happy halloween 2009

Today was our seventh (and final!) Halloween in Germany. The boys had a fabulous time. This may be Sam's final year of trick-or-treating. He saw several of his friends tonight--not a single one in costume. He was a little embarrassed. Jake was a Redskins player...again. I think this is year number four. The first year he wore it several people gave him extra candy for the costume and he's been hooked ever since. (He doesn't realize that it is pity candy...says his Colts-fan Hoosier-born mom.) Thankfully he will be too big for it next year. Zander was a bat again this year and Izzy wore Zander's hand-me-down monkey costume. (Those things are expensive! You have to use them more than once!)

Happy Halloween to your house from ours! Hope you have a very spooktacular day!

perhaps a smaller bite would have sufficed

When I was younger I spent much of my time writing. I wrote for entertainment. I wrote for joy. I wrote for escape. I have oodles of stories downstairs in the basement; ragged spiral notebooks and pages of peach and turquoise loose leaf paper filled to varying capacities of completeness. I spent so much time in the make-believe worlds of my youth that the memories of some of the characters from my stories seem more real to me than do some of the friends I had at the time.

I was pretty good at it too, the whole "writing thing". The mechanics of writing always came easy to me. My grammar was never perfect (although it was better then than it is now) but the errors were minor. I was involved in any and every writing activity I could find in high school. I entered a lot of writing contests my Junior and Senior years and did very well. I may not have always come away with top honors but I always placed. I was proud of that.

I am not sure when I quit exactly. I remember trying to sit down and write a handful of times after Sam was born but it just didn't go anywhere. The notebooks and papers were gradually shuffled from the top of the desk, to a drawer, to a box. Each move saw them shift a little further from the forefront of my mind. I started doing a lot of technical-type writing at work and writing started to seem like a chore. I nearly forgot that I had once enjoyed it. It's only been these last couple of years that I've wanted to write again. I am rusty. My grammar leaves much to be desired and I am still searching for my voice, but I'm getting a little better about writing on a consistent basis. It is definitely something I would like to get back into.

In an effort to accomplish this, one of my 101 goals (see #99) is to enter and "win" the NaNoWriMo. It's a yearly challenge for writers to take the month of November and use it to just write. The goal is to finish a small novel, good or bad, of at least 175 pages (roughly 50,000 words) by midnight on November 30th. It is a daunting, yet attainable, goal. The "win" is simply the successful completion of your goal. That's it. The plot can stink to high heaven, the characters can be wooden and completely unbelievable...the point is just to finish the story.

Due to my official 101 start date I only get two shots at this thing before my 1001 days is over. So I've signed up and plan to start writing...have you noticed that November starts on Sunday? As in, this Sunday? I'm a little freaked out. I still don't know what my story is going to be about. I don't know if my main character (characters?) is going to be male or female or even human. To make my goal I need to write about 1667 words a day. I feel like I'm starting at a severe disadvantage if I can't get at least the skeletal outline of the story figured out before the official start date.

I used to write that way when I was younger; I would sit down at the table and scribble into my notebook for 10 pages at a time, never knowing from one paragraph to the next what was going to happen. I don't think I can do that now. I was very idealistic and fantasy-based (for lack of a better word) back then. I tend to be more realistic and process thoughts in a more linear fashion now. The idea of sitting down and writing something with no pre-thought put into it is nearly enough to give me hives. And yet I am running out of time! That may be just what I end up doing. Talk about leaving your comfort zone.

Have I mentioned that Jason leaves for a conference this month? I get to play single parent for a couple weeks. And, oh yeah! I'm starting back to school on the 9th. Methinks there are going to be some late nights in my near future. Is it times like these that make people start drinking coffee?

If you write, how do you do it? Are you a "by the seat of your pants" kind of writer? Do you plan? If writing is not your thing, what is something you did when you were younger that you still do or want to do now? Has your approach changed over time?

thoughts on faith and a request for prayer

So if you know me in real life you know (or probably do) that I generally classify myself as "agnostic" in the beliefs department. I do believe that there is "something" (or "Something", if you prefer) out there...but I don't know how anyone could possibly presume to know what. I'm not anti-religion by any stretch of the imagination but I was not raised in or around church. My family (overall...there are a couple of exceptions) is not an especially religious bunch but they will generally all classify themselves as "spiritual". I realize that this distinction is something of a hot button amongst those who are religious but you have to understand...this is the way I was raised. It makes sense to me that you can be spiritual without being religious.

