kids would probably mutiny if we ever opted to skip an additional service. But they've robbed me of my right to complain about their pestering! Who's going to fuss about their kids wanting to be in church more?

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-26T02:04:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas from Germany! What a wonderful day we had together. M & Joffa were up whispering LOUDLY at 5:30, convinced it was really 6:30 (still waaaay too early!), so they had to be chased back to bed. By 7:30 Schmabbers and Banana (I'm referring to the kids by their nicknames before resorting to numbering them; if numbers would be less confusing let me know.) were waking us up with hugs and kisses and pleas to go downstairs and check out their stockings. A & K were dragged from their beds and stockings were plowed through while I warmed up a pan of ooey-gooey sticky buns to go with our yogurt and tangerines for breakfast. Yummy! We had just enough time to open gifts and clean up before getting dressed for church. We give three gifts to each of the children and they each draw a sibling to give a gift to. We decided long ago that if three gifts were enough for baby Jesus, it should be enough for us, too. I never tire of seeing their faces as they open their gifts and find something they were really hoping for. Matt totally surprised me this year and bought me the camera I've been drooling over since seeing Papa Gene and Grandma Gail's when they came to visit. I'm so excited! Now I just have to figure out how to use all the cool features so I can get the most out of it. On the down side, I can no longer claim anything other than user ineptitude for cruddy pictures. The rest of our day was spent relaxing and hanging out together. Little boys challenging each other to silly video games. Teenage brother and sister playing with the little girls and their Polly Pockets. Hysterical laughter as we played Apples to Apples. Singing "Happy Birthday" and eating Jesus' Birthday cake. Happy, tired children curling up on their beds with their new books. We have been blessed so abundantly and are truly grateful from the depths of our souls.

First Corinthians 13 - Christmas Version

2007-12-26T01:48:00.001-08:00

I wish I'd found this earlier so I could have posted it before Christmas...

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strings of twinkling lights, and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family and others, I am just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family and others, I am just another cook.

If I work at a soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crystal snowflakes,attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir's cantata, but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child, or kiss the husband or bless the needy.
Love is kind, though harried or tired.
Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.
Love doesn't yell at the kids or other family to get out of the way, but is thankful that they are there to get in the way.
Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return, but rejoices in giving to those who can't.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things.
Love never fails.

My Belated Wish List...

2007-12-26T01:00:00.000-08:00

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor and sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground. I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze, but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music, a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals, and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, 'Yes, Mommy' to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting 'Don't eat in the living room' and 'Take your hands off your brother,' because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is calling and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don't catch cold.

Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always,

MOM...

Spreadin' a little Christmas cheer

2007-12-24T11:28:00.000-08:00

Due to my success in keeping everyone out of the kitchen yesterday, we ended up with stacks of Christmas goodie plates to deliver to our German neighbors. We walked down the street all dressed up in our holiday finery and knocked on doors to share our wishes of "Frohe Weinachten!" before hurrying to church this evening. Two of the families who live behind us don't speak English, which is great for my often floundering German. I love realizing I'm understanding more and more. One of our neighbor ladies came over yesterday with a huge bag of chocolates for us and a gift bag of doggy treats for Otto. Not sure who was happier, the kids or the dog. The chocolate over here is unbelievable! No self-respecting German would ever consider including cheap chocolate in a gift bag. (They probably don't even realize there is such a thing as cheap/bad chocolate.) Instead, they give large quantities of Lindt and other fabulous brands of Swiss chocolates. I almost ran down the street to propose to our neighbor when I realized what was in the bag! Should I mention again how much I love the tastes of this season? The cute little Opa and Oma who live behind us had a huge platter of cookies and chocolates waiting for us when we rang their bell today, complete with a little German tag from their family to ours. We love it over here! Christmas pajamas have been opened and donned and the kids are all sitting together to watch "Christmas With the Cranks" while I make cinnamon rolls for Christmas breakfast. We wish you all a peaceful and blessed day as you prepare to celebrate our Lord's birth.

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!

