Organized Chaos

The Beginning Reader's Bible

2011-11-06T20:37:00.003+01:00

This is a rather large children’s Bible designed for young children with a selection of stories from both the Old and New Testaments. I like that it uses an easy translation of the Bible to tell the stories rather than paraphrasing or simply retelling the story. Although, using scripture makes it more difficult for those children wanting to read it for themselves. The illustrations are nice but not the best I have seen.

There is a good representation of the most popular and significant stories from both the old and new testaments, beginning with creation and ending with a simple depiction of Heaven from Revelation. The Bible also has several other features typically found in the newer children’s Bibles, such as memory verses and simple projects to apply the lesson. Another feature I like is “Pray God’s Word”. With each story, they have a scripture to be used to pray pertaining to the lesson of the story. I think many Christians today have difficulty praying God’s word and so I think this feature is a gem! In the back of the book are lyrics for several songs, several famous passages from the Bible (like the 23 Psalm) and several lists, like the tribes of Israel, and the ten commandments. It also has a reading checklist and a memory verse list. It also includes a prayer of salvation.

One major flaw is the lack of page numbers. It has a table of contents including page numbers, but none of the actual pages have a number, so one must count as they turn the pages. I find this rather comical and annoying. I think this Bible has a limited life, it is too large and easy to tear for the real young, too big and bulky to be taken to church, and too simple for a child that is beyond a beginning reader. I would want a complete Bible for my child once he is old enough to understand the Word and read beyond the beginning level. The Bible is good for what I was looking for: a Bible for my 5-6 year old that he could look at and enjoy till he is ready for a real Bible. He may even be able to read it soon.

Graz, Austria

2011-09-12T14:27:00.002+02:00

We have been here in Austria now for about 8 weeks. I anticipated culture shock and thought it might even be worse than our initial culture shock when we came to Germany. I haven't found the culture shock that bad, less than I expected, but I have noted quite a few cultural differences. Since I am not much of a writer, I think I will list them rather than wax eloquent. So here goes:

1. Shopping:
a. There is a better selection of water drinks, but much fewer yogurt options.
b. Stores are only open till 7 or 7:30 pm ( a few) on weeknights and 6 pm on
Saturdays. Everything is closed on Sundays (like Germany).
c. I can find some things here that I could only get in Prague and I can't find some
things I could easily find in Dresden. We will be doing without several things we
had grown to enjoy.
d. There are only two prepaid cell phone options here and they aren't particularly
cheap. I had MANY options in Dresden.
e. Everything tends to be more expensive here.
2. The accent and dialect Austrians use is difficult for me to understand sometimes.
I had just trained my ear to the Saxon dialect and accent and now I am rather clueless.
3. The food here is better. Graz is the culinary capital of Austria. German food comes from
the Austrian and they use pumpkin seeds and pumpkin seed oil here and it is delicious!
This area is also known for their apple dishes, much to Jason's delight.
4. Austria is a Catholic country and we lived in the "Lutheran" area of Germany so the
many crucifixes and small chapels and memorials everywhere is strange to us. The
boys also go to a Catholic school, so they must attend Chapel weekly and the Priest
blessed each child today on their way out of the Church after the 1st grade program.

That is all I can think of at this moment. I hope to be able to write more often with thoughts and observations.

More things to Love about Dresden

2011-04-15T09:45:00.004+02:00

Dresden is a growing city. This is unusual for eastern Germany. For 2 decades now, people have been "fleeing" eastern Germany for the west, where they can find jobs. Despite Dresden's high unemployment, they have been experiencing a baby boom and growth. I find this exciting for many reasons. (I will expound on this but with no particular order.)
First, more German families are having 2-3 kids and I know a family that is expecting their fourth! This helps our family to blend in better (I hate to standout!).

Second, it means that there are more potential friends for us, our kids and more people with whom to share the Good News. It also means new members to the church and potential co-laborers.

Thirdly, and certainly not the most important, growth also gives us shopping! Last year, our previously strip mall style shopping area with an Ikea and Toys R Us remodeled to make it larger and is now a traditional American style mall. Then, last October, a new mall opened up with a Starbucks, KFC and a great store with everything, Mueller. Then another Starbucks opened on the Old Town square. Now, a new section to the main downtown mall has added on an additional 98 stores including an Apple store and this store:

I have never really enjoyed shopping in Europe for many reasons but as we get new stores and I discover more gems, I have begun to enjoy it more. With all these new stores and malls, I am going to really miss Dresden this next year. And, now there are fewer reasons to need to shop on our stateside trips.

Greater Love by Robert Whitlow

2011-01-12T12:10:00.000+01:00

GreaterLove tells the story of Tami, a recent law school graduate trying to decide where she wants to begin her aspiring law career. Should she join a well established firm or venture out with two other graduates and begin a new practice. To add to her confusion, she has two suiters her are pursuing her. After her decision, she is assigned a case that both challenges her faith and puts her life in danger. This is the third book in a series called Tides of Truth.

I haven’t read the first two books in this series, but have previously read books by Whitlow. I liked both of the books I had read, but this one left something to be desired. I am not sure if i am just cynical or not in touch with today’s Christian (I do live in a secular country) but I found Tami’s character and her family to be somewhat unbelievable. Do most mid-twenty -somethings depend so much on their parents to help them make every decision? The first person story telling also bothered me but I am not sure why.

Overall, the book is a light read, as in light on content, light on likability. I don’t know if Tami is in the previous books and therefore a known entity but I could never really like her. I don’t dislike her, just couldn’t really relate to her. I also don’t live in the south (Texas isn’t the south is it?) and so that may also complicate my ability to relate. If I were to give the book a rating from 0-5 with 5 being the best, I would give it a 2.

The Five List

2010-11-21T20:16:00.003+01:00

It has been over a year since I posted my Five list (five things I love and dislike about Germany) so I thought I would make a new one with a year more life under my belt and new things I have found to love and "hate".

LOVE:

1. Coffee. Germans love their coffee and although it can be VERY strong sometimes, I still love me a good cup of Joe.

2. Abendbrot. Germans usually eat a breakfast of breads, lunchmeats and cheeses. Then they eat a large, hot meal for lunch and then rolls with meat and cheese for dinner. We adopted this "evening meal" about once a week for quite awhile but do it much less frequently now. I still like warm rolls with butter and jelly and sandwiches for dinner every once in a while.

3. Downtown Dresden. I just love our city. It is so pretty especially from a couple of the bridges in town. I love to catch a glimpse of downtown whenever we drive over the bridge, it warms my heart and reminds me of how thankful I am that we are here. There is also a lot of shopping, touristy places and building and I feel like I live in the big city there.

4. Hazelnut cookies. I like nuts, but I am not particularly fond of hazelnuts, but they have a little sandwich cookie here that is delicious. Two hazelnut cookies with a creme filling. I don't generally like creme cookies either, but there is just something about these things, they are addictive.

5. The people. After getting to know some Germans better now and spending more time out and about, the people are friendly and helpful. None of our experiences have shown us otherwise but getting to know some of them better has been fun and a pleasure. I hope I get to know more, better soon.

Honorable mentions: tea varieties (they have stores with just hundreds of types of tea and everything that goes with it), mild summers, and awesome ice cream that one can eat at anytime in the day.

