Traveling Tales of the Christian Military Family

Shameless

2012-01-20T03:08:00.001-08:00

I forgot I had a blog until I recently read a blog from another church-going Mom. One of these days I will have time to sit and do this weekly. Until then, I'll do what I can. :)

It is amazing to me how many people will come up to me and say, "You have everything so together." My first response is, "Nuh-uh!" I do not. People think that because you are not outwardly struggling, that your life must be perfect. People think if you are a certain size, have nice hair and skin, have a husband who acts like he likes you, and have children who pretend to listen to you in public, you must be the queen of all mothers/wives/etc.

Well, it's just not true. I don't broadcast our troubles, not because I am ashamed of them, but because God tells me to meditate on what is pure, right, lovely, admirable, noble, trustworthy, excellent, and praiseworthy; to think on THESE things. He doesn't say to walk around talking about the negative details of our family life. Telling everyone the BAD things that happen in our family doesn't glorify God unless we tell everyone about the GOOD things that happen.

That being said, I think if I had to use a quote from this other Mom's blog, it would be this; "I am shameless." I think she and I use it for the same reason, although she doesn't articulate it, I think it order to keep from turning people off. I don't mind telling you what is wrong with me as long as you then allow me to share what is RIGHT with me, and that is my faith in Christ; my unwavering belief that there is grace to cover even me.

Let me tell you why I'm shameless. 2 Corinthians 7:10 "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret [shame], but worldly sorrow brings death." My Savior has washed me of regret and shame, and now I can proudly proclaim that the person that I was is no longer, and that the person that I choose to be may have a long way to go to get there, but the God of all gods is walking with me the entire way.

I still act like an idiot. I sometimes call my husband by a 'pet name' that is anything but Godly, and believe me when I tell you that my husband doesn't think I'm a lady when I use that name. I sometimes yell at my children, or make angry faces at them. I sometimes wish I could put them in school and get a 'real' job so my life would be easier. I still say inappropriate things at inappropriate times and have to go back later and apologize. Does knowing that stuff about me make you feel better about your own 'pet' sins? I certainly hope not. Knowing that someone else struggles in sin shouldn't make you feel like it's okay that you struggle in those same sins. It should give you encouragement to KEEP WORKING ON NOT DOING THAT PARTICULAR SIN; not excuse the sin as 'something everyone does.'

What we have to learn to do is love those around us in SPITE of themselves. That is true Grace in action. When your spouse says something in a moment of anger or frustration, you can choose to forgive whether they ever apologize or not; or you can hold a grudge and be a miserable person. When I fail, I can wallow in grief over my sin, or I can allow the mercy of Jesus Christ to wash over my spirit and pick me up again.

Jesus Himself said it best in Matthew 22: 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[c] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Jesus loves me in spite of myself. My job is to be like Him, as much as I can, as often as I can. It starts and ends with Love.

DNA

2011-08-31T22:48:00.001-07:00

I've had several people ask my why I haven't blogged very often or in so long. I'm busy. That's the simplest answer. I homeschool 7-1130, eat lunch 1130-1230, teach piano 1230-430, then there's soccer or church or babysitting or porch nights with friends. At some point I have to shower during the day, so the last thing on my list of things to do is to sit and write, which is actually shameful because I like to. So, I am 'borrowing' something from my Dad this go-round, to make things faster and hopefully it will entertain the millions of people who read this blog. :D

People often ask me what ethnicity I have running through my veins. At least 10 people in my life have told me that I and my daughter Caylea look 'exotic,' which makes me think of exotic plants, which makes me think of those big Venus fly-traps that have been known to eat people. I don't know why my brain goes that route, but that's free association, Tori style.

I've always called myself a mutt, but my Dad recently had his DNA tested just to see which end was up, and here are the results. I must admit that I am not altogether surprised. Italians think I'm Italian. Spanish people think I'm Spanish, Indians think I'm Indian, and I'd be the first one to help a hurt person on the side of the road (Samaritan). :)

If you add Joe's Korean into this mix, his Dad's Tennessee true-blue blood (which is slang for American mutt as well), and whatever my Mom is, which is likely more Irish than anything; then you can only imagine that my children are truly the muttiest mutts of the millennium. :) (I really hope N.Pace read that one. I did that just for her.)

Hey everyone,
We just got the DNA back and it isn’t what I expected! They said they could not rule out (with this test)that we might have a little American Indian, but if we do it is too small an amount to show up. My Y DNA which is dad’s, dad’s, etc comes back to the North Africa-Middle east. My whole DNA, which doesn’t tell what part is what, shows me to be 37% Druze/Iranian. That is right where dad’s DNA pointed. (Some think the Druze are from the Samaritans). So we might have Jewish blood since over 120,000 Druze still live in Israel. The rest of me 63% (Margin of error 14%)Orcadian/Tuscan. Tuscan is the part of Italy where we just spent part of the summer. Orcadian is part of the English-Scottish-Ireland Island area. So eat some pizza, pull on your kilt, and have a jihad with yourselfJ
God bless you all!

Viva Italia!

2011-05-31T23:48:00.000-07:00

I think the last time I wrote in this blog was some time back in March. Things have been hopping since then! The kids completed their academic testing, which is always a blast. They say things like, "Can we do this every day? This is so easy!" I hope that translates well on the tests. Otherwise, their teacher may get fired. :)

In early May, I hosted my second piano recital at Burg Lichtenberg. It was fabulous, as usual, and a completely different feel from the last 'winter-wonderland' recital that we had. Everyone messed up, which is just how I like it. I played 3 songs this time, because I didn't play at the last recital and some parents heckled me for it. I just didn't want to seem to be showing off. This time, I chose songs that I love to play, even though I rarely sit and play for hours like I used to, and during one song, two of my precious little girls (7 years old) stood behind me and turned pages for me. We stayed for dinner and overfilled the back room, but there were hardly any messed-up orders and everyone raved about the food. It is one of our favorite restaurants in Germany!

Our second favorite is a restaurant called Poisiedon (sp?) up in Idar-Oberstein. The Lovells introduced us to it and when we eat there, we wear loose-fitting clothing. :) Speaking of the Lovells, they and my parents joined us on a trip to Italy from 17 May-26 May. We drove through Garmisch to get there and through Switzerland to get home. We stayed in a villa outside of Florence, saw "David," Cinque Terre, and Rome to include the Vatican and "Pieta." (I'm sure I've mentioned what a Michelangelo fan that I have become since reading "The Agony and the Ecstasy," but it's a really, really big book; so if you want the synopsis, email me and I'll give it to you in a paragraph.) Joshua was NOT a fan of the museum. He genuinely hates naked statues. I don't blame him, but I really wanted to see what is considered M's greatest work, and one of the most famous sculptures in the world. I had no idea it was 14 feet tall! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_(Michelangelo)

We ate so much great Italian food, wore beautiful dresses, swam in a freezing pool, laid in the grass with a really old, coughing dog that became Josh's best friend, played games, and did not have a tv at all. We did have music, though, and it was a very relaxing week. It just went by too quickly. One of these days we'll take a vacation where we don't feel like we have to see everything and do everything; where we can just sit and look at the mountains and stars and be content. I think that vacation will be our next one. If I had to recommend anything, I'd say for sure to take the bus tour in Rome. However, get on the bus that has a roof, just in case it rains, which it did while we were on the bus, which we thought was funny for the first 10 minutes, and then we were completely drenched down to our scivvies (is that a word? My computer doesn't like it.) and the kids were cold, and I was cold, and people were pointing at us, and I started singing, "Thunder bolt and lightning, very, very fright'ning" because it was lightning over our heads....get the picture? That'll be the memory of the trip, right there. Well, that and the wine bottle that I dropped in the middle of the store. Fumble-fingers! :)

My Dad just had some blood-work done to determine his genetic roots. We've always thought we were part Cherokee, and that has yet to be officially determined, but what did show up was "North African, Mediterranean, Greek, Italian," and he did blend in well. My Mom got slobbered on by baby Jack. I'll admit it. We all got slobbered on by baby Jack, but he does it with such flair, you can't help but laugh, which encourages him all the more. He's in his licking stage, and then everything is made funnier if you say 'poo' with it. "Jack, do you want to eat a snack?" "Yes, I want a POO snack!" I have to admit that we did laugh. It's what we do, though. We laugh at inappropriate things. He'll outgrow it eventually, right? There's no real need to rush things.

The girls had a blast swimming in the pool, and Josh dove and dove and dove for the dive-toys. They had tea parties with mud, and there was, apparently, a dead rat in the pool filter for a few days. That was lovely. It only rained 1 afternoon, if my memory serves correctly. Well, in Londa, which is where we stayed. It rained in Rome, for sure. lol

I studied Italian for a while to just get the hang of how it would sound in my ears. I could understand it quite easily, being so similar to Spanish, but I couldn't speak it. It was incredibly frustrating to me to not be able to communicate without resorting to hand gestures. The Germans call it "Hand und Fuss Sprechen," which means "hand and feet talk," and that's what I did a lot of. When we finally crossed the German border and Joe had a question, I spoke German so fluently and felt so great about it! It was nice to be back in familiar territory. We crossed through Switzerland on the way home, and I can honestly say that I've never seen more beautiful lakes than we saw driving through that country, and they are the kings of tunnels. We drove through a 10 mile tunnel!!! There was no holding of the breath through that one, but we did come up with 20 different 'trapped' scenarios, which made Chloe start feeling claustrophobic, so we quit. If you want to see the rest of the Italy pictures, which take forever to upload to this blog, go to our family Facebook page... ToJoCayChloJo Ingram

We listened to tons of Beatles music, and now my kids are avid Beatles fans. Maxwell's Silver Hammer is sung nearly every day, and Joshua sings it beautifully. I think he may be the real star of the family, but no one will ever know it because he's just too shy and quiet to let loose in front of anyone but me. Even Joe hasn't heard him singing at the top of his lungs, and when I hear him, it's because he doesn't know I'm standing around the corner listening. Justin Bieber has nothing on my boy, but the world may never know it... :)

We arrived home just in time to fix my Mom a t-bone steak and put them on the plane. I don't envy them that plane trip. They say that going from East to West is easier than from West to East, which I did find to be true, but easier doesn't mean easy by any means. It's still a rotten thing to experience jet-lag! We celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary by taking the kids with us to see "Thor," which I would recommend. It had one kiss, the only thing close to nudity was when he took his shirt off, and there was only 1 profanity that I was the only one to hear. My kids didn't notice it, which is unusual. They're normally the first ones to say, "Was that necessary?!?" We ate a lot of popcorn and came home to play in the yard, eat Italian ice cream from the truck, and stay up way too late. It is spring/summer here, so the sun is up until almost 10 and peeks out from the mountains (okay, hills) around 5am. I finished report cards yesterday and now I'm waiting on next year's school books to get here so I can lesson plan. It'll be an early start since we're likely moving in April 2012, so I want to be done by March 30th. We've moved with school before. It makes for heavy bags and we think we can just push through and be done, leaving us free to move freely.

Joe's job is still the same, and we've got the itch to move. This is the longest we've ever been in one place. I told my Mom when we drove up, "After 3 years, it still doesn't feel like I'm pulling up to HOME, you know?" I don't know why, but my roots haven't planted here. Don't get me wrong....Germany is gorgeous and I'm so glad we've had this opportunity. I count my blessings daily. I just think we're ready to be elsewhere. I don't miss Walmart. I think I may have said that I did miss it when we first moved here, but the simple life here has cured me, and I doubt very seriously that you'll ever see me or my children in a "People of Walmart" video. We don't "need" nearly as much as we thought we did, but we live an abundantly blessed life. God is so good, all of the time!

Spring and new seasons

2011-04-13T22:08:00.000-07:00

As my wonderful husband turns 40 and my oldest 'child' turns 15, I have had a chance to just slow down and think a few things through. We live such an amazing life! It is easy to get focused in on the day-to-day drudgery and forget how beautiful a family can be, and I praise God for the reminders that He gives me that we are so blessed!

Even after the toddler years, when you're striving to be the kind of wife and mother God outlines in Scripture, you find that you don't have tons of time to yourself. "Girl time" becomes a distant dream and you settle down into the trenches. The toddler years are hard, but nothing swift, firm, loving discipline can't handle. The preteen years are tough, and require lots of heart training for mom and kids. There is no greater mirror of yourself than how your children treat each other. God really had me change ME first, and then my kids started coming around. When they get older, there are even more things to discuss 'as you walk, as you sit, and as you eat.' (Deuteronomy)

It's never over! There hasn't been a day yet, and mine are 10, 12, and 15 (nearly) that I've thought, "Okay, NOW I can relax." No, just the opposite. I feel even more strongly that they need me more than ever. That's not to say we don't have the occasional date night, but I don't generally go out with the girls. Family is first and they need to not only hear me say it, but see me walk it. When my kids see that I turned down a movie out with the girls to stay home cuddled on the couch with them and their Dad, the know where my heart resides and it makes them feel loved.

I know that respite is coming. When my children leave the home and I have a few years before grandbabies start rolling in, I'll recharge, and then I'll be the best Gran-T ever. :) Right now, though, and for the next 10 years (or so), my job is here, now, molding and shaping hearts, including my own. When I need a temporary recharging, I find it right inside myself, because that is where the Spirit of God lives. When I cry out for wisdom and mercy, I always feel refreshed. Sometimes we forget to just ask, but He is able to do abundantly more than we can dream up if we only ask! When I am low, He sends Chloe with her latest joke and that girl is hysterical! When I am tired, Caylea says, "Mom, I want to try a new hairstyle on you. Can I play with your hair?" Then she plays with my hair for a good hour. When I am missing Joe (when he is gone for any length), my son randomly comes up, hugs me, and says, "Mommy, I love you." God is all over every single one of those circumstances and my job is to receive that refreshing in that form. When I learned to receive it in a way that wasn't necessarily conventional (i.e., massage, facial, time away), I became a more spiritually joyful woman and it affected my entire family.

I encourage you, encourage you, encourage you, to do the same! Minister to your family first, others second. Best of all, be joyful!

Knees, please

2011-03-21T02:55:00.000-07:00

AH HA! So, it's not torn badly enough to require surgery, which makes me very thankful. I've been told to take it easy (ha ha ha) and wear a brace if I run, and to try not to tear it any more. If I knew how I had done the damage in the first place, that advice may have come in handy. However, since I have no idea which of my many accidents caused the damage, perhaps I should just stick to the brace. :)

Spring Break!

2011-03-21T00:23:00.000-07:00

We celebrated our spring break early, simply because it's not yet spring in Germany, but my parents came to visit. We took them to Luxembourg, Belgium, (where everything was closed and we had no waffles), rock climbing, race-car-driving (IF I HAVE TO HEAR 'MUSTANG' ONE MORE TIME....!!!!), and thrift-store shopping; not to mention the super lunch at Burg Lichtenberg. It was an amazing, quick, fun-filled, relaxing vacation. Caylea finally beat PaKenny at Chess, although there is some debate about the help she received. Joshua made it out of the PaKenny "Boring Family" attack with fewer bruises than I anticipated, and the massages we sent the grandparents to get had them completely melted. I know they had a good time and I hope we get to spoil them like that more often!
I get to go find out if I need knee surgery today. It isn't one of those things you like to advertise, but there it is, and since I only managed to run 1/2 mile this morning before the give-out, I figured I'd ask all of you faithful readers of this silly blog to pray for this 35 year old knee that acts 65. :) I probably shouldn't have treated it so badly when I was growing up, but when you're young, you're invincible! Speaking of invincible, Caylea's newest song, Through the Rain, is now available for purchase on iTunes. How cool is that? I wish I could market Chloe's humor or Josh's Lego-building abilities the same way we market her music. It makes us seem biased, but we dote on the other two as well.
I'm anxiously awaiting my "Wife of the Year" award for purchasing the mustang, for letting Joey take the mustang and my Dad to the race track and drive it at 150+ miles per hour, for only minimally sighing and griping about his other 'love,' not to mention keeping the laundry done. I was reading my blog, and I haven't mentioned my utter loathing of laundry in quite some time, so there it is. I still despise it. Seriously. I told my Mom that if there was one thing I'd pay someone else to do in my rich-world-fantasy, it would be laundry. It is never-ending, much like my whining about it. Alas, that much laundry means that much family, means that much more love, so I can't complain too much. I guess I'll stick to whistling while I work.
Speaking of funny noises (whistling), I went to sit down last night and Chloe very quickly threw her whoopie-cushion underneath me. That was funny, I have to admit. I laughed for a while...

Breakfast!

2011-02-03T22:54:00.000-08:00

I wish I had a hidden camera in my kitchen. Most of the time I eat with the kids for breakfast, or I'll finish eating and clean dishes while they finish; but today I'm down here, catching up on banking, etc., and they are eating. I let them sleep in today. We've been fighting a roaming cold...it roams from one of us to the next...and you can tell they all got their fill of rest. Chloe is the loudest. You will hear her voice, followed by cackles and peals of laughter from Caylea and Josh. Josh laughs the loudest. (He who laughs the loudest laughs last? How does that saying go?) Anyway, the fact that she can entertain them is pretty amazing, but it also hysterical to me that she often goes just one step too far, to the point that there is dead silence and then inevitably either Caylea, usually, or Josh will say, "That wasn't funny." At that point, Chloe will laugh one of her hysterically evil "mad scientist" laughs and the laughter will resound throughout the house again. You just can't help it. Her face is like that of Will Ferrell (sp?), who can make me laugh with just a face. (See "Buddy Elf," one of my favorite movies.)
Everyone knows we home school. Everyone knows we 'shelter' our children shamelessly. I want everyone to know that, by the grace of God, it's working beautifully. My kids aren't perfect, although I jokingly call them that all of the time, and they don't always get along, but I can honestly say that they are developing the kind of relationships with each other that will carry them through life. They are friends, and that makes my heart happy. I love that God made them so very different in personality, but that He also made them so willing to love one another. I'm pretty sure ice cream has a lot to do with it too... :)

Whilry

2011-01-19T03:14:00.000-08:00

I am trying to learn Italian. I have finished one lesson on Rosetta Stone and it made me laugh so hard, I can barely start lesson 2. It's not the language, it's my pronunciation of it. No, I'm not one of those genius people who likes to learn languages. I am trying to learn just enough so that when we go to Italy in a few months, I will be able to do three things:

1. Get where I need to go without entering a slum neighborhood.
2. Order food, and lots of it.
3. Find a working toilet.

Joey says I need to learn how to say, "Back off, I'm married," but I doubt that. I have a skunk streak that rivals that of my brother and I have no doubt that my appeal is largely in my husband's eyes and no one else's. I'm perfectly content with that. If he thinks I'm the golden apple, then I can't ask for more. I don't know where 'golden apple' came from, but I'm not changing it. :) He's my golden apple too. I wouldn't have it any other way, and my focus in Italy will likely be the food and the art, and keeping people away from my kids. lol

We have been working out 4 days a week. Well, the kids and I have. We won't mention Joe since he's still trying to figure out his schedule... We've done pretty well. All 3 kids can run a mile without stopping now, and we're working on whittling down their times. This week was supposed to be mile and a half week, but I have one sick kid and my nose isn't so happy itself. We'll do that next week. We'll stick to 1 mile this week, on our elliptical, here at home, so we don't share our germs with other people.

Our Belgian bedroom set is a saga all its own. We waited 11 weeks for it, when it was supposed to be delivered in 6-8. They got it here and one piece had a big 'oops' on it where they missed staining the wood. Another piece was completely missing, preventing the delivery guys from assembling the largest piece of the set. They came back today and as soon as I saw them, my heart knew. They had brought the original missing piece, but the piece with the 'oops' on it that we sent back for repair was nowhere to be found. I won't even begin to describe my frustration. What's another week with my clothes on the floor?

Piano lessons are going well. Students ebb and flow and this is the time of year that I lose a few, gain a few. It's never easy. I interview all of my students and their parents before committing to teaching them, so I can honestly say that I genuinely like all of the kids that God has allowed me to teach. Saying goodbye is part of our lifestyle, this military, Air Force life that Caylea so aptly sang about.

My youngest child will be 10 in a month. All 3 kids in double digits. I'm not old, though. I can still do a back flip off the middle dive at the pool, amazing my children and all of their friends. I can still run without dying, although my lungs hate this cold air. More importantly, I can still out-wrestle my oldest, who will be 15 this spring. She likes to pretend that she's stronger than I am, and then I show her, ever so gently, that Momma still rules. lol One of these days one of my children will out-maneuver me, but I won't be ashamed. One of these days one of them will run a mile faster than I can, and I won't mind a bit. I want to raise a better generation. Why wouldn't I? Shouldn't that be the goal of every parent? I constantly tell my kids, "Don't be like me. Be better." :)

Exercise!

2011-01-02T23:39:00.000-08:00

It's a New Year, which means resolutions, right? Not really. The Ingram family has always strived to maintain some level of physical activity, be it hiking, biking, chewing...
Last year we started taking the kids to the gym with us, albeit sporadically. We always had a good time together playing soccer, dodge ball, 4 Corners, etc. The gym provided hours of family entertainment. This winter the weather has been incredibly cold and the kids and I have been 'forced' to do activities here at home. We would normally love that, and we did for about 2 months. After a time, though, you get tired of your at-home elliptical, your at-home Leg Magic, your Wii Fit, and various other methods of at-home work-outs. We decided to try something different since the roads have been relatively clear all week.
We home school, so it's pretty easy for me to get my kids up at my discretion and say, "We're doing this today!" Today, I woke them up for breakfast with Daddy, then chores, then off to the gym. My car's thermometer said it was 23 degrees outside. My ears told me it felt colder. We got to the gym, which was relatively empty. We had the entire floor to ourselves even though the weight room and elliptical/treadmill rooms were both packed. We ran 20 laps, followed by stretching, 20 push-ups, and 50 sit-ups. By my research, the standard gym requires 18.3 laps for 1 mile. Being an 'above average' home school family, we bumped it up to 20. Before you get mad at me, smile. I will always throw our home school status out there because it's a part of what makes us the Fab 5 Ingrams!
The kids were tired, obviously. I usually wake them up at 0700, but today I woke them at 0630, which isn't a big deal except that we had a very late weekend and didn't manage to catch up on sleep that we lost during New Year's activities. We had done this as an experiment last week and I timed all of us. There was a marked improvement in all of our times except for one, but that's okay. The object of the timing isn't to see who is the fastest, but to give us an idea of whether or not our overall shape is improving. The push-ups and sit-ups were done at our leisure. In other words, I said to my children, 'We're all doing 20 push-ups and 50 sit-ups. I don't really care how long it takes you as long as you do them right. Take breaks if you need to.' I also gave them permission to walk some of their 20 laps, but encouraged them to keep moving at a good pace even if they did need a break.
Overall, today's work-out was a great one. We'll do the same work-out for 4 days this week and then switch to something completely different next week. I'm thinking crab-walks and lunges across a gym floor might be fun. The best part about today was that no one spoke Whinese. No one said, "I can't," and no one cried from the pain. Everyone sucked it up and did what was asked of them, including me, and the general attitude was one of togetherness in fitness rather than togetherness in torture. We'll see how we feel at the end of day 4!

Do pigs fly as fast as time?

2010-12-06T01:36:00.000-08:00

Wow, these last 2 months have gone by quicker than I can blink! With Joe's return, we headed off to Belgium for a weekend, where we had Belgian waffles (which I didn't like) and Belgian chocolate (which Joe didn't like) and saw a vial that supposedly had the blood of Christ in it, and saw a sculpture by Michelangelo in a very large cathedral. (Madonna and Child, to be specific.) I never knew I was such a sculpture buff, but I really like that. It is even more impressive lately because our friend has taken up carving wood and we've seen, first-hand, how difficult it can be to work with raw materials and turn out a finished product. Michelangelo used stone and it is flawless. It looks like it was poured into a mold, but he did it with a hammer and chisel, in the 1500s, no less. It's amazing.
We spent Thanksgiving here at home with a family that we've recently reconnected with. We played games, ate lots of food, including two very mushy, runny pecan pies. Well, we didn't eat those. We tried. They were nasty. I give up. :) We stayed up late to watch the movie, "Eat, Pray, Love." I've heard that some people are using this book as their latest 'religious experience provider,' and I think that's the most idiotic thing I've ever heard in my life. The woman begins the movie selfish and lost and she ends it selfish and lost, just with someone she likes more than the first guy. That's your Tori review in a nutshell. I do like that they raised money to build a home for a woman and her child. (You're supposed to give a positive in there somewhere, right?)
It snowed Thanksgiving Day, which is super nice when it is super cold. The snow gives the cold a reason. We all drug out our snow pants and played in it, and have continued to play in it every single day since then. It has snowed almost every day. 3 of my piano students have tumbled on my steps, which inspired me to send the parents an email that said, "Please tell your children not to fall on my steps. It hurts." I also put salt on them, which did help, except the one boy who fell anyway and tried to come put his salty, grimy hands on my piano. I was nice about it. I just gently lifted him off of the bench and pointed him in the direction of the bathroom. What is it with boys and sticky hands? Seriously, every single day I have a boy student come sit at my piano, I have to send him away to wash his hands. I have 10 male students, which is a high number, and I end up wiping my piano after they leave. Gross boys, and my own son is included in that. He would never brush his hair if I didn't say to him, every morning, "Did you brush your hair?" "Oh." is his typical response as he scurries off to do it.
I'm looking forward to Christmas this year, so allowing our children to give out of their own spirits, and to have some good family time. We do miss our families, though. We are so very grateful for Skype.
I'm going to be 35 this year. I like that number. It makes me smile. I think I have 35 white hairs on my head too...

209 Days

2010-10-23T23:11:00.000-07:00

209 Days is how long I went without a Dr. Pepper. I had one yesterday and it was wonderful. The girls had their first soda in almost as long (they started the fast a couple of weeks after I did), and they were equally excited. Don't get concerned, Dad, this is not going to be a habit. It was just a treat for one day. :)
Joey has cooked 2 fabulous breakfastsys (that's how Josh used to say it) and we're having steak for dinner! Josh started running a 102.7 fever yesterday, just out of the clear blue, but it's down to 100.7 this morning. He woke me up at 630 making himself some chocolate milk. I guess when you have a fever you feel a certain sense of entitlement. He beat me in checkers last night. One dumb move and a triple jump on his part, and I was done, but I beat Caylea in chess. That was fun. I still stink at chess, but she stinks worse. I have no idea if any of us will ever take the $100 that my Dad took from my Mom to give to anyone who could beat him, but we're going to try. If not via chess, we'll do it with pull-ups. Well, Josh will. I don't know if I'll ever be able to do 10 pull-ups on purpose.
We're skipping church and cuddling all day. It's raining, 30 degrees outside, and we're all finally starting to feel 'normal' again. You can laugh. 'Normal,' for us, is far from it in the world's view. :)
We played Carcassonne yesterday. He won by 40 points, but he's been playing on his iPod for the last 6 months and I haven't played at all except when I took it easy on Natalie and Rachael. Go ahead and admit it, girls. I waited until there were less than 20 tiles left to start doing any real damage because you threatened me with whining and I can't stand whining. lol I'll play him again today and maybe win, maybe not. I don't really care. It's just so great to have him home to play with again!
He has a week's worth of briefings to do and then we're going to go to Belgium for the first time since we've been in Germany. We're looking forward to a state's drive away to see a whole 'nother country. We are planning a big trip to Italy in May with my parents (we hope), and if we can get to Holland and Corrie Ten Boom's "Hiding Place," plus going skiing in Switzerland in 2012, then I will be happy to leave Europe with lots of sites under my belt.
Happy to be 'normal' again...

Ahhhhhhh

2010-10-22T23:57:00.000-07:00

Chloe walked into the bathroom yesterday and said, "It smells like Daddy in here." See? Smell is one of those fabulous senses that God gives us to associate good (and bad) memories. I did stand there smelling him for a long time. I fell asleep on his chest and I don't care if any of you think that is sappy. It was wonderful. He has lost a significant amount of weight, so his chest was just the right height. :) He also doesn't snore any more. I woke up several times throughout the night to put my hand on his chest and make sure he was still breathing. Likewise, he kept reaching over to pat me throughout the night. He's in there cooking breakfast while singing and the kids love it. We're taking him grocery shopping today. He has missed out on lots of little things, like fried eggs (not the egg beaters that they serve at chow halls across the world), real bacon, and driving. Yesterday he kept telling me to slow down but I wasn't even going to speed limit yet. He has forgotten how the autobahn feels, but I have a feeling it won't take long to catch up on that one.
We ate at the Korean restaurant last night and we've decided that we probably won't eat out again for a very long time. No one cooks like a home cooked meal and it's just so expensive. I'll be making my famous fried chicken for him tonight, but for those of you close enough to drive here and demand some, don't bother. I won't even open the door. :)
I can't even begin to explain the sense of relief and happiness that everyone is feeling in this house. For those of you who have partaken of the great (insert sarcastic snicker) military tradition of deployment, I thank you. For those of you who have done this 6 month tour only to send your loved one back 2 weeks later for 6 more months, I especially thank you. I do not think I could do that, and God knows that. I think that would've literally broken me and I am so grateful that he is home to stay! For my Army friends whose husbands go for 15 months, I'll pray even harder. I hope that this blog lets people out there know that their prayers are appreciated and felt. If you think you're not serving your country by praying for the men and women over there, you couldn't be more wrong. They definitely feel and appreciate and covet your prayers!
Today we're doing 'normal' things like grocery shopping, and breakfast is ready! :)

EEEEEEEK #2

2010-10-21T23:55:00.001-07:00

1,000 Dr. Peppers couldn't make me this jittery. I am finding things to clean just to keep myself from going nuts. 4 more hours. At some point I'm going to take a shower, but I am trying to hold myself off so I'm not sitting here at the house, ready to go, 2 hours early. The house is sparkling. The kids put on clothes that look decent, including Josh, and I already made my bed. I cooked a "BIG breakfast." I cleaned the kitchen really well. I used a toothpick on the cracks. I used oven cleaner on the stove top. Seriously, I am finding things to do. I dusted. I swept. I vacuumed. I mopped. All of that I did yesterday after running 3 miles and I still feel like I have more energy than I know what to do with. It took forever to fall asleep last night but I had a great moment of clarity while reading C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity." It was a laugh out loud moment which, from a scholar like him, was unexpected. I giggled for a good while. What was that quote? Hold on, I'll go get the book...while going to get the book I remembered that I want to paint my toenails. I'll do that in a minute. I'm going to paraphrase because if you're anything like me, Lewis is not the easiest to read or understand.
Speaking about human nature and our innate ability to decipher moral 'right' from 'wrong,' whether we are a Christian or not, he says to think of a piano. (That got my attention for obvious reasons. I mean, God just revealed something to me while mine was being tuned!) Lewis says that a piano doesn't have two kinds of notes on it, the 'right' ones and the 'wrong' ones. Every note is right at one time or another and every note is wrong at one time or another. I used to tell my piano students, "That was the right note, you just played it at the wrong time." Perhaps that stuck in my brain the first time I tried, and failed, to read his book. :) What is the point? I don't know. I just thought that was funny. I actually do know what his point was but I'm not going to get into that because you would probably get bored or mad at me. I do agree with him, though. He wrote 'Mere Christianity' as a means to draw people to Christ, not any particular religion. He equates Christianity with a house that has a long hall filled with doors. He simply wanted to get people into the hallway and they were free to choose their own door. He says, and this really struck me, "When you have reached your own room, be kind to those who have chosen different doors and to those who are still in the hall. If they are wrong they need your prayers all the more; and if they are your enemies, then you are under orders to pray for them. That is one of the rules common to the whole house." I think if more Christians did that, the church would finally unite in Spirit.
Yes, I'm still really excited. I started reading that book because I tried years ago and couldn't get past the Preface, but amazingly, God has allowed me to understand the vast majority of it this time through, and I'm not even one of those 'smart' people. I think I should go paint my toenails now, but in my excitement, I was skipping and I don't mind telling you that, I kicked one of my toes so hard it turned colors. I'll just paint over it. :)
I may not write again for a while, not that any of you are holding your breath, waiting anxiously on Tori's weird trains of thought. To quote one of my favorite Veggie characters, "I'm busy, busy, dreadfully busy...more than a bumblebee more than an ant! Busy, busy, shockingly busy! I'd love to 'type', but I can't!" :)

EEEK!!!

