Doing The Next Thing

I've moved!!!

2011-04-11T01:33:00.002-05:00

Our new blog is located at

http://6yates.wordpress.com. Please come and join us!!!

Welcome to our Family Blog

2011-03-13T04:51:00.000-05:00

To all those who have never come to this site, WELCOME!!! We've decided to have a blog that's free to use instead of the Apple site. I'm going to see how this works as time goes to make it user friendly and to get pictures up here. We hope you enjoy it.

So the first order of business, is to show my handiwork that I was working on. If you don't know me that well, I like to have a project to do in the evening after the kids are in bed. Last year, when my Mom came for a visit, she taught me to knit. I did it for a while and then forgot about it. Then as Winter settled in, I decided to take it up again. I found a great website for learning how to knit to refresh me. www.knittinghelp.com and it had both the English way and the Continental Way (German Way). My mom taught me the Continental way so I continued with that. So I bought some cheap yarn at the BX and started my project. I finished it last weekend while we were in Garmisch.

Here it is!!!

Have a great weekend!!

Dilemma

2011-02-07T14:01:00.000-06:00

We are a Mac family. Love them, wouldn't go back to a PC for all the gold in Ft. Knox...well maybe for that, but I digress. So after having a Mac for almost 5 years, we have decided to not pay for our annual MobileMe account. So that means for all of our family and friends, we need to find a new place to blog. Though I don't blog very often, at least I blog somewhat. That will also mean that I have to get an AOL screen name so that I can iChat with all my family. So many things...

So friends, my question I have is. Where do you put slide shows etc, that people can scroll through to look at/print pictures? Do you use Picasa? I loved the way iWeb (Mac) had the pictures show up, but I just can't handle paying 100.00 for something that I know I can get for free. So all of you out in blogland, please reply to let me know what's out there. The next question is do I do a separate blog for me and one for the family or do I just keep this one to keep it simple. I'm leaning to this one.

Have a great day!!!

2011-01-06T02:40:00.000-06:00

Here is the video for Ella's 5th Birthday! You are a blessing from God. Leslie you know I HAD to put the few pics I had of M in there! He is her betrothed after all! Enjoy!

New Year, Fewer Diapers!!

2011-01-03T12:09:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year! I would put a picture up about what's going on at our house, but I don't think that I would be liked in about 15 years if I did. We're in the throes of potty training at this house. YEAH!!!! I can't believe how well it's going. After 6 days of sitting Eric on the little potty seat to pee, he's telling me AND he's been in the same pair of adorable Thomas the Tank Engine underwear ALL day! I'm so excited. He wasn't dry for nap, but I don't really care about that. It's during the day that's the best part. We are on our way to a diaper free house and after 10 years, it's going to be soooooo nice!!!!!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-13T06:09:00.000-06:00

Gingerbread House 2010 from Jonelle Yates on Vimeo.

Peppernuts

2010-12-12T07:38:00.001-06:00

I don't know if I blogged about these guys last year, but I know I took pictures as I made them. So I will put some of those from last year in my blog today. Okay so here goes. Pepper Nuts, Pfeffernüss, Pape-a-Nate (phonetic Low-German). This is my grandmother's recipe which was given to me by my uncle. I half this recipe because it is HUGE!!!!!!!!! There are hundreds of recipes out there, some use cardamom, some use different ingredients. This is by far the easiest because I know that in the small community my father grew up in, they never would have been able to get cardamom. Anise, yes which they used in chicken noodle soup, which I will be making this week. Can't wait.

4 cups sugar

4 cups syrup; This ingredient I must explain. This is a Canadian recipe, so by syrup they mean the One and Only, Roger's Golden Syrup. I've seen some recipes that use honey. Some people will substitute Lyle's Golden syrup which you can find in a British section of a grocery store, but I don't know if it works as well.

2 cups milk

2 cups oil

Add

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp pepper

2.5 drops peppermint oil

3 tsp baking powder

And as with all recipes from days gone by, the last ingredient is "enough flour to make a stiff dough." That's my favourite ingredient ever. What constitutes a stiff dough? How do I know if it's stiff enough? What if I get too much flour? AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!! I used approximately 10 cups in my halved recipe so for this huge recipe that would be 20 cups. I think this recipe is big enough to feed the community in which my dad grew up. Okay, on with the food making...

Let it sit overnight or several hours in the fridge.

Roll out pencil thickness snakes. I would say roll out into kindergarten pencils, the fat ones.

You will need flour on the counter for rolling out because it is quite sticky.

Put strips on cookie sheets, using a knife make small so called cuts on the rolls to break apart later on.

Bake at 350 for approx 20 minutes depending on how hard you want them. In this house we like them HARD, and I mean like rocks, because you can either suck on them or put them in your coffee to soften them. The time also depends on how thick you rolled the snakes because the bigger the snakes, the softer and longer it will take to make them rock-like. Then let them cool on the pan for 2 minutes and then take them off to cool on racks for 10 minutes or so and you can break them up to put in a container. That's it. Easy!

Breaking Apart the Peppernuts

I Forgot

2010-12-12T04:43:00.001-06:00

So all week, I've looked at my blog and thought, I know I have to write something, but I couldn't remember what it was. So this morning as the sun is shining, I'm making my grandmother's Pape-a-nate. That's a phonetic spelling of Low German because it's an oral language, or a throat disease, as my father says it is, another name is Pepper Nuts or Pfeffernuss in German. I just realized what I had forgotten. I teased you the last time, and we finished up our Gingerbread house last Sunday Night. So here are the pictures to show you. My other post will be about making Pepper Nuts. Here are the pics. Enjoy!

Just a peek!

2010-11-28T07:26:00.000-06:00

It's beginning to look like Christmas at our house. Here's a peek

Just for fun on this Saturday after Thanksgiving.

2010-11-27T02:05:00.000-06:00

I have lots to do, but I'm procrastinating. I'm excited about our new church service at the chapel starting tomorrow. I'm excited because after 3 hours, I finally go the Christmas lights on the tree. I love lights and my tree needs at least 1500 lights, but they're SOOOOOO expensive here so I only have about 800 and I can't string them to my satisfaction. I think I started and re-started 3 times. Today I bake for the service and then I start making the Gingerbread house. That's a scary proposition. It's very stressful!

So in honour of being lazy today. Here's an About Me post. Everything that's Bold is true. I think I'm a little boring!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band 4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disney World
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo 11. Bungee jumped (nope, never, nada, un uh)
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child (Parameswar and Banu from India through Compassion International)
16. Had food poisoning 17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight 22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping (3:00 a.m. while working at Camp)
27. Run a Marathon 28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset (with Ken before our first official date!)
31. Hit a home run (married Ken) 32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (Kampen in Holland)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied 38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (though i have no idea where it is)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater 55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (Tupperware: My cupboards were full of plastic, my wallet was empty) 58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp (Kaunas, Lithuania)
67. Bounced a check 68. Flown in a helicopter (nope, but I've flown on the Goodyear Blimp!)
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar 72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person 80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car (My wonderful Hondas, Ridgeline & Odyssey)
83. Walked in Jerusalem (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
84. Had your picture in the newspaper 85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (Okay maybe it wasn't the same animal, but I used to help kill chickens when I was little and I've prepared a few turkeys in my life)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club 93. Got a tattoo
94. Had a baby (FOUR)
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (um, eww! Quite stinky...does sticking my feet in count?) 97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T12:27:00.001-05:00

Not as much candy. More will-power on my part to get rid of the stuff that rots teeth. I think it was successful. I sent all the hard candy/Laffy Taffies to Douglas' work. That way we're not tempted. We had three kids come to our door, total! It was a great Halloween. Phew, it's done. Bring on Thanksgiving.

Speaking of Thanksgiving. I am asking all you, 3 people who read this, to continue to pray for the service for the soldiers and their families that we will be starting in Advent. (28 November). Continue to pray that we would be honouring to our God and show them His Love. Pray that we would have musicians that would be willing to play music for (guitar, piano, and we would like drums, but would be willing to do without for now). Praying also for the Thanksgiving meal we (our family) will be putting on for Single Soldiers and others with families on T-giving day. A place where we can give a little bit of home to them. One soldier said today that he was going somewhere else for Thanksgiving where he could "consume alcoholic beverages" and enjoy Thanksgiving. Pray that others would see us as "family" that we want to be and come despite the fact that there won't be any of that. Pray that all we have planned or not planned would be honouring to Him who made us and that we would have a good time fellowshipping with one another.

So excited for these upcoming events.

Now back to Halloween Pictures.

Wasting Time

2010-10-28T08:19:00.000-05:00

In order to get my Christmas pictures done for this year, I've had to waste a lot of time. Wasting time, trying to figure out cool edits for pictures. So here are my experiments.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

My Mother's Complaint

2010-10-27T06:54:00.000-05:00

According to my mother, there is something dreadfully wrong with the pictures above. They were taken in Heidelberg this past weekend. I love them. I love that I B&W'd them. I could do more, but I'm just learning this Photoshop thing. But my mother does not like them. She keeps saying.....

"Why don't you get someone else to take the picture so that you can be it."

Yes, should I die before the kids are grown, my kids will never know what I looked like because I'm always behind the camera. So I promise, one day, I will be in the shot. Until I find someone who can actually use an SLR properly, while we're out siteseeing, I will be behind the camera. I just don't trust people that just have a point and shoot. SLR's are a little more complicated, but not much. Forgive me.

Thanking the Duggars

2010-10-25T12:28:00.000-05:00

I wanted to post a picture of the Super-family, the Duggars, but it's hard to find one without horrific and ugly words slandering them. For all of their quirks, I have to say that I do admire them. They've seemed to put all the ugly words about them away and just do what the Lord has called them to do. For that they are to be admired. In a world where families are breaking apart, their family holds it together. I believe the only way they've done it is with the help of the Lord. I couldn't do it without Him either.

This week at our house we've started a new incentive program, thanks to their book, 20 Kids and Counting, which I borrowed from a friend. In it, it mentions the Yes Ma'am game. (Chapter 5) This is a game/reward system for doing things immediately, thoroughly, cheerfully, and unconditionally. This is how it enforces the four above points. "Every time during the day a child answer[s] me with 'Yes ma'am,' he or she g[e]ts to put a mark on the chart, and at the end of the month each one earned a penny for every mark." (Duggar 116).

So we've started it and so far it's working really well. The only problem I'm going to run into is that here in Germany there are few pennies. The BX/PX doesn't work with them at all. So I will have to figure out how to work it.

Like everything else I've started and fizzled out on, we'll see how this is going in a month. I'm praying for consistency and the stamina to keep going.

Have a great week!

Under the Shadow of His Wings

Prayer Request, but There's a Praise Also

2010-10-13T02:58:00.000-05:00

Douglas came home on Monday. It was a sweet reunion. I feel bad because it always seems that two weeks TDY or an FTX is worse than a year-long deployment. I think it's because you don't really get into a routine. You just have enough time to adjust and then he's back again and you have to regroup again.