DISLIKES:

1. Parking. With a family of 6 we have a rather large car. It is a minivan, but even smaller than the ones in the states. The parking spaces here are designed for smaller cars and the spaces are very tight. I have to be very careful with opening doors so as to not bang the other car and trying to maneuver into a spot can be tricky. I also have to parallel park way too often for my taste. I can't see the front end of my van and I have difficulty judging distances. Did I mention you have to pay almost everywhere to park?

2. Condenser dryers. I hate having to empty out the water after every load and I have no place to dump it near by so I end up filling up buckets of it till my sweet husband empties them or I have to because they are all full. I really need a sink in the laundry room but there is no bathroom on that floor. It also takes about 2 hours to dry one load and they just don't smell as good as the clothes I air dry.

3. Winter darkness. In the heart of winter, it begins getting dark at 3:45 and is totally black by 4:15-4:30. The sun doesn't come up till after 8 either so it makes for a really short day and can get a little depressing. Thankfully, they leave the Christmas lights up for a while and it helps a little although most people don't hang lights here, mostly businesses and city property.

4. Short business hours. Besides grocery stores, most stores open about 10 and close at 6 or 8. A couple grocery stores open at 7 and stay open to 10 but this is a new development. Saturday, the hours are even shorter, closing at 2 or 4. Everything is closed on Sundays, except one designated pharmacy and a few bakeries are open till 11:00. It makes getting shopping done difficult at times.

5. Medicine. (or getting it). Many over the counter drugs (i.e. aspirin) aren't over the counter here. Some you can get by asking the pharmacist but for many, you have to have a prescription. I have brought a lot of medicines from the states because I had heard that it was sometimes difficult and expensive to get pain relievers, etc. So, this hasn't been too big of a problem, but I sometimes wish I could walk in and get just what I needed without having to ask the pharmacist or go to the doctor.

Honorable mentions: Staus (traffic jams that can last for hours), no after Christmas sales, and Christmas decorations are pretty pathetic and the same every year.

Coming up with some of these was difficult because I am used to life here now. After spending time this summer in Texas and New Mexico, I have come to appreciate some things more and miss others. I don't miss the HOT summers, huge cars, and the dependence on cars but I did appreciate the really soft breads, Chinese food, the many varieties of ice cream available at the stores and for more choices in fast food and reasonable priced clothing (or clothing in general).

School Saga

2010-09-29T11:39:00.003+02:00

"If I'd known we were moving to Germany, I would have stopped with 2 kids." This was something I caught myself saying the other day. I love all 4 of my children and wouldn't change that but life in Germany can be very challenging. I know that in the US many parents are struggling with balancing all the extra curricular activities their children have (this is the reason we always kept our kids to one activity), but here just everyday molehills become mountains and school stuff is all-consuming. Let me give a few examples of the last few weeks.

Jonah and Ashlyn's school technically begins at 7:30. Ashlyn goes to school at that time everyday. Jason leaves to take her at about 7:05. She could technically walk but with the weather so rainy and no money for public transportation and a heavy backpack, we usually drive the kids the mile to school. Jonah, on the other hand, begins at 7:30 on Mon., Tues., Thurs., and every other Friday. He goes in an hour late every Wed. and 2 hours late every other Friday. They both get out of school at 1:10 on Tuesday, but Ashlyn gets out at 2 on Monday, at 2:15 every other Wed. and Jonah is 2:15 three days a week and 1:10 on Mon. and Tues. Now, we don't always pick them up from school, usually just bad weather days (which is every other day, ha ha). So, you can see it is crazy here. This doesn't include Caedon's crazy schedule which looks like Jonah's.

Aside from the schedule, every kid comes home with papers to be signed (about 1 everyday from the 4 kids combined). Remembering to get them signed is the first hurdle, then remembering to take them back to school, well..... Then there are the crazy projects, like leaf collecting and identifying, plant collecting for a project next year (yes, they plan way in advance), not to mention entire school week long trips to the farm and Parent night at least twice a year for up to 2 or more hours.

Caedon and Jonah seem to be my little Jason's (i.e. scatterbrained, head in the clouds.) (No offense to Jason) Jonah will come home for the weekend and on Monday morning ask for 10-15 euros he needs for that day. We never have that much cash on us. Then Caedon came home and didn't say anything about needing something for the next day, but when I looked in his Homework planner Wednesday morning he had drawn a picture of something he needed to take that day. (He didn't write what he needed to take, he drew a picture of it!) I asked what it was. He didn't really know. UGH. Well, we went down into the office and searched through all the extra school supplies we had and didn't find anything. Ten minutes later, I finally pulled something out of the cabinet and said this will have to work till I can buy you one. He smiled and exclaimed "that's it!" UGH. It was a simple glorified brad used to keep papers together. Caedon said that the teacher says everyone probably has them at home. I guess I am becoming a good German then!

2010-04-18T22:58:00.001+02:00

A while back, I blogged about some new, interesting yogurts on the market. Here are the pics from my kids trying them.

Popcorn here is generally sweet, like kettle corn, so the popcorn yogurt was pretty sweet. I didn't have any takers on the corn yogurt! They don't have creamed corn here so I think it wouldn't be too sweet. It did have corn kernels for that authentic taste!

Valentine's Day

2010-03-18T15:16:00.005+01:00

I know valentines day was ages ago, but I have been really busy with planning our cluster's annual meeting, dealing with 2 sick kids, trying to get things together for our trip to the States in June and look for houses/apartments for the family that is moving here in May. But I wanted to share a quick picture of what Jason got me for Vday. We had been talking about these for a while and so it wasn't totally out of the blue, but a nice surprise. I enjoyed a cup (or two) the other day.

Jane Austin, Christian Encounters

2010-03-15T16:16:00.006+01:00

A new series of books from Thomas Nelson, Christian Encounters introduces or familiarizes us to legendary figures of our past. From writers, important religious figures, to politicians and more, readers are given a concise history of those who can both influence and enlighten us. A biography of the writer Jane Austin is one of 5 in the first series released in 2010.

As a dearly loved and widely read author, Jane Austin's short life was greatly influenced by her faith. The child of a pastor in England, faith and religion were a large part of her large family. She began writing as a child and was a very prolific writer, if only in letters. She began most of her most famous books early in her life and tweeked them over many, many years. She became discouraged by continued rejection, but after finally being published, experienced great success.

If you want a concise biography, this book is suitable. I found it difficult to keep Jane's relationships straight, so many people are referenced. There is an appendix in the back that lists all of the people in her life, both friends and family. It follows her life chronologically although he does jump around some. It is a quick and easy read but may require some referring back to the appendix. I could have lived without some of the quotes, quotations and outside references, but for some, that might be appealing. All in all, if you want to learn more about a famous author with a closer look at how her faith influenced her life, then this is a good choice.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Early Senility

2010-02-21T15:13:00.004+01:00

Here is a dose of humility, for me that is! I tend to share stories that are amusing and fun and this one is the same, I suppose, but not for me.
We traveled to Vienna the other day for work and also to visit friends. While we were there, I went into Hungary with the women to get a haircut and eat and go to Tesco (the British Walmart that Germany doesn't have.) As we were buying our things, I put in my PIN for my card and the sale didn't go thru. I am not sure why because I only speak a few words of Czech and no Hungarian! I put my PIN in again and there was still a hang-up. She calls over a manager. I start to worry that I had put the wrong PIN number in. I had no Hungarian money,and just a few Euros, so I was thinking I would have to borrow money, ugh. After about 5-6 minutes, the sale went through and I left with my things. The next day, we needed cash to eat out and Jason asked that I run down to the bank and get some out. After I put my card in, I panicked that I didn't know the right PIN and so I never put a number in. The machine said it would take my card, but fortunately, it gave it back. Now, I am thinking desperately, what is my number? I can think of mine and Jason's social security numbers, and even my address from Houston from 25 years ago, but my 4 digit PIN number that I use about 2-4 times a week, nothing! So, Jason gets out the money and I continue to think on my number. I suggest a number, it is just one from Jason's social, I suggest another number and it is too close to my social. I am getting really frustrated with myself.
We get back to Dresden and we go out to the store and I try to pay and... false PIN number. Jason comes to my rescue again! I give up!!!
I know that the bank doesn't have my number, and if I have to get a new number, that it will be very inconvenient and probably time consuming. This is getting ridiculous! I even remember my phone number from Sweetwater. Why can't I remember. I used to carry my PIN in my wallet (cleverly disguised!) but after a change in our American banking card, took it out, stupid!