2010-10-21T04:24:00.001-07:00

I am so excited I can hardly contain myself. I'm teaching piano while daydreaming, cleaning things while getting utterly distracted by the thought of having him home again. I can't even begin to describe the flutterbys in my stomach. I'm having trouble sleeping, eating, and talking. By this time tomorrow, and I can't believe I'm typing this, I will have him home again!!!! I told the kids that they can hug him first. They each get 30 seconds and then I will shove them out of my way if they don't willingly move. They all grinned and said, "Okay, Mom." I think I must've had my serious face on when I said it. Before any of you ask, NO, I did NOT stock up on Dr. Pepper. That is not very high on my list of priorities, to be honest. I told Joe that I just want to stand there and smell him. I don't care if you laugh or think I'm gross. I miss his smell, among other things. He wants to eat at his favorite restaurant here in Germany tomorrow night, so that is on our list. He also wants me to cook fried chicken for him, so that's all planned. He wants to cook for a month and I am more than happy to let him. I am just so GLAD to have him coming home! Please pray for safe travel and if you call me in the next few days and I don't answer, well, that's too bad. :D

Minor correction for what was then a major problem.

2010-10-11T03:11:00.000-07:00

"Shutzen" doesn't not mean "to shoot" in German. Remember back to the little boy with the water gun who was repeatedly shooting me in the face. I said to him, "Du musst stop shutzen mir in mein Geschist." I got the word, not from a dictionary or from some other learned source, but it came flashing into my brain in the heat of the moment. There is a strawberry field down the road from my house. In front of the giant strawberry (a house, shaped like a strawberry), there is a small white sign that says "Shutzenhaus" with a picture of bows and arrows and a man shooting what appears to be a gun. So, my brain assumed that "shutzen" meant some form of "to shoot," and so that's what I used on the boy. Who wouldn't have assumed that? My German teacher tells me that "Shutzenhaus" does, in fact, mean shooting range. However, she also informed me that "shutzen," by itself, means 'to protect.' I was telling (okay, yelling) at the little boy, "STOP PROTECTING ME IN MY FACE!" Of course, he understood what I meant even though I was using the wrong word, and his mother definitely understood based on her answer, but the irony, the difference in meaning, is not lost on me.

Caylea had pneumonia. It started out as a headache-fever virus that we both had. I was better in 3 days, she wasn't. Of course, with our interesting dynamic, I took her in to the doctor after the 5th day of fever and they treated it like a normal virus and sent her home with Sudafed, a pretty useless drug, unless you want to sleep and wake up with an even worse headache. Day 7 I took her back in with the still continuing 101 fever and they did a chest x-ray. It was very clear. I wish I could post that picture. It's cool. Anyway, after 4 days of antibiotics she is feeling so much better and the fever finally broke on the 8th day. I won't post any pictures of her this week, though, because she didn't feel well and I wouldn't want my sick face plastered all over a blog, so I won't do that to her either.

We bought a new loft bed for Josh. Well, it's new to us. It's the one that has the full bed on top and the trundle underneath. The lady that was selling it helped me take it apart, but as I was loading pieces into my Volvo, she continued taking it apart, so I didn't get to watch the entire process. I got it home and looked at the 30+ pieces for a very long time. The look on my face must've warned my children not to approach because they didn't, not until I called and said, "Someone hold this for me..." We got it put back together and I only have 4 screws leftover. :) In my defense, the lady said she had screws leftover when she put it together, and I think she just threw them in the bag for good measure, in case I figured it out properly. Chloe and I scoured that thing trying to find out where those extra screws might belong, but we couldn't find a single hole that was missing a screw, so we gave up. They're in the bag, where they will remain until Joe shows me where they go.

Joe won his boxing match. He fought a 21 year old and, raugh out roud, they were both Asian. (Yes, that's supposed to be 'laugh out loud' with an Asian accent. I also make fun of my Texan accent, so don't fuss at me about it, just enjoy the humor.) He told me that the first round was definitely in Young'uns favor (that's what I'm calling the 21 year old), but that he (Joe) came back strong in the 2nd round and finished him off in the 3rd round, winning the fight. They also won 'best fight,' akin to 'most entertaining.' I can imagine. Joe says he didn't realize anything was going on, that he was pretty incoherent after Young'un gave him a black eye, but his corner coach said that even the General was on his feet, yelling. It was a true "Rocky" moment. I told him I was glad that he won because I was afraid that if he lost, he would want to fight until he won one. He said, "I fought a guy half my age and won, but I don't feel good. I'm never doing this again. It hurts!" I'm glad he's accomplished this, gotten it out of his system, and is ready to sky-dive with me. He's probably reading this saying, "WHAT?" but here's the deal...he told me years ago that I couldn't sky-dive because 'the kids still need me' and that I would have to wait until they were older. Well, they're older. If he can do a dangerous sport like boxing, I should be able to sky-dive once, right? I'll create a poll and you can all vote. "Should Tori go sky-diving in the next year?" You will have the choice of two answers. "Yes," or "Absolutely." Be thinking about it while I figure out how to create a poll....

Fine Tuning

2010-10-01T00:06:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here listening to an elderly man tune my piano by ear. When he first arrived, I showed him my low C. This key is constantly making a 'twangy' sound after it is played, and then sometimes it stops playing abruptly. I didn't know how to fix it. Now I do. He is kind enough to show me all sorts of tricks, and I feel confident that if I had the tools, I could tune a piano by ear. I love learning new things, especially things that are useful to me. I pay him 85 Euro per tuning, per year. I could tune 2 pianos a week and make what I make teaching piano for 12 hours a week. Anyway, back to that C, it sounds terrible. When my piano students are playing, it is an obvious error because they tend to pluck the keys. When I play, I am able to cover it pretty gracefully, but it is a strain on the finely-tuned ears that God has given me. I always hear it, even when other people don't. He fixed it first. He saw my face and knew that I wouldn't leave him until that C was making pretty sounds again. He fixed it, showed me how, and said, "See? All better," with a big grin on his face. I like Mr. Melchior. He also doesn't correct my German, which is nice. I like practicing on people who take the time to let me try.

You all know what's coming. What did God say to Tori while this tuning was going on? Well, almost immediately I felt like that out of tune C, which was throwing off the entire sound of my piano, was like our little sins that we don't think are important enough to take care of. I almost started crying right there on the spot. God whispered to me, "See, daughter? Your entire life with 88 keys can 'sound,' to human ears, quite beautiful; but I hear every note." I am tearing up as I write this, out of sorrow for my own stubbornness and also out of joy because I know that God's grace is sufficient for me, and that He's not finished with me yet!!!

Matthew 5:30 says "If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
Matthew 18:8 says, "If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire."
John 15:2 "He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."

So, maybe we can't be so drastic that we cut off our limbs. I mean, who would make the sandwiches? However, can't we all afford a little "fine tuning?"

Gardens in Life

2010-09-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

Luke 11:39 says, "You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy--full of greed and wickedness!"

Chloe spent the first half of the summer carefully tending her tomato garden. After about a month, I had to remind her every day to go weed it. After that second month, I decided to let her 'earn' her own trouble by not reminding her to cultivate her garden. After all, she had paid for the plants and soil with her allowance. Her tomato plants were growing beautifully by then and they were enormous! The tomatoes on the outside looked great, but it seemed like they were taking a very long time to turn red. It hasn't helped a bit that this "summer" was so cold. It only got above 80 for a couple of weeks and then not consistently or any amount of days in a row. So, one day I got out there to mow, weed-eat, and tackle Chloe's garden. I started pruning the tomato plants in the hopes of salvaging a tomato or two, but when I moved the outer leaves, I saw that the inside of the plants were rotten. Every tomato hanging inside the canopy was brown and withered and there were slugs everywhere. I have to admit that I immediately thought of this verse in Luke, because the outside of those plants was gorgeous!

It is often we, ourselves, who are like this. God always shows me that no matter how I might want to decorate the outside, it's the inside that shines the most. It could be 5am, and me with my puffy eyes, crazy hair, and sleep-lined face, and yet when my husband sees me and I give him my best grin, he says, 'You're beautiful.' 1 Peter 3:3-4 says, "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." Apparently it helps with husbands too. :)

I think I'm learning more and more how to be gentle because God is introducing more and more "gentle of spirit" women into my life. It is easier to behave when people around me are so nice. The bad news is that I don't have a "quiet" spirit....yet. The good news is, God knows my heart and He's not finished with me! (1 Samuel 16:7) :)

A New Food Group

2010-09-20T11:33:00.000-07:00

It has been 176 days since my last Dr. Pepper. I know that Scripture says that when you fast to do it quietly, with a happy face. I've got the happy face part down, but not the quiet part. I think a lot of people misunderstand what fasting is. They give up food or whatever but they think that the simple act of giving something up gives them clarity. Jesus was very specific. He said, "These things can't be done except through fasting and PRAYER." So, every time I want a Dr. Pepper (or some kind of sweet sugary something when I'm fasting sugar), I pray. I gave up DP for my hubby. Every time I've wanted one, I've prayed for him. You would think that 6 months without it would make the craving diminish, but it hasn't. I still want one every day, sometimes I dream of 2 liters. That's when I wake up praying at 3am. I have to say this, too. It hasn't been as simple as just not purchasing the D.P. I have two Dublin Dr Peppers (made with real cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup) sitting in my cabinet, waiting on the day when I can drink them. Every time I get a plate or a bowl, I see them. They talk to me. They say things like "No one will know" and "I'm not that big" and "you can still pray while you drink..." but that's not the point. When you give something up to pray for someone, it is sacrificial prayer that leads to a deeper relationship with God and with that person. I thank God for His blessings, for teaching me the right way to do this and for the blessings He pours out on me when I am obedient. Those two Dublins will just have to wait.

Pictures!

2010-09-09T22:26:00.000-07:00

I can't possibly upload every picture, so if you want to see more, make sure you go to our Snapfish page. I just wanted you all to see that our friends aren't imaginary after all and the proof is in the pics. No babies were harmed in the making of these pics, and no adults left our home without grinning from ear to ear. Good food, good times, good friends, Good God, and I mean that literally, not in the blasphemous way. :)

Is Summer Really Gone?

2010-08-25T23:48:00.001-07:00

Well, yesterday was our first day without company in over 2 months. I went back and recounted....17 days this summer without having someone living with us. :) It made the time go faster, I guess, but it also wore me out. Looking ahead, I know that 8 weeks isn't a "long" time, but it sure feels like it. People think they're being helpful when they say, "Not much longer to go" to me, but that doesn't help a bit. It's still a long time and I pray that we never have to do this again. The kids have handled it well. No one has cried this month....yet. :)

I think the main thing God was trying to get through my thick skull was to be content in all circumstances (Phil. 4:11-12, 1 Tim. 6:6) and to not be easily flustered when things don't go according to Tori's awesome plan. :)

We start school on Tuesday. I am keeping 3 kids all weekend while their parents go to Prague. I'm keeping 4 kids in September for a weekend. Fortunately we like these kids and they seem to like us, especially when "Tori makes a BIG breakfast with bacon!" I enjoy having the home that people come to in order to relax and I pray that our family's actions and attitudes will be a living example of Christ to everyone who comes into our home. This German weather has allowed for several porch nights with fire. We had 2 weeks of summer this year...2 weeks that were hot enough to swim and not shiver. The cold weather has its advantages. Roasting marshmallows over an open fire isn't pleasant in 95 degree weather, but it sure is fun when it's only 60. We roast gummy bears too. They are gooey goodness when held over an open flame.

We also found out recently that we will be here another year, so for those of you who haven't made it to Europe and stayed at Ingram Inn, start making your plans. God is apparently getting us ready to run a bed and breakfast, so we'll practice on those of you that we know.

For those of you that think we're crazy for inviting people after a summer like this one, read Romans 12:13, Romans 16:23 (just call us Gaius!) 1 Timothy 5:10 and 1 Peter 4:9. I didn't wash anyone's feet, but I did give Martha a foot massage and pedicure.

The key, I think, is that whatever God puts on our plate to do, we have to do it without grumbling and complaining. That's in Philippians too. Sometimes I feel like certain passages of Scripture were written just for me. Like it should say, TORI, do everything without grumbling and complaining! TORI, be content in all circumstances because that's the secret to a happy life! Yup. We're happy. :D

Always Look Behind You When You Moonwalk

2010-07-25T12:10:00.000-07:00

So, there I was, entertaining my niece with my phenomenal dancing skills, when I hit a snag. Well, a pillow actually. Apparently my children left a rather large pillow on the floor and in the midst of my moon walking, I forgot to check my rear view mirrors, hit the pillow, and fell flat on my back. Were it not for the pillow, it would've hurt. As it is, it was hilarious. She laughed until her tummy hurt, as did I and the other people who witnessed the event via Skype.

What is a moonwalk? Well, I don't rightly know. I mean, I slide my feet on the floor while trying to appear like I'm floating backwards, but I really perform that particular dance move quite badly. Michael Jackson did it best. My rendition is definitely in the top 10 laughable moments this year. No one got video, sorry.

Moral of the story? Always look behind you when you moonwalk, OR, encourage children to clean up after themselves. :)

Why Are You In Trouble?

2010-07-18T07:41:00.000-07:00

Mom: Why are you in trouble?

Child: I don't know. I stopped when you told me to.

Mom: When SHOULD you have stopped?

Child: Ummmm...

Here's the problem as I see it. In Deuteronomy, and throughout Scripture, we are told to "Do what is right in the eyes of the Lord." Does that mean that we are allowed to do what is wrong as long as no one is there to see it? Or that we can do what is wrong as long as we stop when we are told? Nope. Whether we like the messenger or not, we must receive admonition as it comes. For my children, they do not receive well from each other. When one speaks in an unkind way and the other says to stop, the first thinks the other is just being sensitive and continues. However, put the shoe on the other foot and let the older one be the offended one. Wow, different ending! That is why I gave all 3 of my children permission to respectfully say to me, "Mom, you're speaking ugly." In the South, that means that I'm yelling without raising my voice. If you don't understand how to do that, imagine yourself when you are upset with someone but not in a place to fuss at them. It's kind of the clenched teeth, but I WILL REMAIN CALM stance that we take. Well, God has shown me that is wrong too. Just because I'm not raising my voice doesn't mean I'm not speaking 'ugly.' If we don't learn how to adjust our own attitudes without someone else stepping in, we are not 'living in fellowship with Christ,' and we definitely won't live in fellowship with one another.

"They will know us by our love." If we can't treat each other well, what does that say to people that aren't saved? That means that even when we think we're okay, if we have offended someone, we need to rethink ourselves. Don't get me started on easily offended people. That's a whole other story.

So, the answer to the question, When should you have stopped, is really quite simple. When the thought popped in your head to act/behave/say a certain way or thing, you should've fought it there in that battlefield, the mind, and not let it take physical form.

I am certain that I have work to do, but I am also certain that He who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion!
Phil. 1:6

Yelling doesn't seem so bad right about now...

2010-07-04T11:07:00.000-07:00

Here are suggestions I have received from other people.

"You should have..."

1. Taken his water gun and 'accidentally' broken it.

2. Taken his water gun and shot him repeatedly in the face.

3. Taken his water gun and given it to Josh so Josh could shoot him repeatedly in the face.

4. Brought my own, much bigger water gun and had Josh shoot him repeatedly in the face.

5. Taken his water gun after the mom yelled and shot her in the face.

All of these were said by "good" people. It just shows that there are reasons why it repeatedly says in Scripture to "Get rid of all anger, malice," etc. (1 Peter 2, among other places.) Too many of us hold things in and then at just the wrong moment, anger erupts, leaving a wake of damage that can rarely be undone without years of therapy for one or both parties. I am wondering why no one has said, "Yes, Tori, you should apologize" or, "Yes, Tori, you reacted badly," or "My goodness, I had no idea you were so Hulkish," or why no one has offered reasonable advice for the next time I see her. I will smile at her and probably make a friend out of her, but no one has given that advice. Everyone seems to want me to shoot her or Snot-head in the face. Wow, people. I thought I had issues until I talked to you...

On a different but somehow relevantly related note...today is the 4th of July. I played piano for our church today, including the German national anthem. Apparently there is a law that says you can't sing the American anthem without also singing the German one, since they are our host nation. I don't understand it. Is today THEIR Independence Day? However, being that is is Independence Day, shouldn't we, as Christians, at some point declare our own Independence from the sins that we keep falling into? Shouldn't we, at some point, declare, "I AM FREE OF (insert your own sin here)!!!" Maybe some of that aforementioned anger?

Yes, I'm preaching to myself. 100% of this blog is me preaching to myself, so that it will sink into my own thick skull that there are still parts of me that need changing. Praise God for grace!

I'm really not a yeller...

2010-07-03T09:29:00.000-07:00

We went to the Miesau pool today. I had my 3 kids, plus my niece, Jana, plus we invited another family that has a 2 year old little girl that I'll refer to as Z. Z is quite the swimmer and fearless. It was my turn to watch her and I was having a blast until I got blasted...in the face with a water gun. I saw the boy who did it, gave him a look, and thought that would be the end of it. He shot me again, in my face. Had he been shooting me anywhere else, I would've ignored him. Instead, we moved away and tried to ignore him, at which point he (and I was watching) aimed at my face and got it again. I'm not one to overreact, so I just said loudly across the water, "Schtop," which obviously means "stop." He shot me in my face again. I would've just left the area, except that I had a 2 year old who was swimming underwater in the only place that she could at this particular pool, and she was using me to maintain her balance when she did come up. I couldn't see her when he was repeatedly hitting me in the face. So, after that 4th or 5th time, and after not schtopping when I said to, I walked over, put my hand on the gun, and stop, "Du Kanst nicht mir beschutzen in mein Geschict." You can not shoot me in my face." I said this while holding said 2 year old by her waist, dangling, rearing to get back in and swim. She was just happy to be with me, so she didn't really know why I was talking to the boy, but she didn't care.

We went back to swimming, a few yards farther away. Lo and behold, the little boy, furthermore referred to as Snot-head, shot me in my face AGAIN! At this point, I started coming at him. Yes, I was going to take his gun. Yes, I'm pretty sure he knew I meant business. The dangling legs of Z and the look on my face, I'm sure, said it all. I said, "Wo sind die Eltern?" (Where are your parents.) Guess what? They were the two adults standing RIGHT THERE watching him. So, I told him, with his parents standing not 1 foot away and looking at me, in my best German, "You have to stop shooting me in my face. I have a baby and I need to watch her. Stop shooting me in my face." Yes, I said it very firmly. No, I did not yell at him. At this point you would think the parents might tell aforementioned Snot-head, who was around 7 or 8 years old, to stop shooting the lady in her face. Nope.

The mother YELLED at me, "WHY are you telling MY SON to stop? Take your BABY to the BABY POOL!" This was also in German, so I am very thankful for our tutoring. I don't know what would happen had I not been able to communicate with her so effectively, which I preceded to do. I said, in my best German, "My baby can swim here with me and your son WILL STOP SHOOTING ME IN MY FACE." Yes, I yelled the last part. I'm not proud, but I did. Then I stood there and stared at her.

Obviously this was a case of a very misinformed mother. She thought her son was meant to rule the world with his water gun and someone had to set her straight. Needless to say, I won the stare-off competition. Ask my kids. I'm good at those. I walked away, and the precious 2 year old and I went back to our swimming. I must mention that in the midst of me yelling back at the German lady, the 2 year old's mother came over to make sure I was okay. She has never seen me anything other than calm and was quite concerned that someone had riled me up enough to get me over there to yell, while holding little Z dangling by her waist. I assured her, and her husband who had also joined her, that all was well. Then I looked at both German parents. I can't tell you what my face said. I know they both walked away and I am not a big girl and I don't pretend to be tough. I'm not. At that point, though, my blood was approaching the boiling point and I'm sure they sensed it enough to walk away. I'm sure having Z's parents there to reinforce me helped tremendously. They are good people. Z's Mom actually said to me, "I saw you walk over there and point, and I thought, 'whoa, this can't be good.' Somebody's got Tori MAD." We laughed about it later. I'm thankful he didn't shoot the 2 year old in the face. I may have taken his gun and shot him back. I can't promise that I wouldn't have done that. I have a temper. It is only by the grace of God alone that I don't do more stupid things when I lose control of it. I did apologize to my friends and Chloe, who saw me and actually said, "Mommy, I've NEVER seen you do that. That boy deserved it, though." I told Chloe that I shouldn't have yelled back, that I should have stayed calm and that I was sorry that I yelled at the lady. Unfortunately, I was not a big enough person to apologize to the mom. Maybe one day I will be. Not today. My landlord's daughter was there. She thinks the lady is crazy. She even made the hand sign for loco. It's no small comfort. I behaved badly by yelling and no one should do that.

The moral of the story is this. Snot-head went down the slide a few minutes later and got hurt. He shouldn't have been shooting me in my face. Some people call it karma, some people call it the vengeance of the Lord. I call it justice served. I shouldn't have yelled back. I should've stayed calm. I apologize and if the situation repeats itself, I'll handle it much better.

Teenagers everywhere!

2010-06-16T11:25:00.000-07:00

For the last 2 weeks, since June 3rd, we have had two extra girls in our house...both 14, both friends of ours from Alabama. I can honestly say that the giggling is, in all honestly, funny, and that it has been a lot of fun to be around these "poorly socialized" home schooled girls. I will mention names at this point...

Natalie talks so fast that I often take out my imaginary ticket book and write fines for her speed. She says it's because her mouth is so diligently trying to keep up with her brain and I do believe her. What is even more amazing is that my Texan brain can comprehend her now. The first week she got somewhere around 10 tickets a day, and I haven't had to issue one in the last few days. (Exaggerating, yes, but the girl definitely speaks far faster than anyone else I've ever met!)

Rachael is hilarious. If Caylea tells her, 'You like chocolate," Rachael very animatedly says, "I LIKE CHOCOLATE!" Caylea will then immediately say, "No, you don't," and Rachael will completely change her face and say, "No, I don't. Yuck. Nasty chocolate." It doesn't 'read' as well as it comes across in person. I have laughed at length when they do their little show.

All 3 girls have had a blast. Caylea is usually the last one out of bed, Rachael is the first. At some point, all 3 pile up in Caylea's bed and giggle for a good 15 minutes before they roll out of the room to find something to eat. I've fed them, but I can't say I've fed them 'well.' Healthy food hasn't been a priority. I made sure they ate lots of Italian ice cream, regular ice cream, cookies, Tiramisu, and Apple Strudel. I also made sure they ate a Doner and Schnitzel. Some things just aren't optional when you visit Germany. They've had German pizza, German sandwiches, German waffles, and they even managed to walk down to the bakery for a nice breakfast with Caylea.

The first morning they were here, I woke them up and handed them each a cup of hot chocolate with a surprise of coffee (just a splash, moms) and a huge helping of whipped cream on top. I'm not sending them home heavier, though. The first week they were here, they helped do all of my chores since I was still recovering from having my appendix removed. The second week, when I got 'clearance,' we did some hiking and had a good time.

The only things I've been a "mom" about have been the chores (yes, I reminded everyone at least 100 times, my own children included) and about bed time. I refused to let them stay up past 11 or midnight because I knew the consequences would be dire the following day. No thank you to 3 grumpy teens!

I say 'teens,' but the honest truth is that there is a generation of parents and children who want to skip that label altogether, and I think 3 of them are here. All 3 have gone above and beyond to be helpful. They've hardly fussed a bit, and that's a huge deal for three girls who don't have sleepovers very often and who are suddenly thrown into a 2 week sleepover! They've also handled my chiding and my irritating sarcasm really well. I think it's been 3 full days since Natalie has said, "Are you serious?" I must be losing my touch. It's funny, though...in the first week when Natalie would ask if I was serious, Rachael, who doesn't know me as well, would answer, "No, Natalie. She's not." I'm glad she could read me so well or poor Natalie would've been left guessing. I never answer her. When she asks me if I'm serious, I often say, "Do you think I'm serious?" or something to that affect, with my most serious face; and then I watch her squirm. It shouldn't be so funny, so entertaining to me, an adult. Alas, it is.

The unique blending of their personalities couldn't be better. Natalie is the super literal one. Everything must be as you said, or you must have some kind of brain issue. Caylea is the artistic one. She's the one that has 8,000 ideas, all of which will work, but none of which are good enough in her mind. She's the first one to say, "HUH?" and ask the silliest questions you've ever heard. I often say to Caylea, "Can you just think that question in your head for a while before you let it out of your mouth? That way you won't look so unintelligent to all of us." She giggles, Natalie explains the situation to her, and we move on. Rachael is quiet, but funny and a great balance between the other two. When Natalie is questioning whether or not something is as I said it is, and Caylea is busy getting distracted by the rain patterns on the car window while wondering why people do the things they do, Rachael is observing and making mental notes to use in a feature film production.

I have had fun, but I am exhausted! Not physically...I've been making sure that I'm resting, but mentally I am kaput! I think once I drop them off at the airport, I'll head home and veg for a while. Wait, I can't...I have to teach piano, then tennis, then dinner....at least the summer is moving along....one day closer to October!

Summer isn't here yet

2010-05-31T01:55:00.000-07:00

The Grand Parents left Saturday morning after a beautiful trip to Garmisch, finishing the tree house, fixing various things around the house, keep me still, and eating lots of good German food. I am confident that they went home happy, but my kids all cried. We had to put them on a shuttle to go to the airport because I just wasn't up to the drive yet, and I had to assure my mother repeatedly that I wouldn't hurt myself. I think she knows me a little to well. :) This morning I sat down, on her behalf, and wrote out my chores. I've always kept them in my head and when I got finished I thought to myself, "Wow. No wonder I sleep so soundly at night!" So, for the next 2-3 weeks, my children will take over my chores. They already began, but I have just been telling them, "Right now I'd be doing this..." and they do it. I really do have great kids. I am so thankful.

Caylea has been cooking regularly for a month now. She seems to enjoy it, although she is still easy to fluster, just like me. Chloe, on the other hand, throws seasonings in a pot and decides what tastes good. She's like her father. He's a great cook. I cook to survive. lol

We are picking up two of Caylea's friends Wednesday. They're staying for 2 weeks. I have planned easy things for us to do to let them see Germany without hurting my recovery process. I'm feeling great. I haven't been in pain like I was before the surgery and if it weren't for my tummy feeling like I've done 1,000 crunches in a day, I'd be feeling completely 'normal' again. My kids are watching me like hawks. I went to lift a pot without thinking yesterday and Caylea said "NO" and startled me. I didn't lift it, Mom!

Once the girls get here we will paint the finished tree house. That should be interesting and fun. We're just trying to keep busy this summer. It seems to make the days go by faster.

On a completely different note, Joey and I just celebrated 15 years of marriage. All we could do was smile and wink across the computer lines, but it was great to still enjoy flirting with him after all of this time. It has flown by. I look forward to 50 more! As I sit here typing, listening to my kids do my chores while singing, I am so thankful for God's grace and peace in our lives. I am thankful that He changed my heart, that He has grown both Joey and I up, and even though we still have work to do, we're a happy family. We pray this kind of peace for everyone we know, however God provides it to you and your families.

When Grandparents visit

2010-05-22T07:39:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when Grand Parents visit. Yes, I separated those two words on purpose. My parents are quite grand. I like them a lot. I am convalescing, which is incredibly difficult for me, and they are finishing my projects and Joe's, including the tree house. Notice it has a new location, much safer, much better, especially since the neighbor whacked off the trees surrounding it. The kids have worked hard all day, so we're going to eat at a castle for dinner tonight. You just can't beat that! :)

We woke up this morning and the girls hauled wood to the wood shed while Josh, Dad, and I went to the lumber store to get what we needed to finish the tree house, which Dad had cut down yesterday. He also trimmed up the mutilated trees, so they look much better. Nana supervised the girls and weeded my entire front driveway. It looks so lovely!

We had banana splits for lunch.

The Grand Parents and the kids tackled the stump. They pushed, pulled, and jumped until it was out of the gaping hole, which we filled with dirt and a new bush. The stump remains where it was last seen, in my lawn, but that's okay. It'll move eventually...or not.

Then they got busy on the tree house, which is now attached to the swing set. It looks great and the kids are super excited to have it completed. The platform that Joe started is still standing strong!

Now we're off to eat dinner at our favorite place, Burg Lichtenberg. I'm hoping to eat a lot and feel better. :)

Mans makes his plans and God laughs

2010-05-21T09:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I had great plans to take my parents hither and yon, but it turns out that hither and yon were too much for me. We'll have to stick to yon, some other day. I did take them to France today, though. Dad got permission to drive and he drove 120 miles per hour on the autobahn. He liked it a lot and said he could get used to it. :) I took them to Cora, where we attempted to purchase cheese and wine and some other goodies. The main point was that I got my parents' feet in France. Next week I'll put their feet in Austria and they'll have been in 3 countries. I would love to take them to more, but the surgery wiped me out. I'm feeling fine, but I definitely have to take it easy. My Mom is doing a great job taking care of me and keeping the house running. The kids are such great helpers, and my Dad has taught the girls to play chess. Caylea stale-mated him today, and he wasn't distracted! Caylea was so proud of herself. Chloe is pretty good at it too, but she's easily distracted. I have no idea why. I'm never distracted. There's a beagle outside my window. He ran by, sniffed around, and ran back by.

I forgot what I was typing about. Oh, yeah...Hither and Yon... :)

Surgery

2010-05-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

I lost my appendix yesterday.

My Mom was there to watch me faint.

She said I went out like a movie star.

I only saw blackness from afar.

Caylea is cooking.

Chloe is cleaning.

Josh is looking,

My Dad is being a meany.

Not really, but he likes to pick

On Caylea as she cooks.

And little did I know

She's inherited my dirty looks.

I'm doing well

My kids are great

My parents are super

and I need to go to sleep.

I hope you liked my poem. It took hours to write. :)

Home schooling and Legos

2010-05-02T11:31:00.000-07:00

The panel discussion went well. I got to hold a microphone. The lady in charge prefaced things with, "These ladies are not experts. They simply want to share what works for their families." The first question came up and none of the other ladies even started, so I took the microphone and said, "I have a microphone. That makes me an expert." Everyone laughed and things went well after that. Sometimes you just need an idiot to make everyone feel better. I don't mind being her on occasion. Both of my girls babysat at the conference and made a whopping $66 EACH! I was impressed. I told them to buy me things and I'd be nicer. They didn't. I guess I'm too nice. I did sell a lot of books and was able to purchase things I need for next year at a significantly reduced price. That always makes a thrifty girl happy. Speaking of thrifty, my friend took me to the German thrift stores. I'm in love. High-end clothing for very little cost. I found 2 dresses, a very nice Italian skirt, and several shirts for less than 20 Euro! That is amazing!