At the beginning of 2008 my Gramma started the slide into the end of her battle with pancreatic cancer. I packed bags for myself, Jake, and Zander and we headed back to the states to be with her and the rest of my family. As sick as she was, we were lucky enough to make it back for the end. I was even able to help take care of her at home for the last week or so. It was, and is, hard to talk about the things that went on during that timeframe.

One thing that I took away from the experience was a desire to believe that there is "Something" out there. Some Benevolent Being who waits for us on the other side of life's doorway. Is there? I don't know. But in the moment that my Gramma passed, I can tell you that I felt...something. In that instant that her body quit working, there was a definite change in the energy level in the room. The best way that I can describe it is that she was there...and then she wasn't. That single moment in time has definitely altered my view of the world.

I have said before that I enjoy reading blogs because of the window through which they allow me to view the lives of others. I read several blogs written by women with strong religious beliefs. None of them have spoken to me like this one. Maybe it is because of Stellan. He is nearly the same age as Izzy (and is our fourth child) and I can so easily think, "That could have been us." Because of that connection, it is difficult for me to read about the trials and the wonders that Stellan's situation brings into their life without crying. Maybe it is because we have a similar sense of humor. That in and of itself is rare enough to speak to me. Or, perhaps, it may simply be that she writes so simply about that which she believes in so deeply. I don't know. What I do know is that somehow she writes things that make sense to me. And I start to think that maybe faith is something that I could have after all.

That is what she has given me through the simple act of her blogging, this stranger living in the Frozen Tundra of midwest America: the hope that I can have faith. And so, while she is once again going through difficulties with her dear Stellan, I hope that I can bring her family some additional prayers. Please pray, with me, for this family and this child. Please send them prayers of love and patience and hope...I know that I would surely need them in her shoes.

ww: follow the leader

pumpkins from hitscherhof farm

We took our last pumpkin-buying trip to Hitscherhof today. It is sad to know that we're going to have to find a new place to get our Halloween pumpkins next year. It took us several years to find this place and it's perfect for us! There's a barn, pretty backgrounds, gorgeous fall colors, a corn maze...and they sell pumpkin wine. You just can't complain about a place like that! Hitscherhof is definitely on the list of things I will miss about Germany.

The best time to go is the last weekend of September. That is when they have their annual Farm Fest with local produce and craft vendors galore. If you can't make that weekend though (as we weren't able to this year) the pumpkin shop is open all the way up through October 31st. Prices are extremely reasonable. If you buy your pumpkins at the commissary and then see the prices here you will kick yourself. We bought six pumpkins this year (five to carve, one to send to school with Jake for a project) and spent less than 20 Euro. The people are nice, the pumpkins have plenty of character...the drive isn't bad either. It's definitely worth checking out.

To my relief, Sam is exiting his "anti-camera" phase. Getting pictures of him over the last two years has been very difficult. I'm not sure what has prompted this change of heart but I'm not going to argue about it!

Of course, now that Sam is exiting that phase we have another kid entering it. Isn't that just our luck? Jake isn't exactly against getting his picture taken...he's just really good about not being around when we're taking them. The boy is a ninja. We didn't get any decent shots of him looking at the pumpkins but Jason did snap this one of him playing on the rocks.


Zander was a little madman while we were there. (Anyone shocked? No? I didn't think so!) He couldn't decide where to start or stop or stay or...well, you get the general idea. He ran here and there and everywhere. The best way to get a picture of the kid? Stick him on top of the biggest pumpkin we could find! He had an absolute blast.

We took so many pictures of Izzy that picking just one to put on here was extremely difficult. I think this one that Jason took was really great though. Izzy had so much fun crawling around exploring the farm. He climbed the pumpkins, ate the grass, put leaves on top of the boulders, and grinned the whole time. Surprisingly enough, he even kept his hat on most of the afternoon. How very agreeable of him!

Of course, we took a ton of pictures of all four kids together. It was our standard "exercise in futility". Honestly, the best thing about taking pictures of all four kids together is putting them in order, one after the other, and letting the world see them in a "candid" format. I may do that another time but today we got a decent one so I'll just share this.

All in all it was a wonderful afternoon. We enjoyed every year we spent finding our pumpkins at Hitscherhof. It will be interesting to see where we are this time next year!

dynamikum in pirmasens

Jason and I had the opportunity to take the little boys out for their own little field trip today. We've wanted to get to the Dynamikum Science Center in Pirmasens for a long time now...we just finally found the right opportunity. We got our directions off the computer (I am our GPS) and headed out late in the morning. The directions didn't quite get us all the way there but Jason found a nice German man who pointed out the way. Next time we'll know to turn left when the road T's as opposed to guessing right!