Thankfully, I tend to keep everything I think is important and my PIN number was safely filed away and easily accessible after Jason reminded me to look! AHHH

So, my mind is going at just 35 and I fear by 50 I won't remember my name, let alone any important number, which seems to me the only way any company, business or the world can identify me. My wallet will be full of more numbers than money!

2010-01-26T11:33:00.006+01:00

Shopping in Germany has never been an exciting thing to do. I used to love to shop (except for groceries) in the states to snatch up great bargains. I miss Target and even Walmart, because we have only one store like it and it is not convenient. (nothing is really convenient here, thus one of the hassles of shopping.)

I usually go grocery shopping with Jason to help speed the trip along and keep it from being entirely loathsome! I have discovered almost everything in the store now, but like any store, it continually gets new products. I stumbled on these at my grocery store the other day.

Just in case you don't know, this is yogurt. [The other two are coconut (not bad, just different) and christmas cookies (like shortbread), yummy] I am not sure who their target consumer is? but no matter, YUCK!

Wake up!

2009-12-04T18:25:00.003+01:00

Jason and I have a clock in our bedroom that gets its time from radio waves. So, it should always have the correct time. I have noticed at least once in the past, that the clock had an incorrect time. Our alarm is set for 6:35 am in order to get Jonah out the door at 7:05 and the other 2 students out at 7:30 am. I usually press snooze at least once.

This morning the alarm rang and I pressed snooze. It rang again 5 minutes later and again, snooze. I continued to press snooze till I looked at the ceiling (the clock beams the light onto the ceiling) and saw that it was 7:20! Agh!!! I yell at Jason and Jonah that they have to get up NOW. Jonah begins to cry out, I am going to be in so much trouble... I get up and go downstairs to wake up Caedon and Ashlyn so that they have 10-15 minutes to get ready. As I am trying to get the very tired kids up, Jason yells from downstairs to check a clock. I do and it reads, 3:35! Stupid clock was wrong and the alarm went off to boot! Thankfully, we all were able to go back to sleep but it gave us a good story to tell!

I have put in another clock that isn't radio controlled in our bedroom, just to keep this from happening again!

2009-11-15T20:16:00.003+01:00

It has been a trying week. As most of you know, Ashlyn went to the hospital on last Saturday with a stomach ache. After 7 hours and three consultations from 3 different drs., she was rushed into emergency surgery to remove her appendix. During the 2 1/2 hour surgery, the Doctor had to dig around to find the large, infected appendix tucked under her liver. As she was trying to remove the nasty thing, it ruptured. They flushed it with saline and antibiotics and inserted a tube to allow for drainage. After midnight on Sunday morning, she was wheeled from the OR in one building, outside in freezing weather to the intensive station on the other side of the hospital. She was in a very small room till 2-3 hours later, when she began to wake up and then vomit. The vomiting lasted off and on for 2 days, I think in reaction to the anesthesia. She was put into a room with a 6 year old girl who had her finger operated on shortly after Ashlyn's surgery was done. The doctor said she was very glad that she did the surgery when she did and was glad that Ashlyn's appendix hadn't ruptured before she got her into surgery. Ashlyn had 5 days of antibiotics and pain medicine. After Tuesday, she was able to begin to eat and drink a little, things such as jello and soup. By Thursday, she was feeling much better and we thought she might get to go home by Friday. We were prepared to make a defense for letting her go home (doctors tend to keep patients longer here), but the doctor said she thought she could go by then. By Thursday afternoon, the doctor went ahead and released her and we were happily bringing her home by 4 pm. By just 8 pm Ashlyn had spiked a 102 fever. I was concerned that her infection wasn't gone so we called the hospital and they recommended we bring her back in. So, just 5 short hours at home and she was back in her same bed at the hospital. They tested her blood but gave her nothing for her fever. They just observed her for 36 hours during which her fever went down to normal and they never gave her any antibiotics, fever reducer or IV fluids. Finally, Saturday afternoon she was back at home. TO STAY. The doctor said it was a virus she must have picked up from one of her brothers, but i find that a little strange.

She is doing really well and will have just 2 small scars. She goes back to the doctor tomorrow to check on everything. She must stay out of school for another week and no PE for 4 weeks, which she likes!

I tell this story for several reasons. The main one was to tell about how sweet the boys were to her while she was at the hospital. When they talked to her they were so concerned and asked how she was feeling and doing and would always say, I love you. (they don't say this). Caedon has continued to ask her if she feels okay and told her he keeps asking because he thinks she looks sad. He keeps asking if she has another stomach ache, ....? It was a good time for the kids to think of their sister rather than themselves. Jason and I are glad that everything is better now and we get to sleep in the same house and bed again. My family is intact again. And Ashlyn wouldn't show the doctors how much pain she was having and was very shy. She had to stay a couple nights alone and by the end was saying how she was okay because she knew the doctors and nurses now.

Thanks for reading, if you got this far and thanks for your prayers, if you got updated. October was crazy busy and now that November has been rather eventful, I am hoping that the rest of the month and December will slow down!

Chaos

2009-09-28T08:00:00.006+02:00

Just a couple pics from an apple pie I made the other day for house church. Amy said it looked like it came from a magazine, so I thought I would put it on here so this blog would have a picture!

Germans have nothing really like pie, so it was fun to take it to the house church and introduce them to an american favorite!

Speaking of chaos, October is about to begin, and it will be a crazy one. (Can you believe it is already October? This year has flown by! )

The first few days of October will be filled with 4 boys whom we are taking care of for 4 days while their parents take a romantic trip to Paris! Jason drives down Friday to Prague to pick them up. On Saturday, we have the 2nd annual Bible Fest and so we will be dragging all 8 children to a church in another area of the city. Our children will be the interpreters because it will all be in German! Jason will take the boys back home on Monday.
On the next Saturday, my parents arrive for a two week visit. We will get to take a trip to Paris to celebrate our 15th anniversary while my parents watch the kids. Since the kids will be out of school for those two weeks, we may head up to Berlin and the Saxon Switzerland park just 30 minutes from here.
Just a few days after my parents leave, we will host a family for a few days so they can see our beautiful city and get to know the work going on around here.
Then it is Halloween (thankfully, they don't do that much here) and on to November.
Whew!!!!!!!!!