Josh is an expert Lego builder. I am attaching pictures, but they just don't do justice to the boy's abilities. You can't hear the alarm that he built in to his siren system, you can't see that his elevator actually works or that his zip-line is a blast for his Lego dudes. You can't see the various doors and trap-doors he has leading in to the garage and the flight hangar. I can't even begin to describe how much detail he puts into his creations, and the camera doesn't do his creations justice. He's going to be a great builder of things one day. I've been letting him take apart appliances that no longer work. He makes robots out of them. He uses metal wire, pliers, screws, nails, and googly eyes. He amazes me. He can sit there for hours creating things, never saying a word, and his explanations are incredibly thorough. I wish more people knew this side of him. Most people just know he's a very quiet, seemingly shy boy, but he's really not shy. He just won't talk to you unless you listen. Most people don't listen, and kids know when you're pretending.

You should try it every now and then. Look deep into their eyes (hearts) and ask them a question. Then wait and listen. Don't fidget. Don't interrupt them. Listen. You will be amazed at the knowledge that comes out of their little mouths.

Check out the goats

2010-04-30T00:33:00.001-07:00

You have to check out the fainting goats link. It looks remarkably familiar....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&v=we9_CdNPuJg

ROFL

Just Another Day with the Ingrams

2010-04-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

We have had a very eventful day.

It started by my waking at 522am, which has been the norm for the last 2 weeks, and it has not all been the mouse's fault. I think God wants me to pray, so I do.

Then we Skyped with Joe, which was distracting enough for me to still be in my p.j.s at 715am, when I had to leave the house at 745am for the kids' appointments.

I took all 3 kids in for the annual sports physicals and it turns out that Chloe needed 4 shots. She knew she needed one, not four. Chloe is my professional shot taker, took allergy shots for 3 years, never cried, never whined, even as a baby. So today she was sitting there and I could tell she was letting her brain freak out, so I reminded her that it hurts like a pinch, but she'll be fine, and when they asked if she wanted two at a time, I said, 'Yes, get them over with." They gave her the first two and one was the tetanus, which is horrific and she said, "Oww, owww, oww," and as she was lamenting the first set, the second set went in. Throughout the process, she was still except for saying, "Ow," but I knew something was wrong as soon as she said it. Her voice was changed, her skin was getting pale, and so I walked in front of her to calm her down. No sooner had I gotten there than her entire little body locked up, went sheet-white, and started shaking as she went backwards. She literally fainted in a locked position. The nurse lowered her down and as soon as her body was level, she came too and said, "Mommy, I passed out again" and then started to pass out again.

From experience (Colorado), I know that passing out is a terrible feeling. You have no control over your body, but you literally feel yourself getting pulled down. It is difficult to explain and just plain bad to experience. I started talking in her ear, telling her to breathe, being very calm, and the nurses started running around to find vital sign equipment. Her blood pressure was really low, her pulse was very low, and she was still just as white as a sheet. She was only 'out' for seconds, and I kept her looking at me as they hooked her up. They wheeled her to the 'check them out' room and hooked her up to oxygen while they tilted the bed so that her head was lower than her feet. I must say, as a mother, there is nothing scarier than watching the pass-out process. This is the second time this child has done this. I know I passed out once when the docs were drawing my blood. I think I was around 14 and had no idea why my body was slumping. I could tell Chloe felt the same way. She was literally fighting it the whole way down. The docs said it's the whole nervous system response to 'fight or flight.' It has a fancy term that I could look up online and then pretend that I remembered, but I'm too tired to do that. All I know is that her body flew the coop when it got nervous. I could tell she was back to normal (or, as Josh said, she's back to weird!) when she started making jokes. I sat her up, put her shoes on, and asked the nurse to unhook her.

By then we were all really hungry. That's never a good thing in our house. People get cranky when they're hungry, and by 'people' I mean ME.

I ran our errands on base, the few that I could get accomplished, so my list was left only partially accomplished and anyone who knows me knows that irritates me. I like my PLANS! :) I came home to teach piano, which went well. We went to tennis, which went really well, but the kids somehow managed to jerk on the car door's handle enough that it got stuck in the locked position. I couldn't get it to release, so we had to drive home with the door ajar, with Caylea holding it to keep it from flying open. I have done everything I know to do, along with Joe's suggestions, and the thing won't release, so I'm going to pray that my Mom reads this all the way to the bottom and tells me how to fix it. Otherwise I'll have to call the auto shop tomorrow and see if they can help.

Now I am over-tired, grumpy, and in desperate need of a bed before German lessons tomorrow and the big home school sale. They've asked me to sit on a panel of 'experienced home school moms that will be transparent and not put themselves on a pedestal.' They asked the right girl. I don't own pedestals, I don't mind saying what I think, and I usually say something silly enough to put everyone at ease so they'll stop taking themselves so seriously. What does the education of your children matter if you don't have a good relationship with them? Yes, they need to be able to read, write, and do math. More importantly, they need to know how to love and be loved...giggles included.

A Mouse Near the House

2010-04-28T08:23:00.000-07:00

2 mornings in a row something woke me up at 5am scratching on the rolladen...the German metal blinds that completely block out the sun and roll down outside the window. Well, yesterday during some of my piano kids' lessons, a mom practically yelled, more like exclaimed loudly, "TORI, YOU HAVE A MOUSE."

I lifted my feet up like a total girl and got embarrassed at my reaction. I freely admit it. It was instinctual and I can't help that.

She said, "NO IT'S OUTSIDE!" It was right outside the door. I went out to hit it with a shoe and it went down the crack, right where I heard the scratching coming from! Today, during some other student's lessons, I saw it again out of the corner of my eye and ran out to get it, but again, it was too quick. The older brother of the girls I was teaching stayed outside a bit to see if he could kill it, but it never came back out.

I'm going to buy a mouse trap. It is around 4-5 inches long and dark brown, almost black. It wasn't a rat, praise God. I would really freak out. I have been traumatized concerning mice, though...ever since Korea. Bad things happened in Korea with the mice. I won't go into details.

I will hold them, pet them, and think they're cute. I just don't want them in or around my house!!! At least it's not inside, though, just in a crack outside....outside...outside....

Strawberries and cucumbers

2010-04-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

This is the infamous "Topsy-Turvy" planter that attempted to murder the cucumbers. The strawberries are doing just fine, though.

How Many Thumb Tacks?

2010-04-21T02:34:00.000-07:00

I got the strawberries and cucumbers planted in a "Topsy Turvy" planter and hung it outside. I used a power drill all by myself and did not fall off of the ladder. The Topsy Turvy is not all it claims to be, though. I don't know if the cucumbers will survive. You see, you have to push the root ball through the hole and, in doing so, part of the roots get damaged no matter how careful you are. (Does anyone else see the relationship between this and sin? No matter how sneaky you think you are concerning your sin, there is always damage. God speaks to me in crazy ways sometimes...either that or I'm crazy and He speaks my language, and that makes me happy too. It made me think that I needed to talk to my children about the sneaky sins...and I did, and they 'got it' and we ate and were merry.) The cucumbers looked like they had been bludgeoned this morning but the strawberries looked okay. I haven't planted the tomatoes or watermelons yet. We ran out of potting soil, so I'll have to get another bag or two. They're going in the ground, though, so that will be easy-cheesy!

I also bought screens for our windows. In Germany, you buy the screen material and a velcro liner to attach them to. The velcro is sticky on one side, so you stick it to the window frame, then stick the screen material to the velcro side. It works great except that the velcro sticky-part isn't super sticky and comes off easily, but I solved that problem with thumb tacks...or so I thought. Turns out that thumb tacks bend easily and if you miss them with the hammer you can cause thumb damage. (That's a pun for 'some damage.' I don't know if you'll get it, but I'm giggling at myself.) Anyway, after several broken thumb tacks, I decided to rummage through our garage and see what nails I could find. There was thumbthing creepy in the garage, but I made it through okay. The first ones were too skinny and broke even easier than the thumb tacks. The others were roofing nails and too long to put in the window frame. So, at thumb point I will go get thumb nails (more puns...aren't I funny?) that are slightly larger than a thumb tack, but the same shape like a roofing nail, and I will finish screening our windows so that flies and mosquitoes don't come in all spring/summer/fall. Why didn't we do this before? I really can't answer that, especially considering the fact that we have to have our windows open 6 months of the year. It's possible that I never did it because Joe has been gone every single summer since we've moved here and since he wasn't here, I decided I was too girly to attempt it. Either that or I'm lazy. However, this year, I really wanted it done, so I'm doing it. I won't fall off of the ladder, but I may wobble.

Birthday and Gardening Step 2

2010-04-19T02:43:00.000-07:00

Caylea is 14 years old today. Where did that time go? Ohhhhh, I remember...

playing house,

letting her tuck me in like a caterpillar in a cocoon,

listening to her sing "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" while sitting on the potty at 2 years old,

hearing her answer the preacher's question..."When did you ask Jesus into your heart?" Her reply at 6 years old, "Jesus has always been in my heart. I talk to Him all of the time. I want to get baptized so everyone will know that He is in my heart." She said this as if she were teaching this 65 year old pastor something.

Watching her face as she came out of the water...priceless,

hearing her 'invent' a piano song at 7 years old and wondering, 'How do I teach THAT?'

watching her do flips and tumbles and twists and turns during her 4 year gymnastic stint,

crying with her when we all realized that her ankle could no longer tolerate her dream sport after a significant injury,

helping her determine which dreams are meant for life and which are meant for the moment,

helping her realize her gifts and talents and the best way to use them,

helping her learn when to apologize and learning that lesson myself, right alongside her,

teaching her how to show mercy towards others,

helping her tame her Absalom-type hair (not yet accomplished, by the way...it's still wild and beautiful),

listening to her heart-aches concerning friends and their treatment of her when she stands firm,

rejoicing with her when God gives her a glimpse of His glory,

and holding her down to tickle her until she says, "Mommy is the master...I HAVE TO GO PEE!"

The list goes on and on. I have many, many good memories with this young lady. I can hardly wait to see what's next with her!

Time invested in children is often equated to gardening, which I've been doing a lot of lately. You get good dirt, till it, plant in it, keep the weeds out, water it, make sure it gets plenty of SON, and watch things grow. Yup. Sounds like kids to me. My back hurts. :)

So, I did, in fact, figure out how to use the weed whacker. I did a great job. However, I had to Skype Joe to figure out the fuel situation because it's crazy, and I'm still going to let Dad help with that. I figure the yard can wait 3 more weeks to get whacked again. Also, the string issue...I have no idea. Joe tried to describe it, but I'm a visual learner, not auditory (easily distracted, remember?) If you show me the bright, shiny object, I will watch you tinker with it and learn what you did. If you tell me via words and hand motions, I'm going to get distracted by the bird outside my window. I didn't let him get very far. I said, "Joey, you know I don't learn that way. Dad will teach me by showing me and it's okay." He just grinned. He knows his wife.

The water didn't completely evaporate yesterday...but some of the noodles stuck to the bottom of the pan.

How to Start Your Garden

2010-04-17T21:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, April 17th, was Joe's 39th birthday. I just can't begin this post without saying that he is a great man. He is a kind person, one you would want to have around as a friend because he'll give you the shirt off of his back without you ever having to ask. He may be picky about food and the preparation of it, but you'll never regret eating at his table. He is genuinely interested in people and he is my favorite friend!

We did all of our gardening on his birthday AFTER taking my daughters to an indoor yard sale so that they could sell their homemade jewelry. I didn't expect them to do well, honestly, but Chloe made $50 (more than covering the cost of her materials and she still has tons of materials left, so her profit margin will be quite high) and Caylea made $40 but spent a lot of it. That's the problem with an indoor yard sale. You're there, you see something you like, you spend the $5 you just made. I got some good laughs out my soon-to-be 14 yr old. She came home a happy girl and Chloe was so excited about her sales! They are both planning on doing it again in May. Maybe I should start an online business for them, but I have no idea how.

Back to the Gardening...how did I get off topic??? Right. I'm Tori. I'm easily distracted. Okay. First, you pick up all of your children's toys from the yard and you have to be careful because the sneaky little things hide them where you'd least suspect it and you don't want to hit a toy with a lawnmower! Then you mow while singing. Singing makes it fun and no one can hear you, so it's very calming. You contemplate weed-eating but since your experience with that is basically nil, you decide to wait until your Dad gets here in May to teach you how to operate that machine. That's brilliant, I think. I hope he still likes me after reading this. :)

Next, you pick up all of the limbs from the 'incident' with the neighbors. Apparently our farmer neighbor wasn't happy that the beautiful cedar trees in our back yard were hanging over his fence into his pasture. I can understand that. He got permission from our landlords 1 year ago to trim those trees. He did trim them while we were in the States. Coincidence? Hmmmm....To put it in the best terms, and according to my colorful landlord, he "Got drunk with a chainsaw, I think." The bushes were trimmed from 5 feet down to 2. The beautiful 20 foot tall cedar trees were cut in half or completely down. The 30 ft tall pine trees were mutilated as well. They picked up the vast majority of the limbs, but they also left a ton on top of the trees. I guess they only picked up the ones that actually hit the ground. They also left a ton of bush debris behind the bushes. I ended up picking up what equates to 4 large trash cans full of limbs. Cedar limbs are no fun, by the way. The sap is everywhere, the smell is everywhere, and after a little while you get really tired of getting poked.

The next step was to climb the apple tree. I am desperately trying to save its life. Last year it did not fruit well. As soon as the apples actually started blooming, they started rotting. We weren't able to eat a single one. I did some research and found that #1 aphids had been 'milked' onto the tree, which acts kind of like a fungus and is no good and #2 I hadn't pruned it enough the year before so it was overloaded and tired. I pruned it significantly last winter and have been 'nursing' it ever since. I spent some time up in its branches, singing again because by that point I didn't care if anyone heard me. I cleaned up the mess. It looks terrible. The only thing worse than the hair cut I got in the states (which I've been fixing myself over the last 2 months) is the apple tree. It's pitiful. Pictures to come later...

As I was doing all of this, Chloe was cleaning the patio furniture and Josh was helping me haul limbs. Caylea was cleaning the inside of the house for me. She got a pretty good sunburn in Colorado and I let her do inside work to protect her face. Josh got burned too, but he wanted (and, as a mini-man needed) to be outside, so he got sunscreen and a hat.

When we were all done with our various chores, we looked at the garden area. A yard, to me, is like a kitchen. You have to clean it before you can cook in it. So, the yard was clean and now it was time to cook! We got out our shovels and I taught Josh how to dig up old plants with a shovel, by the root. We threw them out. The kids and their friends had been making mud pies with the garden dirt, which was fine until I saw that the holes were everywhere and that I was going to have to resurface the garden area by hand. I got the big, heavy rake-looking thing and used it as a hand tiller. After 30 minutes of back-breaking work, the garden area looked phenomenal! I threatened the children with death (while smiling) if I found any more holes and gave them the job of coming out every day to cultivate the dirt...get any rocks, sticks, etc out so that we could plant our veggies next weekend. Hopefully Germany will be done with the early morning frosts by then. If not, we'll plant in 2 weeks. There is no rush. German summers are beautiful and super great for growing veggies quickly, but if you plant too quickly, German winters sneak up after 3 beautiful 70 degree days and shoot down plants with a 40 degree day. No fun.

So, step one is done. The yard looks beautiful. I enjoyed mowing again after a 5+ month break. The house is clean, Caylea's birthday party is today, and with all of the kids coming over, it'll be dirty again by 2. :) I'm practicing hospitality without Joe. It's HIS gift and I've just been dragged along for the ride. I like having people over, but he's better at it. He makes grilled chicken or fish. I make pasta salad. He gets good wine that is color-coded to match the food he cooks, and I make sure there is plenty of sweet tea. He runs here and there directing the preparation and cooking of the food, doing much of it himself because he likes the presentation part. I run here and there playing with kids and end up getting distracted and burning something. I put a pot of water on to boil before I started this post. It's been a while. I think I better go see if it's all evaporated by now....

Let the Countdown begin

2010-04-14T01:25:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official. We now await the end of October. Our plan is to get the family pool pass and have some fun this summer so time will go a little easier. We don't want to rush God's blessings during this time, and we receive whatever He has to give. Joe is safely where he needs to be, although tired. He got 2 hours of sleep in a 48 hour period.

Josh is now officially 9, Chloe is officially 11, and Caylea will be officially 14 in a few days. When I think back on their lives, I am amazed at how quickly time can pass. My chubby babies are now grown enough to fend for themselves, learn on their own, and take care of me when I need them to. We're in a great phase where we play constantly, talk excessively, and love each other no matter what. I am so thankful for my husband and his willingness to serve, my children and their ability to cope, and for good friends who call or email every single day to check and see if we need anything.

I'm still mowing, although I haven't done that in 5 months. This new lawnmower is great and I won't break it, at least not by not putting oil in it. The neighbors cut down most of our trees, so there will be less mess to clean up there. My landlord thinks they got drunk with a chainsaw.

Thank you for your prayers!

Ahhhhhhh, TEXAS!

2010-04-11T22:49:00.000-07:00

We left Virginia after more snow, rain, go-cart riding, and lack of visit to historical markers. It's just a bad time of the year to expect to go to Williamsburg and walk around when it is 37 degrees and extremely windy. We drove from Newport News to Bristol, TN. We had to make it to TN. There was no other option for my husband. We spent the next day driving through TN and only made it to Memphis. Tennessee is pretty long. The third day, we drove from Memphis to my brother's house in Sulphur Springs, TX, where it was raining, again, but the kids were too excited to care. My parents had just helped my brother's family build a big tree-fort in their backyard. We spent 4 days just hanging out with them, going to tennis lessons, watching softball get cancelled due to inclement weather, and celebrating Chloe's 11th birthday. She had a blast. We went to my parents' ranch to ride go-carts and eat cake, of course! Christina (my favorite sister-in-law) made home-made pizza, so we left fat and happy.

We started the drive to Colorado where our entire family went skiing for a week. PaKenny, Nana, Ken, Christina, Jared, Raychel, Hannah, Joe, Tori, Caylea, Chloe, Josh...that's a lot of folks! After a few minutes of ski repair, my kids took right back to it. I did too, amazingly enough, although I still fell several times. Christina kept hoping to see one of my 'spectacular' falls, and I kept praying for her NOT to. Those falls my look great, but they HURT! By the third day, I was done, but my kids, husband, nephew, and parents weren't. They all went skiing some more while the rest of us made sandwiches. lol We got to ride on snowmobiles, which was probably my most fun memory of the week. I had Chloe sitting behind me (yes, they let me drive) and we caught air a few times. She wasn't a fan of that. I was, so I had her sit out while I went on my own in the big 'play' field. That was a blast! We also went to a wildlife park where we saw "Dork" get his antler stuck on his food bowl. (Pictures to come later, or check him out on our Snapfish account.) We also saw a cougar eating his breakfast and the female cougar was upset about something so she was 'talking.' That was creepy, not a sound I would ever want to hear on a long walk in the woods!

We left Colorado to go back to Texas and stopped at a Museum of Natural History off of the famous Route 66 highway. They have a very interesting version of History, but the bones were fun to look at and play with. We ate steak and Mexican food while we were in Texas. Some things need no explanation. :)

We got back on Saturday and our 5 left Sunday to go to Jackson, where we caught the flight out on Monday. We flew on a C-17. That was the most fun plane ride of my entire life. They have cargo seating with a huge empty space in the middle. Across the aisle from me was a 2 year old little boy who looked terrified. My kids and I started throwing our hands up in the air and yelling like we were on a roller coaster and he started copying. He lost the terrified look and started having fun. You can't really hear on those planes and you have to wear ear plugs, so you can yell all you want and not be ashamed. It was a blast! We slept on the cold metal floor, but we didn't get too cold. We had blankets. Next time I'm bringing and air mattress, though. Metal floors are hard on the hips and back!

We're back in Germany now....we had beautiful weather for a week and then the typical 'second winter' hit. By the first weekend in May, it'll be back to beautiful. We're finishing up school before the list of guests get here this summer. There's always room for more! Romans 12:13 says ...Practice hospitality. Get over here and let us practice on you!!! :)

Bloogity-Blibbidy-Bloo

2010-03-02T06:12:00.000-08:00

That's all it takes...one phrase said in a crazy voice while making a crazy face and all 3 of my kids run away, screaming, including the 'old' one. It really makes me laugh.

We made it to Georgia after the 30 hour flight. We did our best to stay awake until 7pm the first night we were in the States, but we only made it to 5pm. We woke up at 5am, ready to go, but no one was open yet. We had to wait for the breakfast place to open, wait for the rental car company to open, and then we were on our way. We finally had Chick-Fil-A for lunch. It was just as good as we remembered it being! We made it to Mamaw's house and were ready for bed by 7pm. We all woke up at 430am. The kids enjoyed it because Mamaw always wakes up early and she gave them all hot chocolate. Who am I to argue with the grandmother? Pop stocked up on ice cream. Apparently the kids were given ice cream for breakfast, lunch, and one dinner. Well, after they ate Mamaw's good Korean food, THEN they ate ice cream. Josh still wants to marry a 'good cooker like Mamaw.' Caylea doesn't know if she'll want Korean food for a very long time. She said she's kind of burnt out on it. Unfortunately, we all ate until we hurt the 2 weeks we were there. We had a great visit with all of that side of the family, including Jana. We got to go to her school carnival. It reminded me why we home school.

Joe and I had the opportunity to go to a B&B for a night. That was great. I hate that every time we switch environments, we all get a little cold. It was my turn that week, but God is good. He shows you how to fight those things, and the cold only lasted a few days instead of weeks on end.

Josh and Pop have matching cowboy hats and cowboy boots now, and they both eat a LOT of ice cream. I think Josh has grown an inch since we got here. We left Georgia in the midst of the big snow storm. They hadn't seen that much snow in 9 or 10 years. Snow follows us. So does rain, apparently.

Sections of I-85 were closed, cars were literally piled up on the side of the roads. It really was crazy to see. We left Germany with 6 inches of snow on the ground and we were still driving around, hardly a wreck to be seen. In the south, if you get more than an inch of snow, people forget how to drive. CRAZY!!!

We made it to Virginia on Josh's 9th birthday, which also happens to be Valentine's Day. We found a Japanese steakhouse, which was his request, and then we checked in to our hotel. It's a nice hotel. We spent the day swimming with the kids in the indoor pool and just enjoying each other's company. I have to say that Josh is a really good boy. I've never met a boy who is more careful around little children or more sharing with little ones. He just doesn't like it when they slobber on his toys. He's taken to walking by and smacking whoever is in the way. By "smacking," I mean whacking on the leg or wherever he is closest to whacking. He does it with this huge grin on his face. It reminds me of someone...oh, me. :)

We have 3 weeks of home schooling to do before we head to Texas to visit my side of the family. The two sides have something in common, though...a love of God and an intense liking of ice cream. :)

Snow follows us everywhere!

2010-02-26T06:33:00.000-08:00

Our trip to the States was pretty uneventful. We arrive at the AMC, hoping to catch a flight to Jackson, MS, but there was only 1 seat left. We considered squeezing into it, but it's a long flight, so we waited on the next one. It was heading to BWI (Baltimore, MD) and was supposed to leave at 530pm, but didn't take off until almost 9pm. Of course, we sat in the terminal the entire time except for a quick run to get lunch at Macaroni Grill at the KMCC (Kaiserslautern Military Community Center...fancy acronym for MALL). The lunch wasn't good. We read our books, played games, and made a few friends while sitting there. I got to talk to a baby, which is always a plus, and she smiled and cooed at me. :)
When we left Germany, it was somewhere in the low teens and had been snowing off and on for a few weeks. There were 6 inches of snow on the ground. The flight was okay. It was really crowded, the food was terrible, and we didn't sleep at all. How can you when your knees are touching the back of the seat in front of you? I'm not a tall person, either, so I'm sure the towering military guys behind us were happy.
We landed in Baltimore at 11pm their time, which was 5am for us. We waited over an hour for our baggage. Again, though, we made friends. There was a military mom there with 2 daughters. One of them was around a year old and had cried the entire night on the plane. I don't complain about that because she's a baby and her ears were hurting. There's nothing anyone could've done for her. I got more frustrated with the parents who let their 4 year old kick the back of my seat and then threatened to "hit you in the face" if she did it again. Really? You're going to hit your 4 year old in the face? It took every ounce of self-control I had not to turn around and say, "If you hit her in the face...." Not my place, I know. The baggage arrived and we went to find out if we could 'hop' to Jackson from BWI. By this time it was very early Thursday morning local time, and we found out that the next flight to Jackson wasn't until Saturday. We decided to buy plane tickets instead, but none of the terminals were open. Joe got online and got cheap tickets, but the flight wasn't until 9am. What to do? We found the USO!

I've always seen the USO commercials. I've even volunteered with them, servind hotdogs with my nice red, white, and blue hat on. I've never really utilized their services, though, until this trip. We love the USO. That organization is fabulous! They provide snacks, drinks, computer connectivity, games, and semi-comfortable chairs to crash in. I ended up sleeping for around 30 minutes after I ate a bowl of Ramen noodles. I also discovered that Ramen noodles are good no matter what time of day or night your body thinks it is. I wonder if the manna that God sent to the Israelites in the dessert tasted anything like Ramen noodles. yummmmy
We made our way to the gate to get ready for our flight and the kids fell asleep. That was a blessing. They were such troopers. They didn't fuss, argue, or otherwise complain at all the entire 36 hour period that we were traveling. Our flight from BWI to Jackson was great. Southwest knows what they're doing. The seats had 6 inches more room for our knees. Joe and I sat next to the emergency exit with the kids on the opposite aisle. The flight attendant, a male, said, "You do realize that your responsibility is to get that door open, not tend to your children, should something happen." I just grinned at him and Joe said, "She'll tend the kids, I'll get the door." The flight attendant said, "Actually, you're both responsible for the door." Then Joe and I just both grinned. We all know what would happen, should that plane go down. Joe would get the door open as I grabbed my children and got them off the plane first. I know that sounds selfish, but they're my kids. I'm going to take care of them. The thing is, though, how many planes actually get that door open and have survivors? In reality, we would've been praying and singing to Jesus if that plane started going down!
We arrived in Jackson, made it to a hotel and decided that we would try to stay awake until 7pm. HA HA HA I took the kids swimming, which lasted about an hour. We all got showers and ate a big meal around 3. Then we walked around the Bass Pro Shop for an hour. At 430 we returned to our room and made our big mistake. We sat down. We turned on a movie, and within a hour we were all asleep. We slept until 5am, after waking up from midnight-5 every hour. At 2am I heard Joe tell Caylea, "You HAVE to go back to sleep! Your body is tired, your brain just doesn't know it." We got on the road to Mamaw's house after securing a very nice rental van. At this point we still hadn't found a Chick-Fil-A, but that's another story...

Forgetful

2010-02-11T13:37:00.000-08:00

I had forgotten the United States' clutter. I had forgotten what a mobile home being driven down the road looked like. I had forgotten that there can be a church on one corner and a liquor store on the other. I had forgotten that, in the South, there are 10 churches on the same street with 10 restaurants on the other side. I'm not complaining. I had just forgotten. I have become accustomed to not needing Wal-Mart, not buying two just because the second one is half-off, and wondering how one family could live in a house that big. I can't say that I will never go back to the old me, but I can honestly say that living in another country really does change your perspective and that I don't "need" as much as I used to think I did. The amazing thing is that my kids have changed too, without my prompting. :)

Maybe not so fast...

2010-01-10T08:12:00.000-08:00

I was rereading the older posts in this blog and realized that I never corrected a mistake via this venue. I corrected it via Facebook, but I must make amends in every direction. I did not run a 6:50 mile. It was some time around the 4th or 5th time that I went to this particular track that I noticed, in very large letters (much to my chagrin), a sign that said, "1 mile = 5 laps." I had been running the standard 4 lap mile. I was so heart-sick, heart-broken, and discouraged! Here I had been working so hard to get my "mile" under 7 minutes and it turns out that I wasn't even running a full mile! I know, I know. I did get my 4 lap time down considerably. The first time I ran 4 laps, it was around 9 minutes, so I did knock off an amazing 2:10. So, I timed myself running an actual 5 lap mile and my average is somewhere around 8 1/2 minutes. I'll be running again this spring and summer and my goal is to get the ACTUAL mile under 7 minutes just so I can check that off of my life's list of things to do, my "Bucket List." I also want to learn how to surf, in Hawaii. God gave us this earth to enjoy, and I'm doing my best!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-27T12:42:00.000-08:00

I don't know about anyone else, but this year has just flown by for me. My kids have grown, literally, a foot or more between the three of them. Joe's job has kept him so busy, so topsy-turvy in schedule, that I rarely know which end is up. I have more piano students here in Germany than I've ever had anywhere in my life...26 to be exact...if you count my own 3. The problem with busy-ness is that it is time consuming. When I get super busy, I get super quiet, and that includes my "talk" time with God. I talk to Him throughout the day, so it's not a one-time "mandatory Quiet Time" that most churches teach. I try to "get quiet" with Him a few times a day so I can remain in His Spirit. Busy-ness does not help, but I know that He is there through all of it and I am at peace. When everything else goes wrong, I am at peace in Him. My children are at peace because their mother is at peace. Joe is at peace because his wife is at peace. I'm not saying that I'm the focal point of their peaceful existence, but what I am saying that being a wife and mother is much more than being a woman in a home, raising kids. I have seen my children's moods swing drastically, all because I have a good attitude...or a bad one. I have seen my husband grin from ear to ear because I'm exhibiting a small part of Christ through my attitude, and I have seen him completely deflated because I've ignored the prompting of the Spirit. No matter how busy you get, God is still there. He's still wanting that relationship with you. Believing in His Son is more than a religious "experience." It's more than believing and accepting that His Son did die on the cross and rise again in 3 days. It's about having a continual relationship with the tri-fold Spirit of God, listening to Him in everything that you do, and letting Him urge you to stop your sinful ways.

Several years ago, I asked Caylea, "What is one thing you like about Mommy?" She said, "I like how you always play with me." I said, "What is one thing you would change about Mommy?" She said, "I don't like it when you yell." She was 6 when she said that. I can't say that I've never yelled again, but I can say that I have, by the grace of God, stopped myself from doing it pretty frequently. That's because of my relationship with my Creator. He speaks, and when I ignore Him, everyone around me suffers. When I listen, everyone around me is blessed.