2007-12-24T11:05:00.000-08:00

Oh, how I love this time of year! The lights, the sounds, the smells, the tastes...I love it all! Cups of hot cocoa with sticky, melted marshmallows dripping down the sides. Candles in the windows and colored lights softly twinkling on the tree. Pans of cookies and fudge and peanut brittle and truffles. Did I mention I love the tastes? Yesterday Daddy and the kids spent the afternoon building "gingerbread" houses out of graham crackers. What a mess! The boys thought it was great fun, Daddy groused about "whose brilliant idea was it to use frosting for glue?", and the youngest girls ended up in tears because their "stupid" houses wouldn't stay up. Another great memory making moment brought to you from Mom! The idea was to keep them all (from Daddy on down) out of my hair while I spent the day baking and making candy while lending my breathtaking vocal counterparts to Johnny Mathis and Steven Curtis Chapman, and it worked!

"Can we keep her?!"

2007-12-18T02:14:00.001-08:00

Such a nurturer! Here's how this conversation went:
"Can I see if we have any mail, Mom?"
"Sure, honey."
(Front door opens and closes.)
"Oooooh! Mom, look what was out on our front porch! Can we keep her?!"
"Where do you think she came from?"
"Her parents are probably too poor to buy food for her and want us to take care of her."
"H..."
"Oh, Mooooom! Feel her! She's so cold! Her parents probably didn't have any heat either."
"W.."
"I'm warm so I could warm her with my body!"
"Th..."
"What should we call her?"
"W.."
"I know! Let's call her Theresa. That's a pretty name. Can we call her Theresa, Mom? Mom? Moooooom!! Are you listening to me?"
"Just a second, honey. Mommy's feeling a little dizzy."

The wheels on the bus...

2007-12-17T08:41:00.000-08:00

George thought we should post a picture of our new digs. He realizes it's not much, but we're on a government salary, so it's the best we can do.

I naievly thought that homeschooling again would somehow simplify my life. What was I thinking?! I'm on the run more now than when I had 6 separate school classes to keep up with. Don't get me wrong, I love having my kids home. I'm one of those nutty moms that would be happy as a lark settling down on a big piece of land with enough room for all the kids to build homes for their families in our back yard. But somedays it seems I get lost in the shuffle. I find myself wearing so many hats that when the day is over and the kids are all settled and I'm finally able to slow down and spend time with my Prince, I almost feel lost without a hat on my head. The rapid shifting of gears between Mom, friend, nurse, confidant, counselor, teacher, nutritionist, personal shopper, barber, toenail clipper, and nose wiper doesn't always go as smoothly as it should. Maybe it because I'm getting older, maybe I just used to fool myself into thinking I was a great juggler. Either way, the constant demands on my time and energy serve to keep me very aware of how much this bus needs daily maintenance. My gears grind when I don't make time for daily prayer and Scripture study, and the longer I put off my personal time the louder and rougher the shifting. I'm been trying to gently teach the kids about "doing everything as unto the Lord", and have been thinking about my own attitudes about my responsibilities. Are all the little tedious things I do offered up as a prayer of obedience? Does the condition of my home reflect a heart focused on pleasing? Does the spirit in our home reflect the Holy Spirit living in each one of us? It's so easy for my eyes to stay trained on the stresses and drains of life rather on the Giver of my wonderful life. And how quickly I forget that the "stresses and drains" seem to evaporate when I choose to turn my eyes Heavenward again. So at the end of this very busy day, I offer up a prayer of thanksgiving. Eternal thanks for the miracle of marrying my soul-mate, for the 6 nutty kids that always fill my heart with laughter, for our extended family and friends scattered around the world, and especially for our Lord Jesus Christ, without whose unmerited sacrifice I would be lost forever.

My Flagship Post

2007-12-16T06:56:00.001-08:00

Wow! I've finally entered the Blog Age! After much berating and the occasional pitiful plea, I've made the plunge. Living overseas makes keeping in touch and maintaining Stateside relationships difficult, so I'm hoping this will help those we love feel more involved, if only in short, highly-edited bits, in our lives. At the very least I'll no longer be deserving of the title "Worst Communicator on the Planet". I can now join the growing ranks of those who badger and manipulate the few remaining hold-outs. I love this already!!