School Days

2009-08-22T09:17:00.009+02:00

Going back to school is a crazy time here. Especially this year with three beginning school and one having a new school and schedule. Jonah started Gymnasium this year (5-12th grades). Here is a picture of him walking to school on his first day. His school begins at 7:30 and he is out most days by 1:15. (on really hot days he gets out by 11am because the school gets too hot and the teachers and kids can't get work done!)

Ashlyn and Caedon go up to the grade school around the corner. They begin at 7:50 (which I wish was the earlier beginning time since it takes just 5 minutes to walk and not 20, like Jonah) Here is a picture of Caedon at his desk on his first day.

We had to buy new notebooks and folders and workbooks for the big kids, but Caedon had to buy everything. Here is picture of his backpack. It is about the same size as a normal backpack, but hard and boxy. They also cost anywhere from $50 to over $200. The cheap ones probably wouldn't last the whole 4 years he will probably use it. We paid a whopping 89 euros for Caedon's. I am not sure what that is in dollars now but at least $120. (I am not above letting my child be different from the other children to be more economically frugal), but even a decent, normal backpack would be 50 euros and just wouldn't really work for his needs. The Germans want their kids to have the extra support and padding and they carry a lot in the backpacks. Caedon's backpack also came with a gym bag for his gym class and the "federtasche" for his pens, pencils and markers, and a bottle for drinks and a little container for his "second breakfast".

Here is a comparison shot of the various backpacks the kids carry. The first (left) is a cheap backpack that Jason or I would use (or the kids on a field trip), the middle is Caedon's new one and the third is Ashlyn's. We bought hers and Jonah's when they moved to the new school around the corner 3 years ago. I thought I was doing good buying them (1/2 price-88euros) but they are really more like what 4th-7th graders carry. Thankfully, Jonah and Ashlyn didn't care enough to complain or be upset. Ashlyn is finally carrying an "appropriate" backpack and Caedon has at least three classmates with the same backpack!

Jonah is going to have to rent a locker this year because his backpack is just too heavy for him to carry. He has small books, but also workbooks and folders and spiral notebooks and he is complaining how heavy it is.

Random Pics

2009-06-28T22:15:00.004+02:00

Just a few pics to help illustrate the busy month I have had. Here are 3 bicycles, two of which are new from the flea market on the river. Logan has been asking for a bicycle for a long time, but they are too expensive to buy for the short time he could use it, so we lucked out and found 2 bikes in good condition for Logan and Caedon.

I bought new dishes to match the kitchen.

A bill we received from UPS for a whopping 1 cent. Apparently when one of our volunteer girls paid UPS to deliver her camera she under payed by 1 whole cent. Do I send the penny in the mail or make a 1 cent bank transfer?

This outlet fried just shortly before Jonah and Jason left at the end of May for Jonah's class trip. We hadn't yet gotten around to calling someone but the husband of the couple we had coffee with yesterday, came over last night and fixed it for free,yea!

The 1500 piece puzzle I finished about a month ago. I had to document the accomplishment before I broke it to pieces and put it up to do again later.

The kids just finished up school for the year (see Dindresden blog) and so we are about to enjoy our 6 weeks of summer before 3 kids begin school on August 10th.

Correction

2009-06-18T14:50:00.004+02:00

Just a note to add to the swimming blog a few weeks ago. The child that entered my area was in fact a boy, and that would explain the staring. I found out that the school kids all go to the "women's" side to change. Oh well, I don't think he saw more than what his mom has exposed!

The Five List

2009-06-18T14:06:00.003+02:00

Here is a top 5 list of the things about Germany:

Top 5 things I dislike: (in no particular order, not all inclusive)

1. No bulk items. I can only get large quantities occasionally and that of toilet paper, paper towels, and detergent.

2. No yellow squash. I really want a good squash casserole and some garlic sauteed squash.

3. Almost all bottles (coke, water, etc.) have to be returned to the store for money. One usually payes .15 to .25 cents for each and then given a receipt for the sum that is then redeemed at the checkout.

4. Recycling. I don't mind the plastic and food recycling, but I have to recycle cardboard, newspaper and magazines, and glass down the street. It collects quickly and takes a lot of precious storage space, till I can get it to the dump.

5. That everything is difficult here. Nothing is very easy. One has to go to several places to get things. There is no one stop shopping. It is not just shopping either, but pretty much everything.

Honorable mention: Carts at the store have to be "paid for" with a coin and then the coin is returned when you put the cart back. Powder detergent for the washing machine has no scoop. I don't know what germans do. Most Germans don't use deoderant or bathe regularly, so there is a very strong smell, especially in the summer!

5 Things I love about Germany:

1. CHOCOLATE!

2. The old buildings, the history that is thousands of years old, the beauty of the city.

3. The climate, there are 4 distinct seasons! Snow in winter, green trees, grass and flowers in spring, mild summer temps., and reds and oranges in the fall.

4. Dürüms. They are like a gyro or kabob but in a tortilla. Delicious!

5. CHRISTMAS! Dresden has the oldest Christmas market in Germany (probably in Europe) and it is so beautiful and festive here then.

Honorable Mention: Public transportation. It is good here, albeit a little slow. But one can get to the entire city with a bus or tram. Dogs are beloved here. It is very easy to travel with your dog and they are allowed almost anywhere, especially if they fit in a bag. The german alphabet has 4 different letters that make it distinct, ö,ä,ü,ß.

Top Floor

2009-06-09T13:52:00.007+02:00

Looking straight into what we call the Nook.

My scrapbooking area. All the cabinets are full of just my hobby stuff.

The Library part.

The school part. The kids have their art supplies and school books and workbooks,etc. under the desk.

Our Room:

Our bed

Looking straight into the room from the door with the blinds up. The roof outside these windows is a metal one and doesn't allow for the rollladen like the other rooms in the house. Therefore, a whole wall of windows facing west can be very hot!

Dresser sitting under the eaves to the right of the room.. The stairs are behind the quilt wall.

Straight in with the blinds down and the tri-fold up. It helps keep some of the light and heat out.

The bed again. The color isn't so good here, but the bed is two shades of khaki. At the foot of the bed is a trunk.

My American Hang-ups

2009-06-02T16:43:00.004+02:00

I went swimming for the first time today. I have been avoiding it like the plague but I needed an exercise that was easy on the knees (too many stairs in the last 3 years) and relatively cheap and something I could do with someone (meaning Jason). So, I braved wearing a swimsuit and tried hard to not think about the public pool water. But what I still can't get over is the nudity! I only have to see naked women (and men in speedos, that doesn't count, right?) but it still is shocking. I was not prepared and I don't know if I can ever be prepared to see it.