This Christmas we gave in a way that we've never given before and all 5 of us feel so blessed. We sang "Happy Birthday to Jesus," and not "Baby Jesus," but the grown Man who still lives! When you can sing to Him and know that He hears you, and FEEL that He hears you, that is when you are in a relationship with Him! No one can describe your relationship. No one experiences the exact same thing, which is also why you can't base your Christianity on experience alone. If mine doesn't match yours, that doesn't make mine right or yours right or either one of us wrong. What you experience with God is what He wants you to have through Him, and you can only find that by living IN Him. It goes so far beyond talking. Actions speak so much louder than words. If I can profess Christ with my mouth and then turn around and yell at my husband or children, it's like the Scripture that says, "Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be!" James 3:10

I'm not a "resolution" kind of girl, at least not one time a year. When Caylea told me she didn't like it when I yelled, I resolved to listen to God more and stop. When He revealed other sinful habits of mine to me through prayer and reading His Word, I listened and I have done my best to stop those things. I am walking WITH a perfect God. I am talking WITH Him as I go. I am laughing WITH Him and teaching my children to do the same. There is so much joy in this short life He has given us, so much to find, so much hidden and it is our glory to search it out!

So, I'm writing to myself. I'm writing to encourage myself to listen harder, be quiet more often, and walk in truth and not hypocrisy. I am going to surround myself with people of like minds, people who don't put walls up, people who are open, honest, and enjoying their walk with God, no matter how many times they stumble. I stumble, but I don't fall, because I walk WITH Him. Psalm 27:34 This is going to be the best walk of my life. :)

Fall

2009-11-07T02:46:00.000-08:00

It's officially fall in Germany, which means it feels like winter when you're from the south. I had forgotten how cold and wet it can be during certain months. It's kind of like child-birth....you forget the bad parts because there is so much good that comes out of it! I'm wearing my "Jesus Loves Housewives" shirt today, which people find offensive. I wonder why. It doesn't say that Jesus DOESN'T love other wives, and it has Proverbs 31 as the Scripture reference, which covers just about any job a woman could have. To be easily offended is one of the worst ways to live. I tell my kids constantly, "Treat it like water rolling off a duck's back." They've seen that in person, so they get it. If it won't matter next week, it doesn't matter right now. This weather does make a person tired, though. The sun is coming up around 730 and going down around 530. Soon enough it'll only be "up" around 7 hours a day, but even when the sun is "shining," it is often hidden by clouds. I think life is like that. The SON is always shining, but we let the clouds make us forget Him. Often times we create our own clouds when all we really need is a good nap. Or ice cream. Ice cream makes almost anything better, according to my kids. Last night we were driving with friends who wanted to go look at a particular vehicle. Josh said, "I want to go look at ice cream." I think we may go do that today...

Air Force Ball

2009-09-27T12:56:00.000-07:00

We went to the Air Force Ball last night. For those of you who don't know, it's the annual birthday party (62 this year) for the Air Force. It's only the 2nd one we've been to because Caylea just became certified last year to babysit. :) We had a great time. I had never seen Tops in Blue before. They are very showy, like a Six Flags show. Some of them had truly great voices, and a friend and I were musing....they are only in TiB for 1 year and then they return to their "regular" Air Force job, which could be packing parachutes, or it could be pushing the button that bombs somebody. "Hey did you hear me sing last week? Yeah, watch me push this button." haha It was very enjoyable, but because it was in a hangar, it was really loud. We saw lots of friends there and Joe bought me a gorgeous dress with jewelry to match. He always looks so handsome in his mess dress. I just love it! I helped him straighten his tie of course. :) I'm so grateful we're able to do these kinds of things together. Caylea babysat Chloe and Josh, which doesn't really count because they're so old, and she also watched an 18 month old for friends that also went to the ball. They had a good time here at home, watching a movie, eating popcorn, and letting Caylea cook dinner. She's turning into quite the young lady. We're still working on that mouth. I know where she gets it, which makes it even harder to help her get control of it. If I, the adult, can't control mine, how can I expect her to control hers? So, I've been practicing what I preach. I'm surprised I have any tongue left at all with all the biting of it that I do. I am always reminded by the Spirit of Proverbs 30:32 "If you have played the fool or exalted yourself, or if you have planned evil, clamp your hand over your mouth." I play the fool a lot and that's no good. If God Himself says to put your hand over your mouth, you have to do it. It's not easy. With that, I'm signing off. Every day is an opportunity to listen to the Spirit, thereby being a better example for my kids.

Labor Day Musings

2009-09-09T23:52:00.001-07:00

Labor Day always makes me laugh. Why do we take the day OFF to celebrate WORK? Well, I worked. I trimmed all of the trees and hedges that I could reach, weeded the front garden area that was completely overgrown, and got rid of the poor cucumber plants that died due to lack of warmth this summer. I refuse to admit that we did anything wrong. It's the sun's fault, I say! I also broke a lawnmower. I didn't realize that you had to check the oil. This summer, while my husband has been gone, I have been mowing/weeding diligently to bless him. Wow, what a blessing! He gets a new lawnmower! :)

September always makes me smile. School starts, colors start changing, apples are in bloom (great apple pies), and the smell of fall is in the air. It's a great time of the year! Caylea was baptized September 1, 2002. She waited a very long time. She began asking for baptism around 4 years old because, as she said, "Jesus has always been in my heart and I love Him. I want to show everyone that I love Him. That's what baptism is....showing everyone." We waited until we thought she truly understood, and then waited some more for her Daddy to get home from a 3 1/2 month school so that he could see her baptism too.

Chloe, too, asked for almost 2 years before we let her get baptized. We have waited with all 3 kids until we see the "fruits of the Spirit" abundantly in their lives. It's one thing to change behavior...it's another thing to change it because you want to walk in obedience to God. We were at my parent's church and they were baptizing someone. Chloe started very quietly crying (6 1/2 years old) in the middle of their church and when Joe asked her what was wrong she said, "I just want to show everyone that I love Jesus too." For the first and only time I can remember, my husband stood up in the MIDDLE OF A CHURCH SERVICE and said, "Pastor, do you have room for one more?" They took her and within 10 minutes she was getting baptized. It's the sweetest picture, too. Someone caught her just as she stood up out of the water. I'll have to scan that one later. We got home to our "Denominational" Church and they said, basically, that her baptism didn't count because it wasn't at "Denominational" Church. So, we let her get baptized again, in front of "them." She didn't mind. She wanted to show everyone she knew that she loves Jesus!

Joshua started asking at 5. He's my slower to speak, slower to anger, slower to everything kid, so I was a little surprised. He's also VERY shy around groups of people. When he asked what baptism was, I explained it as telling everyone that Jesus lives in your heart and that you serve Him...that you go before the church and get "dunked," and that's what Jesus did to show everyone that He was obedient to God. (Of course I explained it much better at the time...this is just my paraphrased version.) Anyway, Josh said, much to my utter surprise, "I need to do that." We waited a while, again, to see the fruits of God's Spirit manifesting in Josh's heart. The funny thing is that I say that, but God has blessed me with fruitful children. They have always been kind, loving, considerate people....so watching for evidence that GOD was the root of their behavior and not the paddle that I consistently applied, was a little tricky. I don't want children who want to please Mommy and Daddy for fear of discipline. The goal is to raise children who want to please God because sin is detestable to Him. On September 6th, 2007, Joshua was baptized in "Denominational" Church.

I guess the point of this entire email is this: "Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain." Psalm 127:1

Don't labor in vain. Don't do anything that you do for you or for anyone else...do it for God. Colossians 3:23-24 “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the LORD CHRIST whom you serve!”

Setting an example in this is a daily undertaking that requires a constant crying out to God for His wisdom, His strength, and a lot less of Tori, but that's okay. The more of her I can get rid of and replace with Him, the better for everyone around!

2009-08-11T00:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I got out on the track yesterday (ran a 6:50 mile, thank you, thank you very much) and tried to show Josh (and by proxy the rest of the kids) how to do a penny drop.

[I realized after sending the original email that I should explain what a penny drop is. You hang upside down with your knees, hands free, from a bar. You swing back and forth and, at just the right moment in your back swing, you let go with your knees (legs), tucking them in, and as your head goes up, your feet go down, landing in the perfect position. It looks really cool. You can even finish with the traditional gymnastics pose, or just say "ta-da!"]

Back to my story:

First problem, I can't do one myself. My back just isn't flexible enough at this point. I'll work on that. Second problem, I spotted Josh by holding his hands, thank goodness, because when I said, "Drop," he dropped without tucking his knees. I should've told him that part. Bad teacher! Fortunately, I had his hands, so he didn't land belly first on the ground. Unfortunately, it took his bravado away. :-) I couldn't even get Caylea to try it with a spot (thank goodness she didn't continue in gymnastics, huh?) Chloe wouldn't even hang upside down on the bar. She was chasing bugs.

So, as I ran my incredibly fast mile, I let them play on the bars. There are 3 of varying heights. The first one is like the one we had in Rocky Branch, about 6 feet high, just over my head. The second is probably 6 1/2 feet high and the third might be 7 feet high. By the end of my run, he was hanging upside down, hands free, off of the tallest one. That's a good sign. I figure I'll let him get comfortable playing on it, and then try to teach him again. Maybe, in the meantime, I can work on my back and see if I can get to where I can do one again. Did I ever do that as a kid? I just can't remember.

I gotta run...school, school, school. It's going well. Can't wait until Joey gets home.

Dusting, Part 2

2009-07-16T13:40:00.000-07:00

It has been brought to my attention (thanks Mom) that I was a dust artist. I would often draw Michaelangelo-quality pictures in dust when I was 3. So, in my own defense, I was NOT a finger-swiper. Had the culprit drawn a smiley face over the face of the people in the picture, I would've giggled and left it there for weeks on end. Honestly. I'm easily amused, and once amused, I won't let the amusing thing go, much like a bull dog. However, the person in question...we'll just call him "Nobody" for now, did NOT draw dust art! Nobody FINGER SWIPED. There's a big difference. Dust art says, "Hey, your picture frame has a cool surface on which I can draw a masterpiece and leave my mark." Finger-swiping simply says, "I noticed your dust and I don't like it." Well, Nobody, I don't like your finger-swipe!

The picture frame is clean. My son is snoring on the couch behind me, so I better take him to bed. On the way, I may draw a nice picture on my windows...

Dust

2009-07-16T00:43:00.000-07:00

It's summer time in Germany. My windows are constantly open because we don't have an air conditioner. I would have to dust every day, possibly twice a day, to keep my house in the condition I am accustomed to when I live in the States and do have an A/C to help keep things clean. I am fine with the dust. Wednesday is my dust-day. Even my children know this. I am fine with other people noticing my dust, especially if it is Tuesday. If someone says, "Wow, that picture frame is dusty," I will likely respond with, "Yes, it is. Someone should clean that," as I grin and walk away. I won't judge your house if you won't judge mine.

What I am NOT fine with, and anyone who knows me can tell you this, is the finger swipe. You know what it is. You've all done it at least once in your life. You see the dust, you swipe the finger, you wipe it on your pants leg and think, "Wow, that's a lot of dust." Caylea did that when she was 7. There is a particular piece of furniture that is a dark wood and shows dust readily. She would finger swipe it daily. She was 7 years old when she learned how to dust for her Mommy.

So, and I'm not accusing anyone, honestly...if you were the one who finger-swiped the picture frame...you owe me a dusting. That's my rule. If you had just left it alone, all would be well. In the future, keep your dust-swiping fingers to yourself. I could understand if it was so thick a layer that you couldn't see the people in the picture, but that was not the case. I just dusted last Wednesday.

Williams Family in Germany

2009-07-15T01:52:00.000-07:00

14 people were in my house for 6 days. Now 10 of them are gone and it's so quiet! After having my Mom, Dad, brother, sister-in-law, their 3 children, my husband's sister and daughter...all here, I can honestly say that God answers prayer. He knows what He's doing, when and where, and everything is in His timing. We took a train ride, all wearing tie-dyed shirts. It was so much fun. I spoke with a 3 year old German girl who told her Daddy, "Ich mochte nicht so gross famili!" In English, "I don't want a family that big!" My German is getting better. We found a tutor who will start with us in August and teach us to do more than order food and get from A to Z and entertain 3 year olds on trains. I enjoy German. It's similar to Spanish, so not too hard. The hardest part is getting the German natives to slow down for me! I am from Texas, after all! I don't even speak English quickly! :)

My niece, Raychel, caught 64 new snails for Chloe's collection. We're beginning to be over-run with snails. Oh, but the lessons you learn when watching them! One, they are always grateful for food, no matter how old it is. Two, they aren't picky about their mates. Three, they are much faster than you would think a snail could be. Four, each shell has its own unique design and color, much like a snow-flake. Five, they smell really bad and produce lots of slime when in mass quantities. How people eat them, I will never know.

My children loved having their cousins here. They all had such a good time together and bawled when parting. 6 days was just enough for them to remember how much they like each other, but not long enough for them to remember how they can get on each other's nerves. :) We let them eat schnitzel. They liked it. Who doesn't? We also played "Guesstures." If you've never seen a grown man act like a mermaid, you're missing out on life. I haven't laughed that hard in ages. Mom, your "Hula" dancer that wasn't even part of the game was my favorite part of the week. I will never forget that or Ken's litter box. I'm giggling as I type. I'd rather forget Dad's contribution to "Taboo." Wow. That's all I have to say.

Apparently my nieces heard the comments on my husband's rapidly thinning hair and decided to do a transplant. They preceded to rip his arm hairs out, one by one, with plastic tweezers. Unfortunately the end result was simply another bald spot...on his arm. The transplant was unsuccessful.

Apparently you only get a T-bone steak if you're married to Joe. My Dad was happy with his ribeye. There are some things that shouldn't be posted, but I'm hoping that the mention of them to those of you who were present will help you remember some of the best laughs we've had as a family.

This last week was truly one of the best ever. I am so glad they all came. I look forward to the day when we live close enough to laugh together more often. A cheerful heart is, indeed, good medicine!

Snail Saga

2009-06-16T23:19:00.000-07:00

Chloe loves all bugs, except spiders. Well, she wants a tarantula, but the little ones are creepy. Any other bug, she loves. Well, except female praying mantis's. They bite. Oh, and she doesn't like mosquitoes and doesn't understand what purpose they serve. Why did God create mosquitoes? Another question to ask in heaven. She wants a pet bat because one bat can eat up to 42,000 mosquitoes in one night. She really wants another praying mantis. Her last one died while we were in Alabama. He (she) is now immortalized in a picture frame. While here in Germany, she discovered snails. She loves them. She thinks one, in particular, actually listens to her. She's 10. She'll figure it out eventually. She used her allowance money to buy a kiddie pool, fill it with composted dirt that smells like a hog's pen, and put a net over it. It's a lovely snail haven. She collects them and then they don't eat her plants. It's a good system...until it rains, and the pool fills up, and the snails cling for dear life to the netting, top of the pool, top of the watermelon rind, etc. We gave it a good cleaning yesterday, set it in a better place, and figured out a way to keep rain out of it. At least now I can't smell it. She also cleaned her room yesterday. I can see the floor again, which is always a plus. I can't say too much about it. I was a complete slob when I was a child and I grew out of it. She will too. Caylea is just like her father. From infancy, a place for everything and everything in its place, and don't you dare move it an inch because she will know. She'll outgrow that too. Her father sure did. :) Josh is my middle man. Occasionally I can see his floor, occasionally I can't. Occasionally he is a wild man, mostly he's just a good, gentle boy. He was wrestling with Caylea yesterday. She's quite strong (like her father)...he's quite wirey (like his mother). It's a funny combination. He was wrestling Joe the other day, taking it easy on his Daddy, so I decided to show him how it was done. Joe is much stronger than I am, but it was fun. I'm wirey, so Joe had his hands full. It's all fun and games until someone gets a rug burn. Ouch! Josh has 2. Joe is going to get his wrist x-rayed today. No, not from the wrestling. He was golfing and may have sprained/fractured the top part of his hand. I guess not the wrist after all. It's a lovely bump, though, and he says it's quite sore. He's not one to complain, so I'm making him get an x-ray. Socialized military medicine. May as well use it while it's ours to use. We had to get a new roof on our house in Alabama.

I wish I could figure out how to post Caylea's newest song on this blog. When I figure it out, you have to listen to it with an open heart. Remember that she's 13. She's been writing music since she was 7 years old and singing isn't her calling, according to her. She just wants to write and let other people sing her stuff, but she has to sing it first so they'll know how it goes. I am amazed at her gift. It comes from God. I can teach her to play the piano, teach her music theory, and give her knowledge to go with that gift, but only God puts songs in the heart (Psalms).

Cathy and Jana get here today. They were supposed to be here 3 weeks ago, but there was a plane fiasco. It's all good. I'm so excited to see them and spend time with them again. Family is important. I sure love mine!

A time and a place for everything...

2009-05-19T01:53:00.000-07:00

When we moved to Germany, we knew we had to rest. We were so involved with gymnastics, church, home school activities, not to mention the military family activities that we tried to participate in...we were worn out. When you're too tired to sit, you're too tired! I can honestly say that we have learned to slow down. We've learned that saying "no" isn't always a bad thing...it rarely is! We went on a family bike ride last night, in the woods, then came home and played in the back yard. You just can't beat that kind of time with the kids at their current ages. I've been reading a book called, "5 Conversations to Have With Your Daughter." It is encouraging that I have already been having these conversations with all 3 of my kids. I am also encouraged that all 3 of them, so far, are very open with Joe and me. Family time is important. There's no such thing as a few "quality" minutes. Kids need quantity. You may go weeks without having a serious conversation with your 13 year old, but it's those weeks of non-verbalization that lead to that one talk that lasts for hours. There is comfort in quantity, and quantity leads to quality. I've never seen it work otherwise.

I love my husband. He's my greatest friend. He keeps me in line, he lifts me when I fall, he kicks me in my seat when I feel sorry for myself. (Not literally, for those of you who are looking to criticize. He gives me the much-needed "stop feeling sorry for yourself and do something different" speech that too many people are afraid to give.) God knew what He was doing when He put us together. I love my children. I love that Caylea is still so goofy in spite of the growing trend to grow up too fast. I love that Chloe makes up the most ridiculous jokes, just hoping to make someone smile. I love that Josh still brings his Lego creations to me and asks me to take a picture. Life is good. God is good.

Catching Up

2009-02-22T23:59:00.001-08:00

You can tell when things get busy here at the Ingram household. I don't update my blog for months on end and my emails get progressively shorter. All in all, our first year (almost) in Germany has been one of the best years of our lives together, as a family. We have traveled more, and just had so much fun. We started our time here on March 29th, 2008. A lady hit us while we were looking for a house to rent. We got a rental car, found a house, got our car fixed...all in the first 2 weeks in Germany. It snowed on Easter Sunday. The kids thought it was the best thing ever. SNOW SNOW SNOW!!!

Our first trip was our first full weekend here. to the medieval city of Rothemburg, surrounded by a wall, with beautiful gardens. Our next trip was 2 weeks later, to Cochem Castle, which is our "castle of choice" so far. It's close and it's beautiful. Then, for our 13th wedding anniversary, Joe surprised us with a trip to Paris, France. We spent 4 days "backpacking" across the city. The kids loved it and we came home tired beyond imagination, but thoroughly impressed with certain parts. I have to say that I have no desire to go back to Paris, and that is a common sentiment among other Americans I've met. I'd say 80% of the people I've spoken with have said the same thing I said, "Been there, done that, don't need to do it again."

We spent the summer with our niece, Jana. We took her and Joe's sister, Cathy, to Garmisch, where we got rained out of camping but were still able to see the beautiful German Alps, Neuschwanstein Castle, and take a horse carriage ride. We played in the sprinklers, went swimming, played Ultimate Frisbee with our church family, and threw Jana a big birthday bash before she left. 2 weeks after they left, Mamaw and Pop (Joe's Mom and step-Dad) came. We took them to Garmisch as well, then to the Air Force Ball, and sent them home exhausted. Partying requires energy! :)

After they left we took a 3 month break from traveling. I had begun our home school endeavor and wanted to just sit for a while. School has gone really well this year. Our only "problem" is that we can't seem to find a German tutor that will fit into our schedule. (I teach piano Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons from noon-4 and I don't schedule anything after that because that's our family time.) We're still doing okay with German, though. Rossetta Stone is a great program if you want to learn a language. It just doesn't teach the "why" behind the grammar.

The kids put on a "recital" with their friends. Caylea played a song, Chloe played a song, then Caylea accompanied her friend while the friend played the flute. It was a great recital. Unfortunately, I tuned the guitar and, not being a guitar player, tuned one string incorrectly. After the recital the young man approached me and said, "Mrs. Tori, I think you tuned my guitar wrong." Well, I did. I fixed it and we all sat down as he played his song again, with appropriate tuning. :)

We spent Christmas here, at home, with our own tree, eating by ourselves. It was GREAT. Don't get me wrong, we LOVE being with family during the holidays, but this was the first Christmas we've had, just the 5 of us, in 10 years. (Last one was in Korea, when Chloe was 9 months old.) It's not about the gifts, it's about the family time. We took a hike in the rain. That's what rain-suits are for!

In January 2009 we went to Austria to go skiing. By this time it had already snowed several times here at home, giving us 2-4 inches to play in. In Austria, we had ice, but the third day it snowed around 5 inches. The kids and I were in ski school, pronounced "she shool" in German, and we had a blast. My British classmates told me, "Torra (that's what they all called me), your falls are spectacular!" (Imagine that being said in a British accent and you'll laugh too.) By Thursday we were all skiing quite well, and on Friday we went, as a family, the 5 Ingrams, to Steinplatte and skied down the mountain together like ducks in a row. I'll always cherish that moment. I was terrified. I was the "fearless leader," with Josh and the girls right behind me and Joe bringing up the rear. Josh hadn't been on the "big" mountain yet, but he did great. I was mostly concerned because experienced skiers will take a blue line as fast as they can, with no regard to us beginners who can't swerve out of the way. I just didn't want my kids getting run over. They had a blast, though, and the girls thought I went way too slow. Kids these days....

We went through Salzburg on the way home from Austria. I don't know how to spell it, but it looks very different from the movie because it was covered in snow, not flowers.

It has continued to snow off and on to the point that, hold your breath now, my kids are tired of it! they are ready for sunshine and roses, as am I!!!

On Valentine's Day, we celebrated Josh's 8th birthday. He wanted to go bowling, so we did. We ate cake and he got lots of Legos and more college $. He didn't want any singing. Believe it or not, as much as he looks like me, he did NOT get my personality (yet). My mom says I started out pretty shy too. I don't know at what age that reversed, but I'm definitely not shy now. Chloe is most like me in that area. In 2 weeks we celebrate her 10th birthday. I'll have 2 kids in double digits. What to do, what to do...Caylea's 13th is in April and that's when things get really busy. Joe has put in for a new job and, regardless of whether he gets it or not, he'll be really busy that month. We have friends coming in from the States in April, more family in June and July, and 2009 is looking to be just as much of a whirlwind as 2008. We replaced "gymnastics" time with quality AND quantity "Family" time...bike rides, hikes, and playing Carcassonne (which you can order at Amazon.com with English instructions...it is our favorite game EVER, much like Settlers but with a little more puzzle-ness.)

All in all, I can say that God is good. He knows just what we need when we need it, and He makes sure that those things happen in spite of our ability to mess things up. We look forward to the visits that we are sure are going to happen. We have plenty of room, plenty of love, and plenty of food. :)

Home Schooling isn't for the faint hearted...

2008-08-29T03:11:00.000-07:00

We started our full home school schedule August 18th. We do math and reading all year so that we don't have to review those skills. The first day went fabulously. The kids finished their work in record time (before lunch) and were happy to play outside most of the afternoon. Day 2 proved to be a little more difficult. You see, I was waking them up early to get going, and they're not used to that. Since it gets dark so late here, we've been letting them stay up until 930 or 10 at night playing games with us, etc, then sleep in until 730 or 8. My "don't want to be lazy" genes kicked in and said I HAD to get them up at 7, HAD to have them in bed by 830 or 9, but life just doesn't always go as planned. We are hospitable. People come over several times a month, sometimes 2-3 times a week. We have church activities that keep us out late. The kids have so much fun doing that stuff, but it's sometimes 9 by the time we get home, then we have to bathe, etc., and we don't get them into bed until 10. Since that is our fault, we're the drivers, I really felt convicted that maybe I don't have to wake them up so early. I mean, they won't sleep past 8 because they usually wake up by then anyway. Josh is up by 7 no matter how late he goes to bed.

My point is that I just can't get so hung up on a schedule. If they are performing well in school (check), having a good attitude with each other (check), having fun at the activities we do (check), being pleasant to those who come into our home (check), then who says they have to have this certain bed time/rise time every single night and day?

Psalm 127:1-5, and I inserted the thoughts God put in my brain as I was reading these, "Unless the Lord builds the house, (the home school), they labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, (the home), the watchman keeps awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, (stop focusing so much on my schedule), to eat the bread of painful labors (skip chores if I can play a game with them that builds their confidence in me as a mother, or just spend some time holding them. Too soon they won't fit in my lap anymore, and they still love being held at this age.); for He gives to His beloved even in His sleep. (I am His beloved, and so are my children and husband!) Behold, children are a gift of the lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. (My children are my reward!!!) Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. (My children are my arrows, their attitudes and actions can be a tremendous asset to us as parents.) How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; they will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate."

Our children are at ages, 12, 9, and 7, that are so enjoyable. They are delightful. They play games with us that aren't Candy Land baby games anymore. They can ride bikes with us and keep up (usually they're ahead of us!) They can walk long distances, hike up steep hills, climb trees, race and make you really run to win, and are just at such a fun age. It is hard having toddlers. I am the type of mother that some call overly strict. Some say I hover. I hover because if you turn your back on a toddler, he will reach for the forbidden object. It was, and still is, my job to catch my kids in the act of reaching so that they know that even thinking of disobeying is sin, and sin separates us from God. We have to control our thoughts, attitudes, and emotions as well as our outward behavior. With all of their younger training, they are so delightful now. They still fuss occasionally. They still have their moments. (As a matter of fact, I know exactly where they get that kind of stuff. I see her in the mirror every day.) But, all in all, they are so much fun. Home schooling is fun. Learning together is fun. Playing together is fun. Discovering God's truths is fun, and being the family that God has put together for us is fun. We don't need a T-bird. We have fun, fun fun, 'til Jesus comes and takes us away....and then I don't think I'd be able to describe what we'll have!

Fruits of the Spirit

2008-08-14T23:34:00.000-07:00

Last week Jana accepted Christ in our bathroom. She and Caylea were getting ready for bed and, according to Caylea, Jana started asking all kinds of questions. She has been asking TONS of questions the entire 2 months she's been here and we've answered them all, even the tough ones like, "Will the horses in heaven be white or brown?" :) She asked Caylea how to be saved and Caylea told her that she had to ask Jesus into her heart. She then stopped and said the sweetest prayer, "Dear God, Please help everybody who is sick and everybody who isn't sick to be saved and help there to be no more sin in the world and help You to come in and save my heart. Amen." I know, it's not the most eloquent prayer, but she's not quite 5 yet, and the change in her was immediate. I walked in on the tail end of the conversation and she said, "Auntie, I asked Jesus into my heart." I hugged her up and told her how happy I was, then went to finish laundry. The next thing I knew, I heard her running upstairs saying, "MOMMY, I'M SAVED!" I made it up to the kitchen to clean up and she ran in to me again and said, in a quiet voice with the biggest grin on her face, "Auntie, I'm SAVED." I hugged her up again and told her she's my sister now too, because we have the same heavenly Father. She thought that was great. She went in to Uncle Joe and said, "Uncle Joe, I'm SAVED!" Then she wanted to call her Daddy, and her Mamaw, and anyone else who would listen and hear that JANA IS SAVED!!!

Jana used to cry when we would make her hold our hands to pray. She then outgrew the crying but refused to actively participate in the prayer. Over the last year, she's come around to being still, quiet, respectful, and even keeping her eyes closed during prayer. This visit, she wanted to pray every now and then at dinner, but then she'd change her mind last minute and wouldn't do it. I'm not joking when I say that the minute she accepted Christ into her little heart, she wanted to pray every meal, every bed time, and they were genuine, heart-felt prayers, not repetitious "God is great" prayers like most kids at her age pray. It has been such a blessing to see her growth while she's been here.

Her parents are going to let her come back every summer. We have always had an even harder job than just witnessing. It is easy to witness to children. The harder job is to be effective examples to her. We have to live lives worthy of Christ so that SHE will want to live a life worthy of Christ. 3 John 1:4 says, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." To know that your children and the other children in your family, including my brother's 3, are being "trained in the way they should go" and know that they are walking in the truth provides a peace that I can't describe. Knowing that I will see Caylea, Chloe, Joshua, Jared, Raychel, Hannah, and Jana in heaven is a blessing beyond description. I pray that you "live a life worthy of the gospel of Christ" so that the children in your home will do the same. It's not easy to be a good example, and failure must come with an apology; but when children see that we are truly striving, they watch and listen. I assure you that their ears and hearts and eyes are ALWAYS open, so be

careful little mouth what you say

careful little ears what you hear

careful little eyes what you see

and I like to add, careful little heart how you feel because that will come out of your mouth!

Philippians 1:27 "Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ."

Kids say the best things

2008-07-16T00:33:00.000-07:00

Our niece is here visiting. She'll be 5 on August 20th. Jana is a very smart almost 5 year old, but she is so tiny. She looks like a typical 3 year old, but then she opens her mouth and you KNOW she's not 3. People are constantly commenting on her beauty and I don't think I have to explain that to those of you who have seen her pictures or met her in person that she is just a gorgeous child. The other day we were taking a walk and she said, "Auntie, why do people always call me beautiful?" I said, "Because you ARE beautiful, Jana." She said, "What's beautiful about me?" I said, "Well, there's your skin. It's the perfect color, not too dark and not too light. Then there's your big, BULGING, beautiful brown eyes (that's from a movie, but true about her, and she giggled), and your hair is so black and shiny and silky and wavy...you're just beautiful!" She said, "Hmmm." At that point her end of that conversation was over. The next day, or possibly that evening, I can't remember, someone, again, told her, "You are so beautiful," and she responded, "I know." Joe said, "Jana..." and she said, "Thank you." I guess if you're told you're beautiful often enough, it's no longer a matter of thanking someone, it's a fact of life. She didn't say the "I know" in a snotty way at all. She just stated it, much like people often state how beautiful she is.

My prayer is that her insides will always match her outsides. Her mom is teaching her that beauty comes from the inside. Cathy will show Jana a fit-throwing child in a store and tell Jana, "See? When you act like that it makes you ugly no matter how beautiful you are."

1 Peter 3:5 talks about true beauty coming from a quiet spirit. I don't think you have to be a "quiet" person to have "quiet" spirit. A quiet spirit isn't easily riled up or upset...isn't easily offended, and bears things that most people would blow up and lose relationships over. That's not to say that a quiet spirit doesn't admonish, but it definitely puts up with a lot more.

I guess my point is this, if I can teach my children and the children whose lives I'm allowed to touch, that the mouth is the focal point of Christian hypocrisy, that most people lose their Christian witness by the evidence of their mouths, then I've done a good work for God. I mean, how many Christians do we know that say one thing and do another, that gossip relentlessly but call it "discussing an issue?" Jesus said that 'Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." If envy and discontent are stored up in a heart, that's what will come out of the mouth in the form of problems with everyone else around. Don't get me wrong, I am far from mastering my mouth and even Solomon said that the tongue is untamable, but in the last 3 years I've learned that being quiet often does far more good than adding fuel to a fire. I take my stands when need be, but when it's just taking a stand for the sake of taking a stand, it's fruitless. We're called not to argue, but to live peaceful lives. (1 Tim. 3:3, 6:4, 2 Tim. 2:14, 2:23, and my favorite, 2 Tim. 2:24 "And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.") Proverbs 17:19 says, "He who loves a quarrel loves sin..." Proverbs 20:3, "It is a man's honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel."