Along with that, we have a Praise. Yesterday, Douglas got approval to start a Sunday service for Soldiers and DA employees at the chapel at Miesau. We've been praying about getting approval for this for a long time. Now the real work begins. We are thankful for the approval, but we still need to get all sorts of stuff figured out. We are hoping to have a meal and then the Communion Service after that. We don't know yet if it will be once a month or every week. We'll see how many people show up. There is such a desperate need out there for some sort of Service. Most of the soldiers in Douglas' unit who have shown interest, will not go anywhere else to church. Obviously, other churches are missing something. Not that the church service that we will have will meet everyone's needs. Only Christ can do that. "My God will supply all your needs." We just desire to show Christ to these Soldiers and families who have no place of fellowship.

We have so many prayer requests. If you see this and think about it during the day, please pray for us.

1. That we would find someone to do some graphic art work for advertising purposes. We don't have to pay for advertising, but we have to have some sort of logo to put on the advertising. We're praying that someone can do this design work for free! We also need to have some sort of God-glorifying slogan. (UGH! Not sure how I like the slogan thing, but we'll do it for advertising purposes.)

2. For music and musicians. We have received the CCLI license number so we can use others' music, but we need chorded music for any musicians we get. We're praying for GOOD musicians. People who love playing and would be willing to play songs that aren't traditional, well the words may be, but not the arrangements. (No funeral dirges for this family!)

3. We also need some sort of sound board/sound equipment. There is a chapel, but there is no sound equipment. Somehow that needs to

4. For Soldiers, their families and Civilian workers that come. Praying for God to be glorified despite our feelings, emotions and days events. Praying that the Spirit of the Lord would hover over the place of worship and that it would be a place of True Peace for people who may not have peace in other aspects of their lives.

We're soooo excited, but there are so many things that need to happen.

Peace of Christ to all who stop here.

Horrible Histories

2010-10-03T05:55:00.001-05:00

If you have a chance to get British programming, do it. Their adult programming isn't so great, but the kids programming makes up for it. My favourite thing for my kids to watch is Horrible Histories on BBCs CBBC which is their bigger kids programming. Have I mentioned how much I love BBC kids programming? I love it! It's where Charlie and Lola originated and it's just the best!!! Enjoy this video of Henry VIIIs wives. It makes me laugh.

By His Grace

Okay I had to add another one.

Quandry

2010-09-29T07:04:00.000-05:00

I'm in a quandry.... I want good flavoured good food that is quick and easy to make, but that my kids will eat. I also want something that isn't full of hydrogenated vegetable oils and fat. You see, I'm in a battle with my weight. As the heavy kid in school and college, I ate what I wanted when I wanted. Now, that I'm married with four kids having lost all that weight 3 times, I don't want to ever look or feel that way again. So I'm looking for recipes...Good recipes. I am so tired of the recipes that I make and especially when my husband is gone because I don't want to cook AT ALL. So easy is best. If any of you know of a place online I would be appreciative. I have a cupboard full of recipe books and I'm just so tired of spending the time hunting.

Thanks much!

Please take the time to say hello. I love hearing from you!!

By His Grace

Tuesdays

2010-09-28T06:23:00.000-05:00

Bike Trailer Pic from Bavaria

I love Mondays and Tuesdays. On Mondays I don't have anywhere where I have to be. I just sit around in pajamas, do school with the kids, take a nap and not have to get up to go anywhere. It's the best day of the week. Tuesdays are good too. I get to be with a bunch of homeschooling Moms and Kids and learn a little bit of German at our Co-op, but then I get to come back to our house and sit in my pajamas and read a book or take a nap, maybe do a little laundry, if I have to, and not have to go out again all day.

Today is Tuesday. I went to our Co-op and now I'm in my pjs and the laundry is in the dryer and the two youngest iddie biddies are in their rooms. One sleeping, the other colouring in her room and generally out of everyone else's hair. It definitely helps everyone stay calm. The big biddies are working on a project for me. Going through all of our Family Fun Magazines to find recipes. Because I'm tired of cooking the meals I've been cooking for the last umpteen years.

Speaking of our #3. She's is going through some serious tantrum issues right now. She's 4 1/2. I thought for a while it was lack of attention. Well she does her own "school" 4 days a week. She screams about her clothes not fitting right. She screams about her dresses not twirling. All she wants to do is wear dresses. She screams because she doesn't get her way or about the consequences that we dole out for her lack of listening and lack of obedience. It's getting old and I'm trying so hard to not lose my temper, but I feel as though I've done something wrong somewhere. If anyone has been through this, I would greatly appreciate some wisdom. I'm trying to find Bible verses that would fit, but I can never calm her down enough to listen and by the time she is calm, she has no desire to sit and listen to a lecture.

Thanks for stopping by and for any wisdom you can share. I love hearing from all of you!

By His Grace

Praying for Grace

2010-09-27T00:55:00.000-05:00

I'm beginning my fall two-week jaunt into solo parenting. So far it hasn't been a good morning. I will say this, that I didn't yell or get mad, so I believe we've made a little progress. Isaiah 40:31 is going to be my verse for the time that I am alone. Of we go....

Isaiah 40:27-31 (New Living Translation)
²⁷ O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles?
      O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?
²⁸ Have you never heard?
      Have you never understood?
   The Lord is the everlasting God,
      the Creator of all the earth.
   He never grows weak or weary.
      No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
²⁹ He gives power to the weak
      and strength to the powerless.
³⁰ Even youths will become weak and tired,
      and young men will fall in exhaustion.
³¹ But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
      They will soar high on wings like eagles.
   They will run and not grow weary.
      They will walk and not faint.

By His Grace

Back from Vacation

2010-09-26T09:20:00.000-05:00

We just got back on Friday from a "Vacation" in the Bavarian Alps. I don't have my pictures uploaded to my computer yet, so we're just going to have to go with pictures from my phone. What I really wanted to show you were two clips from our time there. We always have fun there, though we also do school while Douglas is in meetings. This year we brought our bikes and rode them and hiked as well. It was a lot of fun!

Here's Another One

Just a little something to whet your appetite

2010-09-15T07:26:00.000-05:00

Our weeks are busy. I would love nothing more than to sit at home and do homely things like laundry and cooking...Okay maybe not, but I would like not to have things like sports and activities for my children. My kids they are not going to be famous dancers/boy scouts so why do I drive myself crazy driving them to their activities? I do it because I think it's good for them to not be stuck at home all the time. I on the other hand, love being at home. If I had a Netflix account I would be set for life! Okay maybe not, I need interaction too.

Okay back to why I started this post. Wednesdays are our busy days. Douglas goes to work at 6:00 and doesn't get back until after 8:30 usually. We do school in the morning and then at 3:30 head out the door for Ella's ballet. I'm still not sure she likes it. She said this morning she didn't want to go. She's very shy and she's only 4, but I think it's good for her to be with other little girls dressed up in their little tutus and learn how to stand in line and listen to someone other than her mom. After Ballet, we hop in the car and head for Brennig's Boy Scouts. I go to the Commissary while Brennig is doing boy scout stuff. We decided this year not to do sports for him. He's not a sports guy, though I think if swimming were held at a decent time, he would like that, but the swimming lessons always conflict with something. He does like Boy Scouts. Megan is doing English Riding. She loves every second of it!

All that to say on Wednesdays we have our big meal at lunch time and then have sandwiches in the car for supper. Today I tried something from Family Fun Magazine. The kids loved it and I was very glad. We've been very bored with cooking lately and this was fun to make. I hate all the clean up though.

Piccolini® Mini Farfalle with Cherry Tomatoes, Basil and Mozzarella

1 Box Barilla Piccolini® Mini Farfalle (I used 500g of Penne because I didn't have any Farfalle)

4 Leaves Fresh Basil, Torn (I used a few more)

2 Tablespoons Onions, Minced

1 Pint Cherry Tomatoes, Halved (I would use a few more, but I love tomatoes)

4 Ounces Mozzarella Cheese, Shredded

Black Pepper, Freshly Ground

2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt

BRING a pot of water to a boil. ADD oil and onions to a medium sauté pan and heat over medium-high heat. Sauté for 3 minutes or until onions are soft. ADD cherry tomatoes to skillet. Sauté tomatoes for another 3 minutes until skins are blistered and flesh is heated through; season with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, COOK Piccolini Mini Farfalle according to directions on the package. REMOVE sauce from heat, puree 1/3 of sauce in a blender on high, for 2 minutes. Return the puree to sauté pan. DRAIN and toss pasta with sauce. Finish with basil and mozzarella cheese.

Easy Peasy. I don't have a picture sorry, but it did taste good! Enjoy!

P.S. If you are looking around on my blog, please please please say hi in the comments. Thanks

2 weeks down.

2010-09-10T08:36:00.000-05:00

Okay it's been two weeks of homeschooling and what have I learned. Well... I have to have a quiet time with God more than I have to have exercise. (Dear Lord, help me control my snacking!) I stink at consistency in disciplining my kids and have a hard time having a meek and quiet spirit. HELP ME, Lord!

I'm lonely for my friends (in NY, SC and Japan especially). I'm dreading a dreary winter. I'm already taking Vitamin D because the sun has all about disappeared here.

That the new curriculum is cool and is not as much work as I thought in finding crazy amounts of reading. My kids are even getting the Literature concepts. I'm shocked!!! Ella, my four year old wants to write, but I told her she has to learn to read first, so she's learning to read. Mark my words, she will NOT graduate from high school at 16.

Having a 2 year old is exciting especially when he wants in on all the stuff the big kids are doing and then promptly slips and gashes his head open on tile stairs. Just a part life's rich pageant. Yeah for time in the ER.

I'm also living vicariously through my 8 year old, Megan. She's now taking English (would prefer western, but it's easier to transfer from English to Western than the other way around) riding lessons. It's in German. I can't stay there because then she doesn't listen to the teacher. She LOVES every minute of it. She's the youngest in the class and has to ride a pony, but she doesn't care.

Megan and Speedy (He's not)

Now I must go do something productive and not blog anymore. Maybe laundry or work on next week's schedule. Or maybe I'll just sit with Ella and watch Mary Poppins. Why do I have such a hard time just sitting?

First Day of School/Stream of Consciousness

2010-08-31T00:31:00.000-05:00

We're back in the thick of things again. So thought I would put up our annual First-Day-of-School pics. We're doing well. I'm excited about another trip to Bavaria in a couple of weeks. We're dogsitting for another 6 days. I'm not sure I want a dog after babysitting 2 great dogs. They're a lot of work. My flowers are dying in my pots. I would like to find afternoon shade flowers that work. (They get morning sun). It's cold here already. I must go start the day. The Lord is good and his mercies are new this morning!

The Best Website Ever!!!

2010-07-29T06:35:00.000-05:00

Someone posted a link to this website on Facebook today. Oh my goodness, this is riot. If you explore the website farther than the Home page, you'll see that it's done by the girl in the Sonic commercials. It is sooooo funny.

Here's the link

http://catalogliving.tumblr.com/

Enjoy your day!

