Contented Journey

2010-09-11T22:53:00.000-05:00

EXCUSE THIS HOUSE

Some houses try to hide the fact
that children shelter there.
Ours boasts of it quite openly,
The signs are everywhere----

For smears are on the windows
Little smudges on the doors;
I should apologize, I guess
For the toys strewn on the floor

But I sat down with the children
and we played and laughed and read;
And if the doorbell doesn't shine,
Their eyes will shine instead.

For when at times I'm forced to choose
The one job or the other----
I want to be a housewife,
But first I'll be a Mother.

- Author Unknown

2010-09-11T22:51:00.000-05:00

Rules of the Toddler

1. If I like it, it's mine.

2. If it's in my hand, it's mine.

3. If I can take it from you, it's mine.

4. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.

5. If it's mine, it must never appear to be yours.

6. If I think it's mine, it's mine.

7. If you are playing with it and you put it down,

it’s mine.

8. If it's broken, it's yours.

(Author Unknown, but brilliant!)

Trust Him Today!

2010-09-01T16:01:00.000-05:00

Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
Lean not on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall DIRECT YOUR PATHS.

~Proverbs 3:5-6

Mother's Day, Today and Every Day

2010-05-09T15:30:00.000-05:00

Today, my sweet children and dear husband celebrated me. They made me feel special! I wish Mother's Day was every day, not just today!

I love being a mother. I have had many "real jobs," but none has offered the job satisfaction that mothering does. I have the freedom to stay home all day, head to the park for a picnic, take a walk, or go to a museum. I get paid with smiles, hugs, kisses, and laughs. I may not always get to sleep through the night, but I can take an afternoon nap snuggled up with a small child. I only have a short time to "mother" my children. They grow up so quickly and become licensed drivers. Someday, there will be time for me to pursue a career if I choose to. Right now, I am pursuing time with my children. I can't make them be little again... I only have today. Tomorrow, they'll be bigger. Tomorrow, they'll have grown up and moved away to start a family of their own. I will cherish today. I will cherish the gifts that God has given me!
This is what my mother did. She was my example. She is walking streets of gold today, but I know that when I was little, she put off cleaning the house in favor of reading a book to me, or playing catch with my brother. There was a time for everything. I am thankful for the time she gave to me.
Let's give our children what they want the most... time together.

And if you are a mother, I wish you a truly Happy Mother's Day!

2010-04-01T10:45:00.002-05:00

Children hear what you say....
but believe what you do.

Heard it today and thought it was so true!

For this is Right

2010-03-30T23:07:00.000-05:00

I recently finished reading "For the Children's Sake" by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay. This book, along with Elizabeth Foss's "Real Learning" are my two favorite how-to homeschool books. Both ladies have a Charlotte Mason perspective. I love how Charlotte encourages mothers to let the children play freely, as much as possible to go outside. She believed (and I do too) that children obey best when their lives are as satisfying as possible. Macaulay wrote a short check list of what would be included in a satisfying childhood: interesting things to think about, learning new skills, enjoying loving relationships with family members and friends, encouraged to be creative, hours to spend in free play.
When children are at home all day, it is easier for the child to have these freedoms, and to learn that it is ok to make mistakes, and to understand there are consequences for their wrong choices.
Teaching children to obey is the first habit a mother needs to work on with her child. We should tell them the reason for all obedience:
"For this is right." Sometimes this simple explanation is all a child requires. A lengthy, boring lecture is too much to take in, but the short reminder sticks in their mind more easily. We can help our children do what is right, giving them tasks that are easy, but which gradually get harder. Many times a mother's hardest job is to teach the child that he can choose to do what he doesn't always feel like doing. This is hard because it reflects on us mothers as well. I have to make dinner and clean up afterwards even when I don't feel like doing it! But these routines of life form important habits for our children. They are always watching us.... May we inspire them to do what is right!

Healthy Habits

2010-03-27T19:33:00.002-05:00

Tip #3

Well, this one was a long time coming. Good things come to those who wait, right?

I like to use SPINACH instead of iceburg lettuce....
Chop it fine and use it on tacos.
Mix it with Romaine when making a salad.
Put it on your sandwiches.

This is my favorite salad. Try it!

Apple Spinach Salad

for the dressing, whisk together till smooth:
1/3 cup mayonnaise
4 tsp white vinegar
5 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp celery salt
1/4 tsp pepper

In a salad bowl combine 4 cups fresh spinach and 1 unpeeled sliced red apple. Drizzle with salad dressing and toss to coat. Makes 4 servings

Eat your greens-- They're good for ya!
Smarter brain, better eyesight, iron for energy.... declares "World's Healthiest Foods."

Healthy Habits

2009-01-24T19:40:00.002-06:00

Tip #2

We like to substitute plain organic yogurt for sour cream. I wanted to get more yogurt in our diets and one way to do it was to buy the big 32 oz. containers (we like the Stonyfield Farm brand) and use it whenever we would have used sour cream. Since Clara was old enough to sit up and eat I have given her yogurt in a bowl, sometimes sweetening it a little bit, or adding sprinkles (it looks like a dessert then!), or stirring in her favorite cereal for some added crunch and texture. I like to stir in slivered almonds, frozen blueberries, and a sprinkling of brown sugar to a bowl of plain yogurt. The vanilla flavored yogurt is also awesome, but it doesn't substitute well for sour cream because it is sweet!

Here's my favorite pancake recipe:

YOGURT PANCAKES

2 eggs beaten
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup milk or soymilk
1 1/2 cups self rising flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. flax seed meal (optional)

To the beaten eggs, stir in the yogurt. Slowly add the milk. Add the rest of the ingredients. It is ok for batter to be slightly lumpy.

I cook these in my cast iron skillet. Butter the skillet and measure about 2 tbsp batter for each pancake. I can get 4 in my large skillet. Turn over when the edges are lightly browned and the pancake is puffed up a little. (These pancakes are moister than regular pancakes.)

Serve pancakes with pure maple syrup!

Healthy Habits

2009-01-05T18:51:00.003-06:00

Tip #1

Get soymilk into your diet! Its easy to do. We like Kikkoman Pearl Organic Soymilk, which is sold in aseptic cartons that keep fresh without refrigeration until opened. I keep them in my pantry and substitute soymilk for milk in recipes and no one ever knows it. We also like the chocolate soymilk-- its great when you have that urge for chocolate! And the Creamy Vanilla flavor is great for adding to oatmeal, pancake batter and anything else you might add vanilla or milk to.
Soymilk is as high in calcium, Vitamins A and D as whole milk, is low in saturated fat, is cholesterol free and high in protein. (Soy protein may help reduce the risk of heart disease.) And it's just convenient to have on hand for those times when you run out of milk unexpectedly!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-18T11:46:00.004-06:00

Ten days ago we moved into base housing. I have unpacked every box and almost have all the pictures up on the new walls. It has been an exhausting week but we are happy in our new home. That will be our last move until Danny retires from the Marine Corps, which is only a little more than a year away!

Well, I have suitcases to get packed for lots of little people around here. And tonight we're going to load up on hot chocolate and drive around town to see Christmas lights. It's a wonderful time of year to be together with those you love. Hope you're enjoying it!

The Girls

2008-11-06T09:50:00.003-06:00

Well, Linnea is growing and changing more every day. She is not the same little newborn we brought home. She smiles and coos, has filled out and is as pretty as ever. When she was around 2 weeks old she developed a "strawberry" over her left eye. We'll see if our pediatrician recommends doing anything with it at her next checkup. It is starting to be puffy enough that her eyelid droops a little over her eye when she is awake. I have read that if a strawberry interferes with vision, they might recommend treatment. She is now 7 weeks old.

Clara will be 3 next month on the 4th.

We're all doing quite well, though I do not find much time for keeping up with my blog these days!

She's Here!

2008-09-17T12:28:00.005-05:00

We are happy to announce the birth of our daughter....

Linnea Valerie
(pronounced "Lin-nay-uh")
Born on her due date, Sept. 14 at 7:38 AM at Birth and Women's Center in Dallas

Here she is right after birth, bright eyed, beautiful, and alert!

Our midwife weighs her and finds that she is 7 lbs. 6 oz, and 20 inches long - just right!

Big sister is very excited to finally hold her own little baby!

Proud Mama and Papa

Her wonderful big brothers being helpful after the bath

Welcome to our family, little one! We love you!

Picture Day

2008-09-10T17:36:00.005-05:00

Two weeks before the due date...and my midwife says I'm "all baby!"

Our three beautiful children, after we visited the Kimbell Art Museum and saw the Impressionist exhibit

Soon we'll be a family of six!

No Baby Yet...

2008-09-09T22:42:00.002-05:00

Baby is due on Sept. 14 and there is no sign of her making an entrance anytime soon. The countdown to a birth - day is a nerve wracking thing. We're excited though and are praying that God will bless this special day with joy, no complications, and a healthy little girl!

We recently watched The Business of Being Born. Have you seen it? (It is available from Netflix.) I thought it was informative and very well done.

Time for bed. Hope to get some sleep, but wouldn't mind waking up to some contractions!!!

Wow - Am I really updating my blog?!

2008-08-02T16:03:00.004-05:00

I don't know if anyone drops by my blog anymore since I haven't updated it in a LONG time. If you're wondering why I haven't written, you'll just have to keep wondering, because I don't really have an answer! But just to prove that we're still counted among the living, I'll update it now with these brief words and a few pictures.

My pregnancy is going well and we are all looking forward to the arrival of our second little girl in the middle of September. I can't wait to hold a newborn baby again! And I'm sure Clara will get her fair share of holding and kissing her little sister!

That's all for now!

A Dizzy Day

2008-04-27T18:17:00.003-05:00

This morning I stayed home while my family went to church. I felt normal when I woke up except that I was very hungry. Instead of eating though, I took a shower and got ready for church. I went downstairs, feeling weak and in a hurry to get some food to my stomach. But the food tasted funny and I could hardly eat. I stood up to make coffee so we could drink it on the way to church, but I started feeling dizzy and lightheaded. I hurried to the sofa and laid there awhile, puzzled about what was wrong. I still don't know what happened, other than I must have waited too long to eat!

While I was resting on the sofa and my family was at church, I picked up the book I've been reading, "Diary of a Midwife," by Juliana van Olphen-Fehr. It is an excellent book, and I could not put it down. Juliana tells many stories of the labors and births of her clients, and she shares candidly her experiences with hospital births. I know I could not be a midwife, though I find their work extremely interesting and valuable to the lives of childbearing women. I wish there were more of them and that the medical community would accept them for the professionals that they are.

I am feeling better now, though my stomach feels all tight and stretchy today. Maybe the baby is having a growth spurt! I took a nap when Clara slept and I haven't felt dizzy anymore. Just hungry and thirsty all the time. It is truly amazing how much food a pregnant woman can put away!

It's a Beautiful Place

2008-04-09T13:21:00.002-05:00

Birth and Women's Center in Dallas, Texas is at the top of my list of most beautiful places to have a baby. You should look at some of their pictures! It is an old home with wood floors that squeak when you walk across them, antique furniture, lovely black and white pictures of pregnant women and babies, and an old staircase. Embraced by a midwife who views each pregnancy as normal until proven otherwise, a woman can enter motherhood with peace and the knowledge that thousands of others have walked that path before her. Here, there were no sterile lobbies with padded blue chairs and coffee tables with magazines, and 30 expectant women waiting their alloted 3 minutes with the doctor. There was no glass window with a busy secretary hollering your name behind it. Pregnancy and birth are beautiful, and so should be the place where she hears the heartbeat of her little one, and where she works to bring that little one from her womb and into her arms.

In the pictures of the Exam room, you can see the patterns on the wall. Before I went there, I didn't realize what those patterns were, but it turns out those are actual footprints of babies that have been born at the center! It is amazing to see all those little prints walking on the walls. Their names and birth weight are listed next to their footprints. Siblings who were not born at the center are encouraged to put their thumbprints next to the baby's footprints, so that sometimes there is a nice little row representing a whole family that used the birth center. It is one of those special touches that you just won't find at any hospital.

I am thrilled that we are going there for my prenatal appointments and for the birth of our baby!

A Chemical Feast

2008-03-31T12:55:00.003-05:00

Ethel Renwick, in her book "Let's Try Real Food," tells us that the food industry's use of additives is not in the interest of the nation's nutritional needs, but for increased sales and profits to themselves. Synthetic chemicals are much cheaper substitutes for flavors and colors than real fruits and vegetables, and that the profit of synthetic foods made from chemicals is enormous.

Additives lengthen shelf life, they make processed food taste and look better, they prevent spoiling and even mask deterioration. Companies producing food would rather add vitamins to low-grade food than help malnourished people get better jobs so they can buy more nutritious food. Additives allow a manufacturer to put LESS of the natural ingredient into their product. Dr. Carlton Fredericks explains that the vast majority of food additives have no counterpart in nature, therefore are not automatically compatible with the body. The U.S. permits any number of additives in our foods which are banned in Europe.

What surprises me the most is the source from which these additives are made. Of the 2,764 classifications of food additives, 1,876 are derived from coal-tar. The same dyes that are used for clothing are also used in food. Dr. Feingold gave examples of what is involved in making imitation flavors. Artificial pineapple flavor takes 17 compounds, and imitation coffee flavor takes from 200-300! These additives are not real food at all! Why not eat pure food... REAL FOOD?

It certainly has become a habit, one we don't even think about when we roam the grocery store aisles, to pick up a box of artificially flavored pudding, or a box of sugary cereal, which might contain between 30%-50% sugar. These cereals should be labeled "imitation cereal" and should be sold in the candy aisle!!! I was shocked to learn that peanut butter (the hydrogenated version), which we generally think of as wholesome and nutritious, is actually 22% Crisco! Chemists went to work on peanut butter, adding emulsifiers to keep the oil mixed throughout, then they added sugar to make it sweet to please the crowd of sugar-cravers they had created, and finally the hydrogenated oil to make it spread easily. A lady by the name of Mrs. Desmond describes it as "peanut flavored cold cream!" She suggests that if the industry wanted to make a product with less than 90% peanuts, it should be called Peanut-flavored cream" or something like that. She actually won her case, so that now peanut butter has to contain at least 90% peanuts. As part of our avoidance of products containing hydrogenated oils, we made the switch to 100% natural peanut butter (yep, the kind you have to stir first and store in the fridge.)

This book was written in 1973, and at that time it was estimated we were eating 10 pounds of additives other than sugar, salt, corn syrup, and dextrose. I wonder what that figure actually is today?

An Easter Photo

2008-03-29T15:40:00.004-05:00

Clara loved the little marshmallow bunnies I made for our table's centerpiece! She held this one for a long time and played with it, then she finally started to nibble his ears, and before long... he was all gone!

Make your own Salad Dressings

2008-03-26T11:20:00.004-05:00

Since we got back to the U.S. I have been reading a lot of books about food and nutrition, such as:

Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About by Kevin Trudeau
More Natural Cures Revealed by Kevin Trudeau
Let's Try Real Food by Ethel H. Renwick
Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld (a cookbook)
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
The Non Toxic Home by Debra Lynn Dadd
Prescription for Nutritional Healing

The common theme that runs through these books is that it is better to make it yourself than buy it pre-made from the store. Any convenience food from the grocery store is likely to be filled with additives, food dyes, chemicals, hydrogenated oils or fats, extra sugar and salt and generally have very little nutritional value. We pay the food industry to remove good nutrients, then we pay them to return a fraction of the vitamins and minerals they removed, and then we pay them for the chemicals they put in to fool us in one way or another. There are some products I stopped buying completely after I realized just how imitation they were (like Cool Whip and non-dairy creamer for coffee.) I began to read the list of ingredients and if it contained artificial colors, hyrdrogenated oils, or high fructose corn syrup, I put it back on the shelf. These three ingredients are a tell-tale sign that the product is mostly junk. The nutrition that might have been there before processing was stripped away, then they added their numerous chemical concoctions to make it smell good, look good, and taste good and then they targeted children with their advertising to convince Mom it was worth buying. It is no wonder America is unhealthy. We feed our bodies a constant diet of junk food (either from fast food restaurants or the junk in the grocery store) and we hardly think twice about it.

One of the easiest things to make in your kitchen is your own salad dressing. I started doing this after realizing how many complex chemicals and artificial ingredients were in store bought salad dressing. You can find salad dressings now that are more natural and made without additives, but I am really enjoying the flavors and ease of making my own dressing. Here are a few of our family's favorites....

Balsamic Vinaigrette

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. brown sugar (may not be necessary depending on the quality of the vinegar)
1 tbsp. chopped garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup olive oil

Place all ingredients in a screw top jar and shake to combine. Taste and adjust the seasonings. (I actually cut this recipe in half for our family of 5.)

Honey Mustard Dressing

In small bowl, whisk all ingredients together:
1 cup plain yogurt
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
honey to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Greek Salad Dressing

Place 3 tbsp. olive oil, 1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice, 1 clove minced garlic, 1/4 tsp. sea salt, 1/2 tsp. dried oregano, 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper in a small jar with screw-top lid and shake to combine.

Easy Dressing

Whisk 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil with the juice of 1 lemon. Pour over salad greens and toss till coated. Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt.

More about homemade cleaners

2008-03-20T09:53:00.005-05:00

Go ahead and skip the ammonia that was listed as an ingredient in the homemade cleaners. It is a very volatile chemical with fumes that irritate eyes and lungs and is especially harmful to anyone with respiratory problems. All of the vinegar cleaner recipes work fine without the added ammonia.