You might be asking how in the world all of this thinking came from conversations about beauty with my soon to be 5 year old niece. It didn't. It's something I've been teaching my kids for years, but I felt like it needed to be written down in my journal of life which is what this blog is turning out to be. Well, it's like this, when you think of beautiful people, you may think of people in magazines, but I don't. The most beautiful people I know are the most gentle, yet thought provoking; the most peaceful, yet the most effective admonishers; the most kind, yet the most convicting people I know. It IS possible to be an effective witness for Christ while having control of your mouth, but standing firmly against the things that starkly contradict God's Word, and maintaining a calm and quiet spirit while doing so. I don't want to be a fool who argues for the sake of arguing, who argues for the sake of showing off my Biblical knowledge which, compared to Satan, is severely lacking. I don't want to be a person who is known for controversy and strife. I want to be known as peaceful, but convicting and there IS a way. God says so, that settles it!

I'm also not against being admonished. Again, I'd be a fool to say that I don't relish someone pointing something out to me (all through Proverbs God speaks through Solomon about the wisdom of loving discipline and instruction and how fools become mockers of God's Word.) The problem is that most Christians equate admonishment with being "judgmental" and it's just not the same. To judge someone is to condemn them to hell for something, and I mean that in a literal sense. To say, 'You are going to hell for XYZ" is judgment passed that is not our place because only God can see into the heart of a man. Just because a person is acting like a heathen doesn't mean they aren't saved, although that point is arguable because Galatians 5:22 says we'll know them by their fruits and the "fruits of the Spirit are...." If someone doesn't have the fruits of the Spirit, are they saved? Have you, as a Christian, lived a life that would speak to people in that way, or have you gone through a wilderness period, a "winter of the heart" period? I rebelled and came back to God, but people who met me during my rebellion would've said, "She's not saved" when I was. So, again, I say, you can't just arbitrarily say, 'You're going to hell.' We don't know that, only God does.

However, to say, "God's Word says that these sins are worthy of hell" is different because you're not saying it from a personal perspective, but from God's. Your words may convict a Christian to stop living like a heathen, or convince a heathen to come to Christ. (I use the word "heathen" to reference non-saved people, but it's in no way an insult any more than calling a doctor a "doctor" is insulting.) The difference between admonishment and judgment is that, through admonishment, you can look someone squarely in the eye and say, "This is not right. You've got to stop because God says..." The problem there is that most people just don't want a confrontation, but if you are doing what God has called you to do, you don't have to fear that. There's a song out right now that I like called, "Say what you need to say." It isn't "Say what you WANT to say," but what you NEED to say. I would say that God wants us to stop being so easily offended, take words for their face value, and if someone says we need to change, to examine it through prayer and Bible study and go from there. I won't lose a relationship over something like that. I just don't want to be that easily offended. 1 Peter 4:8, "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins." Christians have to learn how to love God's way or we'll never reach our own families, much less the world around us.

More Adventures in Germany

2008-07-01T23:25:00.000-07:00

We had an interesting weekend. We went to the German schwimbad, swimming pool. Speedos are NOT cool. String bikinis are NOT cool. That's what they wear here. I felt incredibly modest. The children (girls included) run around shirtless with mini-speedos until age 7 or 8. That didn't bother me much, though. The Speedo inventor should be flogged.

Caylea did a front flip off the high diving board, 13 feet. Keep in mind that this child, when she quit gymnastics, was doing front flips on the balance beam and landing them. She could do all kinds of crazy flip things on the floor and bars and beam and her only injury, although severe, was her ankle last year. Well, she does a simple single front flip off this diving board and, because it was so high, she over-rotated and ended up doing more like a 1 1/4 flip. She landed on her FACE and chipped 3 of her permanent teeth. She was quite upset, not because she hadn't properly landed the flip, but because her teeth weren't even. (It isn't noticeable.) The chip was more of a peel than a chip, so her tooth is thinner, but there was no chunk missing. The dentist filed the 3 that were injured for her and you can hardly tell, but, boy was she concerned! "Are my teeth going to be crooked? Can they fix this?" I had to try really hard not to laugh.

It's only funny because, 3 years ago, Josh severely chipped his 2 front teeth. I mean, he broke them both almost in half, but we weren't concerned because they're not permanent. We had just moved to Alabama and there was a severe thunderstorm that shook the house and set the alarm off. He was only 4, went screaming through the new house, which he wasn't used to, and ran head first (because it was pitch black) into our steel bar stools. The bar stool won. It took almost a week for his teeth to quit being sensitive. THEN, he and I were wrestling about a year later and his head took on my teeth. His head won. I had to have my 2 front teeth filed to make the chip less noticeable and keep them both even. Finally, when we were in Florida a few months ago, Caylea and Chloe were horsing around in the pool and Caylea jumped away from Chloe and her foot came up and clocked Chloe's chin, causing her to clamp her teeth down, which chipped HER front tooth. Again, we had to go have her 2 front teeth filed to keep them even. Yesterday Caylea was saying her teeth just don't feel right and I said, "Don't worry. Josh got used to his. I got used to mine," and then Chloe piped in, "I got used to mine too." We're a bunch of chipped-tooth people. It's even MORE funny because Joe is such a teeth kind of guy. He can't stand crooked, yellow, nasty teeth. He's always asking, "What did the dentist say," when we take the kids, so now he's all but given up. Yesterday he said, "You are the most accident prone people I've ever met." :)

Speaking of accident prone...Murphy's Law was written for me. (Anything that CAN happen WILL happen.) Joe and I took the family on a bike ride. I was lagging behind with Jana, who is staying with us this summer. She's a little slow on the bike but we were having a blast. Anyway, Joe rode by and smoothly grabbed my tush and kept going. I enjoyed it, so I thought I would return the favor as he rode by the second time. I'm not quite as athletic as he is, though, so instead of a smooth grab I ended up pushing him into the grass, where there just so happened to be a piece of glass and we heard this "POP...shhhhhh." As my Dad would say, "What are the chances of that?" So, Joe had to walk home. I apologized while laughing because we had just talked about how I somehow manage to hurt myself without ever trying. He didn't appreciate my laugh and got a little cross and told me, "Go catch up to our kids while I walk with Jana." I said, "You don't have to get all mad. It's not like I did it on purpose!" I rode away and, apparently, Jana said, "I think Auntie's just grumpy." So, I got our kids settled and went back to the 2 of them where I heard what Jana said, so I told her, "No, Uncle Joe is the grumpy one. It was an accident and he got all MAD." I have a tendency to say things in a very exaggerated way, so she giggled and we all giggled. We had a nice walk home. His bike tire is still flat. :)

The weather here has been perfect. The hottest it has been is 91 degrees. WE have no air conditioner, but it's not terrible because it's not hot all day. It's relatively cool in the morning, heats up by mid afternoon, then cools off again. In the hottest part of the day we just stay down in the basement, which remains quite cool. When we build our dream home, we're building a basement!!! It hasn't rained much at all, but it will cloud and sprinkle every 2-3 days. The days are finally getting shorter, although not by much. I think the longest day was 430am until 11pm or something like that. It just seemed like the sun would never go down! It's the opposite in winter, though, so we're enjoying it while we can. I don't think the kids have gotten to bed before 9pm yet, but we don't mind. It's summer! All too soon it'll be over, we'll be doing school, teaching piano, and wondering where the summer went.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says "There is a time and a place for everything." This is our time and place to PLAY! :)

Babysitting

2008-06-13T00:59:00.001-07:00

I let Caylea babysit Chloe and Josh for the first time 2 days ago. I went on base and was gone about an hour and a half. She only called once, to tell me we were out of cucumbers and ask if I could please get more. I came home and all 3 were grinning from ear to ear. I didn't ask why. I never found any "surprises," so I assume it's just because they had the freedom to just be without mom. She's taking a babysitters training class next week to learn CPR and the other details. I don't know if I could do this in Alabama, what with the 21 sexual predators that were listed within a 2 mile radius. I think I'd have to wait until she was 14 or 15 to be comfortable there. Here, though, it's different. People kept telling me that when we first got here, but I've seen it myself. So, for those of you who truly know me and how I am with my children, congratulate me for actually making it on base, checking mail, and getting groceries without having any kind of trepidation. Chloe actually finished school work while I was gone, and Joshua cleaned up his Legos. Caylea did her sewing reading. I'm still wondering why the Cheshire smiles, but I love their smiles anyway so I won't complain. Maybe they just all screamed and then giggled because I don't let them scream inside. :)

The Rock Museum and Expo

2008-06-02T13:11:00.000-07:00

We saw Joe off safely to the airport. He made it to Las Vegas just fine. I'm just praying that he'll have something cool to do so he won't be frustrated and bored and chew his fingernails off.

The kids and I went to church Sunday morning and then came home for lunch. Caylea really loves this group. There is a great group of girls that are like-minded. She is a very right/wrong child. There is no gray area with her, so it's hard for her to be friends with kids her age because, let's face it, a lot of 12 year old girls are just nasty. These girls aren't, though, so I'm so grateful she'll have good friends while we're here.

After lunch, we traveled 20 minutes up the road to a rock museum and expo. They have a lot of natural quartz and agate in this area and it is truly beautiful. The museum guide took us to the basement where he showed us how to saw a rock in half. He didn't know what it would have on the inside. It looked like a big, ugly rock. He started sawing and about half-way through it went "BAM" and exploded. He said, "That's quartz. Agate doesn't do that." It was a purply quartz. He then took a pre-cut agate rock and polished it in front of us. The kids were fascinated. The funny thing is, all morning Josh said, a few times, "I don't WANT to go shopping for rocks. That's BORING." (I guess Chloe told him we were going shopping.) Anyway, after the explosion and seeing quartz, which he now loves, and some lava rocks, which he also loves, he decided we weren't in such a bad place after all.

We left the museum and walked up the road to the expo. There's where they had the good stuff. They had polished rocks in every shape imaginable. One was a flower blossom the size of a man's fist, with multiple colors and it looked so real and it even looked SOFT but it was completely carved from rock! Josh got 2 little rock animals, a scorpion, which he calls "squirpion" and a dinosaur, and the girls got necklaces made from rock. They also got some gifts for friends of ours. I guess we did do some shopping, but Josh didn't mind. They had these "ice" crystals that looked like Superman's "Fortress of Solitude," so Josh was fascinated by that.

I think if Caylea and Chloe had brought more $, they would've gone nuts. They had earrings, necklaces, bracelets, flowers, animals, you name it! They have this expo every year, so if anyone loves rocks, come visit us the weekend after Memorial Day weekend. He said it's always the same time of year. I plan to go back next year and the kids are ready to go back as well.

Riddle me this: If it takes MILLIONS of years (as our guide said) to form one of these rocks, how is it that they find entirely new batches in the same places every single year? He said that they harvest the rocks every spring and fall right after the farmers plow their soil; IN THE SAME AREA OF LAND. Farmer's plows don't dig deeper and deeper every year, so it stands to reason that they are simply turning up the same soil, albeit used, every year, and it makes sense that the rocks simply form in that time.

When Caylea's tooth fell out in Paris I felt like taking it to the Museum of natural History for carbon dating so they could tell me it's 1 million years old (like the guy did with the pig in Georgia, I believe.) Don't get me wrong, I love science. I majored in Biology and Chemistry and I took all the way through Physics in high school because I love science. I just don't believe in spouting theory as truth. Christians can't undeniably PROVE God's creation of the Earth any more than Evolutionists can undeniably prove evolution. Even Charles Darwin changed his mind at the end of his life. Just think, if we could prove God is really God and He did everything he said (and by prove, I mean undeniable, irrefutable evidence), then there would be no reason for faith, no faith at all, and without faith, where is love? There is a reason He left some things a mystery.

Josh asked me one of those questions tonight, "Did God have a Mommy and a Daddy?" I told him no, and that there were lots of things we don't know about that we're going to have to ask when we see God in heaven. Josh said, "Does He eat in heaven?" Chloe said, "No, and He doesn't sleep either." Josh said, 'What does He do, then?" I said, "He watches over us." Josh said, "I would just die if I couldn't eat in heaven." I said, "Josh, you'd already be dead if you were in heaven." He said, "No I won't. I'll be alive in heaven, but then I'll die because I love to eat, and then I'll go to heaven again and I'll just keep dying and going to heaven." Then he laughed his little laugh. I get a kick out of the kids when they do stuff like that.

Speaking of stuff like that, and now I'm on a whole other tangent, we were sitting in the metro in Paris and, amidst talk of what the smells could be from, somehow being pregnant got brought up. I don't even know how, honestly. Chloe said, out of the clear blue, "Being pregnant is like having a tape worm." I can't tell you how hard we laughed at that one. She is my witty child. When Chloe was 4, I hugged her and her back popped. She said, "Mommy, I'm POPular!" When she was 5, she was reading her Scripture for the day, from Genesis, where God formed us from the dust. She had just been to her allergist and she got this "I'm really thinking" look on her face and then the light bulb came on. You could see the light in her face as she said, "I'm made of dust. I'm allergic to dust. I'm allergic to MYSELF!" She laughed and laughed (so did I). She has a very cute laugh. I think all of my kids have cute laughs. I guess that's my job, to think that their laughs are cute and that they are absolutely PERFECT. :)

Paris, France

2008-05-31T01:19:00.000-07:00

Our 13th wedding anniversary was May 28th. Since Joe was leaving on May 30th to go on a 3 week tdy back to the states, he planned a 4 day trip to Paris. We left at 7am Monday morning on the bullet train to Paris from Kaiserslautern. We traveled first class just to say we've done that once in our lifetime. They fed us breakfast and it was good. We got to go pretty close to the front of the train and watch it FLY down the tracks at 314 Km per hour. That's approximately 190 miles per hour. It didn't look that fast when you just looked out your window at the countryside, which was gorgeous, but when you looked down the track from the front of the train it was hard to keep from feeling a little woozy. We arrived in Paris at 930am and were told to GET OUT of the train station because pick-pockets are notorious in that particular place. So we did. We did what we in Texas like to call "skidaddling." We skidaddled out of there, Joe with a back pack on his back and a small rolling suit case, I had my back pack, and Caylea had one as well. Chloe and Josh just aren't quite big enough to carry stuff and walk at a reasonable pace, so they had it pretty easy.

When we walked out of the train station, I must admit that I was not impressed. It looks like New York looks in the movies. It was dirty, it was slightly drizzling (rain) and it smelled horrible. There were people everywhere and I had 2 children who had to "go potty." We found a McDonald's....pausing for your laughter...and paid around 35 cents to go to the bathroom. Most places charge you even if you eat there. You have to put the coins in the bathroom door to get it to open. So, once the bladders were emptied, we went to find the metro, or subway, that would take us out of downtown Paris to our hotel. We found it and got on and it was pretty easy to figure out where to go. Even when things are written in French you can look at a map and figure out which French place is closest to the French place you have in your itinerary. The subway was just as you would expect it. The smell is indescribable, although the kids had fun trying. I finally told them to stop trying to tell me what they thought the smell was or I was going to be sick. We made it to the end of the subway line and walked 1.6 miles to our hotel, with all of our luggage on our various backs. The kids did great. I say this because Josh is only 7, Chloe 9, and Caylea 12 with a back pack. They didn't complain at all, even through the drizzling rain. We made it to the hotel, unloaded, and had lunch at the hotel. It was okay. The asparagus soup was phenomenal, but it was $12 for one bowl, albeit a huge bowl. We washed our faces and headed to the bus station that we were told would take us back the 1.6 miles to the metro. (Useful knowledge if we had had it BEFORE we walked to the hotel.) We made it to the bus and paid, again, to ride, but the driver was nice enough and spoke enough English to tell us to buy a pass at the metro that would allow us, for one fee, to ride all trains and buses in the Paris and surrounding city area. That was a great deal, the best money we spent while in Paris. We went from train to train to bus to train and traveled, literally, all over Paris. Seriously. I can show you on a map that we went EVERYWHERE. The pass wasn't too expensive either, especially for 5 people, so I highly recommend traveling that way if you ever do go to Paris or any other big city. The metro isn't as scary as you would think, but we did have one scare. It was day one and we realized we were at our stop. The doors open, stand open for around 30 seconds, and then snap closed and you're stuck out or in depending on which side you're on. I grabbed Caylea and Josh and pushed them off the train and threw my forearm up as the door tried to close. Joe had Chloe behind me and he grabbed her and pulled her off the train while holding open the other side of the door. The scary part was that Chloe was actually behind him as he pulled her because she just wasn't paying attention and when we said, "Jump off kids," she sat there, looking out the window. If Joe had been left on the Metro, we would've stood where we were until he caught the next train back. If Chloe had been left, I would've panicked. God always protects us, though, and we got off the train just fine, but Chloe was pretty shaken. The whole time prior to this incident I kept telling her "hold my hand and listen. We'll tell you when to get off or on, just pay attention." She's my "fly by the seat of her pants" child and her biggest "problem" if you want to even call it that, is that she doesn't pay attention. Well, the rest of our time in Paris, all 4 days, was spent with her grabbing my hand and saying 'How many more stops until our stop?" Of course we told her there's no way we would've left her on a train. Joe literally grabbed her and pulled her off as he was coming off, so there was no chance she would've been left, but just the thought of it scared her (and me) so she was very attentive after that.

On the metro we met this cute young college girl who was an American studying in Paris. She told us how to figure out some things in the metro and was very sweet. Our first stop was Notre Dame. It was started in 1163 and finished circa 1360 by many, many people, most of whom are anonymous. It is approximately 120 feet high and "awesome" just doesn't begin to describe the feeling when you walk in. It was so crowded but the crowd fades away when you look up and see all of the architecture, hand carved statues, and stained glass windows. They were playing soft organ music and people are naturally very respectful in cathedrals, so it was pretty quiet considering how many people were in there. I put a few pictures of it on the blog, but you can see the rest at our snapfish site. I would try to describe it to you, but I just can't. It's absolutely beautiful. I told Joe on our last day that if I had to choose ONE thing to see in Paris, having seen so many of their monuments, Notre Dame would be the one place I would send everyone. We did not get to walk to the top of it, though. There were 422 steps to the top and it was raining so we couldn't see much anyway, so we went on to the next thing.

Our next stop was The Eiffel Tower. Again, though, it was raining so we didn't go to the top. The Eiffel tower was built for the Universal Exhibition in 1889. It stands approximately 1069 feet tall. It was supposed to be torn down and used for scrap metal after 20 years. Obviously that never happened. I did include a link with the picture with some fascinating information. We took a few pictures and by that time it was getting close to dinner so we went to eat. All I have to say about French food and service is this: it is NOT all it is cracked up to be. When I say "it stinks" in Paris, it is because people don't wear deodorant and it is humid there. When our waiter served us, I almost threw up. His B.O. was terrible! I know they're used to it, but WE AMERICANS PUT THE ICING ON THE CAKE WHEN IT COMES TO SMELLING GOOD!!! We did get something right! The thing is, they cover themselves in perfume, so then you smell body odor and cheap perfume that has been poured over them and it's a horrible mixture. We spent more money on food while there and I'm not happy about that, but we did learn that if you can find a grocery store, eat out of the grocery store. It tastes better and is about 80% cheaper than eating anywhere else.

We went to the Arc de Triomphe. It had a lot of stairs too, more than 200. We did walk to the top of it, though, and took rainy pictures. The architecture, again, is so impressive. It was built in 1806 and stands 165 feet high. It is absolutely amazing that all of these structures survived the World Wars. Some of them, Notre Dame specifically, are considered sacred to the world and thus NOT TO BE DESTROYED by anyone, even during war time.

We went back to the hotel, via metro and bus, and crashed. We slept in until 9am, the entire family, which is unheard of with Joe and Josh. We did all have to take Benadryl that night though, because people in Paris, I would say 2 out of every 3, smoke like chimneys.

Tuesday we woke up ready to go. Our first stop was La Louvre, the famous museum from "The Da Vinci Code" movie made famous by Tom Hanks. It was closed. All museums are closed on Tuesdays, just so you know. We know that now. We got back on the metro to figure out what to do next and Joe said, "Wouldn't it be nice if we ran into that girl again. maybe she could tell us something to do or see." Well, at the very next stop, she got on the metro. We were in a different part of town, mind you, so the coincidence was incredible. I like to call it "Godincedence" because we know He had a hand in it. She was with a friend and both of them raved about this chapel which I will NOT try to spell, but most people call it "The White chapel" because it is made of white stone. It is at the top of the hill (mountain) in Paris and you can see the entire city from it. Pictures were not allowed on the inside, but we did get pictures from the outside. It was beautiful, another beautiful cathedral that is just awe inspiring. I told my girls, "If we had churches like this to worship in, there's no way anyone would ever wear capri pants or shorts to church." They agreed.

We went to eat, again, then back to the hotel. You see, you can only see 2 things a day because it takes so long to get to and from place to place.

We woke up Wednesday morning, the morning of our 13th anniversary, determined to see Paris from the top of the Eiffel. We didn't. The day was nice enough, partially cloudy and windy but no rain. The line, though, was a good 3 to 4 hours long and we did NOT want to wait that long! So, on the train we went, to La Louvre. Now, there's some history you'll want to see. I mean, it's probably my 2nd favorite thing in Paris simply because I'm fascinated by things that are old. They had things in there that they said were from 7,000 b.c., which we Christians know to be bunk, but I'd guess they were at least 4,000 years old, pre-dating Christ. The thing with these scientists is that they don't know how old Earth really is. Christians don't really either, but we can "guess" that it's around 6,000 years old according to the time-line laid out in the Bible. It's amazing that we think we are so much smarter than the people from "back then," but we couldn't build a pyramid to save our lives nowadays, even with our fancy computers and what-not. They hand carved those pyramids and they are so tightly fit. We have been unable to do that, even with modern technology. Just the fact that these buildings are still around after so long is incredible. I can't say that enough. I'm running out of words to describe the incredibleness of it all. We did see the "Mona Lisa" from 10 feet away. She was roped off, protected by a special glass that made your camera pictures turn out fuzzy, and well guarded. We saw more paintings than we can count and more statues. We got a good laugh out of this: most of the male statues were missing their delicate "maleness," if you catch my drift. I guess some things DON'T stand the test of time. We have video of Chloe saying, "Mommy, why are there so many statues of 'necked' people?" (That's how we say 'naked' in the south...pronounced 'necked.') Anyway, you'd think the kids would've been bored to tears but they weren't. They were equally fascinated, especially when we found the hall of mummies and their sarcophagauses. I have no idea how to spell that. You know what I mean. We even saw mummified cats. Ew. No wonder cats are so superior in attitude. They treated them like mini gods.

I can't even tell you how many things like that we saw. La Louvre is enormous.

Needless to say, we did LOTS of walking. Our legs should be beautiful. Joe says his already are. I agree.

Our next stop was the Palace of Versailles. I did not include pictures of this in the blog because I just couldn't pick a favorite. It is absolutely incredible. It is situated on an estate that I would guess is somewhere around 500 acres, although I can't be sure. It was originally one of the king Louis the 10th, I think, hunting lodge, and then his son expanded it into a palace. All of the Louis lived there, and Marie Antoinette. Every room has silk wall "paper" and a mural painted on the ceiling by various artists. Most of the moldings are gilded with solid gold that they melted and then painted on. Collectively I would imagine there is more gold than a person can haul in a cart, but it's hard to say. The hall of mirrors is so dazzling, and not just because I have such a beautiful family. It was enormous and GOLD everywhere. The gardens, too, were gigantic. (I hope you like my adjectives. I'm seriously running out.) Anyway, I just can't imagine people living in a palace so big and grand. You could lose a kid in there pretty easily. (Mine each held a hand.) Please go to snapfish to see those pictures. It took the artists a year or more to complete one ceiling mural and although Michelangelo's is the most famous (Cistine Chapel), these are equally impressive. Each room was dedicated to a greek/roman god, so the paintings depict various scenes with kings or queens and their favorite god. There is even an entire wall covered with a painting of Napoleon's coronation.

Once again we got on the metro to go home. This time we met Eric and Lauren, and young college "couple" who were traveling Europe on a shoestring budget, according to her book and what they said. The kids talked their ears off, told them how fabulous God was to create all of this stuff, and Chloe told them about her dream to open "The 7 Days Zoo," where Day one is light and dark...all the way to Day 7, which will include "rest-araunts and rest-rooms." Do you get it? God RESTed on the 7th day, so Chloe's 7th day at the zoo will be the "rest" zone, including gift shops. :) We asked if they had eaten anything good. (Notice a theme with us. We just love eating.) He said they had only been eating bread and cheese and then they both turned a little green as if they weren't looking forward to their next meal. Joe being Joe, waited until we were hopping off and handed them a little something extra so they could enjoy a nice meal and told them he wanted them to enjoy it and God bless them. Needless to say, between the kids and that, they heard about God. They showed us pictures of the Eiffel Tower at night, which were incredible. I wish we could've done that, but it doesn't get dark here until around 1030pm, which is WAY past my and the kids' bedtime. We were happy looking at their pictures.

Our last stop of the trip was Thursday morning, with luggage in tow. We wanted to go to the museum of natural history and see some dinosaur bones. The problem is, they had separate buildings and each one had a very expensive price tag, so we went to the largest building where they proudly proclaimed that evolution is the king of all theories. They had these plaster "bugs" that they "think" existed way back when. They did have some real animals stuffed, which fascinated the kids, and TONS of real bugs displayed. It was definitely a Chloe museum and all 3 kids were awed at the blue whale skeleton. It's the largest mammal on earth, and they have always asked me how big it is. I always told them, "It's about the size of a bus." They couldn't picture that, and when they saw the skeleton they all 3 said, "That's not as big as I thought it would be." I told them to imagine it with skin and eyeballs and it would be more impressive. They all stood there for a minute and then walked on. I guess it wasn't that impressive. Maybe they'll remember it later on. The funny thing is, they are ALWAYS asking me questions like, "what's the biggest living thing (animal) on earth," or "what's the smallest thing on earth," and I have to go to the internet or various books and educate myself. The smallest thing, by the way, as far as mammals go, is the "thumb bat." The kids have always wanted to see one, and on the way out of the exit Josh yelled "MOMMY LOOK!!!!! It's A THUMB BAT!" Lo and behold, there it was, displayed where only his eyes could see it because it was at his eye-level. He was so thrilled to finally see it. He's fascinated with bats at the moment.

Caylea wanted nothing more than a purse from Paris. Well, she THOUGHT she did. After looking at the price tags she decided that having a purse from Paris wasn't that big of a deal after all. Chloe bought some rocks for her rock collection and Josh got a mini Eiffel Tower that he can fit a Lego guy in. That was his criteria..."This one's too small, this one's too big, this one's just right for my Lego guy." All Joe wanted was a crepe. We did eat crepes one morning and they were okay, but Joe is a phenomenal cook and his are much better. He did discover carpaccio, which is basically razor-thin sliced raw beef with fresh parmesan or mozarella cheese on top. Yes, we all tried a bite. No one threw up. It was okay. Nothing beats a steak on the grill, though, I must say.

We made it back to the train station in plenty of time to wander around aimlessly before our train home got there. We were so relieved to get on that train in our own little "cabina" this time. They fed us dinner but it was NOT good. We got home and you could feel the collective sigh of relief. Don't get me wrong, this was a GREAT trip, and a once in a life-time opportunity, but Joe and I both agreed that we don't ever have to go back. We've got the "been there, done that" attitude.

We all crashed and spent Friday grocery shopping and running errands, then Joe cooked me a GRILLED STEAK last night. It was the best meal we'd had all week. I was so happy. He had to leave at 4am this morning to go do some exercise in the states (las Vegas), so I got up with him and sent him off. The kids and I will spend the next 3 weeks "chillin'," as we say in the south. We'll take lots of walks and there is a rock exhibition a few miles away that I'm going to take them to on Sunday.

All in all, I must say that Paris's monuments are quite a sight to see and if you ever get the opportunity, you should see them. Don't stay more than 2 nights and 3 days, though. Take the metro/bus everywhere, and eat at the grocery stores. You can always get a great meal when you get home. The city itself, though, is for people who like cities. I don't happen to be one of those people. Neither are Joe or the kids. We like to have amenities close by, within an hour, but we don't ever want to live in a place like that, and we are so grateful for what we do have...our little house in the country in Germany where we can hike and bike in the woods.

Bike Rides and Castles

2008-05-05T13:07:00.000-07:00

Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous day. Contrary to what we've been told, it does NOT rain here constantly. We've had 2 weeks of beautiful weather and we're enjoying every single minute of it! We took our first long family bike ride through town. It was so fun and the kids did great. I won't mention who fell off TWICE, although I have mentioned that she is most like me in clumsiness. Joe crossed the street pretty quickly and, rather than look for himself, Josh crossed right when a car turned onto the street. He and the car screeched to a halt while I yelled in what I'm sure is known as the "panicked mother voice," JOSH!!!! Needless to say, everyone was scared, everyone was spoken to quite sternly, and everyone was fine. The people in the car were scared too, but I just waved them away. I didn't know how to say, "He's fine, it's not your fault," in German. It really wasn't. They were driving really slowly, Josh just turned right into them because he thought it was okay to follow Joe. Joe didn't see the car because it came from around a corner, thus the near-miss. Anyway, we're all fine.

We went to another castle. This time it was a ruined castle that is local. It was originally built in the 1100s by the French, I believe, and destroyed and rebuilt a few times, but finally destroyed in the 1500s. It's called "Burg Nanstein" and you can look the history up online. From what I gather, the knight that was living in it when it was destroyed was a prominent Protestant Reformist (they're the ones who told the Catholics that they actually weren't God.) He wouldn't be quiet so they killed him. He was shot with a cannon (through his castle wall) and lived for 3 or 4 days before his exposed lung/liver killed him. It's pretty gross, but those were harsh times.

We got to walk all around, unlike Cochem where we were shown only a limited amount of the castle. We got to see the entirety of Nanstein, even down to the cellar, which was very dark and cold. The castle, like most in this area, is built partially into the mountain, kind of like the adobe villages of the southwestern U.S. They did that so that if the mountain shifted, the castle would just naturally shift with it. The top of the castle was brick and limestone. Most of it, obviously, is no longer there and parts of it have been rebuilt for tourism, but we did get to see some really old parts, which is cool. It's just really neat to see something that is so old and see how people really lived way back then. The knight himself got a bed, but everyone else slept on the clay floor with some straw, if they were lucky (blessed). It was a very warm day, but very cold inside the parts of the castle that weren't toppled. I can imagine how cold a winter day would be in a castle like that and I know that I wasn't meant to live that long ago. I do think I could've done well in the early 1900s, but God put me in this time period for some reason. I think I'd make a good Mennonite, except for my mouth.

So, we've seen 3 cool castles/towns now but Joe is working the exercise for the next 2 weeks. We won't be traveling at all while he's working. I'll keep you posted when we do, though.

