Come take the challenge!

http://lovinfrommyoven.blogspot.com

Happy Birthday, Hot Stuff!

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...

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!!

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.....

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

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!"

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

Introducing......

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"

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!!!

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

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!

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!"

(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

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?!?!

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!!

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!

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!

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

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"!

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....

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.