Commercial cleaning products are among the most hazardous products you will find in your home. They contain chemicals that are toxic, corrosive, flammable, radioactive or act as irritants. The Consumer Product Safety Commission focuses only on the immediate effects a product can have, but ignore the possibility that they can have devastating effects over time. And that's how we are exposed to cleaning products... over time, daily, for years... and we forget they may be dangerous to us!

Non toxic cleaning can be done with very few ingredients, which are simple and inexpensive. For example, Clara decided to try out her artistic side with crayons on my tan colored footstool that goes with the glider rocker. Very pretty! I poured a bit of vinegar in a bowl, added some lemon juice to it, then scrubbed the crayon marks with a dish cloth. The crayon marks came out and the footstool was restored to its previous non-artsy look!

Surprise!

2008-03-18T21:36:00.002-05:00

We're having another baby!

I guess there is something about September, since this baby is due then, and 3 of our family members (the boys and I) already celebrate birthdays in that month. Kinda crazy, but that's ok.

I have not been troubled with morning sickness with this pregnancy. How nice it is to wake up in the morning and not have to eat crackers before I can get out of bed!

Clara will love having her own little baby to hold. She loves her dolls and stuffed animals and cares for them with such affection and tenderness, carrying them with her as she goes about her business, even changing their diapers! I love to see the nurturing side of little girls, so different from the "conquering hero" side of my boys!

Make Your Own Cleaners!

2008-03-06T11:03:00.004-06:00

I bought a big 'ol jug of white vinegar and have been using these recipes to make my own cleaners. They don't just work, they work WELL! And think of the money you can save by not having to buy those expensive cleaners in the store! My main reason for switching to a vinegar based cleaner was to begin the process of getting toxic chemicals out of our house. You might think that all you will smell is vinegar after you use these cleaners, but the amount of vinegar is relatively small and we barely notice a vinegar odor, if at all.

Mirror Cleaner
This recipe calls for ammonia, but I have had wonderful success using only the vinegar and water.

Mix together 1 tbsp. vinegar, 3 tbsp. household ammonia and 2 cups water. Pour into a spray bottle. After washing the mirror, wipe dry with a paper towel.

Wood Cleaner
We are using this in place of dusting spray and I really like the results. It is good for routine cleaning of wood paneling, doors, furniture, and cupboards. It is not a spray.

Mix together 1 quart warm water, 1 tsp. vinegar, and 1 tsp. olive oil. (I actually whisk this to get it all mixed up.)
Dip a soft cloth into the mixture and wring it out. Use this cloth to wipe the wood surface. Polish with a soft, dry cloth.

All Purpose Cleaner
This formula works for all sorts of general cleaning chores. Put it in a spray bottle and it's ready to clean when you are.

Mix together:
1/4 cup household ammonia
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 tbsp. cup baking soda
4 cups water

Floor Cleaner
I use this on our ceramic tile and linoleum and it leaves the floor clean and sparkling!

Use about 1/2 cup white vinegar to 1/2 bucket of warm water.

(SAFETY NOTE: Remember to never mix bleach with household ammonia because it creates a toxic gas. Even ammonia by itself can be toxic if you breathe it so make sure you have good ventilation when you do use it.)

It's All Done

2008-02-20T16:20:00.003-06:00

As you have probably guessed, due to my non-blogging status lately, we have been busy opening boxes, putting stuff away, throwing things out, hanging pictures on the wall and generally trying to make our house a home. We finally got all our shipments (hooray!) and have everything in its place (pretty much.)

Now it's time to go back to living life. It is fun to be normal again!

As for blogging, I'll have to see if my interest in it picks back up. Lately, I just haven't been on the computer much. Just checking email and occasionally looking at other blogs. But I guess I don't have the urge to write or read much now. If I remember correctly, this usually happens after we move, and once we really feel settled and at home here, I'll probably be back to my old blogging self!

Our Last Croatian Outing

2008-01-27T21:58:00.000-06:00

We are SO FAR away from Croatia now that sometimes I can't believe we were really there!

Our last "field trip" before we moved was to visit a Christmas tree farm about an hour away from Zagreb, in a region known as Turopolje. This area of Croatia is the place where the exterior shots of Fiddler on the Roof were filmed many years ago!
We didn't get a tree since we were moving before Christmas, but we did want to go on the trip and see some more of the beautiful Croatian countryside. (But if the truth be told, the real reason we wanted to go was to enjoy a pig roast at this restored 200 year old farmhouse!)

We also stopped to see this historical Turopolje church (see photo below). I don't remember much of what was said about this particular church. It was a cold and rainy day and I was very disappointed that we couldn't go inside!

One of the greatest treasures of the Turopolje region are its wooden churches and chapels. It is believed that this way of building started already in the Middle Ages and became more and more common in the years of Ottoman invasion and destruction. It was common in the 17th century to replace former churches (made from brick) with wooden structures. These churches and chapels are certainly most precious examples of traditional folk architecture. Only five wooden sacral buildings have been preserved till today.

A Blonde Moment

2008-01-26T22:35:00.000-06:00

Apparently, it has been awhile since I have mentioned on my blog WHERE we moved to when we left Croatia....

Well, I won't keep you in suspense any longer.

I won't give out my exact location, but we live in the northern part of the state... in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

We love Texas! I'm rather fond of saying, "We aren't from Texas, but we got here as fast as we could!"

I can't live in CHAOS.....

2008-01-24T16:00:00.000-06:00

But I have to for awhile!!

This move has been one of the most frustrating for us yet. We lived in a furnished home in Croatia, so all of our furniture was put into storage. We were expecting 2 shipments from Croatia... the first was our express shipment, a small collection of everything that is necessary when you first arrive in an empty house. The second shipment was everything else. The third shipment is all our furniture coming out of storage in Virginia. So logically, we assumed our express would arrive first. Lo and behold, we received our second shipment of "everything else" first. A week later, past its estimated date of arrival, came our so-called "express shipment." And now we are waiting for shipment number 3... the furniture. Alas, the moving companies are conspiring against us and would have us wait until every last shred of sanity has vanished before delivering our much desired furniture items.... things like a refrigerator, washer, dryer, couches, beds, dressers, kitchen table and so forth. I never would have thought that everything we had in Croatia would arrive here quicker than all our furniture, which is in storage in the U.S.

If I owned a semi truck, I'd run out there and get it myself. But I don't, so I must wait. If the Lord wanted to teach me patience, this was a wonderful way to do it.

So this is me, being patient.
AAAAARRRRRgggggghhhhhh.....

Merry Christmas

2007-12-14T05:59:00.000-06:00

from us....

to you!!!

I'm posting our Christmas greeting a little earlier than I'd like to, but we're moving in a couple days and I don't foresee being able to blog for awhile! It will be wonderful to enter the U.S. again and see our country, our home, our families, our friends. I'm at that point now that my stomach aches from excitement (and sometimes nerves!) I'd like to get the journey out of the way and just be home again. But I don't want to wish away my life - we have to go on the journey before we can get there!

We would really appreciate your prayers for us as we travel during this busy Christmas season, especially for safety as we may be dealing with snowy/icy weather!

Have a beautiful, blessed Christmas! Or as they say here in Croatia.....

Sretan Božic i uspješna Nova godina!

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
Luke 2:11-14

Yummy Lollipops

2007-12-06T03:45:00.000-06:00

As I was thinking about interesting things for Clara to play with on our long, boring flight from Paris to Atlanta, I remembered the lollipop she had during Halloween. She loved that sucker and it kept her quiet for quite awhile! But I hated to give her candy that was artificially colored and flavored, so I searched the internet for alternatives. What I found was the company called Yummy Earth!

Two fathers got together and invented organic lollipops and candy because they wanted to give their own children candy that wasn't colored by using chemicals or flavored artificially. They actually color their candy using ingredients like real purple carrots or red cabbage! (But don't worry - you won't taste any carrot or cabbage flavor in the lollipop!) They also use real fruit extracts which gives their candy a very intense flavor. We just received our lollipop order yesterday and all of us are quite impressed with each of the four lollipop flavors. They are really delicious!

While we had to order ours online, their website suggests purchasing their products at places like your local health food or gourmet shop, Whole Foods, Toys R Us, Vitamin Shoppe, or Party City.

Sure, it's still candy, but children do love candy.... and if we are going to allow them to eat candy, it should be as natural as possible, using ingredients that you might find in your own kitchen, not a concoction of dangerous chemicals! You might think I've gone off the deep end, but I think we have to be more concerned than ever about the artificial ingredients that are being added to our foods. I think we have to read the labels, and do our own research, being vigilant about the foods we prepare for our families. The processed junk that is being marketed to us today is a far cry from the real food our ancestors ate. It is hard to eat well when we are surrounded by junk! The junk is always cheaper and more readily available, too. So we have to work at it, knowing that nothing is ever easy. In the end it will pay off, because we will have raised our children to enjoy healthy foods!

Clara is 2!

2007-12-04T04:31:00.000-06:00

Two years ago today, God blessed us with a little girl, bringing us so much joy. She continues to bring much joy and laughter to our family today!

It's fun to be 2 because...

She pulls off the top part of our bed posts and sings into it like it is a microphone while dancing on our bed.

She sits on a barstool in the kitchen beside me while I cook and she helps stir, add ingredients, and most importantly clean the spoons and beaters (by licking them of course.)

She likes to give hugs and kisses. But one of her favorite expressions of love is to come up close to your face and give you a lick. If she licks one person, she has to go around to other family members and also bless them with a lick.

She helps unload the dishwasher by standing on the door and handing me glasses, plates, bowls and silverware for me to put away. Then she helps load the dishwasher with the dirty dishes too.

She says many words....
this
that
gone
banky
bed
brush teeth
daddy
mama
her brother's names
book
dog
cat
bye
diaper
floor
and many more too numerous to mention...

She has "the look" for anyone who dares to cross her path when she's feeling a little cranky, and a scream to go with it.

She loves to play with the doll I had as a child, whom I named Jenny. She says "Denny" though.

We are so thankful that God brought Clara into our lives just when He did. We can't imagine our lives without her now!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CLARA! We love you!

Boxes + Piles + Luggage = Moving

2007-11-26T13:57:00.000-06:00

Well, the movers come tomorrow and Wednesday to pack us all up! We're about as ready as we can be for this, our 12th move since we have been married. (Several of those moves were house to house in the same city, like moving on base, or like we did here, having to be at one house for the first 6 weeks before the other one was availalbe!) I can't wait for the packing to be all over with and the boxes out of here because that is much better than living with the piles I have all over the place now. Piles of stuff to go in the express shipment, piles of stuff that can't be packed because it belongs to the house, 10 pieces of luggage lined up in the family room, and lists a mile long to help me remember all those things I used to forget when we moved!

We'll be in Croatia several more weeks and then home to Missouri for Christmas! After Christmas, we'll head down south to our new home....

TEXAS!!!

Penkala.... a Famous Croat

2007-11-20T09:25:00.000-06:00

I heard something the other day that surprised me... The inventor of the pen was from Croatia!

Slavoljub Eduard Penkala was actually born in Slovakia, but immigrated to Croatia with his wife and family to Zagreb, and became a naturalized Croat.

He became famous for inventing the mechanical pencil (then called an automatic pencil) in 1906 and the first solid ink fountain pen in 1907. Indeed, the name of "pen" is derived from his family name, and the name of "penkala" is also in use today for the chemical pen.

Collaborating with Edmund Moster, he started the Penkala-Moster Company and built a pen-and-pencil factory that was one of the biggest in the world at the time. This company, now called TOZ-Penkala, still exists today. TOZ stands for "Tvornica olovaka Zagreb," which means "Zagreb pencil factory."

I like a good, smooth flowing pen (especially the color blue!) and I've always preferred a mechanical pencil over the regular kind. I especially like using mechanical pencils in church, when I'm taking sermon notes. However, it doesn't matter if I use a pencil or a pen, my handwriting has definitely taken a turn for the worse in the past few years, probably because I'm out of practice. Depending on computers and word processing programs has meant that I just don't use my hand for writing like I used to. It's kind of sad, really. Handwriting is so personal, and a type-written page is certainly not!

We leave Croatia next month, but I think we better squeeze in a field trip to the Zagreb pencil factory before we go!

Celebrating 232 years....

2007-11-11T13:50:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday, Marines!

Last night we celebrated the Marine Corps Birthday here in Croatia.

The Marine Corps Birthday Ball is a wonderful evening... a delicious 4 course meal, a cake cutting ceremony, and of course, dancing!

A Natural Birth

2007-11-01T14:46:00.000-05:00

In this post, I want to share with you Clara's Birth Story. I actually wrote it not long after Clara was born, but I never posted it on my blog. It was published in Samantha's current issue of her zine, Eclectic Domestic. Now that Clara is nearly 2 years old, I figure it is probably time to share our story!!
Maybe someone out there reading this is pregnant, hoping to have a natural childbirth, and wondering if it is really possible. I'm here to tell you my answer to that question... YES!!! Read on.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

When I was expecting my third child, I didn’t think too much about labor and delivery. That is, not until I began my sixth month of pregnancy and was positively consumed with thoughts about our upcoming birth. Both of my boys were born after I had decided to have an epidural. With my first, I literally felt no pain and had to be coached through the whole birth process. I was like putty in the doctor’s hands. I had no control over anything and I thought nothing of it. I accepted my son’s birth in the hospital with an O.B. as the normal way to have a baby.

Two years later, son number two came along, and nearly exactly the same thing happened in the delivery room. They “turned off” the epidural toward the end and I felt more of the birth, more of the pain. Once again, I accepted this as the normal birth process of an American woman and questioned nothing.

The third time around, things were different. I had just lost my mother to breast cancer during the early weeks of my pregnancy and spent the first and some of the second trimester wrapped up in the grief and pain of her loss. I was worried about how my emotions might be affecting my unborn baby, but I felt at a loss to do anything about it. My doctor told me that if I had been in my last trimester, the grief process might have triggered contractions, but that was the only complication to worry about. I made sure to eat well and rest came easy since my eyes were usually weary from crying. Grief is so powerful. It swept me along in a state of numbness for weeks. I wept often. I was depressed and unable to be happy about my pregnancy, which would make me feel guilty for not being happy about our baby. I remember washing dishes one evening and wishing that my phone would ring, just one more time. Oh, how I wanted to speak to my mother and hear her voice and treasure the things she would say to me. I added my tears to the dirty dishwater.

It seemed that every thought in my head had some connection with my mom. If I saw flowers, I thought of her and how she loved gardening. In my kitchen there is a recipe box that she made for me out of plastic canvas. Inside are handwritten recipes she gave to me when I got married. Every room in my house contained something she had touched… a crocheted blanket she made for me, washcloths that she knitted, books she gave me, a picture on the wall of our family, and the list could go on and on. She was all around me, yet she was nowhere to be found. Until my dad dropped his local phone service, I used to call when I knew he wasn’t home just so I could listen to my mom’s voice on the answering machine.

I just could not seem to focus on the reality of having a baby. My heart was still in pieces because I knew my mom would never even meet this child. There was just enough time for me to tell her we were expecting a baby. She passed away before we found out it was a girl. Knowing that I was carrying a girl brought both joy, and sorrow. Joy, because I was thrilled to know that someday I could have a mother-daughter relationship like the one I’d had with my mom, but sorrow that my little girl wouldn’t be able to sit in her grandma’s lap, or make cookies with her, or wear something that Grandma made for her.

Finally, my head began to surface from the fog and I began to think about our baby more. I started to feel the grief slowly ebbing from me, and the anticipation of holding a baby in my arms growing. One day during my sixth month, while my husband and I were outside on a walk, I said something like, “I wonder if I could get through labor without an epidural…” He was doubtful. I began researching epidurals. I read articles on the internet and in my baby books. At first, what I was really looking for was validation that epidurals had been proven to be safe. I hoped they had been made safer somehow since the last time I’d had one, more than 10 years ago.

What I found was far from that. The more I dug into the topic, the more I found the dark side of the epidural drug. And the more I found out about epidurals, the less I wanted one. I wondered how in the world I would get through labor without drugs. One thought kept coming back to me…. “Why have I spent my whole pregnancy avoiding every drug, only to have a large dose of it shot through my whole body during the very last stages of my pregnancy?” Why were pregnant women told over and over by their doctors that the medicine in an epidural does not reach the baby, when in fact, it does?

I went to the library looking for childbirth books. By far, the book that encouraged me the most was “Husband Coached Childbirth” by Robert Bradley, the author of the Bradley method of natural childbirth. I started to see my body in a different light. I was a capable woman, made by God to conceive, to carry a child, to give birth to a child, to nurture that child with milk from my body. This in fact, is God’s design for the woman. I realized that I was doubting God’s perfect and natural design for me, when I should have been confident in my body’s ability to give birth naturally.

I shared what I was learning with my husband. He was so supportive that he read Husband Coached Childbirth and attended a Bradley class with me. We were not able to attend the full 8 week course because he was taking a college class the same night the childbirth classes were going. Instead, we took a full day crash course on a Saturday. Since we had been through childbirth twice before, it was a good review for us, but also gave us the information we needed to understand how a natural birth is different from a medicated one. I felt like I was armed with all the knowledge I needed to get me through the pain. I also had the comfort of knowing that my husband was prepared and would be able to encourage me through labor without bringing up the E-word.

During my last trimester, I found myself seriously considering switching doctors. The Bradley instructor knew of one doctor in our area who was all for the natural birth method. Unfortunately, she didn’t take our insurance. I had been searching the Yellow Pages for midwives, but I was only able to locate a place called Birth Care, which was a freestanding birth center staffed by 5 midwives. I toyed with the idea of switching over to them, but I was unhappy about the hour long drive to get to them in the southern D.C. area. I was sure that was too far to travel while in labor, not to mention that accidents and back-ups could cause terrible delays. How horrible to think of being in labor while stuck in a traffic jam!