My Family

2008-05-01T08:20:00.000-07:00

I have a small family, by most worldly standards. I have one brother and he has a wife and 3 kids. Joe has one sister, and she has a husband and one child. So I have 1 nephew and 3 nieces. Ken, my brother, is my polar opposite. It's amazing that 2 people can create siblings who are so vastly different. Don't get me wrong, the things that really matter are very similar...our love of family and our faith...but our personalities are just different. He always told me that I needed to be a lawyer because I argue so much. I disagree. I don't argue. I'm just opinionated and not "skeered" to say it. He also says that I constantly got him into trouble. He fails to mention the various apparatus that he tried talking me into sticking into a light socket. Yes, I did drive him into a bob-wire fence, but honest to goodness, that rooster was gonna get us! I just HAD to look over my shoulder. Fortunately, Ken's shrill scream let everyone know what a bad driver I was. That rooster was mean.

Ken did save me from being scarred for life once. I was 11 1/2 and had been telling my parents for weeks, maybe even YEARS, that I couldn't see at school. Dad's answer was, "Sit closer to the chalk board. You'll grow out of it." Well, it was approaching dusk and Ken was chasing me. I was running, obviously, and, the next thing I know, he has grabbed my very long hair and YANKED me backward by it. My indignation quickly turned into terror when my left arm flung forward and stuck to the bob-wire fence. If he hadn't yanked me, I would've been quite torn up. As it was, I got 3 stitches and a very sore head. I'm sure he regrets his basic instinct to save me. :) I won't mention the other times he tried to kill me because it's all moot. We get along great now, even when we disagree, because I love him in spite of himself. (I say that jokingly in all seriousness. He loves me in spite of myself too.)

Ken brought Christina to meet me when I was 7 months pregnant with Joshua. She can't get mad at me for this because she knows his record as well as I do, but I wasn't necessarily thrilled to be meeting the next one AND she had a son already. Jared was 4 at the time, and about as adorable as they get. He loved his trucks and, to this day, makes the best tractor/truck/big rig noises. He's not so good with helicopters.

Anyway, I instantly liked Christina, but she was really nervous around me. Ken had her terrified. He married her 4 months later. I couldn't be there because I had Josh 10 days before their wedding. Maybe it was 13 days. Either way, I was staying home. They quickly added a dog and a new baby. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Jared. He's a great boy and I really enjoy the time I spend with him. Raychel, though was the first BABY in the family that wasn't mine. I got Jared at 4 (went into premature labor with Josh racing him to my mail box) and had to get to know his already existing personality. He was shy with us at first but warmed up pretty quickly. I got to hold Raychel around 2 weeks old and I was so in love. There's nothing better than being an "auntie." I tell you, you get to spoil them, love them like they're yours, then send them home when you're ready. She looks just like my brother, but she's beautiful, which is weird. I guess he'd make a pretty girl, not so pretty guy. haha Next came Jana, but Jana is Chris & Cathy's daughter (Joe's sister's kid.) Cathy and I have always had a mutual understanding that we just tell each other what we think and go on about our lives. We like things that way. Chris plays golf with Joe and makes Josh love super heroes, which is fine with me. There are much worse things to love. He also makes a hilarious Egor. (I don't think I spelled that right.) We got to see Jana quite a bit because she only lived 4 hours away, so Cathy graciously let us "have" her for a week or 2 at a time. Jana truly became my 4th child when she was with us and it made me wish I lived closer to Jared and Raychel. Then came Hannah, my brother's 3rd child. She can give some looks, I tell you. As far as personalities go, she got one very similar to mine. She is quiet and lovable, but also mischievous in her own way. Where it's hard to get on Jared's nerves, but he lets you know right away, Raychel might just head-butt you if you get on her nerves, and Jana will yell at you, Hannah will just think about it until she decides what to do. She spent this entire Christmas firmly planted in my lap while Raychel fixed my hair in doggy ears (and hers as well), so we could be sisters and best friends. Hannah accidentally busted my Dad's lip playing/hugging/being a kid with him. He was pretty hurt and, in typical PaKenny fashion, whined just a LITTLE bit. Hannah was naturally upset, thinking it was her fault, so I encouraged her to walk up to him and pick on him a little. I paid Hannah $1 to ask my Dad if he wanted more where that came from. It took some coaxing, but she did it. I hope she spent that $1 well.

Jared and Joe like to play video games together. It's funny to hear them talk trash to each other. Raychel loves doing crafts with Caylea, Hannah loves playing with whoever, whenever, much like Josh, and Jana will play with anyone who will let her be the boss. She, too, makes hilarious faces. Some kids just have that gift. You should see Hannah and Jana together. We've let them "meet" twice now and they get along great. Jana's just fortunate that Hannah is pretty laid back.

We really love our extended version family. My kids have wonderful grandparents and cousins that will be friends forever.

Language Barriers

2008-04-30T06:48:00.000-07:00

We finally figured out why the German we're learning from the books isn't translating out in public. We live in southern Germany, and they have what the locals call "farmer-speak." In other words, "hick." We have been studying high-German, which is a very proper way of speaking, and they just don't talk that way. I guess it's similar to the southern U.S. where we have our own way.

The proper thing to say might be something like, "In a few moments, I will venture to the store for sustenance." What we REALLY say is, "I'm fixin' to go get some grub." So, I don't feel so bad about my inability to communicate effectively.

On the way to Cochem Castle we stopped to go to the restroom. We had learned, "Wo ist Bad" for "where is the bathroom," but when Joe walked in and said that, the guy behind the counter said, in very broken English, "I no speak English." I said, "We're speaking German!!!" (I said that in German, of course.) By this point he noticed us all dancing and said, "Oh, Toilette," pronounced "toilet-ah" in Germany. We all nodded profusely and, after paying our $, were issued the keys to the bathrooms. By the way, you know how everyone thinks they're speaking Spanish when they say, "Bathroom-o" or "car-o," or whatnot? Well, in Germany, everything ends with "uh." Well, nearly everything.

We got the rest of our furniture delivered Monday. The coffee table was damaged, and the sofa's L shape was on the wrong side. Their return policy states, "Customer must bring back damaged/wrong merchandise to store for credit or exchange." Did I mention that we had to have the stuff delivered because we drive a Passat and a BMW 5 series? (Both small cars.) We took the coffee table back but decided to go ahead and keep the couch. It's not damaged, but our family room doesn't function quite like we'd like it to. I guess you could say that it's just not "Fung-Shwey." I have NO IDEA how to spell that but it sure is fun to say. Don't bother correcting me. I'll just misspell it again later.

Speaking of spelling, we started school yesterday. My book shelf got delivered on Monday and I put it together myself, thank you, and completely organized it. The house is officially DONE now. I have been completely unpacked since the 4th day after getting our things, but didn't have places to put the things until various furniture deliveries made it our way. The family room is GREAT. We all curled up on our couch last night and watched "Enchanted," which made me laugh pretty hard several times. I'd recommend that one for anyone.

I still have to get stair covers for my slippery stairs, but right now we have to go pick up our Daddy. We're going to a movie "Iron Man" with a friend that we knew back in Korea. It's amazing how small the world is. This guy is slightly older than us (mid-40s if I had to guess) and we have something unique in common. We both have surviving DLI marriages. Remember I told you that the divorce rate for people getting married at the Defense Language Institute (more commonly referred to as the Defense Love Institute in the military) is a 95% divorce rate? Well, he and his wife, who married at DLI, have been married for 23 years. We now know 4 couples who've made it past the 10 year mark. That's pretty cool. We're coming up on our 13th and if it weren't for these old children running around I'd wonder where the time went. As it is, I know EXACTLY where the time went. Here comes one now.....

Rothemberg & Cochem Castle

2008-04-27T05:45:00.000-07:00

2 weeks ago we went to a medieval city called "Rothemberg," pronounced "Rotten burg." It is a completely walled city that still has arrow slits. It was neat to see, but they've turned the inside to kind of a tourist trap. We happily walked into it. There were beautiful gardens and the view from the city walls was pretty spectacular. The churches were gorgeous. Yesterday, April 26th, we took a drive to Cochem Castle. You should look it up online. It's beautiful! Luke and Scott, our 2 Lieutenants that we've semi-adopted, drove ahead of us. It's quite challenging to follow them. When we stop, we remind Scott that we do NOT have a sports car.

Most of the roads on the way there were mountain roads, not autobahn. The autobahn, by the way, isn't so scary now. You just have to follow the rules and go slightly faster than you would in the states. Anyway, we got to see the Castle from different sides due to the road that wound around the mountain. It was beautiful, and at the bottom there was a rive. We think it was the Mosel (don't know if I spelled that right) but it's hard to tell. Things aren't labeled clearly here. We parked at the bottom of the Castle's hill and ate at a restaurant. They charged us 9 Euro for 6 glasses of tap water. That's around $14 with the current exchange rate...for TAP WATER!!! They were small glasses too. It was 3 Euro for 3 glasses of beer, if that tells you anything. You have to use water to make beer, so I just don't get it. I can't stand beer. Ugh.

Anyway, we hiked up to the castle, and it was quite a hike. It was very neat, though, because there was an old man mowing his side of the mountain. they had various tombs built into the rock and what-not. We finally made it to the top just in time to take the next tour. Someone was getting married, which was neat to see, and then these people walked by in German uniforms. The specific type will remain nameless, but let's just say that we didn't think they existed or were allowed in public. There are certain days...1935-1945 or thereabouts, that Germans completely ignore. We'll let you do the research to figure out why. They don't even teach those dates or historical events in their schools. History, if not learned from, is doomed to repeat....didn't someone wise say that once?

Okay, back to the castle. The oldest part of it dates back to 1000A.D. Yes, that's 1,008 years old. However, it was destroyed and rebuilt twice, so the most recent renovation was 400 years ago. They have paintings in there that are 400 years old that are just out in the open air (open windows, no AC or central heat.) They also have furniture pieces dating back to the renaissance that you can actually touch. In most countries, those items would be in a vacuum sealed, temperature controlled area not to be touched by any one, but not at this castle. It was cool. We saw suits of armor, 100 year old polar bear skins, and a few hidden doors. It was fascinating. None of the walls have wall-paper. They are all hand painted, as are the tiles, and at least 300 years old.

We got an ice cream cone on the way down. Hey, it's a long hike either way, and we had to replace the calories we burned on the way up. Speaking of calories and beer....we saw the steins that the monks and nuns were given. The monks were given 5 liters of wine a day, and the nuns were given approximately 3 1/2 liters of wine a day as their daily portion. That doesn't sound like much, but it's about a gallon and a half for the guys. (That amount of wine is yet another reason I could never be a nun. There are many reasons, but that one is important. I can't stand wine either.) The doors all had these metal plates and the tour guide showed us how, if it was dark or the person was drunk, you could just slide the key around and it would eventually slip into the keyhole like a guided maze. I needed that before I had LASIK!

I'm going to find my camera and cable and attach some pictures so you can see that I'm not making this stuff up.

Good Night PaKenny and Nana

2008-04-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

Montgomery, Alabama

2008-04-25T03:14:00.000-07:00

While at Tyndall we met a lovely Captain Anderson. She was our sponsor (that's military for, let me show you the ropes when you get here) and she immediately fell in love with our perfect children. It's funny that the first time we had lunch with her, she looked at Chloe, who was 4, and said, "So, what have you done today?" Chloe, very seriously, said, "I got a lot of spankin's today because I won't listen to Mommy, but she's not mad. She just spanked me and I stopped but then I did it again and she spanked me again. Sometimes I don't listen." Then she grinned. Kristina thought it was hilarious. I was shocked that Chloe just stated it so matter-of-factly. I don't know where she gets that. I was also a little nervous that Kristina would disapprove and call the authorities. People do that sometimes, but she said, "Yeah, sometimes we just need spankin's." She left Tyndall that year to go to Montgomery, AL, but we kept in touch because she's just fabulous.

I had home schooled Caylea for first grade in Texas and let her go to 2nd grade at Tyndall AFB's school. By the end of 2nd grade we knew that we needed to keep our kids home for a while. There are many reasons:

#1 Continuity of Education..if you move around frequently, your kids get varying levels of the subjects, making it difficult to adequately monitor their progress.

#2 God tells us to train our children in the way they should go and to talk with them all of the time. You can't do that if your child is gone 9 out of the 12 waking hours of the day.

#3 We were really tired of the social skills Caylea was picking up at school. Don't ever ask me the question "what about socialization.' You'll get more than you bargained for.

We left Tyndall Air Force Base after a mere 18 months. We were "supposed" to be there for 2-3 years, but Joe was unhappy with his "snack-O" job and Maxwell AFB in Alabama was having a hard time finding teachers for their various schools. Joe volunteered, and they issued a waiver so he could leave Florida early and go to Alabama. We have a knack for moving around Christmas, so we haven't actually had a Christmas tree in 8 years. WE'RE GETTING ONE THIS YEAR!!! Jesus likes trees.

Kristina was kind enough to let us move in with her at her 3-bedroom, 2 bath home. I cooked and cleaned for her while we were looking for a house. We found one a moved in on January 20th. The kids loved it, especially Caylea, because it had a huge upstairs room over the garage that was hers/homeschool/guest room. She thought she loved it. It took a year to get her to sleep up there without having trouble, but she finally overcame herself and was fine.

We kept homeschooling, getting involved with a great group of people. I met some very dear friends, and my kids made what I think will be life-long friends for them. These kids are so awesome. Since we've left, they've sent more cards, letters, knick-knacks, etc than I can count, and I love them (and their mom).

Caylea started gymnastics while in Florida and it quickly became apparent that she was quite talented. When we moved to Alabama we put her in the best gym in the area, even though it was a 45 minute drive one way. She did really well, placing 1st in State, and continued doing really well until she severely sprained her ankle on her birthday in 2007. The injury cost her 2 months of training and affected her mental capacity to deal with difficulties. She's never been aggressive anyway, and I honestly think that she needed to be done. We let her continue, though, and planned to let her continue even in Germany, but when we went to Florida for the 2 months before coming to Germany, she kept complaining about her ankles, wrists, back, etc. We talked to her very seriously about God's plans for her versus her plans. God has gifted her musically beyond anything I've seen in the children I've met. She's no Mozart or anything, but she writes beautiful songs and is quite talented by ear. I told her that God has other plans for her, and that gymnastics was only a fun thing anyway, that MIGHT pay for college, but that we'd much rather her go for something using her mind. Once she prayed about it and decided to quit, she hasn't looked back. That, she gets from me. Once I make up my mind, you'll find it quite challenging to sway me.

Chloe, on the other hand, has tried various activities. She did cheerleading, gymnastics, ballet, praise dance, soccer, and golf. She loves golf, but breaks out in a rash every time she goes. The child has allergies that come out in the form of sneezes and eczema. One day soon God will heal her and we'll throw a huge party. She wants to try softball. She is most like me in build and temperament, though. She is awkward and clumsy which, like I said, is like me, so I'm not being mean. I can trip on a bare floor and so can Chloe. It's a gift. It makes people laugh. When I turned 14 I started running hurdles in track, which amazed my parents. I keep telling Chloe, "One day you'll grow into your body and do something amazing. Right now just try to keep from getting hurt." My parents actually forbid me to run when I was younger. You should see Chloe ride a bike. It is hilarious. She wobbles side to side like crazy, but never falls. She's perfectly comfortable riding that way, thank you very much.

Joshua tried TaeKwonDo when he turned 6. Josh is my loner kid. He doesn't really care if there is someone to play with as long as he has Legos, etc. Chloe never meets a stranger. Caylea is actually what I would call "shy." It takes her a long time to warm up. Joshua doesn't take time to warm up, but you can tell that he can take or leave a friendship. He's very content to do his own thing. Chloe loves having people around. Caylea loves having 1 good friend around. Yes, they have the same parents. Nature loves genetic diversity, and you don't get much more diverse than my Amer/Asian/Indian kids. Joshua really liked TKD and actually started interacting more once he got involved. He still doesn't like sparring. He loves to play fight and wrestle his Dad and mine, but really sparring at TKD isn't his gig. He doesn't have a mean bone in his body, and neither does Caylea. I always say that if Caylea had Chloe's personality, she would be an Olympic Gymnast by now, or that if Chloe had Caylea's personality, she truly would be the left-out middle child. As it is, Caylea gets to do her own thing, and Chloe absolutely demands attention when she needs it. I'm glad for that. She'll say, "mommy, can you cuddle with me and scratch my back?" I do, and she's fine. I don't buy into that whole "left out" thing anyway. Each child has such a unique personality that you have to figure out what works best individually.

I do have to say that, no matter which kid, there WILL be spankings. There isn't a personality in the world that doesn't benefit from the discipline that God calls us to use repeatedly in His Word. (I've read the Bible through many times now, and I've never once seen "time-out" used in any way, shape, or form. Correct me if I'm wrong. Also, God doesn't count to 3.) No matter how quiet or "willful," you can train your children to be pleasant to be around, and mine definitely are. To their credit, though...they could CHOOSE not to obey. I tell my children all of the time, "I can teach you all day long, but if you decide that you're going to do certain things, I won't be able to stop you when you get older. You have to choose what kind of person you're going to be. I don't mean WHAT you're going to be like a doctor or vet., or nurse...I mean WHO you're going to be. Are you going to be a selfish person or a giving person? Are you going to be Godly or un-Godly? That, ultimately, is YOUR choice. I can force you to live by my rules while you are here, but there is coming a day when you have to decide for yourself. It's better to decide now and live that way than try to change once you get older. You have to choose to be a person of Godly character or not. It's really up to you." that speech seems to work really well on my 3.

Well, now I've caught us up to present time. We're in Germany, having a blast. The kids took a bike ride to the park and brought the walkie-talkies with them. Caylea occasionally calls and says, "Calling our Mommy...." She always ends with "over and out," and I say "Roger dodger." Simple things amuse us, and that's okay. It's much better to be easily amused than easily angered (Be slow to speak, slow to anger and quick to listen...Proverbs...I guess you can tell that's my favorite book in the Old Testament.)

Some people have said that I must have a lot of time on my hands to write all of this. I think it's more that I feel like I need to write this stuff down for some reason. I type phenomenally fast anyway (remember the 120 words per minute record I set?) Most people don't talk as fast as I type. I'm not bragging. It's just a fact, kind of like the fact that I have brown hair with rapidly growing streaks of white. So, my kids give me an hour and I type. It's very "belaxing," as Josh would say. :)

Closets

2008-04-25T02:41:00.000-07:00

We finally have enough closets. It's amazing what you get spoiled to when you live in America. We love our storage space. I like reaching to my right to flush a toilet. Here, I have to push a very large button on a wall and, depending on what I'm flushing, stop it or let it use a LOT of water. Water is expensive, so you have the "stop flush" option for lighter loads. It's comical, I know. I still grin when I hit "stop." Central heat and air are also wonderful. They don't even have air conditioners here. I'll let you know how that goes this summer. The heaters are radiators that are attached to every wall in the house. You have to crank them up or down and one of my kid's chores is to make sure that they are on the appropriate number for the day. Don't ever squat down next to one and then stand up. Having a radiator knob scrape your lower back is incredibly painful and lasts for days.

The walls are all concrete, which makes putting curtain rods in extremely difficult, to say the least, and since our office/Joe's closet (one and the same) face our neighbors kitchen window, we want to put a curtain up. I tried. He'll have to fix my mess when he gets home. He's much better at that stuff anyway. I did fine in AMERICA, but I am having wall troubles here.

I'm still waiting on my family room couch, coffee table, and chairs to be delivered, along with my enormous book shelf for the home school room. Is it legal for me to call it that since we haven't actually home schooled in it yet? Oh well, the kids did double lessons for 2 months so that we could take our time getting going again here. I've said it and I'll say it again...they're perfect. :)

Moving In

2008-04-20T21:48:00.000-07:00

They delivered our furniture on Wednesday, April 16th. It was cold and cloudy most of the morning, and then the sun started peeking through and we all "hoorayed." That lasted about 10 minutes and then it started hailing. Hail, here, though is very small. It's nothing like the golf-ball size Texas hail that sends you running for the nearest tree. The guys patiently worked through. I kept wiping the front steps with a towel because they're tile and VERY slippery when wet. They were grateful, I think. They were very friendly and took orders very well. I did the typical Officers job. I sat there and checked off box numbers and when they walked by I said, "Family Room" or wherever I wanted the item to go. They kept asking, "How many more BIG pieces do you have?" I just laughed. I counted about 12 really large items...couch, entertainment center, 5 dressers, kitchen table, dining room table, dining room hutch, curio cabinet, and my elliptical machine. I forgot a few, but by the time they got to the end, they were just grateful to be done. One guy said, "There is nothing as heavy as your dish boxes."

When we first got here, we were in the lemon lot looking to buy a used vehicle for Joe. We met a very nice couple in the parking lot, and they invited us to dinner for homemade pizza. Anyway, I think I've already blogged about that. At 4pm on moving day, she drove up with her daughter carrying spaghetti, bread, and salad. We ate it for 3 days. It was wonderful to not think about food while I was unpacking. If I or my kids got hungry, we ate spaghetti. This is a situation to "pay forward." Usually we are the ones finding the young airmen and having them over to be a substitute family for them. We did it in Korea and it continued when we came back to the states. Joe has always been very hospitable, and once he got me to see that God has called us to be hospitable (Paul says so in Romans), I jumped on board. It is nothing for him to call me at 4pm and say, "3 guys are coming for dinner. Do you have enough or should I pick up more food?" The problem is that they are young (20-25) year old males and you ca only imagine how much they eat. They always bring stuff, though, and flowers for me. It's a universal gesture that, although makes Chloe sneeze, I display while they are there.

I digress from the moving...I said all of that to encourage you to do the same. Be hospitable in your church and neighborhood. If someone new visits your church, have them over for lunch. It's not the meal that matters, it's the gesture. If someone moves into your neighborhood, take them sandwiches. Again, they won't care if it is day-old bread. Well, they might, but they don't have to eat it and they'll still think "How nice of them!" Situations like that offer opportunities to witness.

My Grandmother's china made it safe and sound. Only 1 crystal glass was broken.

When my children were very young I was ambitious and determined to capture everything about them. A goof friend taught me how to make plaster molds of their hands and feet using putty and plaster of paris. I made a set for the grandmothers and myself. All 3 of their hands were broken. Their feet were fine. There is no monetary value that can be assigned to cheap plaster of paris that has preserved your children's tiny little hands. I have to admit, I almost cried and I'm not big on crying.

A few things were chipped, like Joshua's mask. Last summer we went to Branson, Missouri with my entire family (mom, dad, sister-in-law, 2 nieces, nephew, Joe's sister's family) and they all went to the Chinese theater. Josh and I stayed home because he was throwing up. (Yes, Mom, I should've let you stay home with him. What can I say?) Anyway, the family brought him back a cool mask that had been signed by all of the performing artists. He loves that green mask and was looking forward to hanging it on his wall. it isn't ruined, and I think I'll be able to glue the chipped piece back on. We also broke a tile moving the elliptical into the house. They got it up the front stairs and had to set it down to rest, but set it on the edge of a tile. We all heard the "CRACK." The head mover said, "uh-oh." It was only 1 tile, though, and the LL has extra, so Joe will fix it. He's my fix-it guy. He's quite handy to have around. He got the entire family room set up to include a foosball table, tv with Wii and Playstation, and surround-sound speaker system. He also bought a card top for our round table because we love playing cards with family. It looks great.

I have heard more "Woo-hoo"s than I've heard in a long time because the kids felt like Christmas. It's been almost 4 months since we left Montgomery, so they're seeing their toys for the first time in a long time. Now if we only had closets to put them somewhere! We get 2 more "shrunks" delivered today, and we've purchased a couple of used ones. You see, in Germany, people are taxed by the # of rooms in their homes, and a closet is considered a room. Thus, no closets. We HOPE that when we leave, the landlords will be willing to purchase our purchases and use them for their next tenants.

I did let the kids go on a walk by themselves. Caylea just turned 12 and I figured if I can't trust her to keep up with them by now, I haven't done my job. They walked to the park that is maybe 200 yards around the corner from our house. I gave them an hour. they came home grinning from ear to ear, having flung each other off of the merry-go-round. Yesterday was just a beautiful day. We let them play outside all day. I have to admit that my children are as close to perfect as children can get. Caylea completely organized/unpacked/settled into her room. Joshua did too, as much as his little 7 year old self was capable of, and, poor Chloe. Her room is HUGE, so it is hers/homeschool room. the homeschool section is terrible right now. I don't have enough book space. We'll get book shelves this week and have it all done. Her actual section of the room is done, and she and CAylea have been diligently folding the laundry that is endless right now. You CAN walk in the laundry room now though. You have no idea how much things smell after being in storage for 4 months.

They just called to say they're on their way to deliver my other "closets." "WOO HOO!" :)

Miracles of 2000-2003

2008-04-14T01:48:00.000-07:00

When we left Korea, Joe had accepted a job back at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas. We had already been stationed there and were familiar with the area, and he was anxious to teach what he knew. He became an instructor for the very course that, 2 years earlier, he had completed. What can I say? He's a smart man. :)
We arrived in March and bought our first house. We were so house poor, but so proud to "own" our own home! We ate a lot of Ramen and took lots of walks. We did go on the occasional date when my parents would come visit.
Sunday night...Monday morning actually, on June 11 at 1230am (midnight), we got a phone call from Joe's sister, Cathy. It's quite obvious when you get a midnight phone call that something is very wrong. Joe's Dad had had a massive heart attack and died on his front lawn. He had been experiencing stomach problems. His father died less than a year before from cancer, and all Wayne ever worried about was dying the same way. It was slow and painful for his father, and he didn't want to die that way. We're pretty sure he knew he was dying because he left his house via the back door, walked through the back gate to the front door, and laid down on the lawn. Joe's mom got concerned after a few minutes and went to look for him. By the time she walked out the back and around to the front, it was too late. She had such a hard time because she felt like if she had just gone a few minutes earlier, she may have been able to save him. She literally jumped up and down on his chest to try to get his heart going again, but when Cathy arrived they knew it was over. Joe was obviously heart-broken. He had always been close to his Dad and they had a great relationship, but with us in Korea we didn't have opportunities for them to spend time together. When we had Chloe, Joe felt like he could truly connect, not only as father and son, but as father and father, and he was looking forward to having Wayne come spend time with us while we were in Texas.
Around 230am I went back to bed to get a few hours' sleep. I had already packed our bags and I knew I would need some sleep to deal with the girls on the long trip. Joe stayed up to make flight arrangements and grieve. He needed some time without me there, which is understandable. I woke up around 430 am. I think Joe woke me up, but either way, I had the funniest dream. It wasn't funny, "ha, ha," it was funny because it was so strangely real to me. I told Joe all about it:

I was looking up at heaven and Wayne was standing there with Jesus's arm around his shoulders. Jesus didn't have a face, but in the dream I knew it was him. They were both laughing at me. I said, "Wayne, why are you laughing at me?" He said, "You're finally carrying my grandson." Then I saw my son from birth to adulthood. He had olive skin, brown, wavy hair, and blue eyes.

Joe laughed about the dream. You see, at the time, we were trying NOT to get pregnant. Chloe was only a year old, after all. Also, the chances of us having a blue-eyed child were somewhere around 0. Joe has brown eyes, but his Dad had hazel -blue eyes. My Dad has brown eyes, and my mom's are hazel-green. My eyes are hazel-green. By hazel I mean that they do change color with my mood or what I'm wearing, but they usually stay green. Anyway, the other funny thing was the phrasing, "You're FINALLY carrying my grandson." Remember, when we had the girls, he had said, "She's beautiful, but she's not my grandson."

We left for the funeral and I told his entire family about the dream. It was honestly just the strangest dream I had ever had. It felt so real. It was the Sunday after Wayne's death, Father's Day. Joe was in his Dad's shed cleaning it out for his mom, having another mourning moment, so I decided to take the girls to a friend's house there in TN. She was actually Joe's friend, but I stole her. She's the one who took so long to fix my hair for my wedding. I was feeling quite sick to my stomach and I had missed my period, due 2 days before, but thought it was the sheer amount of stress that was causing it. I told her about my dream and Sherri said, "Tori, I have a pregnancy test. You should take it." I told her she was crazy. Her eyes almost popped out of her head as she tried to convince me to take the pregnancy test. I knew I wasn't pregnant and that it was just a dream.

I got back to Joe's parents' house around 6 that evening. I bathed the girls and put them to bed. The whole family was in the living room and I just couldn't take it anymore. I left. Keep in mind that I NEVER leave without telling Joe where I'm going and when I'll be back, and I rarely went anywhere without him anyway. I just left. I went to the store, bought a pregnancy test, and came back to the house. I by-passed his very confused family and went to the bathroom and locked the door. By this time it was 8pm. Joe knocked on the door, thinking I was grieving, and I politely told him to give me a few minutes. 3, to be exact. I came out with the pregnancy test in my hand and, with tears streaming down my face, said, "Happy Father's Day. He's a boy and his name is Joshua Wayne. He'll have olive skin, brown wavy hair, and blue eyes." Joe was shocked, to say the least, and NO ONE believed the dream but me. His Mom was thrilled, his sister and boyfriend (now our brother-in-law) wondered if we knew of any way to KEEP from having children since we were so good at making them.
We went back to Texas and I started throwing up. I have to be honest here. Joshua Wayne almost killed me. I was so sick with him, the only things I could eat/drink without immediately throwing up were hamburger meat with onions and cheese and caffeine free Dr. Pepper. One sip of water quickly because one sip of throw-up. This lasted for 5 months. During my 18th week of pregnancy, I got very sick with some kind of virus. Besides throwing up all of my food, it was coming out the other end and I got very dehydrated. Joe took me to the doctor and they admitted me into the hospital to get some fluids in me. I weighed 124 pounds at 18 weeks pregnant. I had actually lost 6 pounds in 18 weeks. (I weigh 130 right now, for those of you who are curious.) They gave me Phenergen which, I hear, is a fabulous anti-nausea medication. The funny thing is, my OB/GYN had given me a prescription for that very drug 2 weeks before to help control the nausea, but it was administered, uh, rectally, and I couldn't bring myself to do it, so it sat in my bathroom. Turns out, I'm allergic to it. I started having convulsions at the hospital. The next morning, my OB walked in to my room and laughed. She said, "I'm sorry, but isn't it the funniest thing that this would happen to YOU? You've had such a terrible pregnancy and I figured it would be better to laugh with you than cry with you." I laughed too, and we both thanked God that I hadn't used the Phenergen at home with 2 little girls running around. It would've been bad.
The next week I had my sonogram. Keep in mind that I've now told EVERYONE who would listen about my dream and that I was having a boy. Our good friends and neighbors went with us to the sonogram and when the technician said, "It's a boy," they, including Joe and my girls, whooped and hollered so loud we probably put someone else into labor. I didn't whoop or holler. I looked at them and said, in my most annoyed voice, "What in the world have I been telling you this whole time?"
I met my brother's future wife and future step-son in December. Jared was Caylea's age, around 4, and I wanted to have some fun with him. I had finally quick puking and was feeling pretty good, so I raced him to the mail box. It put me into labor. I was 32 weeks pregnant and, again, admitted to the hospital. It was a pretty good labor, too. They got it stopped somewhere around 3 cm dilated and told me to go on partial bed rest. In other words, I could do a few things, but really needed to keep my feet up. Well, I quit racing Jared to the mail box, but not much else. My Dad came to help me out and actually paid a girl that we knew from church to help me keep the house clean and chase the girls outside. I got up to fix myself a bowl of chili the day he left and went into labor again. They got it stopped pretty quickly, but they ended up giving me the steroid shots to develop Josh's lungs in case he was born early. I was lying so still in the bed while the nurse watched the contraction monitor. She turned and looked at me and said, "You know, no matter how quiet you are, I can tell you're having a contraction. Stop trying to hide it from me." Again, I'm just quiet in pain. I handle it all internally, which is probably most fortunate for those around me. You should hear the conversations I have in my own head.
At week 37 they took me off all pre-term labor medications and told me to go forth and have a baby. I walked and walked and walked. It took a week for all of the meds to wear out of my system and, at week 38, February 13th, 2001, I went into labor and knew I was having him soon. He wasn't due until the 26th, but that's okay. Caylea's labor was 9 1/2 hours, Chloe's was 8 1/2, and I fully expected Josh's to be somewhere around 5 since I was already dilated to 4 1/2 cm and had been fighting to keep him inside the last month. He had other plans. He was face up instead of face down. It's kind of like a breech situation, only not as serious. I labored with him all night and around 8am the following morning, an older nurse came in to talk to me. I had no drugs, no iv, had been walking circles around that hospital, but I was feeling well. She wanted to check my progress and realized that I was sitting around 7 but not progressing. She felt around my tummy and discovered the problem. She said, 'You have 2 options. I can either manually turn the baby or you can try and older method to get him to turn." I said, "What's manual?" She said, "I put my hand on his head and turn him." (Keep in mind that his head is considerably far inside of me.) That didn't sound fun. I said, "And option #2?" She said, sit like this...and put me in the most awkward on all fours position ever, kind of propped up like a dog begging, and said, "This might hurt a little," while she pushed one side of my stomach and shoved the other side. My water had already broken a little, but after about 2 minutes of her telling me to rock while she pushed and shoved, Joshua turned his little body the right way and the rest of the water broke. I had him 30 minutes later. This was a teaching hospital, so when I was delivering, my OB said, "Do you mind if a few students come in, including a high school girl who wants to be an OB?" I said, "Sure." Joe said, "No guys, please." So, we had around 10 students in the room looking at my hoo-ha as I patiently waited for the next contraction so I could push. Joe's mom was in the corner saying her 'Jesus' prayer over and over again, but everyone else was completely silent, completely serious. At the perfect time, beceause timing is really everything, I looked at everyone and said, "BOO!" Everyone laughed, and a few minutes later I had a baby. If you think I'm exaggerating, ask Joe, his mom, or any of those 10 people. Keeping your sense of humor is the key to living life to the fullest.
We brought our Valentine's Day present home, completely black and blue from being turned the wrong way for so long, and my parents met him 2 days later. His hospital picture still makes me cringe. You know what? HE HAD BROWN, WAVY HAIR, OLIVE SKIN, AND BLUE EYES AND HIS NAME IS JOSHUA WAYNE.