Crazy Days Are Coming

2010-06-29T05:30:00.000-05:00

We are getting company for the next 4 weeks. If I have a chance I will put stuff up, if not, don't worry I'm still here, just busy busy busy! By the way, my husband took two of the kids on his retreat with him so I plopped the other two in front of the TV to watch WONDERFUL British kids programming and I have been cleaning for the last 4 days, though my floors are already dirty UGH!!!

Me

A Little Random Vanity

2010-06-25T09:11:00.000-05:00

So I'm a blonde, not natural anymore, but a blonde. I come from a long line of blondes and redheads on the other side. I have two red-headed children, one blonde (though I cut her hair the other day and she is also turning that lovely shade of dishwater) and then I have a "where'd he come from?" child. He has brown hair, dark skin, and beautiful blue eyes and super fat legs.

So as I get older and wonder, is it vain to desire a tummy tuck? I say, no because my trousers would fit so much better. I go on Facebook and a friend of mine posts this

I am convicted of my desire for a "Mommy Job". Though I still would like to have "my colours done." I
am currently in love with the colour grey! My husband likes it on me. Where are the people from "What Not to Wear." I want them to come to my house.

Have a great day.

Do All Things Without Complaining!

2010-06-24T06:36:00.000-05:00

WARNING: Whining and Complaining ahead.

What I wouldn't do for a nanny right now, especially one that looks after kids for free. Or a cleaning lady/housekeeper that could clean my house, for free. Fat chance, I know. I have four great kids, but I'm trying desperately to get ready for company that is staying a month and I just need them gone for a while. So I can clean and organize with loud music playing and then they can return and just watch TV until company arrives so that I don't have to clean and organize again. That's all I want. Is that too much to ask?

We are about to head into July 2010 and that means a month of company. Don't get me wrong. I am soooooo excited about friends and family coming, but with four kids who make messes, I just want peace and quiet. My loving husband is also going away for the four days before company comes, so I will be home alone with them. YEAH!!! Can you sense the excitement over that possibility? Again, I love my children, but I hate not having him around at least to take the burden off of me when he gets home from work.

My children will be warped by the television before the weekend is out, I guarantee it!!!! So that's it. Just a little venting is needed and now I'm done. By the way, I have had time every day that it is sunny to sit out on our outdoor living room and read Love and Respect, by Emerson Eggerichs. Great book, highly recommend it. The best part was that he affirmed that in the process of talking with my husband, I am figuring out what I'm feeling/thinking. I love that book. Wholly Biblical and just really good. I just wish my hubby had time to read it and use it with soldiers. Lives would be changed!

Now I must go and repent of my bad attitude and rejoice for the fact that the Lord has given me 4 healthy children, who desire a mom who is in a happy mood. May I remember that every little interruption is a teachable moment and not just an encroachment on my time. Boy, am I selfish!

Signing off

P.S. If there are any blog stalkers out there, I would love to hear from you!

FAMILY PICTURES, Finally

2010-06-11T06:23:00.000-05:00

Go here Family Pictures and see what Deborah did with us! Yeah Deborah!

2010-06-08T05:48:00.000-05:00

My new toy! Douglas was good to me this weekend. He bought me a little freezer and an iPhone. We always buy gadgets right before they come out with a new one. iPhone 4 came out yesterday. GREAT! Oh well, they're much cheaper here in Europe than they are in the US. I love my phone already. Although my App knowledge is very small. I have twitter, but I can't figure out how it works. Eventually.

Well, gotta run and get the baby off the toilet. He needs privacy for doing his business.

Have a great day!

Ella's Dance Recital

2010-05-23T05:18:00.002-05:00

Ella's Dance Recital was great! She did so well. She's the fourth one from the right. One of the youngest in the class, but also the tallest.

Enjoy

Another "What Have We Been Up To" Post

2010-05-17T14:01:00.000-05:00

Life has passed us by again and I keep thinking I don't have time to Blog, but I'm so excited about school for next year, I can't help but let you in on this wonderful thing. IKEA. It's a wonderful thing. I will expound.

I went to a homeschool conference about 2 weeks ago and there a girl mentioned "Workboxes." I didn't know what they were, but she put it up on her blog. I went there and then emailed her regarding it. She answered my questions and then I knew I had to go to Ikea I have four children, I love organizational things. I have a labeler, which is the sign of a sick and twisted mind. I can do this! I am going to put each subject in a box and then when they are done the work, I will have the kids turn it around so that we know it is done. Then I can correct it and they will see that when the boxes are all turned around it's time to be done school! I'm going to do this with Ella as well, but her "School" will be limited so I will put a toy in the box that way I rotate her play as well.

I bought four 9-ers, as I call them. The 4th one, I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do, but I will put toys in them for Eric to play with as well.

At least that's the plan. We'll see how far I go to implement it. The good thing is I can use them again in the future for crafts, scrapbooking, photography etc. The possibilities are endless!

So here are the pictures of the workboxes at our house after my father and my husband put them together. They LOVE Ikea because you have put stuff together!

No, my school room is not this tidy most days. It should be, but it's not. The boxes are empty. I have one label on one of the boxes to see if it will stick. So far, it's not sticking too well, but we'll see. I may have to order the paper labels and see if they work better.

The other excited news is that our kids got baptized last weekend. Deborah is a good friend and so I asked her if she would come and take pictures of the baptism for me. In the end she went above and beyond what she had to do. Thank you for the blessing! Here are a few pictures. I am so thankful that my parents were here with us!

Happy Birthday Buddy!

2010-05-06T09:27:00.001-05:00

Brennig's Birthday is today. He's 9! I can't believe it! Here's a look back.

Happy Birthday!!!

1st 2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

7th

8th

My Wonderful Friend

2010-04-26T11:40:00.000-05:00

My wonderful friend who lives in New York, who I want to go visit (so if anyone wants to come to Europe to babysit so I can go to New York, feel free), made me a wonderful quilt. What gets me most excited is that it is a quilt hug!!! It's beautiful. Here is a link to her post in making it. Who'd a thunk it would end up here at our house! Oh Leslie, you are amazing! THANK YOU!

Now I have a place to jump off colour-wise when I eventually get to place where I am allowed to paint walls!

Happy Days!

Things Happening This week

2010-04-23T02:04:00.000-05:00

So these are our activities for this week. Ella has a ballet recital at the end of May so I put out an APB on sponge rollers. Got lots of response. So we tried it. I only have a before picture and not an after picture. It didn't work the way I wanted to because I had to take them out before they were fully dry.

Also I have allowed Eric to feed himself. Like the results? Big Mess, HUGE!! Oh well, he loves doing it and he's learning.

Have a great weekend. For the horrible winter that we've had, our spring has been great. We are in the upper teens and twenties Celsius. It's beautiful! Praising the Lord for his grace and mercy.

Jonelle

Back from Life

2010-04-14T04:14:00.001-05:00

Okay, I've been on a blogging break. Mainly because of Lent and then I really find myself wondering if what I'm rambling on about is so important that I need to tell the world. So I've decided that I'm just gonna ramble and if people read this, great, if not oh well. I've vented and it's off my chest. One of the reasons for this quandry is the fact, that I am not crafty, I can cook, but am very practical in my cooking. You won't find ingredients that are hard to find. I'm NO Martha Stewart. So really do I have much to tell the world?

We've also taken a long trip to England for my husband's leave. It was great. My parents are in Cambridge for 6 months and so we went to see them and to travel to Wales to see where my oldest two were born. That part was more fun for us than for the kids, though they did love the castles in Wales. Someday I'll get pics up somewhere so you can see them.

So now I'm back. It's the time of year when I'm picking homeschool curriculum for the year and so that's always on the back of my mind. My house is a mess and I want a cleaning lady, but can't afford it. My kids are fighting, need shoes, ordered shoes, shoes wrong size, now I have to return them UGH. Okay so my stream of consciousness is almost done. Now I must go grocery shopping with ALL the kids. Oh my days are full of Joy :)

My Dilemma

2010-01-24T14:42:00.000-06:00

Okay, I have a dilemma. My youngest, Eric has turned into a terror. Not really. He's very cute, but very demanding and VERY LOUD!!! He wants to be held and then put down, held and put down. Our church does not have a nursery. So I with much guilt stayed home from church this morning. I don't get anything out of the service so when I go with him, I keep wondering, "Why do I even bother." I want to be a part of a church community but it is so hard with a very cantankerous 17 month old. I know everyone says, "Oh we don't mind, he's so cute." I can't stand the constant screaming for something and then throwing it down.

All you who read this, please give me your opinion. My mom says that her mom and my dad's mom, who, by the way, had 13 children, stayed home A LOT with toddlers. I'm comforted by that.

I am thankful for the internet which allowed me to listen to Sojourn Community Church in Louisville. It was the great church that we attended before we joined the Army. Can't believe it's almost been 5 years. Even though we are now Anglican, I still miss the fellowship and friends of our churches (yes we attended 2 at the same time) in Louisville.

So that being said, please let me know what you think. I sincerely love to hear from people, so please please please (on my knees, begging) put a comment in my comment box.

In His Name!

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

2010-01-10T08:36:00.000-06:00

This is yummy stuff. I had leftover pumpkin (because we could only find the 29 oz cans at the Commissary here) and about a cup of leftover cranberries from when I made the Salsa. I made it even more yummy by not putting in an entire cup of oil and used 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce. This made it not so bad for you and it's still so moist. I have no idea of calorie content of it, but I helped everyone by that substitution.

Here's the recipe. It's from Libby's - the Pumpkin people. It makes 2 loaves. One for you, one for your husband's work or the homeschool group meeting. Those are just examples. You don't have to take my advice.

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour
5 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 cups granulated sugar
1 (15 ounce) can LIBBY'S Pumpkin
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries (I used a bit more than a cup, it still worked)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans.

2. Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Combine sugar, pumpkin, eggs, vegetable oil and orange juice in large mixer bowl; beat until just blended. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moistened. Fold in cranberries. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pans.

3. Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Like I said, it's yummy!

Here's a pic of Eric enjoying his duckies.

Untangling Teabags, doing German and wondering...

2010-01-07T14:48:00.000-06:00

I was just untangling a bunch of teabags and doing some Rosetta Stone German and realized something. I, all of a sudden, have a ton of friends who are photographers. Why? Is it because Photography as a career is more accessible and easier to do? Though in talking with my photographer friends, I think it is more work now than ever because of the time involved in editing. (I wish I could do my wedding pics over, but I don't think I could fit into my dress anymore. Things have moved.)

Well that's my thought for the day. I don't know who reads this thing, I know some do, but my world is still quite small. But in any case, in honour of all my photog friends, I'm posting all their websites to the side. If any of you need a photographer and are near them, tell them I sent you! Dave at Pixelated image, doesn't do portrait photography, he's too busy taking GORGEOUS pictures of people in exotic places.

Have a great day!

Ella is 4

2010-01-06T01:20:00.001-06:00

My baby girl is 4 today. She came out squalling and in the past year, started squalling again. She begs to do school, though I can't do it with her. She wants to cook and do EVERYTHING the big kids are doing. She wants two boys and five girls (as of today). Lily, Rose, Violet, Daisy, Sarah, Luke and Jack. She definitely knows what she wants all the time.