Here is a little about the day:
I went into the women's changing area, so far so good! I walked around looking the locker room and once I found it, grabbed my swimsuit and towel, swimming cap and goggles and went searching for a private place to change. I look right and a skinny older woman is drying her naked body. Ok, so I find small rooms that have numbers on them but several have the door open. I guess I can just shut the door and have a little privacy. I change quickly and walk through the shower area, get wet and proceed to the swimming pool. (First naked lady to be seen, 9 months pregnant!) Swimming was fine, no problems except some of the older folk showing me up. Now, comes the challenge. I need to bathe and wash my hair. There are 2 shower rooms, both with about 6-8 shower heads. All one big room, no privacy. (Just an interesting note, the bathroom does have stalls, so I guess you won't get shy bladder. But there is nothing for shy naked people!) I peak into the one shower room and see a naked young women showering. Ack. I think,okay I will use the other room, but when you finish and need to grab your towel, you might be seen by anyone coming out of the swimming pool area! Back to the more private shower room. Three ladies are now in the room, all older wrinkly ladies. I use the restroom thinking that might give them a little time to finish. I return to find only one woman, yeah! I take my bathingsuit down to bathe, but just can't work up the courage to take it all off. I bathe as best as I can and hurry to dry myself. I return to the locker room to find another woman naked and drying herself off. Ack! I grab my clothes and keep my towelaround me and walk through the coed walkway to the little rooms again. I go into the same room and try very hard to dry off and dress as quickly as possible. About half done and a child comes into the room. It looked like a boy but I think it must have been a girl. I said excuse me but she continued to stare for what seemed like a long time. "She"? left and said loudly, "We're early". So, I walked back to the locker room and grabbed my things and left, but not before I got peeks at at least 2 other naked women.

I think I have hit my naked people quota for a while, at least till the next time I swim. Why did I take up swimming?

Family=3, maybe 4, no more than 5!

2009-05-13T20:56:00.003+02:00

The parent coffee hour before our first aid training yesterday was a good opportunity to "see" into the thinking of the german mind. Germany has one of the lowest birthrates in the entire world. The German government is trying to give couples incentive to have babies. They receive a large amount of money every month and more for each additional child. Dresden has had a baby boom so to speak and has seen an increase in the birthrate, up to a little above 1%! There are also laws that allow women to keep their job for up to 3 years after the birth of the child so they can stay home until then. Many women will plan their children exactly 3 years apart.

As we were eating cookies and drinking coffee, the parents began to discuss how difficult it is to find cheap places to vacation with large families. The couple had 3 children I think. Jason volunteered that we have 4 kids. Everyone was surprised we had so many. It seems that 1 child is typical, 2 children is becoming more common, 3 children is pretty rare but not so bad, but apparently 4 children is too many, over the top! Someone made some comment about 5 but unfortunately I didn't hear it. We know several families with 3 kids in our neighborhood, and our neighbor actually has 4 daughters, and another family in our church has 4 but they are the only exception I know of! So, we were not exactly normal in the states but we are definitely just strange here in Germany!

Recipe, Schmecipe

2009-05-10T21:49:00.005+02:00

Life in another country is often very similar to life in the United States. Or at least it is after one gets over culture shock and learns the language and how things work. I am very fortunate here in Germany to find many things or even the same things as in the US. I still buy Bounty paper towels and Charmin toilet paper and the kids still get peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (just with less sweet pb and no grape jelly). I can even buy some luxury items (like cake mixes and Pop Tarts) if I am willing to pay the astronomical prices! We bake and cook a lot of things from scratch and they usually are as good or better than what we would have had in Texas.
But, as I was preparing to bake a cake for a collegue, I ran into the problem that makes cooking and baking here in Germany a challenge. I first looked for a recipe for strawberry cake. (Sure was missing the cake mixes from the states!) I found a recipe that went a little like this:

One white cake mix (why do they do this?)
1 Package frozen strawberries (how much is that exactly? and can you switch that to metric?)
3/4 package powdered sugar (it has been over 3 years since I bought a package of anything and so I can't remember how much comes in a package.)
1/4 of said package strawberries hold back for icing (aghhhh!)
3 oz. strawberry jello (2 problems with this: one, no strawberry jello, two, jello packages here are different sizes and don't come with sugar, that must be added)

Well,my cake turned out okay even though I guestimated the amount of strawberries and used strawberry pudding mix instead of the jello. One must be flexible when baking here and open to failing when trying new recipes! I won't even go into the difficulty that arises when trying to make anything that calls for Cool Whip or cream cheese! And I haven't found anything comparable to Rotel and creamed corn, so a few recipes must be sacrificed.

Jonah is 11

2009-04-23T11:05:00.003+02:00

Jonah turned 11 on the 20th and I now have a preteen. In Germany they call them Teenies! As a sunday school teacher and childcare worker through the years, this is the age for boys that I dread. The ages from 11-14 for boys, when they go through that awkward stage, puberty and just get goofy and annoying,I just find scary. I haven't started worrying about the teen years, which everyone is so keen on reminding me are TERRIBLE! I look forward to seeing my children go through young adulthood and mature into what I hope are polite, respectful, God-fearing adults.

So, Jonah is a trip. He is beginning to sound very much like Jason and me. That is the scary part. He is half Jason and half me in personality and he and I really clash sometimes. He loves to argue,just to argue. He has many desires/wishes that are quite outlandish and impossible and I just don't get it.It really upsets him when I tell him that he ought to focus on and create achievable goals and desires. He and Ashlyn are constantly arguing and fighting. Saturdays are not much fun when the kids are home the entire day. Ashlyn is another story but I will save her for another day. Jonah is a very talented kid, not just smart but clever too. Too clever for his own good. He loves to draw and draws the cartoon and illustrates the school newspaper. He also made me a birdfeeder for Christmas. He wants to be a film director after college. I haven't been able to find anything yet though to get him involved in directing for the summer or school year, but I hope I can find something. Maybe I can find an art class he might like.

Jonah, I love him and am proud of him and hope I can get through these next few years and maintain my sanity.

Children, what a blessing?!

2009-04-01T13:00:00.006+02:00

Just wanted to relate a short story from yesterday's events. We have now had our time change (too) and so it stays lighter till close to 8:30 now. We also now allow Jonah (almost 11) and Ashlyn (9) to stay up past their brothers 7:45-8:00 pm bedtime. Jonah stays up till 9 and Ashlyn 8:30. I started a Bible study for them on Monday nights to go a little deeper with them than what they are getting at church (nothing, really) and house church (simplified for the younger boys). All that was bonus, ha!

Last evening, after dinner, Jason had to go to a revival service (of sorts) and so I had the kids alone (again!). I let them finish a movie they had started the night before till about 7 and then sent them to get pjs on. We would then clean rooms and put away the clean laundry. I was trying to take care of a few emails in the movie time, but noticed after I sent them downstairs, it was way too quiet. I heard children's voices outside, but knew that they weren't my kids' because they were downstairs changing! I peeked out of my 3rd story window, and didn't see anything. BUT it was too quiet. So I head downstairs to check on their progress and ended up finding them ALL outside in the back garden drawing with chalk! No one had shoes on, all were just wearing socks. And, Caedon had gotten ready for bed, because he was in only his undershirt and underwear!! And, it was pretty cool outside, probably in the 50s at the most. Needless to say, I was a little angry. Everyone was sent to change, brush their teeth and get in bed with a spanking to go with it! No one put up a fuss though, they knew they were caught.