Caylea thought he was adorable and Chloe wanted to help me change his diaper. Keep in mind, Caylea was nearly 5, Chloe was a month shy of 2 years old. I let Chloe help, but when she saw his "boyhood," she said, "EWWW. What's THAT?" That's the easiest way to explain how boys are different than girls, all of you parents who don't know...let them change a diaper. Just borrow a friend's baby and make it happen. 2 weeks later Joe broke his wrist playing soccer and Chloe decided to wear big girl panties. She, like Caylea, pretty much did it on her own. I always tell people, because this happened to me,

You know you're a mom when you can talk on the phone WHILE breastfeeding a baby WHILE wiping a toddler's bottom. There is no greater joy.

That time period, February-May, was the most stressful of my adult life. I can honestly say I was so overwhelmed that I had no idea how to just be calm. My house had to be perfect, my children had to be clean, and I had to wait on Joe hand and foot because he's so right dominant. My kids have all been taught how to use both hands, by the way. They can write, throw, and eat left-handed. My Dad taught me and, thank goodness, that is one thing he did that I followed with my kids. I wish Joe's Dad had taught him!

Joe's mom had moved in with us while I was on bed-rest and then bought her house 3 miles from us when we had Joshua. She was so good to me during that time. I took some college classes. I was in class when 9/11 happened. Caylea was in Kindergarten and I read to her class every Tuesday and Thursday. Chloe "helped" me read by bringing every book on the classroom shelf and Joshua crawled around and drooled on everyone. The kids loved it. They thought Chloe was adorable and smart because she talked more than most of them, and they thought Josh was just the cutest thing ever. He really was a happy baby.

Mamaw moved back to TN for a little while. She was feeling restless, and Wayne's death was only a year past. Joe started talking about retiring in the Air Force and I knew that he wouldn't be happy in his current position. He's a born leader and needed to lead. I said something to the effect of, "If you want to put 20 years in, you better finish your degree and put some bars on those arms." A few CLEP tests later, he had his Bachelor's. (I wasn't kidding when I was he is a VERY smart man.) He got accepted to Officer Training School in Montgomery, AL. He had to go for 3 months while I stayed in TX with the kids. His Mom flew down to visit once while he was gone. She missed her grandbabies. My parents also visited frequently. We only lived a 7 hour drive away from them and they own their own business, so federal holidays that were 3-day weekends became opportunities for them to come see us. I used the time while Joe was gone to get Josh sleeping through the night (at 15 months old). The first night he cried from 11pm until 530 am and then I fought him all day to keep him awake. The second night he cried from 10 until 2, and the third night he cried from 8-830 and didn't peep again until 530. I don't mind waking up early if I've been allowed to sleep. You see, Joe didn't like hearing Joshua (or any of our kids) cry, so I was sent to keep them quiet at night. With Joe gone, Josh and I had a mini-battle of the wills. I also toughened him up quite a bit. He would run by and I would trip him on purpose, then clap for his "fabulous fall." After the first few times he figured out how to avoid falling and, to this day, it's a favorite game we play. (Hey, when you've got 2 kids who cry easily (Caylea and Joshua) and one who is tough as nails (Chloe), you prefer that they learn from the tough one and quit crying over every little scrape and bruise. I don't know if Caylea will ever quit being so dramatic, but Josh is definitely a tough guy now.)

We went to Joe's OTS graduation and his mom pulls out this whopper of a ring and says, "Look what I did." She had met a man on the plane on the way home from visiting me and the kids that summer. She married him 3 weeks later. Joe was shocked. We all were. It's just not in her character to be so spontaneous. Pop is a GREAT guy, though, and once the shock wore off, we took him right in. Joe's Mom gave him his first salute on behalf of his Dad. The whole room was in tears except for me. I was in the back of the room, glancing up at Joe when I could, while chasing Joshua around.

We met some friends at OTS. We had to continue on in San Angelo for the officer training, which was a God-send. We didn't have to move 3 times that year like most people did. We moved to Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida in June 2003 to start Joe's military career. The kids were thrilled to be at the beach. I was thrilled too, because our friends got the same assignment. There's always a great comfort when you move somewhere but there's someone you know.

God always provides a way when you just ask Him. Every move we've ever made has pulled us together more and more as a family, and we're so blessed to have been the places we've been. I guess that's why I wanted to start writing down what I remember of it all. Maybe our moving experiences will help other people see that it's not so bad after all. We'd love to eventually retire somewhere adn settle down, but we're going to travel while we're young and enjoy this life God has given us. Our kids will just have to go along for the ride!

Korea calls

2008-04-10T23:20:00.000-07:00

We stayed in San Angelo, TX for 6 months for Joe to finish his military language training (the part where I got out of the Air Force) and then moved ourselves to Fort Meade, Maryland. It was another Army Post, so the housing was terrible. We literally lived in ghetto housing, and I'm not trying to be offensive. When you see pictures of "the ghetto," usually the buildings are red brick, 3 stories high, windows missing, etc. That was what we lived in. The buildings were actually condemned, but we had to live in them because they had no room in the better housing, weren't finished building the rest of the housing, and we couldn't afford to live off base. We had noisy neighbors! The police came to check on those neighbors a few times, but not because I called. They were just rambunctious people.
We lived there for 15 months. Several people came to visit us. We went to Niagara Falls with my parents, where CAylea almost choked horribly on salad. I had to turn her upside down and beat her back, then she threw up all over the floor of the restaurant. She was 15 months old. She was so cute. We got a chocolate lab and named him Chewy. He was an awesome dog. We got the news that Joe had to leave for Korea in March 1998. In February we left Fort Meade and went to visit various family members. We stored our furniture with my best friend, Shannon, because she had room. Looking back on that now, I realize what a huge favor she did for me, but I was young and probably didn't thank her nearly enough. I did thank her, just probably not enough.
We put Joe on the plane and went to live with my parents. They loved having Caylea live with them. She basically potty trained herself. She was a month shy of 2 and said, "Mommy, I want big girl panties." I had taken her to Wal-Mart and shown her what big-girl panties look like, and that she could pick whichever ones she wanted if she would just stop wearing diapers. A week later, she put in her request. She used to sit on the toilet and sing various songs from "The Lion King," including, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight." She got very lonely if she had to be in the bahtroom for any length of time, but my mom and I were tired of sitting with her so long, so I told her to sing loud enough for me to hear her. I have it on video, poor kid. :)
We stayed with my parents through Caylea's 2nd birthday. It was right around the time when Mom & Dad bought their ranch, so we got to play with cows and just be country, which is something I love. We moved in with Joe's parents in late April. I felt like I needed to give them some Caylea time too. My plan was to just hop back and forth the entire year. Once I got to his parents, though, my Dad had mentioned me resuming my college courses (I had an Associate's, but needed to get going on the Bachelor's), so I signed up for summer school. Joe's Mom kept Caylea and loved every minute of it. I didn't have a hard time letting her keep Caylea either. I've never had a hard time leaving my kids with his mom or mine, I just don't like leaving them overnight. I'm weird that way. Anyway, by June, amidst video conferences and what-not, Joe was continually asking me to come to Korea. I didn't even know how to go about it, much less the financial repercussions because the Air Force wouldn't pay our way. Caylea wouldn't talk to her Daddy on the video phone because, "I'm mad at Daddy for staying at work too long." I could always get her to talk to him eventually, but it took me being firm with her. Those were her first real lessons on putting someone else ahead of yourself. Joe would make video tapes of himself reading so Daddy could "read" to her, even if it was a video. Anyway, I had that Nissan Maxima that my parents had given me when I was 17, and I decided that I could sell it and get just enough to cover the cost of the plane tickets, plus have an additional $1,000 to get settled in Korea, so that's what we did. I sold the car, got our "overseas" shots, and went to Korea. I didn't get to see my parents before I left, but when you're young, newly married, with a 2 year old, you just don't think about Mom and Dad as much. Joe's parents took me to the airport. I had given his Dad the tickets and our passports to hold on to while I loaded the vehicle and otherwise got ready. I told him, "Hold on to these with your life and give them back to me at the airport." We got to the airport and I said, "Dad, can I have the passports and tickets, please?" He said, "I don't have them." I think I immediately paled and, instead of carrying out his joke, Joe's Mom slapped him on the arm and he produced the tickets and passports. Bad timing for a joke like that. :)
We got on the plane in Atlanta, Georgia, flew to Chicago where we landed at 2am and the plane malfunctioned. What is it with me and malfunctioning planes? Anyway, they made us clear EVERYTHING off of the plane. Keep in mind, it's 2am. Caylea is dead weight and, according to airport law at the time, she had to ride in a car seat. I had to carry her, her car seat, and our carry-on luggage off of the plane and sit on a hard tiled floor for 2 hours while they "fixed" the plane. Not a single person offered to help me. Hold on, I'm doing breathing exercises. I still remember how mad I was about that.
We got back on the plane and went back to sleep. That morning, still in air, I was reading out loud to Caylea (1,000 book baby, remember?) and she was chattering my ear off (because she spoke in sentences at 1 year old), and all of a sudden I had about 5 Korean kids either in my lap, at my feet, or climbing over the back and front of the chairs to hear the story. We had a good time on that trip, and the kids in our general section never cried.
We landed at Seoul International in Korea and had to go through a very long customs line. Again, I had to pick up all of my own luggage, but even with the luggage cart, it was quite cumbersome. I ended up seeing an American face, so I yelled across the hall, "Hey, American! Come help me, PLEASE!" He was a soldier. I shouldn't have had to ask. You could say that I'm not typical when it comes to men being gentlemanly. If a man opens a door for me, I let him and I say, "Thank you." If he doesn't open a door for me, I generally give him a dirty look. It took so long that Caylea started having to go potty. There was no bathroom, only a long, white hall. I asked her if she could possibly hold it and she said, "I'll try Mommy." 10 people before the end of the customs line, she wet her pants. I don't tell this story to humiliate her at all. She was such a trooper. She cried and cried because she had wet her pants, but I knew that he Daddy was just outside those doors that were now within 20 feet of us, so I cleaned her up and left the mess on the floor. No, I'm not lazy, but again, NO ONE tried to help me. I did put some wipes down on top of the mess. There wasn't even a trash can in that hall. What was I supposed to do?
We got through customs, through the massive doors, and out into "freedom." Where was Joe? Our friend, Hugh Hodson, was there with Joe to pick us up and he actually spotted us first, so I started walking towards him, not knowing that Joe was running from the other side of the customs gate (they covered both ends, not knowing which one I was coming from). We finally had our Daddy back, but Caylea was actually playing shy with him of all things!
We lived off base in a TINY apartment (Air Force wasn't paying our way), where mice could come in through the door. We put poison outside the door and found a mouse running in circles outside our door one morning. The poison hadn't quite worked yet. Joe took care of it.
We were there 2 weeks when I started feeling sick to my stomach. There have only been 3 times in my life when I've felt that way. Their names are Caylea, Chloe, and Joshua. I told Joe I was prengant before I even took the test and he just laughed. He didn't think I could be pregnant that quickly or that I would be sick that soon. I went and took a test and, of course, it was positive. That same day, the Air Force told us that we were "command sponsored," which basically means that they were going to support our family while in Korea. That meant extra money for living expenses and permission to use the base facilities. We moved into a 12 story apartment building, on the 9th floor, and met Jeff and Jamie White, some of our favorite friends. They taught us how to play Pinnocle (if I spelled that right) and we were with them every weekend. Everyone was "mad" at me because I wasn't showing the pregnancy. Again, though, when you throw up for 5 or 6 months, you don't gain any weight. I did gain 40 pounds with both of the girls, but I put every single pound of it on in the last 4 months (except for Chloe, I gained 10, then lost 10, then gained 30 back). I had her on March 10, 1999. I went into labor with her twice, was dilated to 4 for a month, and she still wouldn't come out. She was due on March 6th and we were an hour away from the hospital, so I let them induce me on March 10th because I just didn't want to get stuck in traffic on the way to the hospital. It was notoriously bad in Seoul, and you could be stuck for hours. They put a gel on my cervix and I immediately went into labor. They told me that she would be 9 pounds. She was 7 pounds 6 ounces and I delivered her head. My doctor was leaving because he didn't think I'd be having her any time soon but I said, "I'm pushing" and the nurse grabbed some doctor I had never even met out of the hall (a Korean man) and she actually told me to stop pushing. This is AFTER I had delivered Chloe's head. I think I may have given her a dirty look. Joe says I was very quiet for Chloe's birth too. I do remember that. I've always been that way...when in pain, be quiet and deal with it mentally and you'll do much better. This Korean doctor walks in, now gown, mind y ou, just some green gloves, and delivers the rest of Chloe. my birth letter, which they had in hand, said that she was to go immediately to my stomach. They didn't do that. They took her to the "warming" area to get her breathing because her immediate APGAR score was only a 7. That's the first time I got loud with them. I believe I said something to the effect of, "Give me my baby NOW or I will get up out of this bed and take her from you. I CAN GET HER TO BREATHE." They gave her to me. I massaged her back while they sucked her nose and mouth. I breast fed her immediately too and her second APGAR was a 10, obviously. She just needed her mommy. She was so different from Caylea. She had reddish brown hair and very light skin. Her eyes were just as expressive, though, and that deep, dark brown that we've all come to know and adore. She was so tiny, though! I had a butterball in Caylea, and Chloe seemed so breakable! I finally let JOe's parents hold her while the doctor finished cleaning me up. I believe I flinched a little bit and he said, "Oh be quiet. You are a tough American woman. You had this baby with no drugs, you can handle this part fine. " I just stared at him and he then said, "I'll try to be more gentle." Thanks for "the look," whoever passed it down to me. It works wonders, even on grown men. :)
Joe's parents were there, by the way. I tend to write things as i remember them, not particularly in the best order. They had come specifically for her birth, another reason I let them induce me with Chloe. Joe's Dad held her and said, "She's beautiful, but she's not my grandson." He had said the same thing with Caylea. He also told me, after having Caylea, "Don't have any more. Just spoil this one." After Chloe, he said, "Don't have any more. 2 is enough." Joe's mom wasn't in the delivery room when I had Chloe because she wasn tending to Caylea. Caylea was so excited to see "my baby." That's what she called Chloe. "My baby sister." She was very protective of her, and Caylea took that first nap with me as Daddy went to bathe Chloe.
I hated that hospital. I intensely disliked their nursing staff. They walked into my room around midnight (I had Chloe at 530pm) and told me that I was NOT allowed to sleep with the baby, that many mothers had dropped their infants and that tile floors were not forgiving. I believe I said something to the effect of, "Just try and take my child from me." They didn't. I didn't drop her (who would, honestly?) We slept just fine, thank you. Then they tried to draw Chloe's blood from her wrist. They had her wrist bent back at a very unnatural angle, Chloe was SCREAMING, and I had had enough. I told them if they wanted more of her blood, there were going to have to fight me for it, to deal with what they had. YOu may be wondering why I was so cantankerous, but I have to honestly say that that was the worst hospital experience I've ever had. They were MEAN nurses, they got mad when I said, "No drugs, please," and they left me with one young, inexperienced nurse. The older nurse actually said to me, "If you're not going ot take the drugs, I don't want to hear you screaming." I don't scream. I literally had silent births. I get upset when people attack my children with needles for no reason. That's when I yelled, and it was the same nurse who had abandoned me, causing me to have to deliver my child's head. (That was actually pretty cool, but difficult to do in the position I was in. If I had been in the woods, I wouldn't have needed anyone, thank you.)
We took Chloe home and Caylea became the best helper. She rubbed my feet with lotion while I breast fed, brought me diapers, wipes, clothes, etc. She even helped me give Chloe her first bath at home. We took lots of walks together all summer long, and in November Joe had to leave for Airman Leadership School so he could pin on Staff Sergeant. He was gone for 7 weeks, so my grandmother, GG, came to visit. Chloe crawled at 4 1/2 months old, was walking by 7 months, but we lived in a small apartment, so she never really had to let go of anything. GG got there and we had a small Christmas tree up. At 9 months old, Chloe said, "GG, tree on." She wanted my grandmother to turn the lights on for the tree. My grandmother was absolutely perplexed that a 9 month old baby could speak like that. This part will be in my book...'How to get your child to speak at an early age." The last chapter might say..."How to get your child to be quiet." :) Anyway, GG left and Joe came back. Oh, my best friend, Susan, came to visit with my grandmother in August, and then GG came back in December. We really had a good time. Joe got back and we went out to our final Korean dinner at "Sam Eel" restaurant in downtown Osan. A friend was holding Chloe, feeding her rice. She put her little chubby hand up and said, "No, meat." She's always loved meat, and she likes her steak medium rare. :)
We left Korea and, on the plane, an air force man said, "Hey ladies, how does it feel to be ugly again?" I'll never forget that. In other words, in Korea you're attractive because there aren't enough of you to go around. We're going home now, so you're ugly again. I laughed.
We got to San Angelo, TX, AGAIN, where Joe would be teaching. We had 3 year old Caylea and 1 year old Chloe and we were happy.

Korea taught us how to be a family without family around. We completely depending on each other. We had church in our home with other families, we played games, we took walks, and we didn't call momma every time something went wrong. (I should say that I didn't call momma, Joe never did that.) We worked things out ourselves. We were by no means perfect, YET, but our children were. :)

"For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and cling to his wife." Matthew

The U-Haul

2008-04-10T00:16:00.000-07:00

We decided to move ourselves from California to Texas. Usually the military will pack you up and ship your stuff, but we didn't want to wait, so we did what's called a "dity" move. (Do IT Yourself) We rented a U-Haul and took off. With 3 hours, our U-Haul had overheated and broken down on a major section of the interstate in Southern California. We took it in to a local dealer and they said they fixed it. We went to visit Ken and Amy (best man at the wedding), who were station in Los Angeles at the time. We were following a truck that had a couch in the back. Teh couch flew off the back of the truck and we hit it going around 60 miles an hour. Joe couldn't swerve. We were in HEAVY interstate traffic outside a major city. Teh U-Haul promptly shattered the couch. We were towing my Nissan Maxima behidn the U-Haul. It was fine, thank God. Our U-Haul had a bench seat, so Caylea was in her car seat, facing backwards of course, but up front because we had no back seat. We continued on after pulling over to check for damage. There was surpringly little. The couch was demolished. The truck carrying the couch didn't even stop.
The U-Haul over heated again, and by this time we had already had it "fixed," so we were frustrated. It was June and HOT. We called U-Haul and they said not to worry, they'd get it fixed. We drove on to Ken's house slightly faster than we should've because we kept breaking down, and got pulled over. The cop had sympathy for us after we explained our situation. It helps that when he looked at Caylea, she gave him one of her GRINS. We didn't get a ticket, but a cautionary, "Slow down guys. You don't want her getting hurt." We spent the night with Ken & Amy, then got up to get the U-Haul fixed. They "fixed" it again and we took off through the SouthWestern US. We broke down 3 more times. Upon calling U-Haul, they told us to run the heater to keep the truck from over heating. Did I mention it was June and that we were driving through the desert and we had a 7 week old baby who was already suffering a pretty severe heat rash because we had to keep the AC off just to keep the thing running, and now they were telling us to run the HEATER? The U-Haul "main" center was in Phoenix, AZ, which we were passing through to stay with another friend. God provided plenty of friends for us to stay with along the way, praise Him! They put a new something or another on the truck and proceded to tell us that most U-Haul distribution centers won't fix a truck. They'll rent it out, knowing it is broken, in the hopes that hte truck will get fixed elsewhere. (Mental notes taken.)
We broke down a total of 6 times, in 115 degree heat in the middle of no where, but not once did Caylea cry. I did. Te U-Haul girl that he spoke with on the phone cried. Joe yelled and it's the first and last time I ever heard my husband cuss. We made it to Texas, where my parents were waiting for us at our new apartment complex. Joe spent the next week on the phone with U-Haul. He ended up talking to the Vice President of U-Haul and told him, "We have a paper trail all the way from California about your neglect. We have pictures of our daughter's heat rashes, incurred when we had to turn our AC off in the 115 degree desert. You WILL fix this." We got the U-Haul free of charge, and they paid for all of our gas and meals. If we were the suing type, we could've received much more, but we decided to be grateful for what we had, and for our precious baby's health. 2 months later, Dateline News came out with a Special Report, focused specifically on U-Haul. Hmmm...

"Even in the valley (desert), God is good."

The First Year

2008-04-09T23:36:00.000-07:00

We spent the first month of our marriage living in the Air Force dormitory because we had to wait on the approval to live off base. We finally got into a small 2 bedroom apartment together, with used furniture, and started playing house. I found out in August that I was pregnant. I took my DLI final exams, which are notoriously difficult, in September, amidst throwing up repeatedly. The testers even felt sorry for me and kept a trash can by my desk. One particularly gnarly old Puerto Rican laughed at me as I threw up outside into the small trash can. All I did was look at him and he got very quiet. I guess "the look" runs in our family.

I graduated and Joey put me on a plane for San Angelo, Texas, to finish my training. I had learned the langauge, now I had to learn the military aspects of my job. We knew that we could get joint spouse assignments to Fort Meade, Maryland, but we also knew that we wouldn't actually live together until Caylea was over a year old due to Joe finishing his training and then going to Korea for a year, so we were mulling over what to do. My right ligament became slightly torn during my 4th month and I went to the hospital thinking my appendix was rupturing. I saw Caylea for the first time, but still didn't know she was a girl. I was just so excited to be a mom, and still not showing because I threw up so much. I'm not exaggerating. You can ask any person who knew me while I was pregnant with any of my three children. They will tell you that I threw up for 5-6 months with no exceptions, no variations. If I ate, I puked. I also set the base typing record, 120 words per minute with 99% accuracy.
In October I went with a friend to Dallas and my Dad came to pick me up for a quick weekend visit with my family. He got there and I was dressed in a black jogging suit, short hair all crazy, covered in my friend's cat's hair, no make-up (I didn't wear a lick of it back then), and he said, "I have to go to the airport to pick up a car part." My parents own Williams' Paint, Body, and Frame Company in Daingerfield, Texas. They have owned and operated this auto body shop for over 20 years now, and back then they had NEVER EVER gone to the air port to pick up a car port. I was gullible and severely lacking in brain cells. I think I threw them all up. Anyway, we get to the air port and Dad says, "You hungry? They have hot dogs. " I was pregnant. I said yes. "Do you want onions on your hot dog?" I love onions so, yes. So, I'm covered in cat-hair and unbrushed, unkempt short military hair, and my breath is as oniony as it can get. We were sitting at the luggage claim area and I was silently watching the luggage go around and around when Joey sat next to me and said, "Hi Honey." Very nonchalantly, I replied, "Hey Babe." Then it hit me that my husband was sitting next to me and the fireworks flew. We had a great weekend, and it was enjoyable because it was only the third time my husband had been around my family! (They had come to visit us in California at our apartment in July 1995.)
In November we decided that since the military was offering "outs" for pregnancy, I would take it. I left the Air Force 10 months after joining, 1 month short of graduation from my military training. Everyone at that base tried to talk me out of it EXCEPT for my First Shirt, SMSgt Tomaskovic. He was a Christian and answered me from that perspective instead of the worldly one. I can't thank him enough for his advice.
I served 10 months in the United States Air Force, lost my MGIB benefits because I didn't serve 2 years, and every time someone asks for Veteran's to stand up, Joe grabs my hand and makes me stand. I don't feel like I did much, but I did wear the uniform very proudly, and I did thoroughly enjoy it while I was in. I was told my all of my superiors that I was making a mistake (except for my First Shirt), that I had a phenomenal ability and should stay in and just put the child in day-care, but God overwhelmingly told me to be a wife and mother first. I haven't regretted that decision one single second, and believe me, plenty of people have questioned me about it.
I went to live with my parents because now Joey had a "dependent" and had to get that set up through the base. I went to his parent's house (with mine) for Thanksgiving and there, as Joe's mom tentatively leaned her head down to my belly to talk to the baby, Caylea kicked HARD for the first time. I was around 20 weeks along, still not even showing, still wearing Joe's jeans. Remember, he was only 5 pounds heavier than me when we got married. One of my concerns was that I would outweigh him in my later months. Little did i know that he was gaining sympathy weight 2,000 miles away. :)
He came home for Christmas, then went back to California. I joined him there in January 1996. By that time I was actually showing and no longer throwing up, so Joey missed all of that yucky stuff. We had a home filled with furniture loaned to us from the base. We borrowed $1200 from my grandparents and paid it back over 5 months so we could get our first computer. I worked at a temp agency, where they didn't even know I was pregnant until a month before I delivered. I worked until a week before I was due. I also went to night school to finish my Associate's Degree, in Spanish. I had to take a physical education course to complete the degree, so the teacher made me walk, which I didn't mind. He then had to do an end of semester body fat measurement and he didn't really know how. He did all the pinching and came up with 18%. I was 8 months pregnant and had 18% body fat. I haven't been that low since. :)
My parents came to visit that week and we walked and walked and walked, hopiong to get the baby, which we had by then named Caylea Sun, to arrive early. She didn't. Her name, by the way, was Catherine Suzanne for 8 months. Joe came home one day and said, "What do you think about Camber Sun?" I said, "Camber sounds like a car part, but I like Sun since it's after your Mom." We called my mom, and, sure enough, camber is a car part. Joe then said, 'What about Caylea?" We had never heard the name Caylea, so she became Caylea Sun.
We dropped my parents off at the air port and picked Joe's mom up the next day. Caylea was due on Joe's birthday, April 17th, but that day came and went. On the 19th, around 6 pm, I was feeling pretty icky and took a long shower. As soon as I stepped out, labor hit. We got to the hospital around 9. I didn't want any drugs and I didn't say much. When I'm in pain, I get quiet and I expect you to be quiet too. Joe's mom was there, praying in the corner, and I could occasionally make out "Jesus," so I knew who she was talking to on my behalf. Kevin Oliver was there too. He was our constant buddy the entire time we were in California and a real riot. He always stole my popsicles...not out of my freezer, mind you...out of my hand. He thought it was hilarious to take ice cream from a pregnant lady, like taking candy from a baby. Anyway, around 2am I asked for half a dose of pain reliever and they gave it to me. it lasted 10 minutes. Caylea was born at 330am April 19th, 1996. The doctor was astonished. He had told me that she would be MAYBE 7 pounds. When her cone head popped out, she was a whopping 8 pounds 7 ounces. Her right shoulder wasn't moving properly. We somehow managed to sprain it during delivery, but other than that, she was PERFECT. Her brown hair was curly and her eyes were so big and expressive and almost black. Her skin was dark, and she was beautiful!
We took her home and Ken McAdams, the best man at our wedding, came to see her. He was holding her when he said, "Tori, there's RUMBLINGS!" He had no clue about babies and diapers. The funny thing is, when I was pregnant, I let him feel her moving around and he was completely grossed out. They had no intention of having children any time soon. they found out they were pregnant right after Caylea was born. :)
My parents came to visit with my Grandmother (Dad's mom, otherwise known as GG), and instantly fell in love. Caylea had projectile pooped all over my Mom. We have pictures. Joe's mom was still with us, and 2 weeks later she went home. She cried, I cried, Caylea smiled. They say babies don't smile less than 6 weeks unless they're gassy. That's not true at all. They smile because they recognize your face, and there's no amount of science that will convince me otherwise. Her first "GRIN" was directed at Kevin. He had come over ot eat with us, as usual, and made a funny face at her. She was 5 weeks old. She gave hiim the biggest ear to ear grin I had ever seen. I didn't think I could fall any harder for this baby, but that grin sealed the deal!
We celebrated our first anniversary with 6 week old Caylea, then left the following week for Texas in a U-Haul. Our first year was completely filled with separation, anxiety, and "what ifs," but God brought us through it because He brought us to it. He never gave us more than we could handle, adn we never felt overwhelmed by circumstances. I clung to James 1:2-3 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials and tribulations of many kinds; for you know that the testing of your faith develops perserverance."