Dearest Ella, I'm so glad you are getting so big. You are a delight and a joy with your funny comments about life. May the Lord continue to bless you and may you have a soft heart for Him and grow up to love him and honor him and others.

Just a few Pictures I like

2010-01-02T16:12:00.002-06:00

I received a 50mm lens for my camera for Christmas/Birthday this year. I still can't get it right most of the time, but there are a few pictures that I like from this Christmas.

My parents leave tomorrow and so we've had big tears here at the house from all the females. The good news is that Grandma will be coming back in 40 days to stay for 16 days. We all can't wait.

On to the slide show.

Poertzlky (Oliebollen)

2010-01-01T07:21:00.008-06:00

New Years "Cookies" (they're not cookies, they're like donuts) are what the Mennonites call them when they speak English. Poertzlky (Partselchya) when they speak Low-German. I'm pretty sure that the Mennonites started making them in Holland back in the 1500s because in Holland they have Oliebollen (fitting name) which are the same thing.

We made them this morning. Or I should say, my Mom made them and I took a few pictures and spent an hour with some very hot oil. My kitchen now stinks of a donut factory, some may like that. I don't.

So here is the recipe we used. When we started looking for a recipe we found so many. Some used divided eggs, some used baking powder, some didn't. It was rather confusing. The best thing is that a lot of recipes, including my Grandma's, said, "enough flour to make a soft dough." I hate that phrase. That drives me bonkers. I want exactness or at least near exactness. My peppernuts about drove me crazy because of that. That's a post for another day.

Okay back to the subject. We found one that we liked because it used butter, not lard, or oil. Thanks Aunty Marg.

2 1/2 tablespoons quick-rise/bread machine yeast in 1 c. warm water

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups milk (scalded or heated in the microwave until steaming, but not boiled!)

1/2 cup melted butter mix into the hot milk

2 teaspoons salt

6 well-beaten eggs

2 cups raisins

9 cups flour This is what we used exactly, but again, it is to make a soft dough, which is not as stiff as bread dough, but not like cake batter. Kind of like biscuit dough. You made need more or less flour. (Don't you love when recipes say this!)

The dough looked like this before we let it rise.

Mix the yeast sugar and warm water in a measuring cup and let stand for 10 minutes or so to make a sponge. Then mix milk, butter, salt and eggs in a large bowl and add yeast sponge. Add flour until soft dough and let rise till doubled. This is what my aunt says, "with the quick yeast I punch it down after the first half hour, then every 20 min. or so."

It looked like this after we let it rise 3 times.

Now comes the good part. Drop by large tablespoons full into sizzling oil (Canola) on medium heat. Turn them in the oil until a reddish brown.

When they get to that stage put out of the oil and drain in pan covered in paper towel.

Look at all that evil!

After a few minutes, place a couple in a paper bag with either icing sugar or granulated sugar and shake for a few seconds, take them out and enjoy!

More Mennonite Food Coming...

2009-12-31T16:09:00.001-06:00

Wait for it......... And a picture of cutie, just to pass the time.

As Promised... Warenekje (Mennonite Perogies)

2009-12-28T04:35:00.012-06:00

I promised I would post pictures and a recipe for Warenekje, pronounced Verenekya, or Mennonite Perogies. Here goes.

The recipe for the dough is as follows:

5 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
4-5 cups flour

Directions:
Roll out dough for perogies and fill with cottage cheese mixture adding two eggs or two egg yolks.

Cottage Cheese Mixture

It is best to use dry curd cottage cheese, which Americans can get in some grocery stores. It doesn't hurt to ask your grocer to see if they could order it. Here in Germany, we used Kerniger Frischkäse. It is thicker than American cottage cheese, but not quite dry like dry curd cottage cheese. If you find dry curd, then add an egg to your cottage cheese. The recipe made 54 perogies and we used about 650 g of Frischkäse.

Cottage cheese
1 egg (if using dry curd cottage cheese)
salt and pepper to taste.

This is what the dough looks like. It's rather soft and easy to roll out.

Roll it out and place the cottage cheese mixture in small tablespoons about 2 inches apart on the board.

Fold the dough over each mound

Use a glass (we used a large pint glass) and pinch each perogie into a half-moon shape.

We placed them on a floured baking sheet and placed them in the freezer for about 18 hours. If you freeze them before cooking them, they tend to cook before they have a chance to open up. The seals sometimes open up while boiling, but that just is part of the process.

Boil water in a large soup stock pot. We filled it up about half way.

Once the water has boiled add the perogies to it and bring it to a boil again. If they are frozen it may take awhile. Once the water comes back to boiling, they are finished. You now have an option, you can either eat them now, or make them extra good by frying them in butter, like my mom's side of the family does.

Yep, that's butter in a frying pan. LOTS of it!

Fry the perogies to a nice golden brown colour. My grandpa liked them darker than golden, but sometimes they get kind of tough if you fry them darker than this. Now on to the sauce, which is pretty easy. It's just a basic cream sauce.

Melt butter (yes, more butter) in a saucepan.

Make a roux by mixing flour and milk.

Add it to the butter and stir stir stir over medium heat. Bring it to a slow boil. It should thicken. Add more milk if it is too thick and keep adding until you get the right consistency for gravy. If it is too thin, you can always make another small amount of milk and flour and add it to the saucepan. Add salt and pepper to taste.

The Finished product.

We served ours with peas and Rohesser Sausage, but a Kielbasa or a smoked pork sausage would work well.

Confused yet? Have a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T08:15:00.003-06:00

Wishing all those who read this a wonderful Christmas. May you have good times with friends and family. I am thankful for our Saviour who came to take my sins and make a home for me in heaven. Have a happy new year! Not to be narcissistic but only 10 days til my birthday!

Warenekje recipe will be here shortly.

Happy Anniversary!

2009-12-19T05:49:00.003-06:00

Douglas bought me a new toy for our anniversary.

2009-12-18T01:06:00.002-06:00

A Friend did this and it inspired the children. Unfortunately, we have too many people in this family to do everyone. Merry Christmas!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Cran-Apple Salsa

2009-11-21T13:49:00.001-06:00

1 package (12 ounces) fresh or frozen cranberries, thawed
3 medium apples, cut into wedges
1 medium sweet red pepper, cut into pieces
1 small red onion, chopped
½ cup sugar
⅓ cup unsweetened apple juice
3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped jalapeno pepper
juice of 1 lime

In a food processor, process the cranberries, apples, red pepper, jalapeno and
onion in batches until coarsely pureed.
Transfer to a serving bowl. Stir in the sugar, apple juice, cilantro,
and lime juice.

You can also cook it on the stove, low heat, for about 30 minutes and it works as well. It especially tastes good with Cinnamon Tortilla Strips.

A Funny Thing Happened While Searching for a Green Bean Recipe.

2009-11-20T03:44:00.006-06:00

The picture above is Eric before his haircut.

While I was looking for a new way to cook green beans. I stumbled on a website, actually a recipe, but the recipe showed me a blog that has left me laughing and shaking my head for the last three days. Just a warning, it is very very very country. She talks about things that city-folk (which she happens to be) would not have a clue about, neither did she for she married into her country life. By the way, the green bean recipe was good, but maybe I can't make it right or something, it wasn't fantastic. So if anyone has a GREAT recipe for snap beans, let me know.

Other than that, let me see what I've been up to. Cooking cooking cooking. Today I made Cran-Apple Salsa see next post. I'm going to serve that with cinnamon tortilla chips. Made "Crack" again and then made sausage balls. The old standby for parties. We have to bring snacks to church tomorrow and everyone has brought wonderful things, so I decided to do something kind of Thanksgiving-y. Hopefully it will go over well.

We took the pacifier/soother away from Eric two nights ago. He's not very happy, but we're making it. He cried for about 45 minutes this morning for his nap and about 30 minutes this afternoon, so I think we're getting better. Unfortunately, like Ella, he's going to be come attached to something else, probably his blanket as well. (Which desperately needs to be washed at the moment! EW!) Oh well, we're working on the blanket thing with Ella and we'll work on it with Eric as well.

Last week our family went to Bastogne, Belgium where the Battle of the Bulge took place. It was great. The pastries were fantastic! If you don't know anything about WWII, which is one of my favourite periods in history, this is an awesome place to visit because it was so key to the Allied Victory. We found the woods were soldiers were holed up before they got the key towns needed for a victory. The foxholes are still there, thanks to some boy scouts in the area. We would love to go back again. If you want a quick glimpse into what it was like fighting you can see the movie, "Band of Brothers." Or you can read the book, which surprisingly, the movie followed quite closely! You can see pics of our trip here.

Thanksgiving is coming up. We're going to our friends that live near Baumholder. I can't wait. I can't wait to make all the food too. For Christmas I'm going to do an Advent wreath and a gingerbread house, so those will be on the agenda next weekend along with the tree decorating and the watching of "Christmas Vacation" while the tree is being put up. I'll post pictures when we're done with those. We bought everything for the gingerbread house, but I don't have the actual house made yet. You may ask, "Why don't you just buy one?" Well I'm a glutton for punishment and I like learning new things, like how to make candy glass for a lake etc.

So that is what's up with me. We're almost done 1/3 of our school year so that's good, though we're not so rushed this year because of moving, I still feel like I need to not take this next week off. Oh my silly, Type-A self!!!

Well I should go and put receipts into our budget program. Another wonderful thing that I looooooove to do!

Have a wonderful weekend and blessed Sabbath!

"Crack"

2009-11-08T12:21:00.004-06:00

You're wondering, "What?" Well, tis the season of pumpkin and today I made my first two batches of Pumpkin Squares. When Douglas would take these to work in Washington, they would be gone in an hour. One co-worker called them "Crack Cocaine" because they were so good. They are addicting. And so I give you the pumpkin square recipe. This recipe is from my sister-in-law, Carolyn. I don't know where she got it, but it has revolutionized the Fall at this house. I make at least 4 batches of them every fall.

Pumpkin Squares

½ cup butter or margarine
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
14 ounces canned pumpkin
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt

Cream butter and sugar together. Beat in sugar then eggs one at a time. Slowly beat in pumpkin. Mix last seven ingredients in a separate bowl and add to first mixture. Stir. Scrape into greased 9X13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Frost with Cream Cheese Icing. Spread over Pumpkin Squares. Chill. This last part is very important as it adds to the addictive factor.

Here's the recipe for Cream Cheese Icing, if you don't already know it.

4 oz. cream cheese (I use 1/3 less fat Neufchatel cheese, works just as good and you don't have as much guilt)
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups icing sugar

Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smotth. Beat in icing sugar a little at a time.

Again you frost the squares as soon as they are cool then you put them in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Enjoy!