At my next prenatal checkup with the O.B. office, I asked the questions that were most bothering me about a hospital birth. On the top of my list was the routine IV. I respected the doctor’s advice, since they are the experts, yet I also wanted some control and freedom. The doctor I was examined by that day was not friendly to the idea of a natural birth. In fact, he said he would insist I have an IV (not the heparin lock), said that epidurals DO NOT reach the baby, and wondered if I was trying to be some kind of “supermom” for trying to go through labor without drugs.

I also interviewed a labor-delivery nurse friend who went to our church. She knew of some Bradley moms who, in her words, “became epidural moms,” and tried to brush it off as “no big deal.” To me, though, it was a very big deal. I didn’t want all the interventions. I didn’t want to be hooked up to an IV for no reason, then told I could not eat or drink, then confined to bed, then in need of pitocin because contractions might not be regular or quick enough for my doctor’s busy schedule, then have to be monitored, finally needing drugs because there was nothing left for me to do to deal with the pain on my own. I didn’t want to be left in a hospital room, with nurses running in and out and asking if I was ready for my epidural. I didn’t want to be coached to hold my breath for 10 seconds while pushing. I didn’t want the doctor to cut me, because that is the “procedure.” But most of all, I didn’t want them to take my baby away for 2 hours to the nursery just because it is hospital procedure for all newborns, to be exposed to other germs, to be without me in a strange, sterile, harshly lit room full of other crying babies, and away from me, whom she had always been close to since the day of her conception.

That is why I left the 5 O.B. doctors for 5 midwives. Boy, what a difference a midwife makes. This will sound like an exaggeration, but it is the truth. In the O.B. office for a prenatal checkup, I felt like a number on a page, something on the doctor’s to do list, to get it over with as quickly as possible, hurried along like military men waiting in line for a buzz cut. At Birth Care, I was treated in a gentle, caring, way by women who specialize in the natural process of birth. Their slogan is “Birth is a natural process, not a medical procedure.” They took their time with me, they got to know me, they asked me questions which required me to think, rather than the “check yes or no” format my O.B. used.

I wanted to feel the power within my body that it takes to birth a baby. Labor is not a sprint, it is a marathon. I knew I would have rest periods between contractions. Those rest periods were truly a break from the pain. I was surprised by that. In between contractions, I was happy, smiling, and coping. When the pains started, they hurt, and the further along I got, the more they hurt. But what a peaceful time my husband and I had during those breaks, to share our thoughts about the upcoming birth, about finally meeting our first little girl. During the hardest part of my labor, but before the pushing stage, I labored in a Jacuzzi. The midwife never checked me to see how far I was dilated, but I knew that she could tell based on how I was acting. The water in the Jacuzzi was comforting and helped me to relax. I noticed that after I got out, it was much harder work to concentrate and relax, but I could tell that I needed to get out and rest on the bed.

There were many times that I felt unsure of what was happening in my body. I felt like I was in labor for the very first time. The transition stage was short, but incredibly painful. I felt like I was distancing myself from everyone in the room as I curled up into a ball and squeezed my friend’s hand while the pain shot through my body. Even when those pains were over, I couldn’t open my eyes or think about anything else. Before I knew it, the next one was upon me, and with them the urge to push. I didn’t talk or scream or curse. I growled and groaned during those contractions. It helped to give a voice to what I was feeling. It wasn’t something I thought about at the time, but those sounds came from somewhere within and did their part in helping my baby to be born.

Unlike the pain that is caused by sickness or injury, labor pain has a purpose. My husband helped me through the transition phase by reassuring me and encouraging me to relax my body. It was so hard to relax, knowing another pain would be coming soon. I knew however that by tensing my body the pains would be harder and the labor might take longer. I needed my husband’s calmness close to me and his gentle reminders to breathe, to let go of the tension, to concentrate. I was also greatly blessed to have a dear friend there to help me. Laura held my hand during the hardest part of labor and was a great encouragement to me, during my pregnancy when I was deciding to have a natural childbirth and during labor.

After nine hours of active labor and thirty minutes of pushing, our 7 lb. 6 oz. daughter arrived, with the help of her daddy. It was a glorious moment! She was placed skin to skin on my chest with warm blankets on top of her. My husband commented that she wasn’t crying, and the midwife and birth assistant exclaimed, “With a beautiful birth like that, what is there to cry about!” She was a tiny, pink, alert bundle of joy, and we were overjoyed by her presence. My husband and I toasted each other with a cold glass of orange juice. Boy, did that taste good! Our birth assistant brought us plates of hot food, which I had brought to the birth center to share with everyone during our stay. We were all together in the birth room for the next three hours or so, until we were doing well enough that we could travel home to rest. My relatives were astounded by the fact that I went home the same day as she was born. But I was more than ready to go home. I felt like a million dollars. I could walk just fine because I did not have an episiotomy or any tears.

I had made it through my labor without any interventions, other than the birth assistant checking the baby’s heart rate frequently. I learned that birth is truly a natural process, and that it can be done without a lot of unnecessary medical interventions. I had a healthy, uncomplicated pregnancy and with the supervision of my midwife, had a totally natural birth. I will do it that way all over again if the Lord should bless me with any more children.

When my mother left us for her heavenly home, I felt like a sponge, with tiny holes all over my body. Mother used to fill those holes with her love for me, with her hugs, with her smiles, her laughter, her sympathetic ear, her way of saying “Chin up, Marla.” Without her encouragement, I felt incomplete. I once heard it explained as an “underlying sense of something missing.” I will never stop missing my mom. But I am learning how to exist without her. The Lord in His perfect timing, gave me the best gift of all, a precious daughter. She of course, cannot take the place of my mother, but she is beginning to fill up some of those holes.

I believe that God causes all things to work together for good, to those who are called according to His purpose. Yes, the pain of grief can swallow you up and make you wish you were dead too, but when you come to a place where the darkness isn’t quite so dark as it used to be, you can look up and see a clear sky, with a brightly shining star. The star brings hope and peace, and soon, it will bring joy. God was with me through my journey of grief, and He is bringing good out of my sorrow. Her name is Clara, which means ‘clear and bright.’ And she is my shining star.

Another Marla

2007-10-29T03:41:00.000-05:00

Have you ever Googled your first name? I hadn't until today.

Meet Marla Olmstead, 4 year old abstract artist from New York who has been painting since she was 2! Maybe you've already seen her and her amazing artwork on TV (the Today Show, CBS Sunday Morning, 60 Minutes II and others)... Check out the website, where you can watch 3 short video clips of her in action.

This one is called Flowers Growing in Outer Space. It is my favorite!

Candy, the Natural Way

2007-10-26T07:37:00.000-05:00

Yellow #5, Red 40 or Blue No. 2?
These are too scary for me and you!

These are the names for the colorings added to candy and other foods. As another holiday approaches in which many children get bags and bags of candy loaded with unnatural ingredients that range from chemical dyes, to imitation flavorings, to straight sugar, it may be high time to make a little change that could make a big difference!

Synthetic food dyes are the most likely suspects when it comes to triggering behavior problems in children. For decades allergists have reported that food dyes can trigger reactions like hives and swelling in sensitive people. The American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Drugs has found that they can cause respiratory problems. Researchers in the United States, Canada, England and Australia have shown that these dyes can bring about many behavior problems, even when children eat only a small amount.

Food dyes are not new - they have actually been around for well over 100 years. They were originally made from coal tar oil, but now are synthesized from petroleum! In past generations, children were not eating foods with these artificial dyes on a regular basis, and their foods came in more natural forms than today. Many of their candies were made with chocolate and pure vanilla (instead of the fake form of it commonly used today, known as "vanillin.") They had candy treats only at special times of the year. When they went to school, they were not offered soft drinks and junk food. They didn't get up in the morning and start the day with a sugary, red or green cereal, or blue toothpaste, or imitation "juice drinks." No processed, chemically treated prepackaged lunch in a box from the store for them!

I saw this list of natural candy possibilities on Feingold's website: (when we get back to the U.S. I want to try some of these!)

Pearson's Mints (available at many WalMart stores)
Valomilk Cups (sold at Cracker Barrel restaurants)
Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Squares with White Mint Filling (found at Kmart, Target and WalMart)
Mary Jane Peanut Butter Kisses
Canel's Milk Lollipops
Linette peanut butter cups are available at WalMart
Joby & Marty's Amazing All Natural Pearlies: Dark Chocolate, Marvelous Mint Filled Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, Peanut Butter Filled Milk Chocolate
For fruit candy, find Florida's Natural Au'some Fruit Juice String & Au'some Fruit Juice Nuggets: Strawberry, Blueberry, Apple/Cranberry, and Orange.

Also try visiting the natural foods section of your supermarket, a health food store, or healthy market (Whole Foods, Wild Oats, etc.)

For your own homemade goodies, these are some wacky tips I came across in an email, also from the Feingold Association:

* Use baby food carrots (or pureed cooked carrots) in your cake icing instead of other liquid to make a pretty orange color for cupcake frosting, etc.
* Use concentrated no-pulp orange juice to make a delicious yellow frosting. You might have to adjust the amount of liquid called for to get the right texture.
* And if you need pink coloring, the easiest way is to open a can of sliced beets and use the beet juice! (Eat the beets in your next salad or as a side dish at dinner.) Supposedly, after you add all the sugar and vanilla flavor, nobody will ever suspect a beet ever came near your cake icing!

The Family

2007-10-23T13:07:00.000-05:00

Awhile back, I grabbed this book, The Public Orphanage, from my bookshelf (published in 1995) and started flipping through it. I had read it years ago, but now I am shocked by it all over again.

(available for purchase here)

On the very first page is a most interesting paragraph.

Probably the biggest and most subtle shift in discussions about the family came in the last two decades. During that time educators and policymakers began to refer to families instead of the family. They became more sensitive to the diversity of family configurations.

and...

To make people feel better, the trend is to define a family as just about any configuration of people living together who care for one another. We've solved the problem of broken families by declaring that no family is broken, just different.

The Public Orphanage describes the many ways that schools are attempting to become the new American family. It used to be that children helped to boost the family income and then would help to care for their parents in old age. But as fathers increasingly began to work away from the home, children were no longer contributors to their family's business. Today, many women have entered the work force, divorce has increased, and the old version of "The family" has withered away into nostalgia. Children have become a burden. Or so we are led to believe.

With such problems in the family, the school has become the answer for all of our needs. It "cares for children, all day, from birth (daycare to preschool to Kindergarten) to school age, and after school every day until parents return from work, and in some cases, all summer. Those who say they are "pro family" now are probably thinking that these schools should be for everyone. What that boils down to is a full-service school (including breakfast, since parents are too harried to even feed their kids in the morning) which allows "field trips" home in the evenings and weekends. In other words, a "public orphanage."

Instead of looking for ways to bring the family back to front and center and suport it, it too often has unburdened parents from their responsibilities.

It is hard to believe, isn't it. How much more government intervention can we take? I've had enough. This is one of the many reasons my children are at home. They don't need a government nanny when they've got Mom and Dad. Even if you still want to keep your kids in school, this is a great book to read, to help you be aware of the myriad of government programs and its experiments on our children and our schools.

I pray that the parents of today will wake up and once again realize the blessing God has given us - our children. They are OUR responsibility. Not the government's!

Hidden in Their Hearts

2007-10-04T12:10:00.000-05:00

Today, my boys recited a whole Psalm to me. What a treasure they have in their hearts now.

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
8 Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire.
10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.
11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

They have been working on this Psalm since we started school about a month ago. Two days a week they alternately copied parts of the psalm and also wrote it from dictation. At the end of each week, they would recite the verses they had learned that week, along with the previous ones, until this week, when it culminated in the recitation of the whole psalm. They surprised themselves, thinking it an impossible task, but realizing that little by little it really wasn't that hard!

Here Comes Autumn

2007-09-18T04:50:00.000-05:00

Today is a cool, rainy, autumn-like day. It brought out some creative energy in me, which looks like this on paper....

(the words are from a poem... "big boughs that arch, small ones that bend and blow, and all those fringy leaves that flutter so.)

Back to School

2007-09-17T04:38:00.001-05:00

We're back in the swing of the school routine. I'm so glad I found a better way to plan each day's work. Instead of my week to week plan that I used last year, I plan a week's worth of work, then label the days as Day 1, Day 2, and so on. Then if we happen to need a day off, or someone is sick or something, it doesn't throw off my whole schedule! (There is an example of Day 14 below.)

The boys are doing the Lord of the Rings Literary Lessons this year. I have joined them in the study and I'm really liking it. I love to read but I have always had poor comprehension skills. Trying to answer the who, what and why questions was a challenge for me when I was a kid. I remember thinking "why would they ask that question, isn't it obvious?" Of course it might be obvious, but I was missing the point. I couldn't tell back what happened in my own words, or else I was just too lazy. I think narrating will help my boys avoid this problem. Being able to read a passage, then tell back in their own words what they read is the best way to retain what they read. Today, the skill of narration has been replaced by workbooks and oral lectures. Narrating challenges and strengthens the mind, teaching the child to attend to what they read, to remember it, to visualize it, to comprehend it, to articulate it.

This is what the boys will be working on today:

Day 14:
Bible Reading: John 14
Devotional Reading: 15 min. (~N~ is reading "More than a Carpenter" and ~D~ is reading "Adam and His Kin")
Math: N-Lesson 11, D-Lesson 12
Grammar: Simply Grammar Lesson 6 (orally with Mom)
Lord of the Rings: Read LOTR p. 121-131 and Lit Lessons 48-50
Dictation/Copywork: D: Psalm 46:3-6
Land of Fair Play: Mom Reads p. 35,36,39,40
Current Events: read daily newspaper (write in own words several headlines of the week)
Spanish Songs: Learn Song (listen to, sing with, memorize)
History Reading: ~D~In Freedom’s Cause, ~N~Rolf and Viking Bow - Narrate to Mom
Art in Story: Mom will read out loud

Two evenings per week, plus Sunday afternoons, we are working through the Bluedorn's logic book "The Fallacy Detective," as a family. It is a great book! I didn't learn much logic when I went to school (if any!), so I am thankful for this opportunity to discuss it now with my children. One of my favorite things about being a homeschool family is just that... I have the chance to re-educate myself!

The Famous Old City of PULA

2007-09-08T10:17:00.000-05:00

Awhile back, I posted pictures from our trip to Venice. In order to get to Venice, we traveled to Pula, Croatia, and it was from there that we took a ferry across the Adriatic Sea. Pula is known to be the oldest town on the Eastern Adriatic coast. At about 40 BC Pula became a Roman colony. Around 1331, the Venetians took over Pula. Between the 13th and 14th centuries there was a plague and more destruction suffered during wars. The city rapidly declined. During the 15th century it still had a population of 5,000, but by the following century it had declined to a mere 1,000. The Venetians carried away everything they could from the city - marble columns, tiles, mosaics. Pula came to be known as the "city of corpses" or the "city of the dead." It was probably while in this state that Dante came to know it and mentioned it (Pola) in his "Divine Comedy." For 3 centuries the death rate was higher than the birth rate. By 1631, Pula only had 300 inhabitants.

Pula is now famous for its Roman Arena, dating from the period of Augustus
(31BC -14AD) and it is the sixth largest remaining amphitheatre in the world. It is remarkably well-preserved and in better condition than the one in Verona. I have read that it is said to be the most magnificent structure of its kind in the world, after the Coliseum in Rome.

The Temple of Augustus stands on what is now the Republic Square. It was dedicated to Emperor Augustus and was built between the year 2 BC and the death of Augustus in AD 14.

The Triumphal Arch of the Sergii was built between 29 and 27 BC in honor of the three Sergii (Sergius Lepidus, Gaius Lucius Sergius and Gneius Sergius) who held high military and civil offices in the Empire. When the city gates were demolished in 1826 and 1829, the arch remained standing alone. It is only decorated on the city side.

Pula is a colorful city.... a beautiful part of the Istrian coast of Croatia.

Ice Cream in a Bag

2007-08-21T08:55:00.000-05:00

Yep, that's right. You can make your own ice cream in a plastic baggy in about 5 minutes. It's cheap, fun, and easy. Ready to try it?!

Place inside a sandwich size ziploc bag:

1/2 cup whole milk
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Close it tightly. Insert this bag into a larger Ziploc bag that is filled with ice and 1 tsp. salt. Set your timer for 5 minutes and shake vigorously (share the fun - let the kiddos burn off some of that energy by shaking the baggy!) If your hands get cold, put on some oven mitts. Or if you live in Texas, just step outside for this part. :-)

Grab a spoon and eat the ice cream from the bag!

One bag is a decent serving size... enough for me anyway.

(I first saw this recipe on the Regis and Kathy Lee Live show,
a long, long time ago.)

Bye Bye Baby

2007-08-14T09:04:00.001-05:00

Baby Kitty, that is. We found a loving home for our little orphan kitten. We figure he's about 8 weeks old this week, and is quite the playful feline. He has pounced on, bit, and slashed my poor ankles almost everyday. I have a myriad of scratch marks all over my hands and arms, feet and calves, where he's attacked me with great intensity, sometimes surprising me while I sat at the computer, unsuspecting and unprepared for his vicious assaults.

But right now, while we wait for his new mommy to show up, he is sweetly nursing the fringes of my Americana blanket on the couch. He's oh-so-cute! Then he wakes up.

Bye-bye, you little viper.
Bye-bye, you sweet little kitty.

Clara, the boys, and I will miss you!