German driving

2008-04-09T23:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, the good news is that we found our house, signed the contract, and we move in on the 16th. The bad news is, we got into an automobile accident. I know, most of you who KNOW us are just sure that it was Joe's fault (especially since I failed the test and therefore can't drive yet), but the truth is, he was completely innocent!!! Here's the story:
We picked up OUR Passat today and turned in our rental vehicle. It was so nice to have something of OURS, even if we can't live in it. I got our GPS and plotted a route to look at 23 more houses and we took off. By the way, kids under 12 have to be in booster seats. Chloe and Josh are PERFECTLY happy with that, though.
So, we take off and we're doing great. We look at house after house after house, all to no avail. Too old, too big, too much $, too far away from base, etc. We finally decided that the one house we loved and saw yesterday (cows up to the fence) was worth the extra $ to have (it was just slightly over what we wanted to spend). So, we turned around to head to it and sign the contract, which is really easy to do over here. We were on a priority road which, in Europe, means you have the right of way. We came around a turn and there was a side road intersecting with our road. We slowed down, obviously, because it was really busy, but Nubi Garmin (our GPS) told us to go straight ahead and we did. This lady saw our American tags and assumed we were turning right since a lot of Americans lived up that way, and she decided to pull out. Joe swerved just in time to keep her from T-boning my side of the car (Josh was in the back on my side, all 3 kids in the back seat). He swerved into the middle turning lane which, fortunately, was empty (he saw that). The first thing I thought was, "PLEASE hit ME!!!" I'm not looking for punishment, really, but if she hit ME in the front of the car, that means she missed JOSH in the back. My second thought was, "I can't reach him." My third thought, followed by 5 terrified screams was, "God help us!" Yes, I do think that fast. I thought all of that in 3 seconds flat because I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. :) We pulled over and the lady said, in English, surprisingly, "You had your blinker on. That's why I pulled out." We said, "No we didn't. Our GPS told us to go straight. We LOVE our GPS!" No, we didn't say the last sentence. that's for you to have some relieved laughter. We did show her the GPS, though, and we did tell her that the blinker wasn't on.
Anyway, the police showed up and had us follow them to the police station where we filled out a report. The lady who hit us was allowed to finish running her medical errand (bringing medicine to someone) WITHOUT giving anyone her name or vehicle information! She showed up at the police station, though. In the States, that lady would've been LONG GONE. Anyway, the officer said, "Yes, it's her fault. She'll pay." The car is scraped all the way down the side, and the front passenger tire and wheel base are damaged but the car drove fine.
The kids were terrified, I was immediately out of the car (once we parked it safely out of the road) to check on them, and when the lady, who originally walked up yelling at us, saw my three PERFECT (although crying) children, she softened and apologized and went to checking us all out. We were scared, my husband was furious that the VERY DAY he picked up our car, it got wrecked, but after I explained what COULD have happened, he calmed WAY down. WE thanked God and thanked Him and thanked Him. We all know what T-bone accidents do to everyone, especially the people on the side that is hit. Mom, don't think about it too much. You'll cry, and we're fine. We're really fine. I repeat, the 5 INGRAMS are FINE!!! We know you're all praying for us.
So, we finish up at the police station and decide to go get our house (we hadn't signed the contract yet). We went and the people currently in it just had their stuff packed up today and they were super nice and helpful. They're American. He's a surgeon and they're moving to California. They gave us lots of useful information and the landlords spoke fluent English, which is great. I assured them that I would be fluent in German within a year. Little do they know that they'll be teaching me. moohoo ha ha ha (That's a malicious laugh, kind of like Dr. Evil on Austin Powers.) We LOVE the house. We LOVE the neighborhood, and we have hiking trails and a mountain right behind us. We're very excited to live there and get settled.

The Wedding

2008-04-08T06:34:00.000-07:00

We called Joe's parents and they talked to me on the phone. I was informed that his sister, Cathy, didn't like any of his previous girlfriends and that I should expect her to not like me either. I didn't care. I talked to her on the phone, told her who I was, and we have been friendly ever since. She says I didn't give her a choice, just showing up like that. :) His Mom said, "What kind of ring did you get her?" Joe said, "I haven't gotten one yet." I could HEAR his Mom...."YOU MEAN YOU ASKED HER TO MARRY YOU WITHOUT A RING AND SHE SAID YES? YOU GO GET THAT GIRL A RING TODAY, SON!" She didn't know that I wasn't "that" kind of girl. It didn't bother me. Rings are symbols, that's it.
He talked to my parents. We originally planned a 2 year engagement because Joe's Korean class was a year longer than my Spanish class, and we knew he had to go to Korea for a year after that. My Dad said, "Do you love each other?" "Yes." "Do you know you want to get married?" "Yes." "THen why are you waiting? Can't you do a double wedding with your best friend? Oh, no, well, get married the next day then. What do you need to do that?"
We flew in to Nashville, TN and were picked up by my parents and my best friend, Susan. My Dad walked up to Joe and said, "Let me see your teeth." Joe smiled his biggest smile. Dad said, "Make a muscle," and Joe did. My Dad felt the tone of Joe's muscle and said, "Well, you'll do." Then he hugged Joe.
My parents had exchanged photos with JOe's parents. My parents had a pretty good idea of what Joe looked like, but Joe's parents were given a GLAMOUR photo of me, taken at 18 years old. I had on more make-up in one picture than I've ever worn in my life. Joe's mom was horrified. His Dad carried the picture in his wallet and said, "Look who my son's marrying." He was so proud. When his mom first saw me, at 3 in the morning, short hair, no make-up, she took my face in her hands and said, "You'll do." Most people talk about their fear of the "mother-in-law," but Sun and I have always accepted each other, from day one. I can't even begin to describe my love for her.
After all of that, we did get married the next day after his best friend. My Dad picked out my wedding dress. My Mom tried it on to make sure it would fit me, but she got it longer because I'm taller than she is. His sister took care of all of the decorations and his Mom took care of all of the food. My parents wrote a lot of checks. :) Our rehearsal dinner was a cook-out hosted at Joe's church by his Dad, Wayne. He was a great bbqer.
My Dad said something when he was giving me away at the rehearsal that made the pastor, Bro. Hooker, upset. Dad was at the part where he was giving me away and he said, "Is this where Joey gives me the money?" Everyone laughed. Pastor Hooker did not laugh. He began to give us a sermon on the sanctity of marriage. My Dad grinned at me and I grinned right back. I think that made the pastor even more upset, but you have to have a sense of humor or life is no fun. After the ceremony, Joey walked up to my Dad and handed him a $5. We were poor and it's all he had on him at the time. Dad took it, got the photographer to take a picture, and framed that $5. It's still in a frame today. Dad says that I was unproven, so $5 was enough, but today he would ask for 20 Angus and one Brahma. It's a compliment in my Dad's own unique way. :)

I was late to the wedding because Joe's friend, Sherri, was doing my hair and make-up, and she wanted to make sure that I was the right one for him, as if it was her decision. :) I got there, though, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. I had no where to run, but I can tell you this...Joe's Mom said REPEATEDLY, up until 5 minutes before I walked the isle in the church's bathroom, "You still have time to back out." She says she wasn't trying to push me away from Joey ,but I was young and she wanted to be sure that I was sure.
We literally showed up, took a practice run, and said, "I do." My dress was slightly too long, so when I started down the isle with my DAd I tripped. I said, "Dad, I'm tripping." I already had tennis shoes on with white laces (couldn't wear heels because of the bad ankles), and my DAd said, "Kick like a horse," so I did. I kicked that dress all the way down the isle.
Joe thought it would be funny to put mouth freshener in his mouth right before kissing me, then he REALLY kissed me and his Mom said, from the congregation, "Save that for later." Everyone laughed, I turned red. What do you do?
Just for the record, on our wedding day, my husband out-weighed me by a whopping 5 pounds. We flew out the next morning to go back to DLI for more language training, so, after nearly 13 years of marriage, we've still never had a "honeymoon," but we're okay with that. We've had more fun being married than we could've had on a honemoon anyway. My husband now outweighs me by 50 pounds, and I'm not a very good cook. God knew that I needed to marry a man who was smarter and stronger than me, and that could cook, and he needed a wife who would keep him humble, which is hard when he's smarter and stronger than me. :)
We are truly blessed.

How we met...

2008-04-08T06:19:00.000-07:00

I joined the Air Force on January 3rd, 1995. I had already been in college a year and a half, held 2 jobs at once and maintained a decent GPA, but God was telling me to move. I didn't know it was God. I just thought I needed to get out of my parent's house. I won't apologize. That's how I felt. When I got to basic training I immediately went to church and found them lacking a person to play the piano. I volunteered, tried out, and got the "job." It was free time away from the other 50 menstruating women that I was subjected to, and I honestly enjoyed it. There is only one piano, so I was in a pretty visible position. The choir had 30-50 people in it, depending on the Sunday. Joe was in the choir. He knew me, I knew him not.
We graduated basic and, unbeknownst to me, he was in my "brother" flight, which meant we were on the same time table. We both got assignments to Monterey, California and the Defense Language Institute (DLI). He was "slotted" for Korean and I was "slotted" for Spanish. I was furious. I wanted Korean, Japanese, Persian, Arabic, ANYTHING but Spanish, which I already spoke fluently enough to get into or out of trouble. The First Shirt told me to be quiet and go to class, so I did. I let the Air Force waste $60,000 of your tax-payer dollars to train me in a language I already knew.
Joe saw me in the cafeteria one day and I was laughing with some friends. He thought I was laughing at him. I still knew him not. We came in with 22 people, so I had seen him in our various "newcomer" meetings, but didn't pay any attention. I had determined to forgo my heathen ways and not date until God said, "This is him." I knew God would make it obvious. When I first got to DLI, within 2 days I had offers of dates. I won't say how many because I don't want to brag. Being a female in the military automatically makes you more attractive than you really are, so there's not much to brag about. In order to keep what we called "sharks" away from me, I began hanging out with Louis. He was nice, but he wasn't for me. He was my "boyfriend" for the sake of saying, "Don't ask me out. I have a boyfriend." Joe had a roommate who, apparently, wanted to date me, but the roommate was shy. Joe tried fixing me up with him and I firmly said, "No." In the process, Joe and I became friends. In typical Tori fashion, I declared that there was no way he could beat me wrestling. I was raised in Texas, after all, with a Dad and a brother and brother's friends. Open mouth, insert foot. At the time, Joe was 5'7" tall and 135 pounds. That was a pause for your laughter. It's true. I just KNEW he couldn't beat me. We went to the gym's wrestling mats and he proceeded to pin me several times, which made Louis very upset and made me go, "Hmmm." You know, like the song, "Things that Make You Go, 'Hmmm'." Anyway, we started talking, and since we were in the beginning phase of our military career, we were on pretty severe restrictions for where we could go and what we could do. We could play ping-pong or pool and eat at the chow hall, and we could only remove our boots if we were getting into bed. If we left our rooms, we had to have those boots on and laced. Anyway, we talked every chance we got, and to be quite honest, he's a great listener. I am too. We both listened and talked. We had a lot in common, specifically things that matter: same faith, parents still married, both believed in raising our own children (no day-care), etc. We ended up going with a group to play ping-pong one night and my ankle gave out as I went to hit the ball. My ankles were notoriously weak at that time due to running track and playing basketball, and I had already severely sprained both ankles several times. This one was different. I was pretty sure it was broken, and within 30 seconds of the "snap" that we all heard, we had a VERY difficult time getting my boot off. My ankle was purple, swollen, and we had to WALK down the hill to the nearest clinic. We weren't allowed to ride in a vehicle because we were still in "training." Joe and Bryan carried me down the hill. I guess I was pretty heavy because both of them were panting pretty hard. About half-way the CQ van picked us all up, and when Joe put me in the van, he kissed the back of my hand. I know, that sounds so corny, but it was the sweetest kiss I had ever had. The doctor said the ankle wasn't broken. It's a good thing he didn't X-Ray my heart because it was gone.
We met February 20th. He kissed my hand March 9th and we went out to dinner for the first time on March 16th. He asked me to marry him on his birthday, April 17th, and we were married May 28th....yes...all in the same year.

TDY en-route

2008-04-07T23:40:00.001-07:00

TDY= Temporary Duty

We spent the first weeks of December packing up our belongings, shipping our kids to various friends' homes for their final goodbyes, and making our rounds to say goodbye to the great friends we made while there. I won't mention them all, but they know who they are and how special they are to us. We left Montgomery, Alabama on 21 December 2007. We went to Texas to visit my (Tori) family for 2 weeks. We got to Nana and PaKenny's house on the 21st, spent my birthday there with them, then drove to LaMesa, Texas to visit my brother and his family. They just moved out West and bought a beautiful, huge house. They also have a Doberman Pincher named Askim. When people say, "What is your dog's name?" my nieces and nephew can say, "Askim!" Say it out loud and you'll understand. We had a great visit and played a lot and ate a LOT. My sister in law is a great cook. I'm not jealous. :)
We got back to Mom and Dad's in time to take my Granddaddy (my Dad's Dad) out for dinner for his birthday. We took him and my Grandmother out to a steak restaurant, then went back to their house and played Pinnochle. I have no idea how to spell that. I'll look it up and edit this later. We had a great visit with them and a conversation that I never thought I would have with my Granddaddy. We left knowing they would come visit us in Germany, and feeling like they truly love our family.
We left Texas after riding horses, working on fences, and just playing in general and arrived at Fort Walton Beach, Florida on 6 January. God provided a condo for us to live in the 2 months while we were there. It was a 3 bedroom, 2 bath place with a full kitchen/living/dining area. When you opened the balcony doors, you saw the ocean...not the bay, the GULF and heard the waves. We slept with our windows open many, many nights. Our landlords were Tom and Kim, and again God provided them to us. We became very good friends with them. They took us out on their boat and shared their family with us. It made us feel like we were home, and made us pretty sad when we left. We also had good friends Kevin and Shulonda there. He's stationed there right now. They just got married and she's very cute. We spent as much time with them as we could. SkipBo is a great game. We also spent time with Rick and Ann. The story of how we met them is quite long, but they are the parents of our neighbors in Alabama and we took to them immediately. They've been to Germany before and gave us lots of great advice. We also played cards with them. They're the ones that taught us how to play SkipBo.
We drove electric go-carts, which were VERY fast. By the way, I got the fastest lap time of everyone that we took, including Joe, my Dad, Kevin, and Shulonda. I'm very happy with my lap time. I only spun the car out 3 times, and it was fun.
We celebrated Josh's 7th birthday by eating Japanese steakhouse food, which is his favorite. It's so funny...every time someone would wish him a happy birthday, he would respond with "Happy Valentine's Day!" I think this is the first year that he understood that his birthday is actually a national holiday, and he thought it was pretty cool. It helps that I tell him all of the decorations are for him. :)
On March 10, which is Chloe's birthday, we got news that my Granddaddy had died during surgery for an abdominal aneurism. We were shocked and so sad because he was only 72 years old. I am so thankful for that Christmas conversation with him. God took him home the way he wanted to go...no pain, no long, drawn-out suffering, and Joe and I genuinely feel that we didn't have another thing to say. We already said what we needed to say.
We took Chloe to Build-A-Bear Workshop for her birthday. It's hard to be all smiles in a situation like that, but we didn't want to ruin her birthday completely and, being a child, once she cried over his loss, she was done. We took her to eat steak, which is one of her favorite foods, and Mr. Jeff (a major that is stationed in Germany but came to take the same course Joe was taking and will work with Joe in some regard while we're here) came and gave her a present. The kids really like him, and it made Chloe's day that he came by.
My parents came to visit the following week, March 15-22 and we did our best to help them recover from a very hard week of funeral and dealing with everything that comes with the death of the patriarch of the family. We sent them home fatter and more rested and, hopefully, feeling like we love them to pieces.
We left March 22nd to go to Joe's family in Rome, Georgia. We stayed for a week and had Jana, our niece, with us. We ate merrily, as we usually do with family, and just spent a lot of good time together. They took us to the airport March 28th. When we left, after we got out of the long shoeless line, Jana started yelling, "Bye, Auntie...Auntie, bye!" over and over again. It was the sweetest thing. I felt like I was out of tears because I had cried with my Mom, with Kim and Tom, with Shulonda, and then Jana did that, I saw Joe's mom bawling harder than I've ever seen her cry, and I lost it again. We had strangers offering comfort to us. I'm sure we were a sight...crying with people yelling bye to us and our shoes off. It's funny the images that make you laugh.

God says in Proverbs (I'll edit later if I got that wrong), "Except the Lord build the house, those that build it labor in vain." The funny thing is, the "house" is where God puts you, not necessarily a building. I always tell Joe that "home" is where he and the kids are. If God doesn't want you to go somewhere, then you're going in vain. When He wants you somewhere, He blesses you immensely. We feel so blessed we're bursting and although we'll be far from family, we know that God has put us on the mission field in Germany for a reason. German women are notoriously "tough," so maybe I'll learn that I'm not so bad after all, or maybe I'll have that unique ability to communicate effectively with them once I learn their language. There is a reason that He has us here amidst all of the other places He could've sent us, and we are so excited to begin this endeavor. I'll keep you posted, y'all please keep us prayed up!

Losing teeth

2008-04-07T23:14:00.000-07:00

I figured out how to do an actual "blog" thanks to my friend Abby.

Joshua lost his first tooth today. He is 7 years old, so he's almost 2 full years later than his sisters in losing a tooth. Should I give him more money for holding out longer? :)

German food!

2008-04-07T23:11:00.000-07:00

We've been in Germany for exactly 10 days now and, until today had NOT eaten any German food. Our first meal off base was McDonald's because I have a phenomenal, perfect husband who, after getting hit by a crazy German lady, decided to give me and the kids our favorite comfort food. Our 2nd meal off base was Korean food, again for the kids and a little for Joe, and our 3rd was Mexican food. I LOVE Mexican food. Mostly, these outings were due to us being famished and otherwise unable to find "real" German food. They have plenty of schnitzel stands, but we didn't want German fast food. After the snow melted, we decided to go find Real, the German version of Wal-Mart, pronounced Ree-all. It was a bust. We found it, but it was more like a giant Dollar store (quality) with Dillards prices. Anyway, we came back to our village, even though we don't live there yet, and found our landlord's restaurant. They fed us really well. Joe had the schnitzel with mushrooms and I had a turkey schnitzel. No worries for my Kosher friends...they do offer something other than pork! It was good and the potatoes were good too. The Landlord's (from here on I'll refer to them by their names...Michael and Melanie) daughter, Salina, took our kids to the back of their restaurant and played old bowling. It was 9 pin and they were attached to strings. The hilarious thing is, whenever my kids would try to bowl, Salina, who is 13, would go smack the ball or tickle them. She even tackled Josh and took his shoes off. My kids didn't even blink. They went right to tackling her. They also have a 10 year old son, Lucas, who wouldn't speak but did smile a lot. His shirt said, "Texas" so I told him I'm from Texas and he grinned. His mom said he's lazy. Maybe that's why he wouldn't speak. Michael and Melanie speak English really well. I am so thankful. I asked her to help me speak German and she said she would, then, further in the conversation I learned that she wants to play the piano or get her kids to learn. It just so happens that I teach piano...speaking of teaching, they charge a small fortune for music lessons over here. The Americans on base are paying $17 per half-hour. I only charge $10 per half hour (although I was already considering raising it to $12 to weed out the parents who were using me for baby sitting). I'll do the typical Wal-Mart thing...come in with LOW EVERYDAY PRICES and put everybody else out of business. :) I digress...we ate our schnitzel and salad and potatoes and had a great conversation with our landlords. She "schooled" me on German culture and their school systems. She actually said she wanted to home school her children for the first 2-3 years but wasn't able. Their school system, too, is set up vastly differently than ours. It's NOT free, for one thing. They have to pay for all books, which can be upwards of $500 per year, per child. They also pay heavy taxes, so don't think they get it easy there. They have 3 school systems...the "D" student system for kids who just need the basic education...the "B" student system for kids who MAY go to college, but more than likely will do a trade...and the "A,B" student system, which they call "Gymnasium," which is, according to Melanie, "for extremely intelligent kids who must go to college." Their "Gymnasium" school, though, requires that the student be self-taught to a great extent, and they have very strict grading standards. If you're athletic but not smart, they don't want you. Athletes are not prized over here...smart people are. Dogs are allowed in restaurants. They brought theirs in to meet us. His name is Lucky and he was a terrier mix, kind of like Frazier's dog (Jack Russel, but this one had German Shep. coloring). When you pointed your finger at him like a gun, pulled your imaginary trigger and made a shooting noise, he played dead. Very cute...lots of laughs.When we move in, Salina and Lucas are going to take our kids out to the woods and show them around. My American Mommy bells are saying "NOOOO" but I told Joe that I'm letting them go. Maybe I'll send Garmin with them. You know, our GPS. Salina is quite a trickster. I'd hate for her to think "Let's leave the Americans in the woods and let them find their own way home." She would do that without malice, not understanding that my brilliant home school children can't tell direction when it's cloudy outside. Maybe I'll send some bread with them. Eventually I'm going to have to cut some apron strings. I was told by another American that it's hard to go back to the States once you've been here a while because things concerning children are so different. You can't send your kids out in the woods in America without wondering who is lurking. Here, if you do something to a child...well if they can arrest you for home schooling, imagine what they do if you intentionally hurt a child.

Snow Days in Germany

2008-04-07T23:10:00.000-07:00

When we woke up this morning and opened our windows, this is what we saw. No wonder this move was so difficult and I had so many pieces of luggage! Thanks for the warning that those of you who have been to Germany told us.
"It never snowed at all while I was in Germany."
"It snowed a couple of times, but it never stuck."
"It snowed one day on July 3rd, but that's not normal."
"It only snows in North Germany, up in the mountains."
"Ramstein hasn't seen snow in 3 years."
HA HA HA Joke's on me, right?
Fortunately, a friend of a friend let us know that it was snowing the week before we got here. That's why I had 7,856 pieces of luggage. I had to prepare for Texas winters, which are notoriously cold in the morning and around 75 in the afternoon...Florida winter, where it is a rainy 42 one day and is 82 the next...and Germany, which we had NO CLUE was going to be like this in April.
Questions home schooled children ask (I'm sure all children do, but it's more fun to make fun of my "poor" home schooled children) and the answers I gave them:
"Can I eat it?" Only if it's white. Please don't eat yellow snow.
"If I made a cup out of snow and pour water in it, will the water be really cold?" Josh, the cup would melt because the water is warmer than the snow.
"Can I make a snow angel?" Make sure you do it in a grassy area. If you "snow angel" the snow away on top of mud, you'll be laying in mud.
"Can I throw this at you?" Yes, but don't start something you can't finish.
"Can I throw this at Daddy." Absolutely! Let me help you make it bigger and firmer...we probably shouldn't aim at his head.
"If it's snowing in a Northwest direction with a wind velocity of 20 knots, how long will it take the snow to go from that cloud that is 1000 feet high to me?" Ummmm, if any of my kids really asked that question, I would NOT be home schooling. They'd be in some Mensa class so they could come home and teach ME.
I drove for the first time today. Yes, I know, what an induction. It's snowing hard enough that visibility is poor, I'm slightly nervous because a German lady beat up our car last week, and TODAY is the day for Mommy to drive. I usually have great conversations with my kids in the car, but today I told them they had to be absolutely silent. They were. They're perfect, after all.

Church

2008-04-07T23:09:00.000-07:00

We went to Faith Baptist Church today. The people were very friendly and the kids enjoyed their classes. A couple had us over for lunch afterwards. They have 4 girls. The 2 older ones are Caylea and Chloe's ages, and their 3rd is a tom-boy, so she and Josh got along pretty well. After lunch we went on a traditional "family" walk with them. We walked around their mountainous neighborhood into the side of the mountain where there was a play ground with lots of bugs for chloe and Moriah to pester. Joshua and Lydia took off up the side of the mountain, which was okay since there are no leaves on the trees yet and we could see them. We took a different path back that took us through more woods and before we knew it, it was hailing. It wasn't large, by any means. It was what we Texans call "sleet." The kids thought it was snowing since it was white, but we explained to them that snow doesn't hurt when it hits your head. The funny thing is, I just bought a winter jacket that is water proof, but I took the hood off because it was tangling my hair. By the time we got home I looked like a drowned rat, but it sure was fun. The kids ran with their tongues hanging out (and no one bit their tongue, which is a plus). We've been told that Germans walk no matter the weather, adn that we should get used to that as well. We should purchase rain gear and just enjoy it. It was cold, but if we can manage to keep dry, we'll be fine. I was GENTLY reminded that the hood was there for a reason, so I put it back on once we got home. :)

Sprechenze Deutsch?

2008-04-07T23:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I've learned a few colloquial phrases that I THOUGHT I was pronouncing correctly. I wondered why eyebrows kept being raised, but you all know me well enough to know that I just keep on keeping on until someone turns me by the shoulders and points me another way. So, I've been saying, "My name is Tori," except in German, of course, and getting those weird looks. One landlord today FINALLY corrected me and I didn't even feel sheepish. I just said, "Thank you," and moved right along. (My shoulders turn easily.) You should see my Amer-Asian husband speaking German. It's pretty funny, and my kids just follow along like ducks in a row, repeating every incorrect thing I say. They're so perfect. :) We think we have found our house in a great location...plenty of trees to climb, cows come right up to the back fence, and the streets are quiet enough for the kids to ride bikes. Now if they'll just lower their price...seriously. Renting is SUPER expensive. Thank goodness for Uncle Sam! He's my favorite Uncle. Sorry, Uncle Steve. We did all of this with the help of our Lieutenant, Luke Romans (his Dad is a pastor, hee hee hee), one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, and he was born in the 80s. We also went out on our own using a wonderful tool called GPS that we purchased. We wonder why we never bought this instrument before. We feel like the commercial where the guy says, "I love you Tom-Tom" or something like that, and his GPS system says, "Turn left here" and the guy says, "Yeah, you're right. We should keep this professional." I can't tell you how many times we said, "I love you, Garmin." That's our system's name. It, too, said, "Turn left here," in response to our amorous feelings. I'm grateful that something on this planet butchers the German language even more than I do. You should hear a computer pronounce "Kaiserslautern." Don't ask me. I'm from Texas and I just say it how I spray it. I figure if I put enough "Oomph-ah" into it, making it sound like I'm coughing up last year's lungs, it'll be more believable. Please keep the house situation in your prayers. It's not final until we sign a contract (and verbal contracts ARE binding, so you have to be very careful.) Oh, and all of the houses are multi-level, meaning 2 or 3 stories because they have no room to build horizontally. They don't want to take up their farm land (Cows up to the back fence was no joke). My legs will be beautiful in 4 years. One of the houses was so close to the pasture, it smelled like cow manure. The > kids all said, "Ewwww," and I actually liked it. It smelled like home, which is gross, I know. The things that bring back fond memories... Let me know if these lengthy emails get on your nerves and I'll permanently cut you out of my "blog" list. It won't hurt my feelings. (Shoulders turn easily, remember?) I'm just having fun, the kids are having fun, and we're so tired we don't know our left from our right, but even that has been much better today. By tomorrow we'll be mostly adjusted, at least to the time. I don't know if a person like myself can every truly be well-adjusted.

Arriving in Germany

2008-04-07T22:54:00.000-07:00

We made it to Germany!!!
We arrived at the airport after driving through downtown Atlanta, which was recently hit by a tornado. It looked awful, but the roads were all clear. I never ever ever ever want to live in a city that big!
One of our bags was overweight, so I had to rearrange things, but we got them all on the plane without losing any bags, without running over anyone, and without losing our children. That's always an accomplishment in itself. We got on the plane after many tears with Joe's family. The kids were so excited! We were waiting to taxi away when my kids' "Please come visit me, Ms. Flight Attendant" bell and light came on. I told the kids to settle down and quit pushing buttons because they were thoroughly enjoying the wide variety of music channels on their newly found ear phones and sleep masks. The flight attendant came over, we apologized, and she went on. Well, the light went on...and the bell went on and on and on. So, I had the kids sit very still for a minute, after she came and turned it off the second time. A few seconds later..."Dong...dong...dong." So, the problem wasn't the kids. The call button continued malfunctioning for the entire 8 1/2 hour flight, but everyone on the plane knew that it wasn't my perfect children pushing the buttons, so I felt much better. she gave them cookies to make up for the obnoxious bell. They were happy. The flight was fun. The kids squealed on take-off with their hands raised in the air. It was the first plane ride that Josh remembers, although he had one at 2, and Chloe barely remembered hers at 4, so they loved the take-off. They took turns stealing my window seat. We took turns waiting in line for the bathroom. They all got very excited about their choice of beverage and meal, and then we settled in to get a few hours of shut eye. Well, they did. Joe got around 2 hours, Joshua got around 3 1/2, Caylea got 1 1/2, and Chloe, bless her little heart, got just under 2. She just couldn't get comfortable. Her skin is dry enough as it is, and the plane compounded that. I ended up giving her a Benadryl to keep her from ripping her own skin off, then put her in my lap. We were seated at the bulk-head, so we had no one in front of us. I was able to prop my legs up and make myself into a human recliner. That lasted long enough to get her asleep and break my back, plus permanently numb my ankles, and then I handed her off to Joe, where she slept a little while longer. Caylea, by the way, was on the floor. That's the blessing of the bulk-head. By the time they were all settled we only had 2 hours of flying time left, so I decided to catch myself a little shut-eye. Don't flight attendants know not to wake you up when you're asleep? No, they do not. 15 minutes after my eyes closed, I opened them for "breakfast." We got to see London from 30,000 feet at night, which was PHENOMENAL, and the moon looks so cool from up high. Joshua now most assuredly knows that Mommy was right about clouds. You can NOT walk on them. The plane was above them and he thought it was the coolest white ocean he had ever seen...then the plane was IN the cloud and he thought it was scary, and then we were BELOW the clouds. His constant wish is to walk on a cloud. That has been permanently debunked, at least until God tells him it's okay. Now he'll just have to be happy parachuting through one when he's old enough to know better but still too young to care.
We arrived with our 7,856 pieces of luggage and they all arrived safely! Our shuttle, however, was not there for us, but the young Lieutenant who has been
our "sponsor" met us at the airport and figured out where the guy was, so we were on the autobahn within an hour of landing. It's just as scary as you think it would be, and the lanes are much more narrow. My legs got a great work-out from all of the braking I was doing on behalf of our driver. Fortunately he couldn't see me panicking and he wasn't panicked at all, so all was well. We stared at the German countryside which is covered in vineyards, surprise, surprise, surprise. The houses are very different and the trees are all slanted. Apparently they get a lot of wind here. I counted 4 McDonald's.
We got to our hotel, which the LT had arranged for us to get into immediately upon arrival and discovered that our room was NOT ready. We had to go to the BX and walk around for 3 hours, which doesn't sound terrible, but when you've had 0 sleep in 24 hours and your children have had less than 6 hours total between the three of them, it makes walking difficult. My shoes grew led soles. My children are perfect, though, and never once did they gripe or complain. In all seriousness, they didn't. I'm sure they'll make up for it later. Finally our room was ready and we got in and settled. We took a 2 hour nap and forced ourselves to get up and get going for dinner here, which was lunch to our bellies. We're 6 hours ahead of Eastern time and 7 hours ahead of central, so it won't be too difficult to adjust.
It's now almost 8pm here and we're all ready for bed again, so that's good. Speaking of my perfect children, as I sit here typing, they are walking like elephants on the third floor of our hotel and laughing so loud you'd think they had never laughed. Apparently Joshua just stepped on Chloe's head. See? They're PERFECT.
So, we're safe, we're settled, and we begin our house hunt as soon as we take our driver's exam, which is at 715am Monday. My goal is to out-score Joe. Any opportunity to beat him at something just makes my day.
We love you all and hope to hear from you soon! I have no idea when we'll have a phone, but email all you want.