What I Did During My Husband's Absence

2009-10-21T15:06:00.004-05:00

Douglas has been gone for almost two weeks and he'll return on Friday night sometime. In the military of today almost all spouses of soldiers will agree that the moment the soldier walks out the door, everything that can go wrong, will. So I will tell you what all happened during these two weeks. Make no mistake, I'm not complaining. I'm actually laughing about it because God is so good and He has made me realize that we are but a blip in the larger scheme of things. What seems so important, is so not important. I think that I've gotten closer to my kids, especially my girls. I've tried so hard to keep my head and not lost my temper about inconsequential things that happen, though I've failed many times as well. I'm pressing on for that goal.

So here goes... the list of things that I did while my husband was gone for 2 weeks.

*Spent freezing cold hours on the soccer field with my son
*Played Wii with my children
*Done puzzles with my kids
*School, School & More School
*Spent 3 1/2 hours at the ER with Eric when he fell down the stairs (see picture above)
*Saw soldiers coming into the ER from "the sandbox" and realized how thankful I am that Landstuhl is there to treat them.
*Spent 7 hours in a car with four kids running errands
*Bought a vacuum cleaner
*Realized that I'm so thankful that Douglas is only gone for 2 weeks!
*Prayed on my face for my children and my days
*Had a wonderful day out with Douglas' Commander's wife. She is someone who is constantly on her knees, praying for others. What a blessing to have that in a military unit.
*Scraped the side of the car at the commissary. Remind me never to be prideful about my vehicle ever again!
*Have to get flu shots for the young ones tomorrow. Praying for no temper tantrums!
*Endured many many temper tantrums from a 3 year old. Oh Lord, how long?
*Drunk coffee and tea
*Talked with friends in the States and Family in Canada. What a blessing technology is!

Just a few things to bore you today. May the Lord bless you as go about your tasks he has given you. May we all greet each day with a focus on God and His tasks for us!

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-10-11T11:21:00.004-05:00

Yes, it's fall and it's the second week in October. That means for all of Canada it's Thanksgiving. For Manitobans it means snow! (I'm so sorry it snowed early this year!) As I think about Thanksgiving and family my thoughts turn to the fact that food is so important to us and especially to those of us who are Mennonites. The thought of food and Mennonites brings me to realize with trepidation that my wonderful, albeit non-Mennonite, husband wants Varenekye and farmer sausage for Christmas.

So because of that I've been "neglecting" my children by letting them watch a movie and I've been trying to find out on the internet the name of dry-curd cottage cheese in German. I was told that you can get it here, but I didn't know the name of it. I think I've found it!!!!!! I'll now go out and have to find it in the grocery store. Next on the agenda is the Farmer Sausage. In my research I've also found out that farmer sausage is nothing more that coarse ground pork and salt and pepper (maybe garlic too) in a casing and then smoked. I'll have to figure out if the butcher in our town can do this. I know he has a smoker, so we'll try and figure it out. It makes me excited just thinking about it.

Looking for farmer sausage and Varenekje made go back to a great blog, Mennonite Girls Can Cook. It has wonderful recipes that look really good. So if you are wondering what Mennonites eat, you can see all of the recipes there! (Hint, bread, meat, potatoes, bread, sweets, bread, jam, pickles, bread, cheese, bread).

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, my fellow Canadians. May the Lord of the harvest bring joy to you and your families!

Thoughts on Chores

2009-09-24T07:40:00.005-05:00

I've been stressed out for the last oh 8 weeks or so. Yeah, pretty much since we moved here. Not so much because of what is happening in our home as to how to do what we do in our home. School has started and we've got a rhythm going with that, but there are other aspects to life that I'm stressed/worrying/contemplating etc. I was taught when I was six to clean my room. (I still hate cleaning to this day!) I'm a selfish creature and I would rather read a book than clean. But I also have learned over the years that it is much more enjoyable to get your work done and read a book, than to read a book knowing that the work you had to get done was hanging over your head. In college I would get my papers done long before they were due so that I didn't have them hanging over my head! I'm strange I know.

I don't know if my parents instilled that in me or what. I think it just naturally came out. I remember when we moved to Kentucky, in 1995, I hated that the chore/cleaning day was Saturday. Why Saturday? It is the weekend. So I would clean my room on Friday nights. (I didn't have much of a social life at that point or I would clean quickly when I got home from work/school so that I could go out.) I remember being stubborn and asserting my sinful will and complaining about cleaning. I still do it to this day, though mainly in thoughts, not out loud. Douglas, in his wisdom, while I was pregnant with Megan suggested I do a little each day. I have followed that faithfully since then. It helps me not feel overwhelmed.

So now my oldest children are 8 and 7 and are older than I was when I learned how to clean my room. They clean the bathrooms, they tidy up their rooms (sort of) and I would like them to do a little more. Not so that I have more free time, though that is an added bonus, but so that they learn how to be responsible and so that when they get married their spouses won't think they were lazy bums or helpless. I'm realizing that I have a fight on my hands for I have two children who love their free time as we all do. I'm praying that they would understand that in order to have a happy home they have to help me. Because of the time spent homeschooling (on average 3 hours a day, usually a little less). I need their help to run this home smoothly. So as I contemplate, with the help of Douglas, a new chore system and add to their lives new chores (like folding laundry and picking up the shoes at the door, which I think are not too harsh for an eight year old and a seven year old). I'm asking for prayer for their attitudes and mine. I will have to help them at first. Teaching them how to do things well. I ask for my children's open hearts that are willing to listen to me and the heart of God who asks us to look at the ant in Proverbs. I pray that they would have obedient hearts who are willing to do all things

Cheerfully
With a Hardworking Attitude
Impeccably
Punctually

May my Children have hearts that are obedient and that I may have a patient heart to guide them with kindness and love!

Random Thoughts

2009-09-18T02:58:00.002-05:00

I gave Meg a haircut yesterday. I hadn't done it in such a long time. I think she was 2 the last time I gave her one. She desperately needed one and I have not had a chance to find a stylist yet. (I need a haircut too!) So I plopped her in front of a movie (Prince Caspian) and we went to town. It only took me an hour to do. Unfortunately she was not happy that I wanted to take her picture while she was watching so she's scowling. I think it turned out pretty good.

Guess What I'm Doing?

2009-09-15T07:48:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday to my Husband

2009-09-15T07:31:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday Dougkas! You make me laugh! The picture was taken when we first bought our digital camera Christmas of 1999. You are so wonderful! I love it that you got to stay home today even though it was a waste of a day waiting for the furniture guys come to get the furniture, and they didn't show up. I love it that you are so good with the kids. I love it that you like expensive shoes. I love you that you listen to me gripe about all of the things that I don't like about living here! I love it that you seek to honour God and that you love your job! I'm so glad that you are a chaplain and that you love God and seek his will with all your heart soul, mind and strength. May the Lord bless you this year!

Homemade Soap/Couldn't stand the Peer Pressure

2009-09-13T02:11:00.009-05:00

I have a wonderful friend who lives in New York and she wants to tread lightly on the earth, which I believe is a good philosophy for a Christian to have. So she started making her own laundry soap. I saw the Duggar's make their own laundry soap on an episode and I thought "that's weird" but they have almost 19 children, so it works for them.

I have four kids and a husband in the military. Douglas has been very insistent since the days the ACUs came out that I make sure that we wash them in soap that doesn't have optical brighteners. These are chemicals that make the clothes seem brighter. On ACUs the brighteners make the clothes show up on night vision cameras etc. Every time I have to buy laundry soap I'm confused as to which ones have them and which ones don't so I find the list somewhere on the internet and look again. I'm tired of that!

Since my friend made her own soap, I figured I have twice the number of kids that she has, I can do this too. After an unsuccessful trip to the Commissary to find Washing Soda, I found it at a German grocery store. So yesterday afternoon, my girls and I made soap. We'll see this afternoon if it works. I can't wait. Here are the pics to prove it.
Supplies Needed

Grating the Soap

Stirring the soap and water mixture

The Last Stir of the Soap

Time and visits!

2009-09-03T04:43:00.005-05:00

Okay I'm back again! School has started and although I still feel like the house cleaning is getting away on me, it's much more under control! We got our stuff, albeit completely damaged!!! We'll be getting a new couch courtesy of the gov't. Yeah?

Like I said, we're back to school here. The constant reminder that you can play once you've done your work... Brennig gets up at 6:40 a.m. and does what he can without my help then sits through working with Megan and does what he needs with my help.

Above are pics of Ella and Brennig before their respective sports. Brennig soccer and Ella ballet. Megan is in gymnastics and when I get a picture of her in the practice I'll post it!

By the way, we're famous!!1 We're mentioned on this blog. Enjoy!

I'm back

2009-08-20T06:27:00.002-05:00

Well I finally have internet at the house and so I'm taking advantage of it. Hopefully, not so much so that I get a letter from the internet company saying I've used too much bandwidth. Crazy. They have rules for how much bandwidth you can use. YIKES! My computer arrived and had to update a bunch of stuff so hopefully, they'll forgive me.

We are in and despite the horribly dirty floors from using the Swiffer wet jet (yes it makes your floors dirtier!), the house is great. Douglas has mopped the floors four times just to get the gunk up. We bought an area rug, but it was too big so we'll have to take it back. Bought 500.00 worth of groceries (not quite sure why it's cost so much!); found some friends for Brennig (a huge answer to prayer!) Now for Megan & Ella...and me.

Tomorrow our household goods arrive and I'm excited to have my bed and my couch that doesn't smell like dog.

okay this sounds pretty negative, but really with the temp in the high 30s celsius, I can't complain about the weather. The Lord is continuing to bless us and we are praying that despite my extremely loud children, that we would be a blessing to our neighbours. We have a Polish Baba across the street that takes care of our landlord's frail parents. She brought the kids popsicles this morning. She counted the kids and said where the baby was (He was sleeping!) I'm very thankful that my parents spoke German because even if I can't speak, at least I can get the jist of most conversations.

A good day! Continue to pray for friends for me. I would love to have a German friend who could speak German to me intensively.

ERIC IS 1!!!

2009-08-04T02:49:00.003-05:00

We woke Eric up this morning with singing happy birthday. He was all smiles. He has become such a happy little boy. We are so thankful for him! We pray that he would continue to grow in strength and that he would be a boy who wants to please God

Happy Birthday Bubba!!!!

Days go By and It's Time for My Driver's Test

2009-07-29T07:56:00.002-05:00

The first pic is of our new to us car. It's a VW and it's small and it's great!

The second pic is of Ella in her new Ballerina gear. I signed up the 3 oldest to sports/dance classes this fall. Megan - Gymnastics, Brennig - Soccer, Ella, obviously dance. She is so excited! She said last night, that she's going to Ballerina (that's what she calls it) and she's going to have a Bunion in her hair. Yes, a bunion. I didn't argue. Just laughed on the inside.

Douglas is slowly finished up the paperwork for the house/car/inprocessing. Tomorrow he goes back to work (in uniform) and has to start being put to death by boring Powerpoint presentations on self-care, what's available on base etc. The Army gears presentations to the lowest common denominator. That means 18-year old Privates. It will, indeed, be death by Powerpoint. Tomorrow I also sit through a day of driver's training, then I take the driver's test. Most people wouldn't be nervous about a written test, but if you have a driver's test history like I do, you would be. I couldn't pass the driver's test in Britain even after 4 tries. I'm very thankful that here I don't have to actually drive for the test. It is just a written test, but even so, I am nervous. If you see this, please pray for me as I need to have clarity of mind during the test tomorrow.