Tough Times

2009-03-19T21:29:00.004+01:00

I just got back from a training trip and 2 days later Jason is "gone" on a similar trip. I use " " because he is actually in the city but not at home or where we will see him much. BUT, this evening as I am eating dinner with the group that came in for this trip, I receive a call from the babysitter. I have a fear that I might get a call but I thought it might be that my parents had called. I am scared to hear the phone ring, that my parents are calling to say that my grandfather has died. He suffered a stroke on Tuesday and so we are waiting to make sure that he doesn't have any more hemorrahging or brain swelling. Well, thankfully it is not a call from my parents but the babysitter asking me if I could come home because Caedon had thrown up. I was afraid this might happen, so it didn't surprise me, just saddened me. Yesterday, Caedon's tablemate at Kindergarten threw up on his plate during afternoon snack. Unfortunately, Caedon was a recipient of a little of it and apparently the germs that caused it. So, my wonderful husband is going to come home and stay the night with me to keep vigil. To complicate matters, I have plans for tomorrow night for a craft night. It is going to be my language partner, her mother, and a friend. I want to do it but with all four kids by myself and one not well, I don't know if I should try to do it but with 3 coming I don't want to cancel. Why do things have to be so complicated sometimes. And, Jonah is upset that he doesn't get to stay up and watch cartoons on a school night like Caedon. Agh, children! Sorry this is so random and rambling but have a little time on my hands as Caedon falls asleep.

2009-03-18T12:54:00.004+01:00

I haven't had much time to write here recently. Things are rather busy, even though I feel like I sometimes do nothing at all! I just got back from a week long training time in Switzerland. We learned some of the things that our husbands are taking 3 weeks to learn. Amazing that they can shorten the material so much when the one away is the one that runs the house!! Despite the brevity of the time, I felt like I have a better understanding of "our" role here in Dresden. This week Jason is hosting the 2nd week of the training here in Dresden for Jason's group. So, although he is technically not away from home, he will not be here with us. And so it goes...

Could you repeat that please, and in german?

2009-01-31T19:47:00.004+01:00

Yesterday as I was leaving the children's event that our church hosts, a kid asked me what time it was. I answered in the Sachsen way, it is half past 5. The child looked at me with a quizzical expression and said, " could you say that in German?" I just laughed and Jason said it another way. Guess he wasn't a Sachsen or my German sounds too much like English! Halb sechs oder? I guess I better start at the beginning again! Hallo, Guten Tag, Ich bin Cheryl. Ich spreche kein Deutsch! O Boy!

Wo ich auch Stehe

2009-01-25T16:53:00.001+01:00

Living overseas obviously has its pros and cons. I live in a beautiful and historically significant city in Europe. I also live in a city in which it is very difficult to share your faith and see others come to Christ. My country is a sowing place, not yet ripe for the harvest. The people are friendly in a European sense but not friends. I love my home but can become a little “homesick” for fellowship “American” style. All that to say, attending church is sometimes more of a chore than a desire. It can be very difficult to feel “fed” and I am just getting to the point where I can listen and understand the sermon. But as always, God blesses the time. As we were singing in the “praise” time, we sang a song I have sung only a couple of times before. The song translated says:

Wherever I am, you were already there.

Whenever I run, you are still near

Whatever I think, you already know

Whatever I feel, you understand.

And I thank you that you know me and nevertheless love me, that you know me by name and forgive me

You stand me up right and lift me to you, and I thank you that you know me and nevertheless still love me.

You know my heart, the longing in me

As fully God and Man, you lived here

Just like us but without sin

You are merciful, and full of patience

Chorus

This song always make me almost teary-eyed. I am not sure why but I become overwhelmed with God’s love and sacrifice for me. God’s infinite love, power and mercy are beyond comprehension. For me, the line in the chorus that says that God loves ME even though He knows ME. He loves me nevertheless, despite all of my sin, my faults, my thoughts, everything that is so “ugly” to Him. What an awesome God we serve! Never let me forget how much He loves me and how unworthy I am to receive that love.

He called you what?

2009-01-23T18:59:00.002+01:00

Just another story of living cross-culturally. Driving here is always an adventure. We drive a standard so that always makes things interesting but then the traffic, cobblestone streets, narrow streets and cars parked everywhere just makes it crazy. Parking is even funner! Most of the time one has to parallel park. Jason and I were helping get our new team member settled and parking on the street can be hard to find. One has to watch for driveways, no parking zones and whatnot. Jason found a spot and we pulled in. I looked and didn't see any problem, there was a door but nothing obvious. We payed for 2 hours of parking and went up to her apartment. Two hours later, we send Amy (new team member) to pay for some more parking and she comes back saying someone wanted us to move our car. I grab Amy's shoes (I had only slippers on) and run outside thinking that someone just wanted us to move a little. When I got there I was very surprised.

The man sees me and asks if this was my car. I said "yes". He then goes into his tirade. Did you not see the no parking sign? Can you not read? This is total crude (he used a mild word). Are you stupid? I missed an appointment, I have been waiting for 30 minutes. Isn't it clearly marked? He also used a few other choice German curse words.

I quickly said first, that it was my car but I didn't park it. He asked if my husband was blind. I also got in a few "sorrys" and what else could I say. As parting shots after what seemed an eternity of being chewed out, he told me to lay off the alcohol!! I just laughed and told him I didn't drink! I think he would have been better off and gotten away faster if he had just said he was upset and let it go. I guess he felt better giving me my due and I felt pretty lucky to get off so easily. I am just glad I didn't cry!

Everything becomes an adventure! I will share about Amy's doctor visits later! Germany- good times! (and I really mean that, even though it can be difficult)

Teeth, Chins and Eyes, oh My!

2009-01-07T20:04:00.005+01:00

Caedon has had an eventful couple of weeks. After weeks (literally) wiggling a loose tooth, Caedon accidentally wiggled a little too hard on January 3rd and out came his tooth. We happenend to be at our friends house and they "do" the tooth fairy. So, at 1 am Jason remembered that Caedon had put his tooth under his pillow and so he got out a euro and made the switch. After writing this sentance I realized that I don't know if it is an eyro or a euro. A euro just sounds right so I am sticking with it.

Today as Caedon was brushing his teeth he jumped around and busted his chin against the sink. He did a good job of opening the chin but we have just put a bandaid on it. Logan did this same thing a year ago Jan. 2nd or so and we took him to the ER where they glued and bandaged it. So, tonight it was Caedon's turn but with the temps being in the 0's (F) and lots of snow and slick roads, we are going to wait till morning and reassess then if we need to have it professionally glued and taped! We have had more injuries in the 2-and-a-half years in Germany than in the 7 years in Texas. Germany is a dangerous place with scary stairs, walls and sinks! Caedon and Logan will have matching scarred chins. Thankfully they add character on men, right? Or they can grow a beard to cover it!

I still need to have Caedon's eyes checked too. The doctors that checked him for school preparedness said he ought to have them checked. The doctor that came recommended wasn't taking new patients and the other doctor nearby has a wait of hours (they wouldn't give me an appt. so I just show up at 7am and wait till they get to me). This is the way the dr.s usually do it here. I can write about the cultural differences with dr.s in another blog.

Picasso?

2008-12-21T17:14:00.004+01:00

I think I may have an emerging Picasso! Logan is 3 and loves to draw, everywhere! I have found "art" on his sheets, on the wall, and lots of other places. My favorite instance was the other day when I found a very crooked line drawn on the wall. I asked him if he had drawn on the wall and he replied, "that's a crack!". I had to stifle a laugh. He did admit to it and was very upset when he found out how upset I was. A couple of weeks ago, he was upstairs in the school /craft room when I found him with the other kids. They had all decided to draw. Logan, unfortunately decided again to use another canvas.