The museum is very hands-on and interactive and specifically designed for kids. It was a little on the crowded side so going through the different rooms was a little difficult. There were a ton of school-aged kids there (in retrospect, Friday afternoon may not have been the best time to go) and Zander had to really work to get up to some of the exhibits. He did great though.

He seemed to enjoy the pendulum balls. We were stuck at this station for awhile.


We pretty much figured that he would enjoy anything gear-related. This is a kid who loves anything wheel-shaped.


This exhibit was a lot of fun. It looked like the world's largest slinky and it was attached to the handle that Zander is holding. It demonstrated how you could make the "waves" short and fast or long and slow...he just liked shaking the tar out of the thing.


This one showed the kids how a vortex forms. That huge ball was filled with swirly blue liquid. Kids can spin the ball (using the thing that Zander is holding in this picture) and watch the vortex form. I think Izzy enjoyed this one more than Zander did.


While we all had a great time we more than likely will not go back with just Zander. This museum is really meant for the slightly older crowd (5-11 would be a great age range, Zander is a young 3). Sam and Jake would both get a kick and a half out of it but most of the "purpose" of the museum went right over Zander's head. Is that such a big deal? No, but it did cost us 20 Euro for admission. We can take Zander to the park for free and he'd have just as much fun. It did make for a good afternoon out with the kids, though!

comments

It was brought to my attention that I had the comment settings a little too binding. I guess I didn't switch it from the default! That has been remedied so there is now no need to register in order to comment.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

ww: waiting for flu shots

gubernatorial...i mean, noodle tutorial!

I know there are lots of ways to make noodles, but this is how I do it. I'm sure you can find more sophisticated methods and recipes elsewhere...but this is how my Gramma taught me and it is the epitome of comfort food to me. I sometimes feel like it's a difficult process, although it isn't. I think it's just that Gramma always made it seem so effortless when she did it. I doubt I will every rise to her degree of skill.

Okay...so first you take a cup of flour and put it in a bowl. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. (You could also use other spices or herbs if you wanted. The sky's the limit.)


Make a "well" in the center of the flour. Put the egg into the well. Fill half of the egg shell with milk and add it to the egg.

Now, Gramma always used her hands to mix the dough up but I have a lot of trouble doing that correctly. So I use a pastry blender until it looks like the next picture:

And then I use my hands to form a more solid mass. (It's not a ball...not sure what to call it!) Place the dough on a heavily floured surface.

Roll the dough out as flat as you can get it. (You'll do best if your rolling pin is floured as well.)

Cut the dough in half and then roll one half. It should look like the picture below.

Cut the rolled dough into approximately equal pieces. You can cut the pieces thick or thin, it doesn't matter. Just try to make them as equal as you can.

Unroll each strip and lay it on a towel. Keep repeating all the steps above until you have as many noodles as you need. (I generally make three batches for our family of six.) Layer towels as needed until you are done.

Now, you can use these noodles with just about anything. Chicken, turkey, beef...it doesn't matter. Gramma usually made them to go with the Thanksgiving turkey and that was my very favorite thing. But it just so happens that we had a pot roast a few nights ago and there were leftovers so we will be using beef broth today. This is three cans of condensed beef broth with about eight cans of water. Throw it on the stove and get it to a hard boil.

While you are waiting for the broth to boil, go ahead and prep your roast to throw in. I just slice up the meat, carrots, and potatoes into little bite-sized bits. I know, it doesn't look real appetizing here. Once you get the stuff chopped up, go ahead and throw it in the pot.

Once your broth is boiling, start putting the noodles in. Let each handful have a few seconds before you put in the next...that should help keep the noodles from "clumping" together. (It also helps to let the noodles "dry out" for a bit before you use them, although you don't have to.) Here's a picture of what your noodles will look like right after you dump them in. Once the water returns to boiling, turn the heat down a little. Come back every 10 minutes or so to stir the pot. You want to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom.

After 30 or 40 minutes, the noodles will take on a slightly richer color. (It's starting to look a little more appetizing, huh?)

Now at this point I take about a quarter cup of cornstarch, mix it with some cold water (cold water helps keep it from clumping) and dump it into the middle of the pot. This will take the broth and thicken it into more of a sauce or gravy. If you prefer using flour, go for it. I have no idea how much flour you would need though! Either way, stir the mixture in well and then let it simmer some more. It won't take long for the broth to thicken.