What am I to do?
I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good work, therefore, any kindness, or any service I can render to any soul of man or animal, let me do it now. Let me not neglect or defer it, for I shall not pass this way again!

~ an old Quaker saying

Hard to Believe....

2007-08-03T07:11:00.000-05:00

....but last week, I was actually in the city of Venice.

Country girl like me, who imagined she would someday marry a farmer and always stay in the state of Missouri her whole life, never dreamed that she would see such faraway fantasy places like Venice... but now, with a sparkle in her eye, she can say that yes, she truly has seen this fantabulous place, and she has the pictures to prove it!

The truly expansive St. Mark's Square, with the Basilica to the left, the bell tower standing majestically in front, and US, (gasp) in the middle of it all.

At one point, the pigeons all stirred and I thought I had been swept away to Hitchcock's world.

Our lovely tour guide walked with us through the maze of streets, marching us over the wooden Accademia Bridge, and on towards St. Marks' Square. On the way, we passed these impressive gondolas. Gondolas, by the way, are very unique vessels. They are not symmetrical, as their left side is larger then the right side by 24 cm. It always navigates inclined to one side. A gondola also has a flat bottom, which allows it to cross depths of as little as a few centimeters. Eight different types of wood are used in its construction and it is composed of 280 pieces. They are always painted black.

Part of our ferry ride to Venice included the chance to purchase substantially discounted tickets for a gondola ride, and not wanting to pass up such a once in a lifetime opportunity, we of course took advantage of it. I never in my wildest dreams imagined myself on a gondola in Venice, swigging champagne from a cup, with my family surrounding me, and the handsome gondolier (though shockingly headless in this photo) navigating us through the canals with such expertise and precision.

Do you think he'll soon forget such a boat ride? I hope not.

To our surprise, UPS is alive and well in the canals of Venice. See for yourself.

The carnival masks were decidedly expensive, and thinking they wouldn't fit well in my Americana decorating scheme, I passed them up and chose to take pictures of them instead. Crazy I suppose, but I was so grateful to be in Venice, to see the amazing sights, to have the gondola ride, that I didn't mind leaving the masks right where they were.

New Blogger Out There

2007-07-18T07:13:00.000-05:00

My son, ~D~, has joined Blogdom and invites you to check him out at Myscape. He's a big Runescape fan and likes to write about the online game and also makes up his own awesome stories!!

Looking for Baby Name Ideas?

2007-07-16T12:42:00.000-05:00

I got some for ya...

While I was flipping through my local phone directory, I came across some, um, well, very interesting Croatian names. It's fun to try and trick your tongue into saying these words. Of course, many of these names have little accent marks over certain letters, like the S, C, and Z, which would give you sounds like sh, ch, sz, and so on.

How many times do you think a Croatian has introduced himself/herself to me, and a puzzled look crosses my face as I realize I have never in my life heard their name before? Uh, how do you spell that? Can you say that again please?

For a boy, you could try:
Goran
Igor
Franjo (the j sounds like y, as in yellow)
Domagoj
Darko
Tomislav
Nenad
Sasa (sounds like Sasha, this is a man's name here in Croatia)
Josip (this would be Joseph)
Srdan
Radovan
Mladen
Bozidar (nicknamed Bozo)
Slavo
Hrvoje
Slobodan Kosak
Borko

And for the girls...
Dragica (sounds like Drahgitsa)
Nada
Olga
Ivana
Jadranka
Valentina
Petra
Visnja
Zdenka
Dijana (might be similar to our Diana?)

Huh? I have no clue...
Neven
Ozren
Nela
Dalibor
Spomenka
Goga
Slavica

A Kitten Story

2007-07-16T05:14:00.000-05:00

Have you read Laura's kitten story yet? She's got a cutie over there. We have a similar story to tell -- it must be kitten season?!

The boys brought home a tiny orphaned kitten last week. When I opened the front door, ~N~ was holding a little black bundle close to his chest, and began to make a case for his immediate adoption into our family. He said he had talked to a lady about the kitten and its mother, who apparently was not taking care of it and the poor thing sure looked like he'd been abandoned. His left eye was matted shut and I wasn't altogether sure there was even an eye under all the nasty mess. He was lethargic and loaded with fleas.

I called a vet, who actually makes house calls but he couldn't come until the next morning. He told me the kitten was about 3 weeks old and gave us all kinds of medicine and vitamins and told us where to buy kitten milk and a bottle for it. Yes, we're bottle feeding the little guy every few hours.

After being treated for fleas and having a few bottles, we saw a definite change in his behavior. His eyes began to clear up and he has started to be playful. When he found the bathroom rug, he thought he had found his mama. He tries to nurse the rug and is so comforted by it that he lays there and falls asleep.

The boys named him Turbo. I don't think we can keep him though. Moving at the end of this year back to the U.S. will be complicated enough the way it is. I'm hoping we will be able to nurse the little guy back to good health, wean him, litterbox train him, and then find him a good Croatian home where he can stay and live with his people.... Sounds good on paper, but I don't know if it will work in real life.

Ready to Learn

2007-07-09T04:10:00.000-05:00

I stayed up late last night reading Charlotte Mason's writings on Ambleside. This site has really helped me to formulate my plan for this year's educational goals. And this passage really stood out to me. I like Miss Mason's way of thinking....

Children need more individualized education than current trends allow for. Childrens' minds and bodies are already ready to learn and don't need methodical preparation (Kindergarten is this philosophy packaged in an institutionalized method: preparing children to learn); they are designed to learn and just need guidance and the right environment to do what they were made for. Education is much, much more than a method of preparing children to learn--it is life itself, and 'bringing up' is a more accurate way to view it. And parents are more than modellers, they are inspirers.

Understanding what education is, and what our goal is, enables us to choose a method to get from point A to point B. Understanding that children have minds ready to learn prompts us to forget rigid methods and instead, impart ideas (concepts) that will spark childrens' minds. One idea can light a fire in someone that propels them to action for the rest of their lives. Our job as educators is to expose our children to vital, living ideas that may stir their imaginations and inspire them to noble lives and heroic deeds. Not all ideas are tangibly perceived; some may be a mere yearning or appetite for something vague and unseen that draws one to something higher (as in Longfellow's poem Excelsior.) Surrounding children with kindness and cooperation may not present an "aha!" moment to a child, but will become part of his environment with every breath and become an unperceived standard inside him drawing him to more of the same. This should make us think twice about losing control in front of our children in a fit of anger or impatience.

-from Charlotte Mason series, Vol. 2, Parents and Children

Preserving Memories

2007-07-02T08:21:00.000-05:00

Here's a great quote by Edith Schaeffer, from her book What is a Family?:

What is a family meant to be?

Among other things, I personally have always felt it is meant to be a museum of memories - collections of carefully preserved memories and a realization that day-by-day memories are being chosen for our museum.

Someone in the family needs to be conscious that memories are important, and that time can be made to have double value by recognizing that what is done today will be tomorrow's memory.

And so I am encouraged to catch up on preserving memories this summer during our break from the homeschool schedule. I have been making copies of home videos, both for my own video library and to send out to relatives. I have been writing handwritten letters to friends. I have been backing up pictures from my computer to a CD, just in case something horrible should happen to the computer. And I'm going through these same photos and having the good ones printed and put into photo albums. I wish I were the scrapbook type, but I'm not. I'm happy with having the date on them, having them in an album in which people can actually look through, and sometimes a short description next to a picture in those albums that have such a place.

My other summer project includes making a school portfolio for each of the boys that summarizes their schoolwork for the year. This is a task I will enjoy once I get started, but I'm not very excited about doing it. I'd rather just toss it all into a box and label it with child's name, grade and the year! Done. But that wouldn't be nearly so nice to look through as a handsome portfolio with all of dear son's best work in it.....

I realize the importance of memories and trying to preserve them. Sometimes it can seem so daunting that I don't know where to begin. But someone has wisely said "You start by starting." Sometimes it is simple, like hanging Baby's First Year (Or Second Year) Calendar on the wall in baby's room, and then writing in it when baby says a new word, or tries a new food and spits it out, or gives brother a kiss for the first time.

Whether it be quick and easy, or a bit of a hassle, I'm sure the effort of preserving these memories will be worth it. Priceless, in fact.

A Spoon Lickin' Good Time

2007-06-26T09:15:00.000-05:00

I remember when I was little and my mother would give me the spoon from the mixing bowl and let me lick it. It is a joy to do things for my daughter now that my mother did for me way back when. I still like to lick the spoon myself, but now I have to share it with my children instead of my brother!

Eight Facts About Me

2007-06-15T05:18:00.000-05:00

Laura tagged me for this fun meme....

First, the rules: For this meme, each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. When I was a teenager I volunteered 3 summers at our local hospital as a candy striper. I wore a red and white striped uniform, which was actually a jumper with a white shirt underneath. I really enjoyed spending my summers there, making new friends and becoming familiar with the nurses and their jobs. They asked us to do all kinds of things. I remember making hospital beds, serving meals to patients, picking up trays, helping in medical records, and just running all sorts of errands for them and for other departments within the hospital.

2. All of my relatives are of the Mennonite religion. My parents left the church when I was in second grade. We visited a small Presbyterian church for a few years during my childhood. After I married my husband, we attended Baptist churches in the various places we lived while moving around with the military.

3. My first car was a 1973 Monte Carlo.

It looked just like this one, but it was a darker green. I loved it.

4. I would have liked it if my mother had homeschooled me. She would have had time to teach me how to keep a garden, to knit and crochet, to sew dresses for myself, and to learn the process of canning the fresh garden produce. Maybe I never would have rebelled as a teenager. What I learned in school was to hate how I looked (too skinny, too white, too many freckles, too dumb, etc. etc. ) I learned to hide inside myself, not to let anyone know what I truly thought, for fear of being made fun of. Even today in group settings, I am likely to be very quiet, just listening to the conversation around me. Still too worried to speak my mind in case people might disagree with me or laugh at me.

5. I attended Central Missouri State University for one year, intending to get a legal secretary degree. I wasn't really interested in that job, though. Looking back, I have absolutely no idea why I ever picked that profession. What I really wanted was to be a wife and mother, and I was able to pursue that ambition when I met my future husband after that first year of college. I met him the weekend after he joined the Marines. I continued to work the first couple years of our marriage and quit to be a stay at home mom about a month before our first son was born. I have never wished to be back at work again. I find that my job at home is so much more fulfilling than any paying job I could have.

6. I love the smell of coffee brewing, the taste of it, the idea of sitting with a cup of it in one hand and a book in the other while I sit outside on my patio in the morning. Or sharing a cup with my Dad before he goes to work when I am home visiting him. Or sharing one with a friend at a coffee shop that has comfy chairs, art on the walls, and books everywhere. Or a cup in my hand while we are driving on long road trips. You know what I mean. When is a cup of coffee ever a bad thing?
(Coffee in Europe is so much better than coffee in the U.S. It is much stronger and is usually always made with an espresso machine, never a coffee pot.)

7. I like to have an organized house. I don't mind so much if there is a little dust on the shelf, or crumbs on the floor, or the bathroom isn't spotless. But I do like to see my desk uncluttered, my kitchen counter clean and free of junk, toys in their place when they aren't being played with, and my bedroom picked up so that it can be a place of refuge when I need it.

8. Sometimes I wish we could go back in time, so that my boys would not have the temptation of computer games, video games, radio, t.v., Gameboys, etc. The influence of all these techno gadgets cannot be good for them. We limit all of it in our house, but it still has a pull on them. Especially since we live in the city now and the great outdoors isn't so accesible. I long to see them outside all day long, climbing trees, riding bikes, throwing rocks in a pond, swimming, playing outdoor games with friends, like they used to do when we lived in Virginia. Cooped up in a townhouse with no yard is no way to raise little boys.

I don't think I'll be tagging eight people to do this meme.... if you want to do it, please do. And let me know about it!

A New Baby

2007-06-10T14:48:00.000-05:00

My friend's baby was born on Friday... a healthy, beautiful little girl! Actually, she's a big girl, weighing 4 kilograms, which is around 9 lbs! Mother and baby are doing fine. We stopped by to visit with the new papa at his house the day she was born and he already had pictures and a video to show us. He has only seen the pictures that his wife has taken of the baby, and the short video he had of the baby when they showed her to him behind the nursery window glass. I saw the room that the mother has been staying in, which is a small room with 4 beds. You walk through the room, which has the beds lined up next to the wall lengthwise, and there is really only room for one person to walk between them. There is nothing in there except for the beds, and they are basic cot-type beds. There was a window at the end of the room. It looked like there was nothing on the walls, and only a few belongings for each person on their beds. It looked so very different from our hospitals in the U.S.

I am hoping to go visit her in the hospital this week, but I guess I won't get to see her baby. (If hubby doesn't get to, I'm pretty sure I won't get to!) And for some good news, she should be able to come home around Thursday! I haven't been able to talk to her yet, but I've sent her messages on her phone and left her voicemails. I'm sure she is busy with holding and loving that little baby! Thank you for praying for her.

Birth in Croatia

2007-06-07T09:36:00.000-05:00

Having a baby in Croatia is a medical procedure.... and then some.

I have a pregnant friend in the hospital, scheduled to deliver her baby by c-section tomorrow. Her husband will not be able to attend the birth, and he will not be able to hold the baby until both mother and baby go home from the hospital! She will be in ICU for 24 hours after the surgery. Though she wants to breastfeed, I'm feeling pretty sure that they will give her baby bottles and pacifiers, making it as difficult as possible to establish a nursing relationship. The hospital says they have rooming-in, but at night they will take the baby to the nursery. The saddest part of all though, is that the father will only see the baby as they hold it up for him through the nursery glass window after they announce baby's last name through a speaker.

The mother will be spending 10 days in the hospital to recover from the c-section. And the reason she is having a c-section is because she has asthma. She also found out she had gestational diabetes during the last 2 months, and has had to control it with insulin. (I don't know if a woman with asthma and GD in the U.S. would automatically be a c-section recipient - this is something I have wondered about....) Originally, when they diagnosed her with GD, they wanted to admit her to the hospital and keep her there until the baby was born. She checked herself out though and has done a wonderful job of tracking her blood sugar levels, eating carefully, resting, and taking her insulin. The doctor has harassed her and assured her that she was doing the worst thing for her baby, that her baby might die because she would not stay in the hospital. Finally, last week, the doctor refused to do a test that she needed unless she checked herself in to the hospital and would stay put for the rest of her pregnancy. It has been a trying time for this couple. The father is Croatian, but the mother is not.

I can't help but feel sad for this family, having their first child in such circumstances. I pray that they will somehow be able to bond with their precious daughter, despite the rigid hospital procedures, which sound so terrible to me. I know the doctors and nurses are only doing what they feel is best, and I am glad we have the technology and knowledge to care for these high-risk situations. I guess what disturbs me the most is the separation of the family, that a baby will not feel its father's loving arms or hear his soothing voice for so long.

If you would, please join me in praying for her.... and I'll keep reminding myself that nothing is impossible with God!

Clara's New Table

2007-06-06T09:03:00.000-05:00

We finally finished making a table for Clara! We've been working on it for probably 2 months! We bought the round wood table top at a store that is similiar to a Home Depot. The legs are actually plumbing tubes that are attached with caps onto the bottom of the table. They are easily removable and we can attach taller legs as Clara grows taller. Hubby did all the shopping, the labor of building it, priming it, and painting the blue sky and the yellow sun. He did a great job and I'm so thrilled to give Clara something that we created!

I did the detail work... the bees, the sun's expression, and painting the legs. One leg has Clara's name on it, entwined with a vine and flowers. The other three legs have a butterfly and a flower on them.
Here's a closeup of the table top:

The border says:
"God made the sun, God made the bee,
God made the flowers, And God made me!

And this picture was just too cute not to post....

Authors in our House

2007-06-01T07:23:00.000-05:00

Some time ago, a long, long, time ago, both my boys submitted articles for a book that was in the works. The book was to be a compilation of stories written by children who live overseas, with the purpose of helping other children who might be moving overseas for the first time.

We found out yesterday that the book has finally been published, and that even though there was an overwhelming response to the author's request for stories, both of my boys' stories made it into the book!

The book was published by a non-profit organization (Foreign Service Youth Foundation), therefore we won't be getting a complimentary copy of the book, but the book can be purchased by going to the FSYF web site, then clicking on the link "books." Sales of the book will rely on word of mouth, so I'm just passing on the news to you!

The Kids' Guide to Living Abroad would be a wonderful resource to help a child you know who is moving overseas.

So, dear boys of mine, I say "Congratulations!" (Lots of pats on the back...)
And Mom and Dad are so proud of you guys!

2007-05-29T09:55:00.000-05:00

I am a
Sunflower

What Flower
Are You?

What? A sunflower? Well, maybe....

More High Fructose Corn Syrup? No Thanks.

2007-05-29T08:50:00.000-05:00

In an effort to rid ourselves of products that contain High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), I've been making things from scratch. Before I learned about HFCS, I had occasionally made some things from scratch, like salad dressings, pancake syrup, or chocolate syrup, but never on a regular basis, as I'm now endeavoring to do.

HFCS is a carb that is not found in nature, but beverage companies and food processors heavily rely on it because it is cheap to produce. Sucrose (table sugar) is made from sugarcane or sugar beets, but high fructose corn syrup comes from corn. And since corn is subsidized by the government, there is never a shortage of corn. The main problem with HFCS is that the fructose and glucose are free and unbonded to each other, whereas the fructose and glucose in sucrose are linked by a chemical bond that is broken down by an enzyme in the lining of the small intestines. Corn syrup manufacturers say the body can't tell the difference, but many nutrition researchers are not convinced.