Sleeping Beauty

2008-11-17T15:38:00.002+01:00

I just had to post this because it is fresh in my mind and rather cute! Caedon's class in the preschool is studying fairy tales. They are a little different here because they haven't been "Disneyfied" but still similar. Anyway, Caedon came home the other day telling us that he had role-played Sleeping Beauty. He told me what everyone did and who they were. I can't recall exactly who he said he was (I didn't understand all the parts!). Today, when we went to pick him up, he was about to do the Sleeping Beauty play again. this time he was the prince. So I waited till they got it all together and the teacher began to tell the story. Caedon came in in the end and kissed sweet little sleeping beauty. I didn' see him do it. On the way home, Caedon was telling his dad about being the prince. He said he had to kiss the princess (Antonia). I asked, on the cheek or on the mouth? He said, "on the mouth. Kisses on the mouth are more funner!" I thought that was so funny but also a little scary!

Another story along these lines. Caedon and Logan and I were talking about Jack. He is a "mature" dog now and the kids have taken notice. We talkedabout Jack having puppies later. That led to talking about getting married, etc. Caedon said he wanted to marry Marit, a girl in his preschool class. He said that she was his friend. Then 3 year old logan piped in, "I will marry Re'ne, he's my friend!" So, I had to tell him that boys only marry girls but that marrying your friend was a good idea! It was cute and fun to have "serious" discussions with my children.

Goethe

2008-11-05T15:40:00.002+01:00

Jason and I began a 4 week language class on Monday. With Jason's sister being so unwell, class from 8:30 to 1:00, just my everyday chores, and everything else coming up in the holiday season, I will probably be posting very little. I am on the search for 2 apartments for some workers coming in January, and if Emily does well and Janis is not needed in December, Mike and Janis will be here with us for the 2 weeks around Christmas. So, with all that rambling I will sign off. If someone does something amazing cute, funny or precocious, or we have a great story to tell, I will blog it.
After Christmas I will share pics from the top floor of our house. I am hoping to have it done shortly after Mike and Janis bring my new bedding stuff! I know if you made it this far you must be thoroughly bored by now, so I will stop.

Bis dann...... (till then)

Jason's sister Emily

2008-10-31T15:31:00.005+01:00

Jason's sister Emily just gave birth to her 5th child, her 4th daughter. On Tuesday,a couple days after the birth, her femoral artery ruptured and almost killed her. She coded on the trip from her local hospital to Dallas. She is stabilized now after 2 surgeries but not out of the woods yet. Needless to say, it has been a very difficult 3 days for us. Jason's entire family is in Dallas or Quinlan to help her husband Luke and the the kids and to be with Emily. It is difficult to be on the other side of the world and feeling so helpless. It is a very similar feeling to when my best friends came to Prague and had to leave after 6 months to return to Texas for their son to undergo chemotherapy for a bone cancer. They have since returned and it was a wonderful reunion but during the over a year they were away, I felt helpless. I am a servant by nature and I want to help by doing. Give me something tangible to do, work, that is helpful. So, with all this going on in Texas I can "do" very little here. I know prayer is very important, and I am doing that but as a servant I want to be there to watch the children, clean the house, drive someone somewhere, cook a meal, anything to feel like I am helping.

I am reminded in this situation how quickly things happen, and people go from this world to the next, or go from healthy to sickly. Life is a very tenuous thing. It is fleeting. We are reminded of our mortality. Do I need to do something now that shouldn't wait,because I may not be here tomorrow.

Please pray for Emily. She is a wonderful mom, wife, daughter,sister, and friend and she has a precious new baby, Sarah, waiting for her at home.

Randomness (that's allowed even with OCD)

2008-10-23T16:39:00.002+02:00

During the summer here, since we are fairly far north, it stays light till almost 11 pm. The sun comes up at about 4:30ish. For this reason, Europe has these great things called Rollladen. Yes, I know there are 3 L's, but that is the correct German spelling. Anyway, they are usually built into the wall on the outside and have a band inside on the wall for moving them up and down. They can come all the way down and block out ALL the light, or anywhere in between. They are one of the best inventions ever! Unfortunately, we don't have them on the windows in our room (we have 2 door windows and 2 smaller windows) so our room is very bright and hot during the long summer days.

Here is a pic from the boys room, with the rollladen half down.

Here is one window with it down and the other with it up.

Also, When I first showed pics of the house, I showed one from the front door looking out at the auto shop across the street. It is rather unsightly. But after a couple weeks, he has made some improvements. I am not sure I like the new paint job, though.

After, with a fresh coat of neon yellow. The pics don't do it justice! It is hideous. I think I liked the old brown better! But, what can you do. I hope it fades with time.

People really like to paint their buildings bright colors and I usually like it but this is a really ugly yellow. (and I like yellow)

Floor 3

2008-10-17T14:02:00.005+02:00

Here are some more pics from the third floor. It is the kids' floor. It is Ashlyn's room, the Boys' room and the bathroom. Here is a shot from the stairs into Ashlyn's room.

Her loft bed, desk, and dresser.

Looking into the hall from Ashlyn's room

Straight shot from hall into boys' room. On the other side of the windows is the balcony.

Jonah's and Logan's bed

Caedon's and the guest bed

Everything is "color-coded". Jonah has orange sheets, and picture frames, Caedon, red and Logan light blue. All the toys are in bins under the beds.
Stairs going up to our floor. I will probably wait till after Christmas for our room because it is in transition. I am changing the bedding and colors. I want to paint but won't because I don't want to invest the time and money for only a year or 2. That and I don't have the money right now!!!

Out of the Mouths of Babes...

2008-10-13T13:05:00.003+02:00

I don't have a camera this week (it is in Spain with Jason) so I cannot update with pics from the kids' floor. But since Jason is gone, it reminded me of something Caedon said the first time Jason went on a trip since we moved here. It must have been about a year or so ago. Jason went to Spain (Barcelona this time) for a meeting and so we were on our own. I went to pick up the boys from Kindergarten and they asked about their daddy. I said he was on a trip. Caedon then said, "are we going to have to get a new Daddy?" It was pretty cute. I asked him if he wanted a new daddy and he said "no". Jason's job security is good for now!

Floor Two

2008-10-08T18:36:00.000+02:00

Here a few pics of the house. I will start at the opening of the stairs from the basement. Some would call this the first floor, other the ground floor since it opens up into the back yard. As you come up the stairs there is a small foyer with 3 doors. Straight leads into this tiny bathroom. The sink is so small, I have a hard time washing my hands in it without spilling water everywhere. On first look it probably looks pretty normal, but for anyone who has not traveled to Europe might notice that there is no tank to the toilet. The tanks are built into the wall and the large white thing on the wall is how you flush the toilet. Thankfully, our toilets are fairly similar to American toilets, that means they don't have what we affectionately call the "viewing shelf".

That is a whole other post.

Another thing that is very different to America, is when you move into a place,you literally get 4 walls and a floor. Houses come with nothing! No closets, no kitchen counters, no light fixtures. There are outlets, light switches and wires hanging for the lights and that is it. No bathroom counters or cabinets either. There isn't really room for a cabinet in this bath, so we haven't bothered doing too much with it. I put in a light fixture and a mirror.