We usually eat these noodles over mashed potatoes and with bread...yeah, I know that's a little carb-heavy. But this is comfort food, remember? Here's your finished product!

This is yummy, traditional autumn food. You can't beat it on a cold night!

ff: perceptions

Ah, Facebook quizzes. What would I do without them? (Probably some dusting. It would be more productive for sure!) Every once in awhile one catches my eye and I just can't resist taking it. Who doesn't want to know how long they could last during a Zombie attack (turns out, not so very long in my case) or which Scrubs character they are most like (I am Chocolate Bear...if you watch the show, you understand). What do you mean, "massive waste of time"? These are important matters, I am telling you.

So last week I took the quiz "Which Movie Couple are You and Your Significant Other?" After a few run-of-the-mill questions, the quiz spit out my result. We are apparently the most like Alli and Noah from "The Notebook". Of course this is the one movie/book I have not seen/read so I had no idea what that might mean. Luckily for me, the quiz writer put together a lovely little blurb to explain.

You have had your struggles but the fire between the 2 of you hasn't and won't go out. You 2 are crazy about each other. You have a unique love story. People envy the 2 of you. The love you share is so passionate, you make people cry. I wish everyone was as lucky as you!

Awww, right? It sounds great. And while these quizzes should never actually be taken seriously (according to one, I have an 80% chance of getting married and will have 2.3 kids), this one is relatively close to true in our case. I'm not sold on the use of the word "passionate" but we are crazy about each other, there is enough, ahem, "fire" involved and ours (like most) is a unique love story. Unfortunately, the "envy" part rings true as well.

I have had someone throw the phrase "perfect husband, perfect family" in my face during a disagreement. And while only the one person has actually verbalized this bitterness toward me, others have expressed it through their actions. It's not really something you can fight against; once someone has decided that your relationship is superior to their own and, furthermore, that this means that you believe that you are superior to them, there isn't much you can do about it. It's a frustrating situation because the only way to convince them otherwise is to lay out all your dirty laundry to show them just how "imperfect" your relationship really is. I'm just not going to do that.

I don't think we're perfect at all. We don't allow people on the inside of our marriage; that's just how we do things. For the majority of our marriage the worst thing people would hear me say about Jason is that it takes him forever to put his socks on*. (And it does! I've never known anyone who can stretch that one activity out more. Argh!) Does that mean that he doesn't do anything else that I have trouble with? No, not by a long shot! And you gotta know that I drive him up the wall at times. We've both hurt each other terribly on more than one occasion. But we've nearly always had mutual friends; people who were just as close to one of us as the other. I'm not going to put those people in the situation of feeling as though they have to "choose sides"** and neither is he. It's just not fair to anyone involved.

Our marriage is not perfect. It actually irritates me to think that anyone can think we got to where we are today without putting a lot of work into our relationship and family. It has not been an easy ride by any stretch of the imagination. It has been a lot of work and we've had more than just some "struggles". We've been down some very dark roads together. There have been times when we weren't sure what was going to happen to our relationship. I think this is true of nearly anyone who has been together for any decent length of time regardless of how "perfect" they may look from the outside. I find myself hoping that "The Notebook" has that as an underlying theme in the story. I'm guessing that it does...otherwise, where would the story be?

So does anyone else find themselves routinely perceived in a way that just doesn't ring true? How do you deal with it?

*This does not include when I started outing him about his smoking to anyone and everyone who would listen earlier this year. He was warned prior to me doing that though...so it doesn't count.

**Except that one time. Sorry, D.

ww: the last first birthday

the calmcrazy 101/1001

Anyone who knows me in real life knows that I loves me a list. I have about a gazillion notebooks (okay, like 12) filled to various capacities about things that need to get done, places I want to go, plans I need to make, and notebooks that I need to get started. (Yes, I have a notebook listing out ideas for other notebooks. What?) So when a similarly notebook-inclined friend of mine posted a 101 goals in 1001 days entry on her blog...well, I just had to do it too.

It took me awhile to decide to start, though. We know we are moving from Germany next summer but have no idea where we're going. I found it hard to make a list of goals (especially 101 of them!) when I don't even know which continent we will be living on. So I put it off and put it off, thinking I would start the project when we got to our next location. And then one day I realized: that is so against everything that I'm supposed to get out of this challenge! The whole point of this list is to get organized and goal-oriented enough to just do all those things that I keep putting off. And so here we are.