HFCS is more stable in solution than table sugar, which means a longer shelf life. Some researchers believe that HFCS increases blood fats (triglycerides) more than the same amount of table sugar does. It is also possible that a diet high in HFCS can impair the body's ability to use minerals properly, such as the depletion of calcium and phosporus when high fructose corn syrup sweetened drinks are consumed.

HFCS shows up in mostly junk foods and junk drinks, but it also can be found in some yogurts, breads, and other surprising foods that are considered healthy. HFCS may not trigger the same feelings of fullness that regular sugar does, because it doesn't trigger the release of the hormone leptin. HFCS may also increase a person's risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

So, in light of such evidence, I have been working on ways to reduce our family's consumption of high fructose corn syrup. The choices are to go without the HFCS product, or make it myself.

I actually dumped out half a bottle of Hershey's chocolate syrup when I read the ingredients list (but saved the bottle to put my own homemade syrup in!) The first, and main ingredient, on the syrup's label is High Fructose Corn Syrup.

After trying a few recipes, we decided we liked this one the best for its rich chocolate flavor and its dark color which is most like the store bought variety. It isn't quite as thick as the store bought kind, but that's probably due to the fact that it is missing HFCS!

Hershey's Chocolate Syrup
1/2 cup Hershey's cocoa
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
dash of salt

Combine cocoa, sugar and salt. Add water till smooth. Bring to boil for 5 minutes. (careful... it can easily boil over!)
Let cool. Add vanilla. Store in refrigerator. Shake before using.

We also have stopped buying Mrs. Butterworth and Aunt Jemima and Log Cabin pancake syrups. Instead we like to use 100% maple syrup, which is a little expensive, or we can make it quickly on the stove. I start the syrup cooking before I start making pancakes or waffles to give it time to thicken.

Pancake Syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
1 tsp. vanilla, or maple flavoring

Bring to boil, simmer about 10 minutes. Take off heat to cool and it will thicken slightly

Salad Dressing

1/3 cup mayo
4 tsp. white vinegar
4 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. celery salt
fresh ground pepper

Whisk together, let stand 10 minutes, whisk again until sugar is dissolved. We love this dressing on fresh spinach leaves and sliced red apples.

Not only is homemade healthier, it tastes better too!

For more information on High Fructose Corn Syrup, Read this.

Camping at the Coast

2007-05-29T07:31:00.001-05:00

We returned yesterday from a camping trip to Zadar, which is on the coast of Croatia. It was a short 3 day trip for the Memorial weekend. We pitched our tent within walking distance of the beach, under a canopy of pine trees. One of my favorite things about camping, tent camping in particular, is the sound of nature as I lay inside the tent. Birds singing and the wind gently blowing are two of the most awesome sounds I have ever heard. I felt so contented and at peace as Clara and I rested on the air mattress in the afternoon, listening to the breeze as it gently ruffled our tent, and the birds calling to one another above us.

When we got home, I was extremely thankful for the "luxuries" that a house provides. A bathroom, a kitchen, a refrigerator, a soft bed, air conditioning.... We found out when we arrived at the campground that there were no picnic tables provided. We had to do our cooking over our campstove squatting on the ground above it. There were no fire pits either, so no campfire could be made.

The day that we departed, we woke at 6 am to the sounds of rain pattering on our tent roof. And it lasted until 11:00, all through our pack-up procedure. It was a miserable experience, but quite common in our camping history, as ~D~ was prone to lament and remind us.

We drove through the interesting town of Zadar, which was actually conquered by the Romans at the end of the 3rd century BC. When the Roman Empire split, Zadar became the capital of Byzantine Dalmatia and retained this status until the end of WWI.
Zadar suffered badly in the break-up of former Yugoslavia. The city was shelled by Serbian forces from 1991 to 1993, cutting the city off from both Zagreb and the surrounding region. Much was destroyed and the city's safety remained precarious until the Yugoslav war ended in 1995.

But today, it is a beautiful, peaceful town.

I think it has taken longer for me to find Croatia's beauty. We lived in Sweden for 18 months and found it breathtaking nearly every day we were there. If you find the wildness of Alaska beautiful, you understand something of the beauty of Sweden. Sweden is unpolluted, and abounds with natural lakes, pine forests, and crisp, clean Nordic air. Even in the city of Stockholm, I had the feeling that the countryside was never far away.

Croatia has been much different, and due to those differences, harder for me to truly appreciate. I love it most when we are out of the city and I can see the lay of the land, instead of the concrete buildings or the city buses or the obnoxious mopeds. Our trip to the coast was a refreshing change of atmosphere. I know people are flocking by the thousands now to see the Croatian coast... it has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.

It surely is a beautiful place.

The Closed Castle

2007-05-18T14:52:00.000-05:00

Have you ever stuffed your family in the car, along with your out-of-town guests, and traveled through hill and dale to see a castle, only to find out when you get there that there is a huge crane in the front lawn and that the castle is closed due to renovations? No?? Well, that's what we did a couple weeks ago.

It was a beautiful sunny day and we were enjoying the Croatian countryside as we trekked through little villages on our way to Veliki Tabor. Suddenly, in the distance, on a hill far away, the castle came into view.....

As we got closer, I could see the crane jutting up in the air next to the castle, and wondered to myself, "Why is there a CRANE by the castle, for goodness sake?" That "Oh, no, something is wrong" feeling began to creep into my stomach.

We wound our way up the castle hill, closer and closer, until the castle was finally directly in front of us. Another car (the ONLY other car) was parked beside the plastic orange fence, which plainly sent the message we didn't want to hear... CLOSED.

(Lesson Learned: Call Ahead and verify that the castle you want to visit is indeed OPEN, regardless of what the website says. This will save time and prevent embarrassment!)

Like all tourists who have traveled far to their destination, only to find their hopes dashed and their children disappointed, we made our way around the fence so that we could inspect the castle grounds. It was the least we could do, especially since we had brought our poor friends all that way to see the castle. After a quick walk around the castle's "back yard," we could see why it was under renovation... It seemed to be in need of a little TLC.

The panoramic view of the country surrounding the castle must have been even more stunning at the top of the castle's tower than what we were able to see from our on-the-ground vantage point. Katie and I posed for the camera while our children dashed off to inspect more of the castle grounds, no doubt hoping that the back door was somehow left open accidentally.

We tried to make up for the loss by zipping once again through the countryside in hopes of making it to the other famous castle before it closed, but as you can probably guess, we arrived about 15 minutes before closing time. The visit wasn't a total loss though, since we could tour the castle grounds and the lake. Katie and I enjoyed a cappuccino on the floating dock cafe while the kids and my husband rented a paddle boat and had a grand time paddling around the lake.

All in all, it was a great day anyway! We got to see two beautiful Croatian castles, and spend time together with friends that we haven't seen in a few years. I figure this was a day we aren't likely to forget since it didn't turn out at all as we had planned!

A Croatian Poet

2007-05-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

Keeper of the Absent

The deserted house comes alive again, it opens and gives away everything it kept in solitude. The odour of mildew, the squeaking of a dilapidated floor. The cracks are familiar with everything that got sneaked in. Only from time to time the wall interior, ever crumblier, becomes visible.

The house, a keeper of the absent and their perpetual yearning. Although chipped at the edges, it collects the thought that has built it. The stars concur from air. Silent, they preserve its shape.

by Andriana Škunca

I like the images that come to mind as I read her poem. I can see the old house, sitting quietly and empty, with only the stars to watch over it. I wonder how the poem changed when it was translated into English?

Andriana Škunca was born in Bjelovar in 1944. When she was a child, her family moved to a small town on the island of Pag. It is this island that she has dedicated most of her poetry to. She began her career as a poet in 1969 and has received the A. B. Šimić Prize for her first collection of poetry, Do neba bijelo. Up till now she has published 20 volumes which contain poetry, essays, and monographs on the visual arts.

Quotes for the Day

2007-05-09T06:33:00.000-05:00

"A diploma is not an education. In fact, we are never really "educated" because we never stop learning. Everything we do teaches us something. If we considered all activities to be educational activities, what would we do differently? How can we maximize the educational value of every moment we spend with our children?"

~ seen online, A Father's Guide to Homeschooling, Homeschool Dad Magazine

"Schools should be the most joyful places in the world because, you know, learning is the greatest joy. To learn something is fantastic because every time you learn something, you become something new."

~Leo F. Buscaglia, "Living, Loving, Learning"

Happy At Home

2007-05-04T11:33:00.000-05:00

Lead your child out into nature. Teach him on the hilltops and in the valleys; there he will listen better. But in these hours of freedom let him be taught by nature rather than by you. Let him fully realize that he is the real teacher, and that you with your art do nothing more than to walk quietly by his side. Should a bird sing, or an insect hum on a leaf, at once stop your talk. Birds and insects are teaching him. You may be silent.

-Arnold Gesell

I believe a child needs time alone, free to be by himself, to just be himself. Clara is truly happy to be by herself playing with a rake in the sand, or a cup in the water. She tells stories to herself from the pictures in her books. She cuddles her doll and places it in the baby cradle after tenderly kissing its forehead. She'll sit alone and suck her thumb while caressing her blanket, her blue eyes thoughtful, her expression relaxed, her whole body in a state of quiet contentment.

Often I have thought how delightful it is to have her at home all day. I do not believe she would be better off at preschool, even for a few hours a week. I have heard it said that group therapy may be good for adults, but it is not usually best for little children. Learning to relate to a few people who are important to them, usually their family, is best for a child.

I am not worried about socialization. Being truly sociable is the ability to feel concern for others, to treat others as you would like to be treated, to be a real friend. Children should have opportunities to help others, to give of themselves in tangible ways. This can be done while they learn to help around the house with the smallest of chores... by sharing a favorite toy with a sibling, by helping Mama unload the spoons from the dishwasher, by picking up their toys.

Last weekend marked 2 years since my mother's passing. One thought that continually came to me was, "You will not always have your mother with you." My dad still has his mother. My husband still has his mother. Yet, I do not. God, in His wisdom and love, prepared and completed her heavenly home, and called her to it. My children are not guaranteed to always have their mother with them as they grow up, though I pray I will not be called away "early." Each day is a precious gift to love them, teach them, and train them. They grow so quickly!

I remember when Clara was a baby - it seems like only yesterday....

I'm not making any money with my job, but I know I'm making some good memories!

The Sound of Music (Edelweiss)

2007-04-30T11:21:00.001-05:00

The Beautiful Edelweiss Flower

2007-04-30T10:24:00.000-05:00

We watched "The Sound of Music" over the weekend and I can't get the song "Edelweiss" out of my head!!!

The first time I paid any attention to this lovely European mountain flower was when we stayed at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Garmisch, Germany. On the wall of the entrance was a huge mural portraying a young German fellow climbing a dangerous precipice to obtain an edelweiss flower for the love of his life, who watched him in great anxiety from their picnic spot below. Pictures of the edelweiss (pronounced aid-el-vise) flower were everywhere. I brought home as a souvenir pressed and framed edelweiss flowers, which look lovely on my living room wall.

Edelweiss comes from the German word "edel" (meaning noble) and "weiß" (meaning white.) The leaves and flower are woolly and soft, covered with white hairs. It usually grows in inaccessible places in the mountains of Europe and Asia. On the Austrian euro coins, a picture of Edelweiss is used on the two euro cent coins. The flower has even been used by the German mountain troops of WWII, who pinned it to their uniforms as a symbol of being a "true soldier," since the flower only grows in rugged terrain above the tree line.

Maybe now that I've written about it and listened to the song again on YouTube, I can finally put it to rest in my head.....

Radiance

2007-04-26T06:52:00.000-05:00

This painting is by Ivan Rabuzin, a Croatian artist who was born in 1921, the sixth of eleven children. He was a carpenter before he began painting, and he didn't switch to professional painting until 1962. He described himself as ignorant about how to paint (having little formal training,) but he continued to learn and develop his talent by visiting art galleries and reading literature on various artists. He was also a member of the Croatian Parliament.

I have always intended to write more about life in Croatia, to share with you the lives of famous Croatians, and those not so famous. But I haven't done it as much as I had hoped.

Croatians, unlike Americans, are typically negative in their outlook on life. Heroes in their movies die at the end. "Happily Ever After" to them, is so American. Croatians are more likely to see your faults, to be suspicious of you, and to believe the world is not a happy place. This outlook on life seems to be reflected on the faces of the people when I pass them on the street. I typically smile at strangers, look into their eyes, hoping for a smile in return, even just a friendly nod of the head. In most cases, speaking from my personal experience, people remain expressionless or look suspiciously at me, leaving me to wonder if my face is on a "Wanted" poster somewhere and they are trying to identify me so they can turn me in.

This painting however speaks to me of a different type of Croatian... one who looks beyond the stormy clouds of life and sees the beauty in everyday things. Flowers that reach up to be close to the sun are vibrant and rich in color. Those who are below the clouds are dismal and gray. I have no idea what the artist's true message is. I only know how I feel when I look at it, hopeful.

He named it Radiance....

an adjective that means shining or glowing brightly, emanating great joy, love or health, emanating powerfully

I love the idea of living a radiant life.....
Being the flower that glows brightly,
hungering for the warmth of the sun,
connected to the True Vine,
rising above the cares of this life,
just being content in all things.

"..and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was RADIANT with his glory." Ezek. 43:2

(photo from AllPosters)

The Joy of Pizza

2007-04-24T07:15:00.000-05:00

I don't know about your family, but we can't seem to get enough pizza! Pizza in Italian actually means "pie." I read somewhere that Americans eat more than 100 acres of pizza a day!

One day while rummaging through our fridge, searching for something to make for lunch, I started tossing out ingredients to make a pizza with....

whole wheat tortillas
pepperoni
shredded mozarella (I've also used shredded cheddar, or a mixture of both cheeses)
pizza sauce
fresh spinach, chopped
Parmesan cheese

And from the spice rack...

turmeric
Italian seasoning

And came up with what I call Turmeric Tortilla Pizzas!

To make them, preheat the oven on its broiler setting and raise the oven rack for broiling.
For each tortilla, spread on pizza sauce,
sprinkle lightly with turmeric (don't overdo this hearty spice or your pizza might be rejected because it "tastes funny!"),
then mozarella,
then spinach
then pepperoni (or your families favorite pizza toppings),
then sprinkle with Italian seasoning and Parmesan.

Broil until bubbly and cheese is melted.

Why turmeric?

Herbs and spices such as turmeric, ginger, cilantro, oregano, rosemary, and thyme, and pungent foods such as onions, garlic and chili peppers have significant anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Researchers studying turmeric and curry powder have found that these spices are anti-just about everything you don't want to see happen in your child's body. They improve circulation by keeping blood platelets from sticking together. They protect the liver from toxic substances. They have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that help to keep all the tissues of the body healthy, including the lining of the intestines and blood vessels. Turmeric is the most mentioned spice in medical literature, according to Dr. Bill Sears. Turmeric seems to act like a natural version of a newer group of anti-inflammatory drugs but without the side effects!

source: The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood, Sears

2007-04-17T08:02:00.000-05:00

Cool Slideshows

What? No Sugar in Those Brownies?

2007-04-15T10:40:00.000-05:00

At the back of an old copy of "What to Eat When You're Expecting" is a collection of recipes. Strange ones. (And don't get excited, I'm not pregnant....)

Many of them substitute apple juice concentrate for the sugar. I have had this book for probably over 10 years and never, ever did I think I would ever try a single recipe in that book.

Lo and behold, I am now trying them.

And apple juice concentrate instead of sugar works - sometimes. I don't think it worked in the raisin oatmeal cookies. They were too dry and crumbly. But it does work nicely as a smoothie sweetener.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie
(makes 1 large serving or 2 small)
* This recipe is listed as Frozen Berry Yogurt, but I adapted it to make smoothies and/or popsicles.

1 ripe banana
1 cup frozen whole strawberries
1 container of plain yogurt
1/4 cup apple juice concentrate

Process in blender, pour into glasses, and enjoy!

Yesterday I tried the Fudge Brownie recipe. It is quite unusual....

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups apple juice concentrate
1/2 cup butter
6 tbsp cocoa
1/2 cup buttermilk (I used plain yogurt since we happened to have no buttermilk and we were also out of milk at the time)
1 whole egg
2 egg whites
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup walnuts (I added chocolate chips instead!!!)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, wheat germ and baking soda. Combine juice concentrate, butter and cocoa in small saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring frequently. Add to dry ingredients and beat till smooth. Add buttermilk, egg, egg whites, and vanilla, beat just till mixed. Fold in nuts. (Here I added a cup of chocolate chips!!!)
Pour batter into greased 13x9. Bake till toothpick comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool before cutting.

Then I added sugar.... by frosting them with Easy Fudge Frosting!!

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup boiling water
1 tsp vanilla

Beat all with mixer for 2 minutes. Spread on cooled brownies.

I honestly didn't think anyone in this house would eat those brownies. I told them that they were sweetened with apple juice concentrate instead of sugar. No one minded. I didn't tell them there was wheat flour and wheat germ in them. They probably would have minded if they had known that..... The chocolate chips added some extra chocolate umph, just in case the brownie tasted too wheaty instead of chocolatey. (They do have a different texture, but the chocolate chips and the frosting do a good job of distracting you.) And the frosting, well... at least it's homemade and contains no artifical flavorings, colors, or preservatives!!!

Easter Traditions in Croatia

2007-04-06T09:42:00.000-05:00

Just in case you're curious, here are some of Croatia's Easter traditions....