2009-07-27T12:40:00.002-05:00

Okay this is our new car. (Not this exact one, but one just like it) Or will be tomorrow morning. Amazing story of how once again, God provided at the right time!!! All day Douglas has been running around trying to arrange to test-drive used cars. We'd hear from one person and then they wouldn't show up at the arranged meeting area. He'd look online again and then call the person and it was sold. Well he arranged to see a Camry at around 3 this afternoon and it was a good car, but the tires needed to be balanced and it needed a government inspection. So he said we'd call him back tomorrow morning after we went to the Air Base to see two other cars that we'd been looking at online. We got to the "Lemon" Lot and the Car #1's owner wasn't there. This was the 2nd time they hadn't shown up to meet us. Douglas was fed up. I got out of our van and saw this little VW Vento (European Jetta) sitting there. I've always wanted a Jetta and this one was priced right. Way under our budgeted amount, we could pay cash and it wouldn't owe us anything in 3 years. We even will have money to fix it if needed. Since car #1 owner still hadn't shown up, we called the VW owner and he said that he had had it inspected this morning. He had dropped it off at the lot 20 minutes before we arrived. Douglas arranged to take it for a drive tomorrow morning.

We continued to wait until Car #2's owner to come and meet us for a test drive. Finally, Car #1's owners came and we found out that they're friends are our neighbours and the husband is a teacher at the local DoD (Dept of Defense) school and they live near us in the same town. After we talked with the couple, Douglas called up the VW's owner and said that even though we hadn't driven it it was in such beautiful shape that we couldn't pass it up. The owner had bought it for his daughter and she'd only used it for 2 months before she went back to the US. It doesn't have a scratch on it. Douglas will meet the owner tomorrow and then the paperwork will be taken care of. God provided amazingly!!!!

Now for the funny story. After it was all said and done, we decided to go the brand new Macaroni Grill on the Air Base in celebration. The kids had their kids meals and the waiter came around and milled the Parmesan cheese on their meals. He said, "Say when." Brennig said, "Okay." Then he went around to Ella. He said, "Say when." Ella said, "Tomorrow." 'Nuff Said.

Have a great day!

Gardening in Europe

2009-07-26T13:23:00.003-05:00

Calling all Gardeners!!!! Especially those who have some experience Gardening in Rhineland Area in Germany. I need help! The house we will be moving into in 3 weeks has NO yard. It does have two nice patios though. If anyone knows anything about container gardening especially in this climate, please let me know!

Thanks in advance

Pondering Gratitude

2009-07-25T03:13:00.004-05:00

I'm sitting here in the quiet of the open window, the fan blowing (white noise), and loud mufflers outside on the autobahn. Okay it's not that quiet, but #4 is sleeping and that is peace. Douglas and #1 are at the landlord's house right now and hopefully signing papers. After the schmazzle (okay that's not a word, but it sounded good) of yesterday, I'm so glad today is here. Right after I posted my blog, the current tenants of the house called and said the LL (landlord) had shown the house to another couple. My heart was in my throat after that. I quickly wrote a Facebook status update for all those who are on FB that we needed to pray! I was at peace with losing the house, if that would have to happen. The Lord brought us to that house, why wouldn't He bring us to another if it was his will?

I called Douglas to let him know what was happening. He called the tenants and the tenants told him that the people didn't want the house because it was in the wrong Army/Air Force school district. Whew!!! Last night at about 8 we received a call from the LL's son and he set up a time to meet this morning.

Someone wrote on my FB page that they had also had an experience like this one...".I think God wants us to trust him and is seeing how grat[e]ful we can really be for what he provides." I think that is so true especially in light of yesterday. Douglas and I are so thankful that we are here. Thought we don't know what is in store for us while we are here, we are grateful. We are grateful for a job, for healthy children, for a God who longs to give us good things, and bring us through rough times "For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!" (1 Cor 4:17 NLT)

I'm trying very hard to not be so "knee-jerky" in my reaction to things. It is a prayer of mine as we learn this new culture of Army Overseas as well as the German culture. I tend to react in a flash rather than breathe! I want to breathe in the peace of God and then react positively to disobedience in my children, when things don't go as planned, etc.

And so, as my heart breathes in the good feelings about the house, I want to breathe out a thankful, grateful heart. With that I want to also instill in my children a heart of gratitude. A friend from Texas was complaining about her children's whining one day, as we all do, and said, "it stems from an ungrateful heart." How true! I pray that I would constantly breathe out gratitude in order that others might see it and so my children would know that we are given ALL things from God and it honors him when we have a grateful heart.

WE HAVE A HOUSE!!!!!

2009-07-24T07:03:00.003-05:00

The title says it all. After feeling very discouraged last night, partly because we found out that the Air Force gets 90 days to find a house and we only get 30, (so unfair!!), and that the phone numbers that the Housing office had for landlords, don't seem to work or that there are 15 people in front of you wanting it or that it's too far away or there's no yard, have to park on the street, it's dirty etc. The Lord heard our plea and had the best waiting for us. God in His providence, had the owner/housing office put the wrong contact phone number in the advertisement. Though our sponsor had gone over earlier in the week to look at it and was pleased with the house, he also stated to us that the driveway was very steep and not good come winter. We decided that it wouldn't be good for us.

This morning after Breakfast, Douglas went into the other hotel room we have and spent about 2 hours on the phone and waiting for calls back from various places to rent/landlords. Finally at about 10:30 he comes into the room where the kids and I were and said, we're going for a drive to look at a few places. So we hop in the car and go look at one that's just up the hill from our hotel. HORRIBLE!!! No yard, no place for the kids to play/it hadn't been mowed all summer. So then Douglas gets the idea to look at the house that our sponsor had looked at on our behalf, but had said it's too steep. The phone number to contact the landlord was wrong, but went Douglas goes into "assertive" mode, watch out!! So we drove along all these windy roads. (Don't ask me how to get there because I have absolutely no idea!!!) We found the house, with the help of a good GPS, and drove down the driveway. We saw the other entrance that was flat. Then Douglas got out and rang the doorbell. (I would never have the guts to do that!) Out comes the Mom in her pajamas. Smiling, obviously American. I can tell by Douglas' mannerisms that it's a good sign. He comes back to the car and tells us to come inside. All I have to say is WOW!!!!!!! Tile/Laminate flooring throughout. Small eat in kitchen. (Good for the kids and me, but not for all of us!) Huge dining/living room. 6 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Walk-in closet. 2 of the 6 bedrooms are in the "attic". They are the length of the entire house. It was built in 2007. The best part is that it is easy for Douglas to get to work or me to get to Ramstein/Landstuhl for groceries/hospital/Dr. There are kids all over the place. There is no yard, but a green space across the street and behind the house. The mom said that there were boys and girls that live in the surrounding houses.

We still have to sign papers yet, but we have been in contact with the Landlord's son who speaks English and the papers will hopefully get signed in the next few days.

Your prayers were heard again by a Great God!!! There are still prayer requests for us. A cheap/good-working car and that all the paperwork regarding this house will be signed and everything will fall into place. Pray also that I pass my driver's test on Thursday of this coming week. Thankfully, it's just a written test.

Have a good weekend! Thanks again!

Scatter-brained

2009-07-23T02:37:00.003-05:00

Okay, I always lose my keys, I always lose my phone. But then I always find them. I've been trying for the last few years to be very good about putting stuff like that in the place it belongs. In SA we had a basket in the kitchen where my keys/phone would go, if I forgot to put them in my purse. By the way, I hate purses! Well now, my scatter-brainedness is haunting me again. I don't know if it's because we're in tight quarters or jet-lag or what, but I can't remember where I put the check-book. It's not the main one that we always use, it's just a book of blank checks that I pulled out of a bag the other day so I could get the account number and routing number. I know I probably put it "away," but where is "away?" Definitely an UGH!!! moment.

We also have an answer to prayer!!! We have a bank account, a cell phone, and the use of a van. A fellow chaplain and his wife have graciously loaned us the use of their mini-van. They are going to borrow another car from a fellow chaplain who is deployed. It is wonderful. We can now go looking for a second car and a house all together. The house is the most important and the most urgent. Please pray urgently for this. The Army gives us 30 days to find a home and move in. There are absolutely no homes available on post/base at this time. We have already used up 7 of those 30 days. Douglas has been trying to get in contact with landlords and they don't seem to be answering their phones. Please pray for the house-hunting. We are asking for a lot of things in regard to the home it seems. Close-proximity to work, walking paths (good possibility as they are everywhere), friends for the all of us, and enough room to have guests feel comfortable. Please pray that we would find that. I feel guilty asking for all those things, but I also want to ask for it because of John 16:23-24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full." I hope I get the context and the meaning right of those verses. But I believe that it doesn't hurt to ask. All God can do is say no.

On another note, Megan had a good Birthday yesterday. Our sponsors brought her a present and a cake. We went out for Greek food. (AWESOME!!!) I will add pictures when I get around to finding all the stuff for the camera! :)

Happy Birthday Meggie

2009-07-22T06:37:00.002-05:00

Megan turns 7 today. I can't believe it. It kind of stinks that we're here and we haven't met anyone her age yet, but our sponsor's have promised to bring a cake tonight for her birthday. Our sponsors have been wonderful!!!

Megan, as you continue to grow up, I pray that inside you a heart that yearns to do what God desires will blossom. I pray that you may know "how wide, how long, how high, is the Love of Christ." I so glad that you and your giggle and your energetic, can't-sit-still self is a part of our family. You are a blessing to us! We love you!

Italian Ice--Gotta Love It!!!

2009-07-21T02:08:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we found the ALDI!!!!!! Yahoo. We found lots of things cheaper than on post and few more things that were comparable. At the Aldi here, they have an entire row of Chocolate things. 300 lb Douglas, his alter ego, loves this. We walked to the store and it was easy to get to. Last night for supper we went to a Thai place to eat. The kids cleaned their plates 3 times. So proud of them. They ate bean sprouts and everything. After that we went to an Italian Ice place. Oh my goodness, was that amazing! They make ice cream look like spaghetti. So if you come here, we'll take you there. Food is Art at this place.

If you think of it, pray that we find a cell-phone that is as cheap as possible. Also that we would find a car. We haven't had a chance to look yet, but we're trying to find a cheap car that is in pretty good shape. We didn't really want to buy another car, but we also have little choice. We can't be beholding to our sponsor's forever. I think they're getting tired of us too!

Gotta Add This

2009-07-20T08:13:00.000-05:00

Thanks Jen!!! I think I have this. As does Ella!

Hard to Be Quiet When You Have a Big-Mouth Mama Like Me!

2009-07-20T02:13:00.004-05:00

My children are loud!!!!! I've always known this. I have been told, since the day I was born, that I was loud. I'm a loud-talker (is this a Seinfeld episode?). So it is no wonder, that Ella, especially, is a loud talker too. Douglas and I are so glad that we've moved to Germany because maybe it will teach all of us (including myself) how to speak quietly. We arrived on Friday and there have been a lot of shshshshs going on.