Putting the list together was a lot more difficult than I originally thought it would be. I thought, "Well who doesn't have 101 things that they want to get done?" and indeed, the first 40 or so flew right onto the page with no problem. But one of the parameters of the project is that goals have to be measurable in some way. I can't just throw "Be healthier!" or "Become more outgoing!" onto my list and call it good. I had to put more thought into it. What are some ways to measure health? How can I translate "more outgoing" into an action or measurable product? It made me think a little more; and, contrary to what I normally tell my friends, thinking is a good thing.

Over the next 33 months (or so) I will occasionally post an update on this list. If you are ever curious about how I am doing with it, just skip over to the sidebar and take a look at "The 101 List". That link will take you directly to this post. I'll come back as I finish projects and keep the list current. Completed goals will be red. Goals-in-progress will be in italics. I will post updates on my progress once or twice a month or as I finish some of the bigger goals. I'm really very excited about the whole thing. I think it will be fun!

And without further ado, here is my list:

Community Involvement/ Random Acts of Kindness
001. Gift $20 to 5 random people. (0/5)
002. Pay the toll for the car behind us on a toll road.
003. Find a church. Attend every week for one month. (o/4)
004. Volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. Send money if location is an issue.
005. Volunteer for a Pancreatic Cancer Fundraiser. Send money if location is an issue.
006. Volunteer/send money to a charity benefiting U.S. children.
007. Volunteer/send money to a charity benefiting foreign children.
008. Work for a political campaign.
009. Get actively involved with a local charity. (Actively = at least once a month x 6.) (0/6)
010. Send money to the Angel Network responsible for Gramma’s hospice care.

Miscellaneous Household Goals
011. Make a family favorite recipe book.
012. All pictures in albums (to include pics not printed yet).
013. Ready all bedrooms for the big move. (0/4)
014. Ready living/dining room for the big move.
015. Ready kitchen for the big move.
016. Ready basement for the big move.
017. Ready garage for the big move.
018. Get display boxes made for Lovespoons.
019. Buy, fill out, address, stamp, and SEND OUT Christmas cards.
020. Strip and restain small living room table.
021. Strip and restain bedroom furniture.
022. Plant and maintain a veggie/fruit garden for one gardening season.
023. Learn how to can.
024. Learn how to fry chicken.
025. Update will.
026. Pay off van.
027. Set up monthly menu plan. Use menu/shopping plan consistently for 12 weeks. (0/12)

Travel
028. Maria Laach
029. Lake Constance
030. Black Forest
031. Koln (Cologne)
032. Paris
033. Keukenhof
034. Switzerland
035. Lichtenstein
036. Take kids on train.
037. Take the kids on a boat.
038. Go on one trip with Jason only.
039. Go on one trip without Jason or the boys.
040. Plan and execute one monthly roadtrip for 6 months. (NOT included in this list.) (0/6)
041. One big travel idea based from next location. (Details to follow orders.)
042. Find a great family vacation spot to “rendezvous” with extended family members during
PCS. Make the necessary arrangements for that to happen on our end.

For Family
043. Get family portrait taken.
044. Find weekly activity for family. Do it once a week for 3 months.
045. Print out and send month pictures to family (at least M, D, E, G, & N) for 6 months. (0/6)
046. Send a letter or box to family (same list) once a month for 6 months. (0/6)
047. Make a special scrapbook for each boy to each's current age. (0/4)
048. Take boys to a movie once a month for 6 months. (0/6)
049. Help Jason, Sam, & Jake make their own 101/1001 lists. (1/3)
050. Make Jason’s quilt.
051. Write a story with the boys.
052. Find one activity that interests each kid. Get them involved. (0/4)
053. Make volcano with the kids.
054. Read Madeleine L'Engle's "Time" quintet with the boys. (0/5)
055. Teach all kids to ride bike.
056. Teach all kids to roller skate.
057. Go to a zoo at least once a year. (0/3)
058. Take the kids to an aquarium.

Important for Me
059. Finish last 3 classes to complete AA. (1/3)
060. Find school for BA/BS. Apply and start.
061. Leave the house at least 3 times a week for 4 weeks. (Yard/walks with kids don’t count.) (12/12)
062. Talk to one stranger a day for a week. (7/7)
063. Stop cussing for one week. (Seven days.) Establish a “cuss jar” to pay a penalty for each
swear word. (Amount dependent on word.) Kids get to decide what to do with the money.