The Holy Week is called the Big Week(“Veliki tjedan”) in Croatia. On Palm Sunday (“Cvjetnica”), Croatians traditionally go to church and take a small olive twig to be blessed. On Friday, different kinds of fish are eaten. Saturday is the customary day to dye eggs. Easter Sunday involves going to the early morning mass with small baskets filled with food to be blessed; eating a breakfast of ham, eggs, grated horse radish, spring onion and home-made bread; and a dinner of turkey. Little children might also get candy from the Easter Bunny. Easter Monday is for visiting relatives.

One of the oldest traditions is making “klepetaljke” and “cegrtaljke” (very similar to rattles and clappers), particularly popular in central Dalmatia and the Konavle region. Those on the island of Krk are especially interesting: metal plates that hang at the end of a 30cm board produce strong sounds when the device is shaken. In other regions, “klepetaljke” were made differently: small wheels were attached to wooden boards and connected to metal sprockets; the whole device made a rattling noise when pulled.

People used to believe that wine transformed into blood in the body and made people stronger and healthier, and therefore drank it as much as possible for Easter. Documents from the island of Brac show that housewives used to prepare, among other dishes, cod and cabbage — food that makes people thirsty so that they could drink as much as possible.

Since palms can rarely be found on the Adriatic, people mostly use olive or rosemary branches and flowers. Nevertheless, chronicles from the city of Split show that people used to gather on Easter at the only palm tree in the city, located in the garden of a certain inhabitant, in order to collect palm branches. The inhabitants of Brac used to ship palm branches from the island of Vis, where palm trees can be found in abundance, and distribute them to the islanders. The branches were decorated with crosses or wreaths made of ribbons and flowers. This skill was so respected that one decorated branch could be exchanged for Easter bread and 20 colorfully decorated eggs. On the island of Korcula and in the surroundings of Sibenik, olive branches were woven into plaits, while branches were woven into wreaths with crosses in Istria.

Sweet bread (sirnica) is another Easter tradition in Croatia. Made with lots of eggs and sugar, rosewater or orange peel is also added for a sweet smell. Often people dip this sweet bread into a sweet wine called “prosec” to make it taste better. One type of sirnica looks like a baby, and the head is created by a decorated egg. It's called “garitula.”

Coloring and decorating Easter eggs, called “pisanice” (“to write”), is among the oldest Croatian Easter traditions. There are several ways of decorating Easter eggs. The best known method is to use hot liquid wax with the help of pencil-like instruments. After coloring, the wax is removed, revealing the splendid decorations. Before artificial coloring, eggs were colored by being boiled in water with onions, walnuts, roots and herbs. In order to get their shine they were polished with oil before being placed in the basket. Another method of decorating, popular in continental Croatia, was to use a knife, as well as threads of silk and wool, while the third method was to use formic acid. Eggs in the southern part of Croatia are traditionally colored in red and have white star or rosette shaped decorations, while decorations such as pine branches, flowers, circles and spirals are more common in other parts of the country.

Finally, there is one more custom related to Easter eggs - the so-called “tuca” (egg fight). Everyone would choose an egg from the basket and would hit it against their adversary's egg. The winner would be the person whose egg remained intact throughout the “fight.”

It's All About Questions

2007-03-29T08:01:00.000-05:00

Last night at our weekly Bible study, one of the couples brought 2 guests with them who are staying with them this week. We had an interesting discussion centered on the question of "What is God's will for my life?" A deep, penetrating question with a lot of different answers, but which led one of the men to tell us how his life had changed after his perspective about God was changed from that of "Santa Claus," to more like a Father.

He told of his experience with his father being distant and shallow. They spent much time together, bonding in typical male ways, like camping, fishing, hunting and so on. But their talks were never deeper than those subjects, often they just chatted about the weather or their jobs or something like that. He felt the Lord impress upon his heart one day that his own relationship with his 4 adult children was turning out to be quite similiar, and that even his relationship with the Lord was at an impersonal level. He found himself asking God for things and never really going much deeper than that.

After reading a particularly helpful book on the subject of prayer, he began to experience God's love in a new way, and began to really talk with the Lord, and share his heart with Him. As he opened up with God, he saw that in the same way he needed to find a way that would help him open up with his kids, and that would allow them to really know one another in a deeper way. His idea was a newsletter. Only one of his four children live close by, the others are in different states. So he began to write his feelings down, sharing with them how God was working in his life, his struggles, his triumphs, his joys, his heartaches, his questions. As he wrote to them and opened his heart to them, they responded to him. Sometimes they call as soon as they get a letter and immediately want to discuss something important. Sometimes they write their own letters back to him. But what most appealed to me, was the idea that they now KNOW their father and what makes him tick. They have something to talk about now. They know what questions to ask him, they know how they can pray for him. This man has 3 daughters and 1 son. He told me frankly that he doesn't know what to talk about with his daughters... they have very different interests from his. So these newsletters have opened up whole new avenues of discussion that can keep the fires of communication burning.

With my mother no longer here to talk to, I spend much more time talking with my dad. There are times that our conversations seem to only be about the weather, or his job, or what's in the news. These are certainly worthy things to talk about, but it would be nice to get to know him on a more personal level. For me, it seems to be that I just don't know what questions to ask. So I asked Google.... "questions to ask your parents." I found a list of 100 questions I could ask my dad. I think some of them are kind of stupid, but some of them I really want to ask and hear the answer to. I decided to pick a few at a time and when we talk on the weekends I'll ask. I plan to write down his answers and keep them in a journal. There are lulls in conversations when a question would be perfect. There are also questions for family history interviews, which would be interesting to ask and have records of.

I realize now there are so many questions I would like to ask my mother. She isn't here anymore to answer them. I heard a song today that reminded me of her.. "Home," by Simon and Garfunkel. We had one of their records that she used to play. I don't remember being really fond of their music but when I hear it now it sure brings back memories.

"Homeward bound,
I wish I was
Homeward bound,
Home, where my thoughts escaping"

And when those memories come, I think of how she was back then. And I wish that I would have asked her more questions. "What was your biggest disappointment as a kid? What is your favorite song? What was the best thing I ever gave you?"

Instead, I'll have to ask my dad. And hope that he won't mind all the questions!

It's A Dog-Walking, Book-Reading, Seed-Growing Life

2007-03-27T06:11:00.000-05:00

The boys have jobs now - they are dog-walkers! A neighbor of ours has 2 small dogs and she has enlisted the boys to take them out for a walk every day for an hour. What a great first job for my young sons! They get to go outside every day, no matter what the weather, and spend time with 2 adorable dogs, and get paid for it! They get paid twice a month, half the amount in Croatian kuna and the other half in American dollars. Since we have no yard for them to play in I am glad they at least are outdoors every day, soaking up some sunshine and fresh air.

We're all itching to be done with school already. It is hard to concentrate once the time change kicks in, the weather turns nicer, and April starts knocking at our door. The boys have been reading the Series of Unfortunate Events books. There was a time when I was worried about ~N~ and his lack of interest in reading. But no more! He picks up books and reads on his own time now, without me making the suggestion. He reads at night before he goes to bed. He reads, he reads, he reads! And I am so glad! I am also reading aloud to them every day. We recently finished "Endurance," (by Alfred Lansing,) the story of Ernest Shackleton's voyage to the Antarctic, in which his ship is crushed by pack ice. It is the most thrilling true story adventure I've ever read. I read to the boys until my voice was nearly gone some days because we had to hear what happened next. Now we are reading "Benjamin Franklin," by Clara Ingram Judson. Though not the edge-of-your-seat adventure that Endurance was, we are thoroughly amazed by the innovative, imaginative, inventive Ben Franklin!

Clara is also a bookworm, though at age 15 months it isn't exactly reading! She will sit next to her pile of books in the living room and flip through book after book. Sometimes she'll pick them up and come to Daddy or me and want us to read to her. She especially adores the books that have flaps for her to lift and see the pictures underneath. She identifies many animals and makes the signs for them. She loves to go outside now and walk around our patio and sidewalk.

We started lapbook projects a couple weeks ago. Nolan is making one about the skeleton, and Derek is making one about the Revolutionary War. It is our first attempt at making a lapbook and it seems to be going along pretty well.

I started some seeds indoors a couple weeks ago. They have sprouted and are growing quite nicely in a sunny windowsill. So far, I have thyme, oregano, stevia, and chives. All of them, according to my gardening book, are not easy to grow from seed. But I'm giving it a try and hoping for the best. Next month, when the weather is dependably warm, I'll plant a few more herbs and some beets, carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, peppers in containers. All are supposed to be varieties that are more suitable for containers.

Yesterday, for the first time ever, the boys and I sat down and watched Mary Poppins all the way through. Shocking, I know! I've seen parts of the movie, but never the whole thing. All the rest of the day, you could hear someone saying "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," or snatches of the song "A Spoonful of Sugar" being hummed or sung.

Clara is sleeping while I write this. I think it is about time for her to wake up, so I shall run along now and see if I can't get a quick clean-up of the house done before she does. I also have been invited to our patio, where ~N~ has promised to take my order for lunch, and then prepare it and serve it out there! Sounds like fun!

Have a great Tuesday!

Sorry!

2007-03-19T09:17:00.000-05:00

To anyone who regularly checks in here....and keeps finding that I'm stuck on the post from a month ago... I just want to say I'm sorry for the lack of new posts! It's the blogging blahs! I should probably just tell you that I'm on a blogging break, but truthfully I don't know if I am or not. (How's that for indecisiveness?)

We are busy with school,
busy with life,
busy with a toddler,
busy with starting a container garden,
busy with playing outside in the spring sunshine,
and
busy with watching March Madness (yes, I love to watch the NCAA basketball tourny!)

So, I don't know when the mood will strike and I will feel like (or have time to) post again. Don't give up on me completely! I hope I'll be back real soon!

A Croatian Castle Tour

2007-03-04T14:57:00.000-06:00

In the northern part of Croatia, actually on the Slovenian/Croatian border, is a wonderful castle named "Trakoscan Castle." We have heard it is the most beautiful of all the castles in Croatia. I think it must be true!

We drove up there this morning and spent the day walking up the hill to the castle, touring the inside, and walking the paths around the lake that is situated behind it.

There was a wonderful little restaurant on the lake where the guys enjoyed a hamburger and I shared a pork cutlet with ~D~. It was a gorgeous sunny day and the temperature around 60 degrees.

The castle was built in the late 13th century, but was badly damaged during a family clash, then restored between 1840-1862. The boys were especially in awe of the knight's room, the hunting room and the arms collection with firearms dating from the 15-19th century. The castle contained a large group of portraits showing more than ten generations of the Draskovic family and their relatives. I especially enjoyed the portraits of the children. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside the castle!

The back of the castle, with the beautiful lake...

On the way to the castle, we drove through "Krapina." You can imagine how glad I am that I don't live in a city with a name like that! This church really stood out as we passed by, though it is a common fixture in every Croatian town. To me, most of the Croatian villages and towns look the same as you drive through them... just like this....

They seem plain, quaint and quiet. There are no billboards, neon signs, or golden arches towering above. No Walmarts, no fast food chains, no coffee to go. Services are few and far between and are recognized by the blue signs advertising what will be available a few kilometers ahead. Other than that, there is nothing but houses and a church here and there as you drive on and on and on. It is so utterly different from the U.S.

Sometimes we really like it.
Sometimes we wish for a Taco Bell to appear out of nowhere.

What Do You Put In Your Oatmeal?

2007-02-15T07:51:00.000-06:00

Ok, this is probably a weird thing to blog about. But our family loves oatmeal. I recently got a little experimental with it and discovered some new twists for an old breakfast favorite.

First of all, we used to buy those instant flavored oatmeal packets that you add hot water to, stir and eat. We thought they were pretty good. As you know from a couple posts ago, we made some changes around here, and are weeding out the extra processed food products which are usually loaded with sugar and missing the nutrients that were there before the processing. But that doesn't mean we have to sacrifice flavored oatmeal! Oh, no! Check out our favorite variations.

Our Basic Oatmeal recipe:

(1 serving)

1/2 cup quick oats
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk

Pour all ingredients into your cereal bowl, throw into microwave, set it for 2 minutes, take it out and add your toppings.

Variations:

Apple Cinnamon
~Several spoonfuls from a Mott's Healthy Harvest (no added sugar) Granny Smith applesauce cup
~Swirl in several spoonfuls of plain yogurt. Make sure it has the healthful bacteria, "live and active cultures." Here in Croatia, it is labeled "ProBiotik."
~A tiny bit of brown sugar (We like to use the unrefined, natural brown sugar that is available here, Billington's brand)
~A tablespoon of flaxseed meal
~A sprinkling of cinnamon (Did you know about the health benefits of cinnamon? See * below!)
~milk, for consistency you like

Blueberry
~Keep a bag of frozen blueberries in your freezer so you can add them to your breakfast cereal or your oatmeal. Toss in as many as you like to your already cooked oatmeal. Kids love the half frozen state of the blueberries as they slowly thaw out in the oatmeal.
~Swirl in several spoonfuls of plain yogurt
~A tablespoon of flaxseed meal
~brown sugar
~cinnamon
~milk

Banana

~Mash 1/2 of a banana. Stir into cooked oatmeal.
~Add the yogurt, brown sugar, flaxseed, and cinnamon.
~milk

* Cinnamon makes insulin work more efficiently to stabilize blood sugar levels, reduces cholesterol levels and other artery clogging fats in the blood. I now keep our cinnamon on the table so we remember to use it more frequently.

Now it's your turn. What do you put in your oatmeal?!

Sail On!

2007-02-12T01:32:00.000-06:00

Columbus
By Joaquin Miller

BEHIND him lay the gray Azores,
Behind the Gates of Hercules;
Before him not the ghost of shores,
Before him only shoreless seas.
The good mate said: “Now must we pray,
For lo! the very stars are gone.
Brave Admiral, speak, what shall I say?”
“Why, say, ‘Sail on! sail on! and on!’”

“My men grow mutinous day by day;
My men grow ghastly wan and weak.”
The stout mate thought of home; a spray
Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek.
“What shall I say, brave Admiral, say,
If we sight naught but seas at dawn?”
“Why, you shall say at break of day,
‘Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!’”

They sailed and sailed, as winds might blow,
Until at last the blanched mate said:
“Why, now not even God would know
Should I and all my men fall dead.
These very winds forget their way,
For God from these dread seas is gone.
Now speak, brave Admiral, speak and say”—
He said: “Sail on! sail on! and on!”

They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the mate:
“This mad sea shows his teeth to-night.
He curls his lip, he lies in wait,
With lifted teeth, as if to bite!
Brave Admiral, say but one good word:
What shall we do when hope is gone?”
The words leapt like a leaping sword:
“Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!”

Then, pale and worn, he kept his deck,
And peered through darkness. Ah, that night
Of all dark nights! And then a speck—
A light! A light! A light! A light!
It grew, a starlit flag unfurled!
It grew to be Time’s burst of dawn.
He gained a world; he gave that world
Its grandest lesson: “On! sail on!”

Yesterday, my husband read this aloud to me from the two-in-one volume Streams in the Desert/Springs in the Valley. I love this poem! Especially this motivating line... "Sail on! Sail on! Sail on! and on!"

Today, my husband woke up sick with a fever and body aches. Might be the flu. The boys were sick over the weekend, but are much better today. So we shall nurse the sick ones back to good health, nourishing them with good food and drink, comfy soft beds, and prayers of healing to surround them and protect them. I am glad Clara is still a nursling and getting antibodies that will hopefully protect her from this illness.

Hope everyone is well at your house!

Inspiration for the day...

2007-02-06T09:58:00.000-06:00

"With every breath you take,
breathe in the sweetness of everyday life;
the laughter of your children,
the pitter-patter of their feet,
the melody of their voices,
the sound of your husband's voice,
the strength of his arms,
the smell of clean clothes,
a clean house,
cooking,
the stillness of the night,
the warmth of each day."
-Candy Summers

I do not ask that Thou shouldst give me some high or noble task.
Give me a little hand to hold mine.
Give me a little child to point Thy way, over the strange,
sweet path that leads to You.
Give me a little voice to teach to pray.
Give me two shining eyes Thy face to see.
The only crown I ask to wear is this, that I may teach a little child.
I do not ask that I may stand among the wise,
the worthy, or the great;
I only ask that softly, hand-in-hand,
a child and I may enter at the gate.
-Anonymous

"Let food be your medicine.....

2007-01-29T11:04:00.000-06:00

....and medicine be your food."

These were the words of Hippocrates in 400 BC. I've really been thinking about those words lately, and what they might mean for our family. We aren't a total junk food family, but neither are we a pure, health food family. My goal for this year is to pay closer attention to what our family is eating and re-shape our tastes if necessary so that we will crave wholesome, healthy, natural foods, and then we can start to tip the scale on the "pure and healthy" side. With Clara, it will be easy. We're simply shaping her tastes since she has not been exposed to the junk food that the rest of us have been eating. But the boys will take a little more time to win over. They like Fruity Pebbles and Go-gurt and Pop Tarts. I'm on a mission to change their tastes to whole grain cereals (adding fruit to sweeten naturally), plain yogurt (which doesn't have the added sugar and artificial colorings), and making our own homemade sweets instead of buying the junk food in boxes. Reading labels will be part of life. Buying organic when possible is also on the shopping list.

When we check the labels we are looking for these three villains:

1. high-fructose corn syrup
2. artificial coloring that has a number symbol attached to it
3. hydrogenated oils or trans fats

I read that if we just avoid these three items, we'll have de-junked our diets by 90%! I want to teach my children that bad foods will make them feel bad, and that good foods will make them feel good. It will require a lot of willpower, to choose a snack of carrot sticks instead of gummy worms. Awareness is the key! If I can at least help them understand the differences between healthy "grow foods" and the junky, sugary "fake foods," I will have won at least half the battle.