We are staying a wonderful hotel, though we are in two rooms because our family is toooo big. The breakfast is great! They have a wonderful staff. Every time we walk up the stairs to our room, we're constantly saying Sh! After being cooped up here for the last three days, mainly because of rain, not because we don't have car (though I wish we did!), we decided we HAD to get out of the room. So we got on our shoes and hiked out the door. We walked up to the "city" of Landstuhl. Cute little town, everything was closed because it was Sunday, but I didn't care, I was outside the hotel room. We found the ice cream shop, pizza places, even the pharmacy and an outdoor clothing shop (which I have to go and see about a rain jacket). In order to get to the main part of Landstuhl, we have to walk underneath the railroad tracks through a tunnel. It's not practical to put wall-to-wall carpeting in tunnels so there are tiles. What do tiles do, but echo. The first thing the kids asked was if they could yell Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum. We said NO!!! At least they asked before they did it! You could see it was all Ella could do to keep quiet during our walk through. But she managed until the last step out of the tunnel. When she just couldn't contain it any longer and yelled a quick AH! They did pretty well.

I will admit to having a meltdown yesterday. I couldn't help it. It was raining, we don't have a car, don't have a house, didn't really think we had a place to go. I was tired from jet-lag and felt closed in. We went for a walk and that changed somewhat. I'm amazed that the Grace of God when he gave me a pretty good night's sleep last night, and suddenly the whole world changes and everything looks different! Douglas has been looking online for a house and the ones he has found look good, but the bad news is, if they work out we'll have to be here in the hotel for a month. That seemed horrible yesterday, but today it all seems to be okay! He kept saying something like this "if we can put up with a little stress in order to have a better house then I'd rather do that than get in a house right now and be disappointed." Okay, it's something like that. So after sleeping on that, I will have to agree with him. We're in a different country, can't speak the language at all, but we'll make do and pray that God gets glorified in the process.

By His Grace We'll Get Through This Thing!

We're Here

2009-07-18T08:25:00.002-05:00

Well, I decided to start writing my blog again. I'm sitting in a hotel room listening to Eric cry because he's crawling around on the floor and getting in trouble while being completely exhausted!!! The joys of 6 people in a hotel room. We have two rooms, but we can't live without each other :)!!!! Douglas has been out with his XO (Executive Officer, his boss) who is also our sponsor. Great Christian couple!!! They volunteered to chauffeur us around so that they could see what being a sponsor is all about. They took us to the BX/Commissary yesterday and also to a Chuck-E-Cheese like place for kids on post.

I've been borderline comatose since yesterday. I can't sit around more than 5 minutes without falling asleep. I don't remember feeling this exhausted from the other times we've been overseas. Oh well, everytime is different. I would send pics, but we haven't even thought about getting the camera out.

It's now 9:18 and it's still bright as day outside. Gonna love summers here! Winter's going to be very dark. Eric is still awake despite having only had a 45 minute nap all day. Hopefully, he'll drop over soon. Tonight we went to the Bowman's (Douglas' XO) for supper. What a great family. He and his wife just got married about six weeks ago. They are so giving! I aim to be that way as soon as we find a house.

We drove and found a house that was advertised as we were travelling home tonight. It was huge, but it was on a corner of a busy road and did not have proper parking for the humongous vehicle we'll have whenever the boat lands at Bremerhaven.

Well I should quit now. Brennig just beat Douglas at Mancala and the girls are asleep. Have a great day/night.

2009-05-10T20:59:00.003-05:00

The last two weeks have been crazy. Eric’s been to the ER and had an ear infection. Douglas got crazy sick with a virus which turned into Bacterial Bronchitis (PTL for Antibiotics!), and we planned and pulled off a birthday party for Brennig and Megan.

Thankfully, Douglas was feeling better by Thursday and the party was a go. It was 95 degrees outside, but it was a lot of fun. Brennig and Megan love the Amazing Race and so we had an Amazing Race Party. The kids all had to do tasks to do. We were going to do prizes, but it was so hot that before we could get the prizes out, the sprinkler turned on and that was the most important thing at that moment. The sprinkler stayed on for a good while and then we had lunch and cake and then the water balloons came out!

Thank you to all who helped! I couldn’t have done any of it without you!!!!

We are at the 39-days-until-we-leave mark. We have a sponsor overseas (someone who shows us the ropes when we get to Germany). I don’t have my passport, but I believe it is at the office waiting to be picked up. I have finished most of my projects that I wanted to get done. Now we’re just heading into the home stretch.

Continue to pray for Douglas as he is behind on his prospectus because of his illness, but will hopefully get that done soon. We are going to Corpus Christi this weekend to get pictures of the kids on the beach and to have a fun beach weekend. (Douglas doesn’t like sand, but I do!) Can’t wait to just be lazy for a weekend and be with friends at the same time.

Crazy Life

2009-04-27T20:54:00.004-05:00

Alright, here's an update, finally.

Bad news first. Eric has an ear infection, 3 1/2 hours of my life gone to waiting in the ER, but he has the pink stuff and feels much better.

Good News now

We have the kids passports. Don't know where mine is. I think because I wasn't born in the U.S., they are suspicious or something. Who Knows?

Our FL trip is a go. We are leaving SA on the 19th at 2:00 a.m., yes that's right. Disney World has a thing for the military now, so we're going to take three days and do some Disney! Can't wait to see the pool, Mooga!

We can fly to Germany from Chicago. No offense, to all those in SA, but we really didn't want to come back here after travelling all over the country just to waste 3 days of leave time sitting around and waiting to get on a plane, when we can sit around and get fat at my parents'. Roll Kuchen and Watermelon, here we come! :) If anyone wants to come see us in Chicago, we'll be there from the 4th of July until about the 15th or 16th.

We also found out today that we can ship our car from outside St. Louis which is only a little over 4 hours from my parents'. We will take our car there and ship it from there. The gov't was happy to allow us to do that because it was further east from Dallas. Weird logic, but whatever...

Okay, I have one prayer request, Brennig's birthday is on the 8th of May and we are hoping to have a double party with Megan as well seeing as she always gets the raw deal with having a birthday just after we move with no friends yet. So we were going to have an Amazing Race Birthday in a park near here, but found out tonight that the park has a carnival going on that day. Now I'm not sure what we're going to do. Pray that we would have the brains to figure out things to do cheaply and that the kids would have fun!

I think that's all the news for now.

Easter and Other Stuff

2009-04-16T10:40:00.003-05:00

Easter is over! We can now wear white! We only have around 9 more weeks in San Antonio and then we head out. Can't believe it! We finally have orders! We went to a meeting yesterday and Douglas came out to meet me before it with them in his hands! I am so relieved! I did find out last week that we were going to get orders even if our passports weren't ready. Next week the transportation (packing) meetings begin.

I also finished the two duvets this week! I hate zippers, that's all I have to say. They're done and that's all I have to say. Now on to scrapbooking, but first a trip up to Mckinney, TX for a visit with my cousins for the weekend.

Douglas has until the end of April to finish his prospectus, please pray that he finds peace and quiet to finish it. He has started. It's just a matter of finishing it.

That's it, I've got to get back to checking spelling tests for the kids. Have a great weekend!

Upset

2009-04-09T14:34:00.003-05:00

Just got a phone call from the passport office on post. They just told me that the passports were held up because I filled out the form that says we already had a tourist passport. I told the lady I already had a passport. She said that I needed to get it to Washington. I said, "well I had it in my hands at the office when we handed in our forms and you told us we didn't need them." It probably wasn't said that nicely. Now our passports are held up and thus our orders are held up thus the ordering of the packing sessions 1, 2, & 3 are held up. Pray for grace for me! I need it. I need a vacation to Florida and maybe even Chicago, and if we have to stick around after June 19 because of movers, I'll be really ticked off! I will admit it, I want all the ducks to be in a row and any deviation and hold-up throws me off. (Brennig is more like me than anything!) Again, "Many are the plans in a man's heart. . ."

On another note, Eric is moving! He's too young, in my opinion :), but he is scooching around on his stomach and it will not be long until he's crawling. He's bringing his legs up underneath him, but can't get coordinated enough to really crawl. And yes, he is always sucking on the lower lip so he looks like a Cabbage Patch Kid. But he's so cute!

2009-04-05T17:06:00.002-05:00

We went to a park last night with friends. I "helped" the mom with her new camera. We snapped pics like crazy. This was the one that we got of the four kids together. Of course, Eric didn't cooperate.

We're still in a holding pattern here in regards to moving. The person in the office told Douglas when he handed in all the paperwork that it could take 2-3 weeks. ARGH!!!! The good thing is that Douglas and I are taking advantage of the time here and doing stuff with adults and going on two weekend trips with the kids. These diversions don't help me get my duvets done, but they help take my mind off the fact that we can't plan anymore until we have orders. "Many are the plans in a man's heart . . ."

Stuffing Your Face

2009-03-29T20:40:00.002-05:00

This picture happened by accident. We have a little piggy on our hands and he stuffed the small piece of breadstick in his mouth and just held it there. Couldn't help but snap a pic.

I wish all I could think about was eating, but alas, there are so many things on my mind right now. Mainly moving. We've been able to jump through a few hoops these past few weeks, but we still don't have orders. We've ordered our passports, had our Exceptional Family Member clearance (everyone is developmentally, mentally and physically cleared to go overseas), and Douglas has done his computer training he had to do. He will hand in the paperwork tomorrow and hopefully we will then get our official orders. I can't help but be impatient. There are so many things I want, but again the Proverb runs through my brain, "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but the LORD determines the steps." Pray for contentment on my part.

Tank Sore

2009-03-26T19:29:00.003-05:00

Well I just had to write this funny from Ella today. We had Taco Soup for supper and after she melted down from not wanting to drink (a normal everyday occurrence at our house) she was eating her soup and complaining that her lip hurt. So I went over to her and looked at her lip and sure enough she had chancre sore. (Yes I checked spell check and that is right. . .I think). So I told her just to eat our bread. She ate that and then came outside where I was helping Douglas sweep up the Live Oak leaves that have fallen on our abysmal-looking yard. So Ella came out and said to Douglas, "I didn't finish my soup because I have a tank sore in my mouth."

Prayers for Stellan

2009-03-25T06:45:00.002-05:00

I read a few other blogs, thanks to friends who have linked me to them in the past. Right now I and a million other people as well as this family are asking for prayers for Stellan. He's a little guy and I hope you will click on the link above to learn about him and his family. He's in pretty bad shape right now and it is hard to comprehend how a Mom could have such peace, but thankfully the Lord is Peace!

Give a quick look over to the other blog and pray for little Stellan. Pray for Wisdom for the Drs. and for healing.

Oops Sorry

2009-03-23T16:00:00.005-05:00

I changed my settings on my blog and don't receive any updates when people comment. Gotta change that. So sorry! Well one of your comments was about the oatmeal bread. So here's the recipe. This is the one for the machine oatmeal bread.