Health/Fitness
064. Exercise 3 times a week for 6 weeks. (0/18)
065. Exercise 5 times a week for 6 weeks. (0/30)
066. Get a pedometer. Walk 10K steps a day for 30 days. (0/30)
067. Be able to “walk” 2 miles in less than 30 minutes.
068. Be able to finish running 2 miles without walking.
069. Walk/run a 5K with Sam and Jake.
070. Climb a rock wall.
071. Cook one vegetarian meal a week for 6 weeks. (0/6)
072. Eat breakfast every day for 6 weeks.(0/42)
073. Take a multivitamin every day for 30 days. (0/30)
074. Go see Dr. V for PCOS follow-up.
075. Drink 64 oz. water every day for 6 weeks. (0/42)
076. Go 30 days with no fast food. (To include pizza that is not homemade!) (12/30) 1.24.10
077. Lose at least 50 lbs. Keep it off. (0/50)

After the Move
078. Set up and use household binder.
079. Set up new monthly budget. Follow for 6 months. (0/6)
080. Find Zander a pre-school. Enroll him.
081. Paint walls in home a color OTHER THAN white.

Just for Giggles
082. Complete 365 photo project. Document via separate blog.
083. Get flute repaired.
084. Take a pottery class.
085. Take a yoga class.
086. Submit a funny “blurb” to RD.
087. Update calmcrazy blog at least 3 times a week for 12 weeks. (0/36)
088. Take a quilting class.
089. Decide on design for at least one tattoo. Get it.
090. Send a postcard to PostSecret.
091. Bake a cake from scratch.
092. Go to a concert.
093. Get an iPod (or equivalent). Load at least 100 songs that I like into it. (1/100)
094. Get a “current” cell phone.
095. Learn how to text.
096. Grow hair past shoulders again.
097. Get a manicure.
098. Get a pedicure.
099. Enter and “win” NaNoWriMo.
100. Enter one photo in a photography contest.
101. Plant a blueberry bush.

e-mail: the boys' new frontier

When is the right time to introduce children to the internet? What is the "appropriate" age for a kid to have his own e-mail account? At what age can kids expect even a modicum of privacy in these (and possibly other) matters? Is it at 16? Birth? When they move out? These are questions with which nearly every parent struggles in today's culture. It's difficult for Jason and I to figure out the "right" answer when the environment our kids live in is so completely different from that of our own childhood.

Our older boys are nearly-13 and 8. Samuel has already been told several times that he may not have a MySpace account. He started asking around the age of 9. (He had a friend who had her own account. Said friend was 7 at the time which, I'm not going to lie, I judged far too young.) For a variety of reasons we just haven't felt that Sam has been ready for any kind of account, e-mail or otherwise. But he's almost 13 now. As I posted on Friday, we have family and friends spread out all over the world. He would also like to keep track of some of his friends from school. We're a military family; so are his friends'. They all move around a lot. He would like to "talk" to them more often and I know that they would like to talk to him as well. So for the past several months, Jason and I have been considering the various options for getting the boys on the web.

But wait! Isn't Jake only 8? What's up with that? Isn't that some sort of double standard? How unfair!

Yeah, there is a certain amount of inequality to allowing Jake have his own account at 8. We own that. But to answer all my questions from the opening paragraph, we don't feel that there is "an" appropriate age. Not a one-size-fits-all one anyway. Each kid is different and they have to be treated as individuals. Jake is a lot more mature for his age than Samuel is. At some point that is going to even out but, for now, it is the simple truth. He will more than likely only interact with family and family friends for the time being as I am sure that the majority of his friends do not have their own e-mail account right now. But he will have his own.

As far as the definition of "own"...well, they are kid accounts. We opened an sub-accounts under our main account for each of them. They can only receive e-mails from pre-approved e-mail addresses. They can't participate in any chatting of any kind. There is monitoring software involved. We have the passwords to their accounts. (If they change them we can still get into them...remember, their accounts are sub-accounts of our own.) So while they do have their own account, they have zero privacy. I don't know when that might change. We'll cross that bridge as we come to it.

So as we start to saw away at this particular apron string I ask, when did (or do) you plan to introduce your kids to the internet? Have you already? If you already did, do you feel like you timed it "right"? Or do you think you were too early or late?

ramstein farmer's market

Last Sunday (4 October) Jason and I took the boys and joined some friends for an afternoon at our village's annual "Farmer's Market". We weren't sure what to expect but since there was sure to be some yummy German food involved we figured we couldn't lose. Plus it's only a hop, skip, and a jump away. Literally.