I am also looking for ways to make meals more nutritious. I read on the package of whole wheat flour that it can easily be used in recipes by using equal amounts of whole wheat and all purpose flour (unbleached!) Another interesting item to add is wheat germ or flaxseed meal. These changes are hardly detected but will boost the nutritional value of homebaked goodies. Instead of buying muffin mixes which contain artificial flavorings and other unwanted additives, we will be making our own homemade muffins with real fruit added. These are treats I can feel good about giving to the baby. And to our growing boys. They like to help make them too! We are also switching to whole grain pastas. I have tried these before in spaghetti, but I used all whole wheat and the change was too noticeable to everyone. There were complaints. Last week when I made baked linguine, I used half regular noodles and half whole wheat. No one even knew it. I couldn't really tell the difference myself in the way it tasted, but I knew it was better to have the whole grains in our food.

We hardly ever have soda in the house. Instead, we like to drink iced tea, water, juice or milk. To boost the antioxidant levels of our iced tea, we add several bags of green tea to the regular tea when brewing. We started juicing our own fruits and vegetables last year with the juicer I purchased online...and love the taste of fresh juice that does not contain any additives and has not been pastureized.

If the junk food isn't in the house, we'll be forced to eat real food. I don't expect that we'll be healthy eaters overnight, but little by little, we can incorporate these changes and slowly adjust our habits and our tastes. Of course, doctors and the medicine they prescribe are sometimes absolutley necessary, and I don't have a doubt in my mind about it. But I do believe that if we are feeding our bodies the healthy food that it needs, (and this is especially true of children and their growing bodies,) we may be able to avoid certain illnesses and problems that are aggravated and/or caused by our junk food diets. This is exciting to me!

Healthy food... Healthy children... Healthy future!

A Homeschool Resource Meme:

2007-01-26T09:32:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Princess Ruby for tagging me to do a Meme....

1) ONE HOMESCHOOLING BOOK YOU HAVE ENJOYED: Boy, there are a bunch of 'em on my bookshelf that I wouldn't want to be without, but my favorite is probably "Educating the WholeHearted Child," by Clay and Sally Clarkson. I love the quotes in the margins, the practical advice, and the encouragement and new ideas I receive every time I pick it up.
Can't help it, but I've also got to mention "Better Late Than Early," by Raymond Moore. He observes from his research that there is no systematic evidence that supports the need for preschool for the child who has a good home. Great book!

2) ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULDN'T BE WITHOUT: I'd have to agree with Princess Ruby on this one. It is the computer that I don't want to be without. Especially here in Croatia, where we cannot run to the local library for resources, it is a lifesaver to run to the internet and google our questions. And in the comfort of our own home! Amazing!

3) ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH YOU HAD NEVER BOUGHT: BJU's DVD's. Ack!!!!

4) ONE RESOURCE YOU ENJOYED LAST YEAR: "A Child's Story of America," from Christian Liberty Press. Both my boys read it cover to cover and not only learned well from its story approach, but enjoyed it, too.

5) ONE RESOURCE YOU WILL BE USING NEXT YEAR: I think we'll drop BJU math and go back to Saxon.

6) ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULD LIKE TO BUY: You should see the things I circled in the CBD Homeschool catalog I got in the mail recently.... learning games, books for me, books for the kids....

7) ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH EXISTED: a homeschool CO-OP here in Croatia

8) ONE HOMESCHOOLING CATALOGUE YOU ENJOY READING: The Classical Teacher (from Memoria Press), for its motivational articles... and the above-mentioned CBD catalog for their great sales and wide selection of materials.

9) ONE HOMESCHOOLING WEBSITE YOU USE REGULARLY: I like Homeschool World

10) TAG OTHER HOMESCHOOLERS: Not officially tagging anyone this time-- if you want to do it, go for it! (And make sure you let me know so I can read your list!)

Scenic Slovenia

2007-01-18T11:41:00.000-06:00

I guess you could sue me for false advertising...but I hope you won't.

In my last entry I wrote of my excitement about visiting Lake Bled. A friend here suggested that place to us, so we researched it on the internet, but we ended up deciding to stay in a small town just a little north of Bled. Of course, I KNEW THAT when I wrote about it, but my brain got stuck on the idea of going to Bled, and I was convinced we were still going there. I'm not sure what exactly is wrong with me, but I think this same brain malfunction caused me to send two wedding cards to a friend. At first, I filled out a card way ahead of the actual wedding date, then set it on my desk, ready to be mailed at the appointed time. The time came and went, and in the meantime, the card disappeared mysteriously. I emailed this friend to ask if she had received the card, thinking it had been mailed by someone else in our house, but this was not the case. I guess I filled out another card and mailed it to her. A couple weeks passed by, and lo and behold, the missing card shows up in the bottom of a drawer where it must have landed after falling from the desk. And not remembering that I'd already sent dear married-by-now-friend a card, I sent her ANOTHER one! Isn't SHE special? That's what she said when she emailed me and thanked me for BOTH of her wedding cards.

All that to say, I think I'm starting to worry about me.

And now, onto the rest of the story....

Kranjska Gora, a small village at the foot of the Julian Alps, was a quiet place to kick off our boots and rest awhile. That is, Clara and I rested, while Dad and the boys tromped off to the mountain everyday and skied to their hearts content.

There was no real snow while we were there, only the artificial snow from the snow cannons covering the slopes. It has been a warm and green winter in most of Europe! The little town was hopping though, with excitement over the women's slalom event being held that weekend. I believe an Austrian took first place.

We stayed at this Bed and Breakfast, owned by a very friendly Slovenian couple.

Breakfast was a mix of coffee or tea, orange juice, fruits, croissants, cereal, bread, cheese, tomatoes, sliced cold cuts and yogurt. My favorite part of traveling in Europe is staying at B&B's. In the U.S., I thought of them as romantic getaways. But here I find it an interesting way to meet the locals and find out what the people in any given area are really like. They are so hospitable and kind, can usually converse well in English, and they provide many helpful travel tips. When we leave a B&B, we feel like we are leaving friends. Case in point, the couple from the B&B we stayed at while visiting Italy last year sent birthday greetings to Clara ON her birthday. I do not even recall sharing what her birth date was with them, but they remembered and they wrote us.

One afternoon, Clara and I went walking around the town and discovered this little bakery, called Kala....

It was the most beautifully decorated bakery I've ever been in. The walls were a soft yellow, and paintings of flowers graced the interior. A cappuccino machine brought forth a magnificent cup of "white coffee," and paired with a slice of warm apple tart that Clara and I shared all made for a memorable occasion. I really felt like I was on my first "date" with my daughter. It was a place I would have taken my mother. It's the little things in life that mean so much!

We visited Papa Joe's Pizzeria a couple times.

This was both fun, and frustrating. We discovered very few restaurants in Slovenia, and this is true also of Croatia, that have high chairs for babies. Clara is in the "discovery of all things wonderful" stage, and this includes all areas of restaurants, under the tables and everything on the floor. There definitely is nothing of interest at the table we have chosen to sit at, so why should she be forced to sit there? (Her logic, not mine.) Eating is one thing. She prefers to sit in our lap and do her eating from our plates. But a baby doesn't eat for long, and she sure doesn't sit there and wait patiently for food to arrive when there is so much exploring that needs to be done. The first night in town, after ordering our food and seeing that eating out was going to be a horrid adventure, I gathered up little girl and we walked back to our room. The guys brought our food later and we ate our pizza in the comfort of our bedroom!

The downtown area was a pedestrian only part of town. This is a good idea, I think. I wish more of our towns in the U.S. were set up like this. It's good to stroll down the cobblestone streets, gaze in store windows, or sit on a bench and have a look at this old church without having cars zoom by and disrupt your thoughts or mess up your hair.

There you have it. Scenic Slovenia. I want to go back. Wanna come with me?

Next Stop:

2007-01-05T06:18:00.000-06:00

Lake Bled, Slovenia

Our main purpose for this little adventure is to provide the boys in this family (both the little ones and the BIG one) a chance to do some skiing. I may squeeze in a couple hours myself, but I am afraid it will be more falling than actual skiing. Clara and I will stomp around in the snow together (this will be her first encounter with the fluffy, white stuff), sightsee, and maybe see if she is interested in sledding! We have heard that Lake Bled, in spite of its gory sounding name, is actually a very beautiful place. I can't wait to see it! I'm sure there will be many sights worth photographing and sharing with you later.

Hope your New Year is off to a grand start!

Happy 2007!

2006-12-31T14:49:00.000-06:00

Fireworks are going off all over our neighborhood and it's still a couple hours before midnight! These people love their fireworks. They lit up the skies on Christmas Eve too, something I was totally unprepared for. Tonight will surely be spectacular, and I can watch from the comfort of my bedroom, which is on the second story and has glass doors leading out to a balcony. Over the doors is a triangular shaped window whose point reaches to the ceiling, providing a nice view of the southern part of the city. People are shooting off fireworks all over the place and I've heard there is also a nice show taking place at the city center. Clara is in bed... I wonder if the ruckus will wake her up or she'll sleep like a baby through it all?

I think all of our New Year's celebrations have been different. There have always been fireworks.... a few years ago we added the black-eyed peas..... and we like to play games on New Years Eve and Day. But other than that, I can't think of any other traditions that we keep for this holiday. I don't usually worry too much about New Years Resolutions. It didn't seem like something worth getting all worked up about when everyone I knew forgot all about them a month later.

Clara has finally felt better today, after coming down with a bad viral illness the day after Christmas. It sent us to the Dr. twice and the E.R. once. I'm not one to rush to the doctor over every runny nose and cough, but this time it was clear we needed some expert advice and good medicine. Thankfully, our Croatian doctor was very nice and also knowledgable. What a relief to see Clara feeling better and to get that first foreign doctor visit out of the way. It is no fun to have a sick child, but it is even worse to take that child to a strange doctor in a strange place.

From my quote collection book:

Keep your heart free from hate,
Your mind free from worry,
Live simply,
Expect little,
Give much,
Trust God,
Fill your life with love,
Forget self,
Think of others,
Do as you would be done by,
Thank God for all your blessings,
Do all you can for people with
no thought of personal gain.

~Unknown

May God richly bless you in the coming year,
and always.....

2006-12-24T07:33:00.000-06:00

On Christmas, our family gathers together to sing Christmas songs, read the passage from Luke about Christ's birth, and enjoy traditional Christmas food and sweets.

This song has long been one of my favorites and when we sing it tonight, I'll hear the sound of my uncle's deep voice, leading us and keeping us all together....

Oh Beautiful Star of Bethlehem
Shining afar through shadows dim
Giving the light for those who long have gone
Guiding the wise men on their way
Unto the place where Jesus lay
Oh Beautiful Star of Bethlehem, shine on

Oh Beautiful Star, the hope of rest
For the redeemed, the good and blessed
Yonder in glory when the crown is won
Jesus is now the star divine
Brighter and brighter He will shine
Oh Beautiful Star of Bethlehem, shine on!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

My Favorite Christmas Scripture

2006-12-21T14:17:00.000-06:00

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned...
For unto us a child is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders.
And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
Isaiah 9:2-6

Some Christmas Reminders....

2006-12-19T15:58:00.000-06:00

May the Christmas gifts remind you of God's greatest gift - His only begotten Son.

May the Christmas candles remind you of Him, who is the Light of the world.

May the Christmas tree remind you of another tree, on which He died for you.

May the Christmas cheer remind you of Him, who said, "Be of good cheer." Matt. 9:2

May the Christmas feast remind you of Him, who is the Bread of Life.

May the Christmas snow remind you of the cleansing power of Christ.

May the Christmas bells remind you of the glorious proclamation of His birth.

May the Christmas carols remind you of His glad tidings, which we are to proclaim to all mankind.

May the Christmas colors remind you of Him... RED, His blood shed for you and me, GREEN, our new life in Him, and GOLD, the gift given to the Child King.

Tis the season-
Let's remember the reason!

Shall We Eat Out, Or In?

2006-12-14T03:11:00.000-06:00

Cooking hasn't always been one of my favorite things to do. But I love to eat home cooked food, and sometimes I see the cooking part of it more as a chore than a delight, something that has to be done if I want to eat good food. Living in a foreign country pushes me to two extremes, depending on my mood.

One, I never want to adventure out to a Croatian restaurant where I won't be able to read the menu, the waiter may not speak English well enough to translate the menu, therefore I will end up eating some mystery dish that may taste good enough, but leave me questioning what exactly it was! I can't seem to fully enjoy something unless I have some idea what it is... So we stay home and I cook up something in my kitchen that night. I know every ingredient, I can make the things we like, and the baby can play and/or eat happily wherever she wants. We have found that so many Croatians have taken on the habit of smoking, and they foul up the air everywhere we go, leaving us with dazzling headaches and clothing that reeks of smoke.

Or Two, I decide to go on a cooking strike, and no matter what the consequences, we ARE going out to eat! This has sometimes gone well, like when we stopped to have a kebab on Zagreb's main square after looking at the Christmas markets there.

Kebab, literally "rotating meat" in Turkish, is sliced lamb which is slowly roasted on a vertical rotating spit. It is similar to gyros. Kebab is most popularly served in pita bread, with tomatoes, lettuce (they call it salad here), and two sauces to choose from. One is a creamy herb sauce, the other a spicy red sauce. We ate ours while standing at a tall table outside the tiny cafe and gave Clara bites while she sat in her stroller. Kebabs are European fast food and they are quite delicious! (Kebabs are not to be confused with shish-kebabs - two very different things!)

A favorite pasttime of mine is to look through cookbooks while I eat breakfast or lunch. Swedish Homecooking is one of my favorites!

After living there for 18 months, we came to love the simple Swedish way of life. Their food is interesting to say the least, and we usually wouldn't touch the thousand varieties of pate or pickled herring. We did however love the fried Baltic herring, especially when it was situated next to a mound of mashed potatoes! We also loved their Cinnamon Buns which are topped with pearl sugar instead of slathered with frosting as we do in America, though I can certainly wolf down a frosting covered cinnamon roll just as easily! Their cinnamon rolls sometimes were made with the cardamom spice, which at first I didn't like, but now I think it is wonderful!

As I looked through this cookbook, I came across a recipe for Baked Macaroni. This recipe, very simple and easy to make, is the Swedish variation of macaroni and cheese and my whole family, but especially Clara, loves this dish. Every time I take this casserole out of the oven, it looks exactly like the picture in the cookbook! THAT is a rare happening, indeed!

Baked Macaroni

1 2/3 cups plain macaroni
6 cups water
1/2 lb. ham steak
1 1/4 cups whole milk
2 eggs
3/4 cup grated cheese
1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. salt (1/2 tsp. for boiling macaroni, 1/2 tsp. for dish)
black pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cook macaroni according to package directions, using the 1/2 tsp. salt in the water. Cube ham and brown lightly in the butter. Mix together the cooked macaroni with the ham. Transfer to buttered oven proof dish. Beat egg and milk and pour over macaroni mixture. Add salt and pepper. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake until pudding is set and golden brown, about 20 minutes.

We enjoyed this with a green salad the other night. This is Comfort Food at its best - simple, yet delicious!

Feeling Lukewarm

2006-12-12T11:33:00.000-06:00

The preacher's sermon on Sunday really dealt with me. He reminded us of what Jesus said to the church in the book of Revelation.
Am I lukewarm?
I haven't been reading my Bible as faithfully as I should.
Am I lukewarm?
I haven't been praying at all times, about everything, in true and sweet communion with Him.
Am I lukewarm?
I'm so busy with life that I'm too busy for Him.

Especially this time of year. Too easy for the focus to be shifted on stuff, and not on Jesus.

I know I don't want to be lukewarm. Jesus came to earth in human form. He wanted to be close to people. He wanted to touch them. He wanted them to get to know Him in a personal way.

With Jesus, it is all about the relationship. He doesn't want me to be a limp, lukewarm dishrag. I hate it when the dishwater gets lukewarm when I'm nearly done washing the dishes. I like dishwater to be good and hot, with steam rising up, so I know the dishes are really coming clean.

I think the Lord wants my life to be like that too.

Bold...
Ready...

Never lukewarm.

Our Birthday Girl

2006-12-04T05:22:00.000-06:00

Today, our little girl is ONE!

Precious one,
So small,
So sweet

Dancing in
On angel feet
Straight from Heaven's
Brightest star

What a miracle
You are!

She opened a present from our friends in Sweden. It was a sweet little strawberry hat! I'm sure some of my knitting friends could make something like this. I've heard there are different ones, like a blueberry, etc.

Here's the back of it:

My, how the time does fly.

She's made the transition from crawling to walking, and now prefers to travel upright. She especially likes to have something in her hands and/or mouth to chew on while she toddles around!

Happy birthday, dearest one,
Sweet child of my heart!
We've become one family,
Of which you are a part.

And so I sing out equally
To all of those who are
Mine by blood or fortune blessed,
No more, no less my star!

We are one in love and joy,
In fondness and in worth,
And so as one we celebrate
This day, your day of birth!

From Birthday Poems for Free

2006-11-22T09:52:00.000-06:00

I can't wait till tomorrow!

Delicious home cooked food...

turkey
mashed potatoes and gravy
stuffing
green bean casserole
cranberry salad
sweet potato casserole
homemade yeast rolls
pumpkin pie
coconut pie

A Feast!

We'll eat, watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, share with each other the things we are thankful for, watch a little football, play some games, and enjoy being together!