Bread Machine Oatmeal Bread
SUMMARY:

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 1/2 cups Warm Water
- 3 tablespoons Canola Oil
- 3 tablespoons Sweetner (Sugar,Sucan't,Maple Syrup, what ever you use)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Lemon Juice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
- 1 1/2 cups Oatmeal
- 3 cups Flour (either all white, 1/2 white 1/2 wheat, or other combo of choice)
- 1 tablespoon yeast

METHOD:

Toss it all together in your bread machine per your machines instructions
(liquids first) and press the appropriate cycle. You will have wonderful bread to enjoy. First time I tried this the crust was too dark for my preference so now I use the lighter crust setting.

Here is also a link to the machine on Amazon.

Crafty, I'm Not

2009-03-21T23:23:00.003-05:00

That is definitely the truth about me, but ever since my parents gave me a sewing machine for Christmas 2005, I've sewn a few things. Tonight I finished Duvet #1 of 3 that I have to do before we move. This is just a cover for an extra twin we have, just in case we have company. It's not pretty,(Don't look on the wrong side!) but I believe it will hold together. Now all of you have no excuse about coming to see us, we have plenty of bedding. You'll be nice and toasty when you come to Germany!

The Trip to the Zoo

2009-03-19T10:28:00.004-05:00

This week is Spring Break for some schools around here, so our family and a bunch of other Chaplain's wives decided that maybe we should take our kids on a field trip to the zoo. The Yates family were the only ones who had been there before so it was good to show everyone else the ropes, but our family was also the family that showed people how NOT to do the San Antonio Zoo.

--Do not go on St. Patrick's Day. (Everyone is wearing green!)
--Do not go during Spring Break Week. (Everyone and their mother was there!)

Why? Well Ella got lost and was taken to the front office, then no more than an hour later, Megan also decided to do her own thing and go her own way and get lost. Luckily, the wonderful Staff at the zoo found both of them within minutes and I could go and get them, but ugh was it the worst day to have lost kids! The Zoo staff said it happens 10-12 times in one day. But does it happen twice to one family in one day? We were 1/6 of that number.

We are back at home and back to doing school. I'm desparately trying to make duvet covers and I'm blanking on how to sew in a zipper. So it's back to normal. Tomorrow we go to a children's museum in New Braunfels. We'll see how many children get lost then.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-11T16:04:00.002-05:00

TARGET IS CLOSE!!!!

2009-03-09T17:51:00.004-05:00

This weekend my favourite store of all time opened up just about 3 miles from our house. YIPPEE!!!

Megan's Day Out

2009-03-03T21:09:00.003-06:00

I will admit, I've had a hard time wanting to post to this blog right now. So much organizing and school and having company and projects that HAVE to be done before we move. I don't want to wait til May until I start anything.

So on Saturday, Megan and I went to the zoo. Just the two of us. It was great fun. It was great not having to have a diaper bag with me, though I still had to have a backpack for the camera and of course, snacks.

We went and had a great time and we even fed the Lorikeets which was a lot of fun especially the second go round with the nectar. We went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and then went and did a little shopping for her. She wants to do it again!

The pictures above are of the outing.

Borscht - Mennonite Style

2009-02-24T16:52:00.003-06:00

Okay, I don't know if this is how all Mennonites make Borscht, but it is the Borscht I grew up on. I have never made it before. My kids are big into Soups all of a sudden so I thought since we were studying Russia in History this week, I would make Borscht. The recipe the History book called for Beets, but my mom said this would taste better and the kids would eat it.

So here's the recipe.

1 Pound Stew Beef
6-8 cups Water
2 tsp salt

Low boil that for an hour.

Add chopped carrots, about 1 1/2 cups,
2 large potatoes, cubed;
1 large onion, chopped.

Into a large Soup Ball Infuser, place fresh dill, about 10 peppercorns and some parsley (either fresh or dried) and a Bay leaf. Place that in the pot and allow to low-boil for awhile then add diced tomatoes and chopped cabbage. I used 2 cans of tomatoes (15 oz size) and then about 3/4 of a bag of chopped cabbage. Allow that to cook for about 30 minutes and enjoy! It freezes well.

By the way, the Soup Ball Infuser I have is different than the one I linked. I got mine when we got married and I haven't seen them since, but I found a link to something like it.

New Bread Machine

2009-02-22T16:44:00.005-06:00

My family is addicted to the bread machine. We received a hand-me-down from good friends who moved overseas and have used it weekly at least 2 times, most weeks 3 times. Well last week we realized that the pin that holds the paddle was about to fall out, so we decided that we would probably need to replace the machine. I started researching it and what a headache that was!!!!! Friday, I realized that we would have to replace it sooner than later. So we picked this one. I try to research stuff before I buy it and this research was stressful, because no bread machine is perfect. Needless to say, we were happily surprised! The second picture is the first loaf we made for Breakfast this morning. The picture above is of the Chocolate CAKE I made in it. Douglas is ready for me to make a real pound cake in it next. UGH I'm trying to lose weight!!!!

Things You Never Thought You'd Say to Your Kids

2009-02-14T09:39:00.005-06:00

After a yummy breakfast of Mennonite-Style Waffles.

Douglas, looking out the window, to Brennig: Son, I think you left a hand grenade in the backyard.

Oh the irony.

It Rained!

2009-02-11T10:45:00.002-06:00

Last night, Douglas and I had a fun night. You've Got Mail was on TV. (That in itself is fun!) At around 9:00 the thunder and lightning rolled in. I decided that because we hadn't had rain for oh, I don't know how long, that I would go and sit on the step and watch it. Douglas and I discussed the fact that it had been at least 3 1/2 years since we had seen a proper Thunderstorm. It was great to see the lightning. I wanted to get a picture of it, but it was shaded by the trees in the front yard. It's also a little dangerous :)! So while Meg and Tom talked about "the smell of sharpened pencils in the fall," Douglas and I enjoyed God's creation. Thankfully, we also got rain and not just thunder and lightning. The rain gauge said, 1/2 inch. Please pray for more. Everything here is BROWN!!!!!!!

Guess Who?

2009-02-06T17:01:00.005-06:00

Wordless Wednesday on Thursday

2009-02-05T10:10:00.001-06:00

Over The Grave

2009-02-03T16:20:00.001-06:00

Just a little preview of Sojourn's new album of Isaac Watt's music. I can't wait!!!!!

What's Up with That?

2009-01-29T10:12:00.002-06:00

Wondering what the picture was yesterday? Well It's my wonderful husband and my father eating Bratwurst outside of Brandenburg Gate, Berlin. The date was April 9, 2002. If you look closely you can see Brennig's hand peeking out from behind my Dad's back. Brennig was 11 months old and he spent 4 days straight in the backpack while we toured Berlin with my parents. It's amazing that anywhere we would go that even at 11 months of age, Brennig knew when a place would echo. The moment we walked into the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, he knew that it echoed and started making noise. Can't wait to go back with Eric! He'll be close to the same age as Brennig was when we get there. YIKES!!!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-01-28T14:57:00.001-06:00

Homeschooling in Germany

2009-01-27T06:56:00.002-06:00

Several of you have asked whether or not I can homeschool in Germany. It is illegal to homeschool in Germany, unless I am sponsored by the Military. With that said, I am in the process of spending many hours online trying to get all the necessary papers and paraphernalia related to homeschooling.

Douglas and I had a long talk last night and I believe that the dilemma I had was mostly selfish and related to a discipline issue both with me and with the kids. We have come up with some solutions to part of it and so we plug away at day-to-day living. With that being said, continue to pray for us. I am a Type-A personality and because we still have 5 months left here I am eager to get started on paperwork etc, but we don't have the official orders yet so it's a moment where I need to slow down and enjoy the present.

Thanks for your prayers!

Drum Roll Please

2009-01-26T17:36:00.004-06:00

We have our location for our next duty station and it is . . . . .

GERMANY!!!!!

It was our first pick, but we were told a few weeks ago that it was closed or had been filled. Well it was filled with our family! So we'll be in Germany for 2 years potentially 3 years, then who knows where. It's not up to me anyway.

I do have some prayer requests.

1) That my mind would stay focused on the present. Douglas said yesterday that I had already checked out of San Antonio.

2) I'm have a huge internal dilemma as to whether or not to homeschool next year. Partly because my school-age children are fighting constantly at the moment and it would be a welcome relief to send them to school and not hear it all day long. Please advise all of you who have been through this.

3) There is a huge possibility that Douglas will get deployed again. I knew this when we picked this as our first choice, but it still weighs on me knowing that we would be alone again for an extended period of time and they're that much older now.

As I look at this prayer request list, I'm thinking of how selfish I am. I know that God knows the desires of my heart. I pray that I honour him even if I am unsure of what will happen this summer.

So, in end, we're going to Germany. Anybody got a copy of Rosetta Stone German they want to get rid of?

2 Sleeps Left

2009-01-22T19:34:00.003-06:00

This is how I feel about leaving my parents. Boo-hoo. Oh well, on Saturday it's back to real life, not that we haven't sort of had real life here. We've done school every day for the last three weeks even while at G-ma's and G-pa's.

At least we won't have to wear jackets anymore!

Ella's Thoughts on the Inauguration

2009-01-20T15:44:00.003-06:00

As Michelle Obama walks down Pennsylvania Avenue Ella turns to Grandma and says, "I'm going for her because she's the Princess!"

Pics to brighten your day

2009-01-19T20:39:00.007-06:00

After I wrote the "Not Me" part, I neglected to say that I'm fine after falling down the stairs. Nothing harmed but my ego. Here are a few pics to brighten your day. Again, the photo address on the right has more.

Not Me Monday!

2009-01-19T16:35:00.002-06:00

Here it is again. A fun Not Me Monday. You can see this all at MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not fall down the stairs this morning because I was carrying diapers, and had slippery slippers and because I was thinking about the SHOPPING I was going to be doing at the outlet mall near my parents'. I also did not fall asleep holding the baby while listening to a sermon last night at church. while sitting up in the balcony, nope not me!

Have a good Monday!

The Brevity of Life and the Providence of God

2009-01-16T11:53:00.005-06:00

**** UPDATE****
Eric's Mom passed away at 6:15 p.m. tonight. They are hoping to give someone else life by donating her organs. Douglas was able to minister to Eric's Stepdad's co-workers in amazing ways. It was a God-ordained day.

It's a downer kind of day. Sorry. It's beautiful and sunny albeit -5 degrees F outside.

Douglas is in Greenville, SC right now. His best friend, Eric (whom we named Eric after), is there too. Eric's mom had a massive brain aneurysm yesterday and is not going to make it. I don't know how old she is, but she is too young. Eric has a sister and a stepfather who desperately need your prayers. Eric and Danelle also need prayer as they have to tell the sad news to their two little boys. Praise the Lord, Eric's Mom was a believer.

The beautiful providence of God in this all is that Douglas is at school only 45 minutes away from Greenville. Douglas also finished his papers yesterday and so had nothing to do all weekend. What a beautiful God we have that He designed all this so that Douglas could be with his friend when they needed him.

The Lord is Good!