It was more crowded than we had expected but there were a ton of really neat vendors there. Apples, crafts, pottery, animals galore, honey, and so many different food and beer vendors that you couldn't keep track. It smelled really great (well, maybe not near the pigs or the donkeys...but everywhere else!) and the people were pretty polite. The kids really seemed to enjoy seeing the animals. It made for a pleasant afternoon.


We got some absolutely fabulous honey from a local honey farmer, apples from a local orchard, a gorgeous beech cutting board, and a couple little animal carvings. I don't think I've ever had honey that wasn't massed produced. Let me tell you...there is a huge difference. I don't think I'll ever be able to go back! The apples were probably the biggest apples I have ever seen. Honestly, they were amazing. I guess that is the beauty of a local farmer's market, eh? All that wonderful lovely fresh produce. Yum!

Of course, after the shopping we had to reward the patient children with a little something to eat...so we got some brats and french fries. The brats are huge, the bread is fresh, and the fries are sprinkled with just a little hint of spice. Soooo yummy.


While we sat at our table eating our brats, one of the local bands came and set up shop right next to us. We were concerned that the kids would be a little overwhelmed by the noise but they all did really well. Jake especially really seemed to enjoy his "dinner with a show".


Just to give you an idea of the size of the apples. It's nearly the size of Izzy's head! They are really good though. We've been slicing them up and sharing them because they are way too big for any of us to sit and eat in one sitting. They are not too sweet but not tart either. I think I may make a pie with what we have left.


This is truly fest and market season right now...anyone in the local area has to be less than 30 minutes from something neat and yummy every weekend this entire month. Unfortunately, Jason has to work most of this weekend (no long weekend here!), so we've been doing stuff around the house today. Good thing I have pictures of our previous adventures to share!

facebook friday: that small town feel

When you live so far away from your family and friends, and when said family and friends are spread out all over the world, you have to find creative ways to stay in touch. Jason's family is on the east coast. My mom and the majority of my extended family are in Indiana. My dad is in Texas. My brother is in California. We're a military family with military friends; since living here in Germany we've had friends in England, Guam, South Korea, and Hawaii. The time difference between here and all those theres makes phone calls a little difficult. The good times to call there are not good times to make calls here. The good times to call here are not good times to make calls there. So we've had to adapt.

A little over a year ago my dad went and got himself a Facebook account. And I dragged my feet about getting one because I just thought it was ridiculous. I had a MySpace account (which I only grudgingly got to help keep in touch with my dad and brother anyway); why on Earth would I need a Facebook account too? But then he started spending less and less time on MySpace and so eventually I made up an account too. Just to keep in touch with dad, of course.

And then this crazy thing happened. I started finding all these people I had lost track of over the years. My best friend from first grade (who also doubled as my first crush). My best friends from Junior High (all three of them, crazily enough). My favorite zoology lab partner. The two guys I skipped school with that one and only time. (That is a story for another day.) The girl I spent uncountable hours of hilarity with when I was visiting my grandparents. Not to mention that nearly every one of my aunts, uncles, and cousins has an account. It's like a family reunion every day of the week. And I was hooked.

I don't really have a "hometown". I mean there is a place I was born and I still have a lot of family there, but we didn't stay in one spot while I was growing up. My parents don't live in the same place we did when I graduated high school. So when I do talk to my parents on the phone I don't hear about how mom ran into so-and-so at the grocery or that I'm just not going to believe what my old neighbor's best friend's mom's uncle's dog did. Because we just don't have that presence anywhere. I've always wondered what it would be like and I recently got a taste of it thanks to Facebook.

Last week my mom went to a festival near the town from which I graduated. I found that amusing because I had just been reading the status updates of a bunch of people who had gone as well. Since several of the people are mutual friends, I got to "overhear" their conversations as they posted to each other's walls. And so when she said to me, "Mandi, I saw someone that I just know you went to high school with but I can't think of his name for anything" I was able to say, "Well yeah. So-and-so was in the parade. I saw it on Facebook." Which seems a little like saying, "Oh yeah. I ran into So-and-so at the pharmacy and he told me he was going to be in it."

For just that moment I felt like I was pretty plugged in to all the people I've known and loved over the years. It was a nice moment of "normal" for me.

setting the stage

So what is it like in a house with four kids? I am sure that our house seems like complete mayhem to some people. We have a 12-year-old, an 8-year-old, a CRAZY 3-year-old, and a baby. (Yes he is. His birthday isn't until next week so shut it and let me enjoy this last week as the mother of an infant!) We are loud and completely nuts. Our boys, who couldn't be more different if they tried, are always going in different directions. Admittedly, it is a little nutty around here at times.