I am thankful for this good food, my beautiful family, good friends, the Lord Jesus, my home, and so much more ....

Wishing you and yours
a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving....

2006-11-19T03:16:00.000-06:00

...it brings so many things to mind. I remember a special Thanksgiving when we lived in Texas. My parents came to spend the holiday with us. After stuffing the turkey and putting it in the oven, we all went outside for a walk in our neighborhood. I remember that it was a mild, sunny day and leaves were still on some of the trees. I loved to hear the rustling sound they made as they dangled precariously, waiting for the breeze that would finally release their hold on the tree. Together, we walked leisurely down the street, chatting about nothing in particular, laughing, making a memory that I never would have guessed then would be so special now.

My mother always made this cranberry salad at Thanksgiving. I don't know where she got the recipe, but it is part of our tradition to eat this delicious, fruity, sweet salad. We don't care for the plain old cranberry sauce from a can. It is too tart and I've always had trouble enjoying its texture! But this salad my boys will eat. Every year now, they ask if I'll be making it. I guess they are afraid I'll forget! But who can forget such things, for they are, as papa says in Fiddler on the Roof, trrrraaaDITION!!!!!

Cranberry Salad
(needs to be made the day before Thanksgiving)

1 lb. cranberries, ground in food processor
2 cups sugar
1/2 lb. mini marshmallows
2 apples, diced (we like Granny Smith)
1 small can crushed pineapple
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 8 oz. Cool Whip

Add sugar to cranberries, let sit for 2 hours. Add diced apples, pineapple, and nuts. Chill overnight. Before serving, fold in marshmallows and Cool Whip.

I am looking forward to gathering around the table with those whom I love, sharing in this wondrous tradition of giving thanks. Thanksgiving is a beautiful time of togetherness and traditions, but it is also a time for making lasting memories!

In the thick of it....

2006-11-16T09:44:00.000-06:00

It has been one of those weeks for me.

Trials abound, tempers flare, patience is nowhere to be found.
The baby cries and clings to my leg while trying to teach ~N~ how to divide decimals. I pick her up and try to interest her in a toy, while I ask myself how other homeschool moms do it. This is our third year of homeschooling, and it sometimes seems like our first!

I guess its just our first year of homeschooling with a baby around. I've been diligently planning each week's work every Sunday afternoon. I sit down at the kitchen table and plan out each child's assignments. Then during the week, we consult the plan and work through each day's lessons. Most of the time, this works for us. We usually accomplish the things I have planned. But on days like today, even though we made it through the list, I doubt myself and wonder if my kids really learned anything. They assure me they are learning. But it is harder to find the time to grade their work, to talk with them about what they are doing, and to still get dinner on the table. Nevermind the chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

I think what I really miss is the homeschool co-op we were a part of in Virginia. One morning a week, we gathered at our church and split up for classes. It was a great time to encourage and be encouraged, to get out of the house awhile, to fellowship with other like-minded moms. I also miss libraries! An outing to the library would be great right about now!

No matter how frustrating our days may be, I know our family is in the center of God's will. We are doing the thing that He has called us to do. Not every day can be sunny and bright, for "into each life some rain must fall." It was the Lord's perfect timing for me that today's "Streams in the Desert" reading dealt with the very struggles I am facing:

The greatest things are always hedged about by the hardest things, and we, too, shall find mountains and forests and chariots of iron. Hardship is the price of coronation. The very hardships that you are enduring in your life today are given by the Master for the explicit purpose of enabling you to win your crown. Do not wait for some ideal situation, some romantic difficulty, some far-away emergency; but RISE TO MEET THE ACTUAL CONDITIONS WHICH THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD HAS PLACED AROUND YOU TODAY. {emphasis mine}

Longfellow says..."Behind the clouds is the sun still shining..."

I hope to see the sun shining....
...Soon!

New Tooth, New Signs, New Photos

2006-11-14T05:13:00.000-06:00

Boy, am I glad Clara's new tooth finally made its appearance! It was a rough week. After three days of fever, then another three days of grumpiness, the tooth broke through and all is well with her again. Its funny that none of her other 7 teeth caused any trouble at all, but this one was a nightmare!

She has been signing to us more frequently now. One day she was sitting in Daddy's lap looking at a book and saw a picture of a dog. She began to pat her leg, which is the sign for dog! She also signs "more", but in her own way. Instead of putting her fingertips together, it looks more like she's holding her hands and patting them. Close enough! We are really having fun "talking" with her and listening to her "talk back!"

We started a fun geography activity this week. I asked the boys to spin our globe, close their eyes, and touch a finger to the globe to make it stop. Wherever they land, they are to research the place and find out 5 interesting things about it. The next step is to write down in their writing notebooks what they found out, and finally, to share what they learned with someone. So far, we've been to Hawaii, South Korea, and Fiji!

We took school pictures over the weekend.

This is ~N~, who is in 7th grade:

This is ~D~, who is in 5th grade:

Seems like there was something else I was going to write about, but I can't remember what it was! (Getting old, ya know!)

Sick Baby

2006-11-09T11:27:00.000-06:00

Clara has been running a fever the past couple days. I think she may be teething. Whatever the reason for the fever, she is miserable and I feel so bad for her. I wish parents could magically take away the sickness from their children. Since she is such an active girl and rarely sits for more than a few moments in your lap when she's well, it has been a special time to hold her in my lap and rock away the misery in our rocking chair. What would I do without a rocking chair? It is the perfect remedy for sick babies.

Buzzzzz......

2006-10-31T08:33:00.000-06:00

No ghosts or goblins here. Just a bumblebee looking for something to pollinate.

Ack! I hope she doesn't sting me!

Babies Don't Keep

2006-10-28T14:50:00.000-05:00

I nursed Clara to sleep last night, as usual. She was wearing a nightgown that her daddy bought for her before she was even born. Actually, it was part of a matching set... one for her, and one for me. (It was the first time I realized that she and I could wear matching clothes!) She had little white socks on her feet and her chubby baby legs were stretched out and exposed. She lay sleeping beside me on our bed in the dark, sometimes changing position and smiling in her sleep. I watched her. And I thought about how quickly she is growing and changing.

I imagined her as a woman someday. Clara, at age 25. What would she be like? What would she remember of her childhood? Tears ran down my cheek as I came to grips with the fact that these days are fleeting. There won't always be diapers or lullabys. There won't always be chubby little legs, or a thumb in her mouth, or her body snuggled next to mine in the middle of the night. Someday my children will have grown and will no longer need me as they do now. They will leave. And they will cleave to someone else of their own choosing.

What is this special time of life that God gives to parents? He trusts me to care for my children, to love them, to nurture them, and someday release them. To give them roots... then wings. This year of babyhood, before the time of disciplining and toilet training and teaching them begins, is a wonderful time to just love them. When I look into her baby face, her sky blue eyes, my heart overflows with the knowledge that God has given our family a most precious gift.

Since her birth, I have often looked into our future and what I see is a picture of us in my mind. A shared moment, between mother and daughter. I stand beside her, a girl of 7 or 8, with her hand in mine. We are walking through the woods together on a beautiful path, with the sounds of birds all around us. She is looking up at me as we discuss this and that, and I feel the greatest joy as I look down at her.
I am content...
I am blessed...

Cleaning and scrubbing
can wait till tomorrow,
For babies grow up
We've learned to our sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs
Dust go to sleep,
I'm rocking my baby
And babies don't keep.

Coffee and Ice Cream

2006-10-26T14:35:00.000-05:00

In the mail today....
this book: "Coffee, A Connoisseur's Companion" by Claudia Roden

So far, I've only had time to flip through it a few times, but I like what I see. Especially the sound of this recipe...

Coffee Ice Cream Soda

Stir 2/3 cup of fresh cream into 2 cups of chilled, strong, sweetened coffee in a jug. Pour into tall glasses, only half filling them. Add scoops of ice cream in each glass and fill with ice-cold soda water.

Reminds me of a Root Beer float.

I think we'll give it a try this weekend. Normally, in October ice cream and cold drinks wouldn't be sounding so good to me, but we're having a burst of warm weather around here. It feels like spring is coming instead of winter. I'm sure it won't last much longer!

I'm so tired I could fall asleep right here.

ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz

What We're Doing

2006-10-23T09:52:00.000-05:00

What we're watching: Clara taking her first steps! It is so fun to watch a baby learning to walk!

What we're eating: Potato Leek Soup in the crock pot, with fresh crusty Italian bread

What we're learning: About the Mongols (did you know they didn't wash their clothes or their dishes??)

What we're reading: The Great Brain series, The Crusades (I'm reading aloud from this book in the evenings)

What we're praying for: A tenant for the townhome we own in Fredericksburg, VA (Know anyone who might be interested?)

What we're listening to: Johann Strauss Jr., Franz Schubert, Edvard Grieg

What we're writing about: "Why Dad is my Hero", "How Language Began"... a dictation exercise from Genesis 1 and 2

What we're hoping for: A snowy Croatian winter

What we're missing: Our families back home, our church and friends in VA

Changing My Ways

2006-10-21T05:30:00.000-05:00

Today, Clara bit me while she was nursing and the first words out of my mouth were, "Don't bite!" And then it dawned on me. I just said "Don't!" After laughing at myself, I looked into her eyes and I said, "Be gentle!" Then I realized how many other times today, and other times I've said the D word.

"Don't touch the trash can."

"Don't pull Mommy's hair."

"Don't throw your book."

"Don't climb the stairs."

Ahhh. Even though she's only 10 months and doesn't understand, I see that this is a pattern for me, and it will continue to the day that she can understand. Unless I change.

"Let's go play with your toys."

"Be gentle when touching Mommy's hair."

"Be careful with your books."

"Let me help you."

Change is never easy, but it is possible!

Why I Love Homeschooling:

2006-10-17T05:48:00.000-05:00

Fabulous field trips!

For instance, we just returned from Garmisch, Germany! My husband had a work conference in Garmisch, so we tagged along for the week. We drove through Croatia and Slovenia, through the mountains of Austria, then through the farmlands of southern Germany until we arrived in Garmisch. Garmisch is nestled in a valley beneath the tallest mountain in Germany, which is named Zugspitze, and towers above at 2,964 meters. Garmisch-Partenkirchen hosted the 1936 winter Olympics. Many people go there on holiday and it is a real skiing hot-spot in winter. We have even made plans to go back in the winter and ski there!

While my husband was busy with the conference, the kids and I ventured out into the cozy little town. There is an army base located there, so of course, we wanted to check that out. It was a small base, but it had all the necessary stuff. We strapped Clara into the stroller and walked around, breathing cool mountain air, and stepping on freshly fallen orange leaves. Autumn was just beginning to make its grand appearance, but it was warm enough that week that we never needed a jacket. I love the crisp, cool days of this time of the year!

I was mesmerized by the paintings adorning so many of the buildings and homes in Garmisch. The colors were incredible and the scenes were many times biblical ones. Sometimes a whole wall was taken up this way. I had never seen anything like it. Red flowers bloomed happily in window boxes, where the four-paned windows had painted gables. Cows grazed on the mountain grass with their cowbells jingling around their necks. Even though the population was roughly 25,000, it seemed like a small town, where we could easily drive around with a simple map. In fact, our boys took turns navigating and taking us to places of interest.

One morning we rode up the mountain in 2 passenger ski lift cars and hiked our way back down, winding our way to Partnachklamm Gorge. It was exciting to see the boys understand the meaning of the word "gorge." The gorge was beautiful with its narrow mountain walls, raging river below, and sometimes little waterfalls which fell from the heights above us. Sometimes we stooped over to get through short and dark passageways. Clara was with Dad in our Baby Bjorn front carrier the whole time, which she loves.

We ate at Gasthof Fraundorfer on the last night of the conference. This was a true cultural experience! Nearly everyone, except us, guzzled beer from their enormous beer glasses. I ordered the Bavarian specialty of smoked pork chops, mashed potatoes, and saurkraut. I have always enjoyed the tartness of saurkraut on a Reuben sandwich, but I sure couldn't eat the whole pile of it they heaped on my plate that night. It was good, but way more kraut than I needed! The chops were tender and tasty, and the mashed potatoes had a little mysterious topping of some kind (flavored, buttery bread crumbs??) which made them quite good. While we dined, we were treated to the music of an accordian player, and later on the traditional leg slapping-dancing of two young German gents who were stationed right beside our table. My legs hurt after watching how hard they slapped themselves and the bottoms of their shoes to put on a show for all of us tourists. Whew-eee!

I'm off to bed now... More to write about this trip later though!

Back in Time

2006-10-07T08:07:00.000-05:00

We're going back in time, to the first week of September....

We arrived in Sweden two days before my birthday. Our flight was the last one leaving from Bergamo that night, so we didn't arrive at our friend's house until after midnight. Dave was waiting for us though, as he always does and greeted us from his front porch. We had to wait till morning to meet his new addition to the family, who is now a blonde headed 18 month old little boy, with the cute nickname of Dan-Dan. When he met our Clara, they hit it off and were best friends the whole time we were there. It was so cute to watch him come up to Clara, put his head next to hers and snuggle with her. Sometimes he wanted to sit on her lap, which she did not find amusing. He would stand beside her, aim his rear end towards her lap, and PLOP, down he goes. Sometimes she was able to make a getaway while he was in the downward motion, and he was surprised to make a landing on the hard floor!

We had such a wonderful time in Sweden. It was one of the few times where we've taken a trip somewhere and it actually felt like a vacation. You know how it is when you go "home" to visit family. That it is not a vacation. Sure, its fun to be with your family and see everyone, but it usually isn't restful or relaxing. Everyone needs to be seen and had dinner with. If its Christmas, we have to juggle our calendar to squeeze in all the dinners and parties for his side and my side of the family. Anyway, the point is, hanging out with Dave and Karin at their house for a week really felt like a vacation.

The boys and the dads always have a yardball competition and several evenings worth of Kick the Can. This is, for my kids, the highlight of the visit. This year, the dads won the yardball tournament and it was a low blow to the kids. The kids nearly beat them, but the old dads came back in the end and saved their reputations. Yardball is a variation of baseball, played in Dave's backyard.

Dave loves to cook and he prepared many special meals for all of us. On my birthday, we had grilled steaks. One night Karin whipped up a mushroom sauce, made with the mushrooms that we picked from the forest that day. It was so delicious (that comes from a girl who has never even liked mushrooms!)

We spent a day wandering around Stockholm. We drove by our old house on Lidingo, ate at one of our favorite restaurants (a Mongolian BBQ), bought the boys their favorite Swedish candies from the grocery store, and spent some time reliving the memories of the 18 months that Stockholm was our home. We dropped in on old friends, and visited our church on Sunday morning. One of the ladies who attends church with us was kind enough to host a gathering of our old Bible Study group friends. How wonderful it was to spend the evening together again, eating, talking, and sharing with each other. They enjoyed seeing Clara... several of them threatened to keep her, but we insisted that we couldn't part with her.

Karin took me shopping in Nykoping one afternoon. Just the two of us! We shopped at H&M, where I found a few things for Clara. We enjoyed a cup of coffee and a muffin at a wonderful cafe. And the drive there and back was a beautiful one. I love the old red color of the majority of Swedish homes and barns. It is especially gorgeous in the winter with the snow all around. The air is so crisp and clear, the sky is a pure blue, and the trees and grass add the perfect summer shade of green to bring it all together in a way that is a feast for your eyes. I am really drawn to places like that. It was very hard to say goodbye to it again, knowing that I would be returning to a noisy city atmosphere. God definitely did not make me a city girl!

We also spent a Sunday at Grona Lund, Stockholm's amusement park. It happened to be a very busy day there. We could hardly move through the crowds and there were long lines at the food shacks and to ride the rides. But even so, it wasn't nearly as bad as a Six Flags. The boys never spent more than 30 minutes in line. They had a great time, especially ~D~ since he had grown taller and was able to ride a few things for the first time.

We are so blessed to have Dave and Karin's friendship! Without their kindness and hospitality, this trip would not have been as wonderful as it was, and likely would not have happened in the first place! Just being together with them in their home was a special joy and we pray that there will be many more times in the future that our paths will cross. (Dave and Karin: If you guys are reading this, thanks again for everything and we love you!)

Sweden is a beautiful country. None of our relatives or friends were able to come visit while we lived there. They missed an opportunity of a lifetime! Though it is expensive to fly there from the U.S., it is worth every penny to see this place with your own eyes, to breathe the Nordic air, and to walk through its forests. I am so thankful for the year and a half that God allowed us to live there. I hope that someday I'll look back with the same fondness for our time here in Croatia!

Don't Say Don't!

2006-10-03T15:24:00.000-05:00

I read an interesting article today...

When I tell my children I don't want them to do something, the opposite usually occurs. For instance, I might say "Don't throw food at the table!" or "Don't think about the color purple." But guess what happens in your brain.... you immediately think of yourself throwing food at the table, or you see the color purple in your mind!

I learned that the brain cannot envision negative-type words, such as "don't," but it does see pictures or images.

The article suggested that it is more effective to say "Please use walkways," rather than "Don't walk on the grass." I believe this is true, because whenever I have seen a sign warning me to not walk on the grass, I find myself extremely tempted to do just that!

A teacher who admonishes her students not to cheat is actually causing them to envision doing just that. In their minds, they see themselves looking at their neighbor's papers.

It is far better to send the brain a positive image, describing the action we would like to see performed, rather than the negative text, which brings to mind the action we are trying to get them to avoid. When I can say exactly what I desire, chances are greater that my children will do what was suggested.

And that means a happier mom, happier kids, and a happier home!