I figure it's a little like my dad wanting to live in the Southwest. He moved to Texas a few months ago and he loves it. He goes out hiking the various mountains and seeing all the sights in what seems to me to be the middle of nowhere. And as much as I can see that he enjoys it there, desert life just isn't something I would choose for myself if given many other options. The pictures he sends are beautiful in their own way and I know he would like to see us end up in that area of the country...but the heat! Every time I talked to him this summer I would ask him what the temperature was, knowing that it would be a triple-digit number. There would be a moment of silence when he told me and then he would say, "But it's a dry heat!" Which, to him, makes all the difference.

I've always wanted a big family. I know that it isn't for everyone. We get by on little sleep. The noise can be overwhelming, the homework neverending. The laundry! Oh, but the laundry is insane. I spend more time in the kitchen than I care to think about. Someone always needs something and someone else (Zander, cough, cough) is always getting into something he shouldn't. My entire house is cluttered and the decorative style could really only be classified as "Early primitive Lego"...but there is laughter and there is love in abundance. There is always someone with whom to read, watch a movie, snuggle, play a game, and just simply be. It is crazy in this house for certain...but it's a calm crazy and we wouldn't have it any other way.

wordless wednesday: curious juxtaposition

I thought I would break the rules just a little and "say" a few words as this is my first "wordless Wednesday" post here. In the future I will post an entry as "ww: insert pithy title here ". That way I can give some idea as to the message or story I am trying to tell in my post.

This is from a trip we took to Bad Durkheim a few weeks ago. I always find the juxtaposition between the old-world charm that is Germany and the intrusions of today's modern world to be interesting. This was no exception. Coming around the corner of the road and seeing this huge metal contraption in the midst of the beautiful, rolling vineyards should not work; but it does. Somehow it even adds to the quaintness.

opening the window

I love to read blogs. My "blog reader" account is full of blogs about all sorts of things: families, cooking, politics, crafting, travel, photography, military life...the list goes on and on. I think it's one of the great injustices in life that we only get one shot through. I wish life was a little more like one of those "choose your own ending" books. That way we could choose to have our "normal" life (family and whatnot) at page 10, go through and live the whole glorious thing, and then come back and choose "join the circus". Just for the giggles of seeing what it would be like!

A little background on me: I grew up an Air Force brat. We moved a lot. I think the longest I lived anywhere prior to leaving home was four years. Thirty-five days after I graduated from high school I left home and joined the Air Force myself. At the time, it never crossed my mind that I wouldn't return back to Indiana to live but that is almost certainly how it's going to play out. I met my husband at Goodfellow AFB (in San Angelo, TX) while going through technical training school. We got married about 12 weeks (give or take) after we met. We have four boys together. We'll be celebrating our 14th anniversary next month. We have been living in Germany for over six years now. We will leave here for Destination Unknown (duh-duh-duhn!) in roughly 10 months.

I love my life. I can honestly say that I wouldn't change any of the choices I made. But I regularly allow myself to engage in "what if" thinking. What if I hadn't joined the military? What if I had gotten out at the end of my first enlistment? What if (and this one is a doozy!) we both had? What if I had taken the assignment to Korea and not gotten out? What if we hadn't extended here in Germany? I like to think about what might have been waiting behind door #2. Would we have the same kids? Would we still be married? What happened down those other roads? I don't want to give the impression that I really dwell on these things, but I certainly think about them often enough. I just find the whole idea rather fascinating.

Blogging, to me, is a way to explore those ideas. Not the writing part, but the reading. Some are people I would like to think could have been me; some go places I wish I could go; some make me laugh so hard I almost pee my pants; some make me nod my head in agreement most of the time. I read religious blogs, agnostic blogs, and atheist blogs. I've never found a blogger I agreed with 100% of the time (wouldn't that be boring, anyway?) and some of them I heartily disagree with a lot...but I enjoy reading them for the views they express. Sometimes you "don't know what you don't know" and having these windows into other people's lives gives me insight I wouldn't otherwise have.

So this is my place to tell you about my life. The "calm crazy" of having four boys, being a military spouse, going to school while doing those things, living overseas, moving to another location (which we will hopefully find out sooner rather than later!), cooking things we love, (hopefully) losing some weight, making my family more goal-oriented, and just living our life. Here's your window into my world. Enjoy!