On the left of the stairs behind door number 2, is the kitchen. This first pic is a straight shot from the door. I painted it a really bright yellow so that it is not so dark during the LONG winter nights. It begins to get dark at about 4:30, so while cooking dinner the kitchen is pretty dark. Germans love bright colors and I have gotten quite a few compliments on the color. On the left wall, above the "coffee bar" are paintings from most of the cities we have visited in Europe. Some are from street artists and others are prints from street artists paintings. On the wall are paintings from Prague, Barcelona, Venice and Salzburg. Behind the door is the refrig. and a cabinet.
Here are the cabinets and sink, etc. I decorated with the colors of the rainbow. I found canisters and then used the colors from them to decorate with.
The last pic is the corner to the right, with the stove and oven. All appliances here are pretty small and it can be difficult to cook more than one item at a time. Thanksgiving and Christmas can be a challenge! But, we are lucky to have a large kitchen by German standards. It is called a "Wohnkuche" which means that there is room for people to eat in it.Literally translated it means living kitchen as in living room and kitchen. It is just large enough for a table and chairs that seat 6.

That is Jason's computer cord and pigs in a blanket beside the stove that I was making for our Bible study group last night.

Floor Two/2

2008-10-08T17:37:00.005+02:00

Here are the rest of the pics from the 2nd floor. This is a view from the door,looking into the room and to the backyard. It is really just a garden.

We painted only one wall red for several reasons, the biggest being that it would be too much. Most Germans think it is too dark. I have seen it elsewhere though and this was a pre-mixed paint I bought.

My dining room furniture that I brought from the states. The table, china cabinet and our bed are the only 3 pieces of furniture we brought over here.

The postage stamp backyard. We have the biggest house but the smallest yard. It is enough for hanging out my laundry (that is what the blue thing is. It opens out into a square with lots of lines for hanging clothes.) and letting the dog out to get some sun and do his thing. We fixed up the bed you see, it was just dirt before.

Neu Frisuer

2008-10-02T16:01:00.005+02:00

It finally came. The day for my haircut! I am pleased with the cut and color and if I can afford her after she starts charging me, I will go back! She works in a very plush hotel (it has an outdoor guard) and I am not sure I can afford her but we will see!

As I was in the chair, I thought of a few cultural differences I thought I would share with you. First, at this salon, I was given a shirt and robe to wear. I went behind a curtain and changed out of my shirt, into the borrowed one and then put a robe over that. She didn't use a cape. Next came tcolor and then the wash. I love to get my hair washed, it feels sooo good! Especially here in Germany. I think they must have to massage your scalp ( or maybe just the women I go to) because both times they massaged in addition to the wash. Today the women (Katja) even used the little round thingy with the tines that massages your scalp! I also got to catch up on my american and german celebrity gossip with a couple magazines! Anyway, after the wash came the cut and cut and cut. She was very thorough. I was a little scared when I saw her go for my bangs (they're called pony here). I was afraid I was going to have to go around with a mullet! But after she was done it looked good. She did what I had wanted and so I am pleased. No blue or purple hair and no mullet. A couple things a conspicuously missing from beauty salons here though, curling irons and cleaner for the scissors and brushes. They only use a round brush and a hairdryer for styling and I am not sure what they do about cleaning their brushes. I just try not to think about it. Anyway, Here is a pic, judge for yourself.
Excuse my tired face, I was awakened at 5 am and am extremely tired!

2008-10-01T13:32:00.009+02:00

Here are the first of the pics of inside our house. I am starting at the bottom, front door and working my way up. That makes the most sense, to me anyway. Our house is only one room wide and two rooms deep (or about) so getting pics is a little difficult. The bottom floor includes the entryway, Jason's office and junk room, and the storage room and laundry room (what they call the Keller.) It is not the first floor. That is above the ground floor. Anyway, here goes.

Looking in from the front door. A cabinet for coats, etc. and a rack for current jackets, shoes,etc.

Each kid has his own "cubby" for shoes and a basket for winter hats, gloves, and scarves.

Looking toward the front door. Germans always take their shoes off before going into the home. We have house shoes for inside and most everyone has a few available for guests. With the yucky, rainy weather here, this is a very nice custom. I also call this area the sandbox, because after preschool, the Caedon and Logan dump out all the sand from their shoes. Caedon can literally make a small pile, I don't know how he walks in them with so much sand!
One pic from Jason's office.It is always a mess! The kids put their school things in here and anything else that doesn't have a home! It is Jason's room and I don't touch it, even though my OCD side really wants to do something about it.
This is the "area" for the kids school stuff. Each has a box for their stuff. Kids here don't have lockers, so they have to keep everything at home and repack their backpack each day according to their class subjects that day. (It is like a college schedule.) Each kid got to decorate it as they wanted.

The stairs up to the rest of the house and a small storage area for skates, shoes, and bike.

At the back of the house is a large storage area with a smaller room for my laundry area.

Just two shots into the storage area. It is a mess and very hard to keep under control. Thankfully, I got a bunch of "hand-me-down" cabinets to organize and hide all of our junk.

Our House

2008-09-27T11:30:00.004+02:00

I am fascinated by peoples' homes. I like to think it stems from my love of architecture and interior design. I almost studied both in college but decided to go a different route. I don't regret my decision, but do still find both interesting. Jason says my curiosity is just nosiness. Anyway, I have people asking for my advice on interior decorating and love to "do" up my house. I am constantly wanting to change, redecorate, "freshen up" our home.

So, this set of blogs is for anyone who is curious how this missionary family lives. I have seen a few other apartments and houses of others here in the Germanic speaking world and feel like we are fairly comparable to others' situations. If you have no interest, then just wait a while and I will move on to something else. I plan on giving a virtual tour of our home. It will be only pics, but will give a general idea. So, here goes,

This is our building. It is three row houses together. Yes, it is 4 stories. Ours is the one in the middle. Our house is larger but our yard is smaller. There are three houses that look similar to ours on our street. Behind us is several rows of row houses that are only accessible by walking. Unfortunately, our street is very busy and noisy and we are in the path of planes from the airport. The neighborhood is very quiet though. There are a lot of families with lots of kids. The grade school (1-4th) is just around the corner and the kids can walk there in just a few minutes.
Our house up close. The front door is the one on the right. The other is the window to Jason's office/junk room.

Our small front yard. It is a work in progress. It was pitiful when we first moved here and now it is just a little less pathetic.
The view out the front. Unfortunately, it is rather ugly. The house belongs to an auto mechanic and he has converted some of it to a shop and office and he has a high tech shop to the left of this pic.
The view down the street. Up this street, beyond the trees to the left is a really old Lutheran church (about 800 years old). To the right up the street and around the corner is the kids' school. It just celebrated its 125th or more birthday. It is a very small school, with only 1 or 2 classes per grade, about 100 students at the most. Next week, when I find time I will begin with the inside of the house.

Hair

2008-09-16T21:16:00.003+02:00

My husband says I am not "high maintenance". I like to think that I am not. I do my own nails and buy cheap hair products, etc. I even cut my family's hair. I even cut my own hair, but this is out of pure desperation. I made sure I got a good haircut and went back to my natural haircolor (I like to call it "ugly , indefinable brown") before I left the states. This would ensure that I would have about 6 months to get accustomed to Germany and maybe learn enough German to get a haircut. When I got here, one of the first things I noticed was women's (and men's) hair. What I mean is, one couldn't but notice! The hair was every color imaginable (I actually saw a woman that had every color imaginable). My favorite was neon pink and blue. We call the old ladies here the "purple hairs" because every shade of purple is the most popular color for the over 60 crowd! The cuts were just as wild as the color. The mullet, mohawk and rattail are still going strong here. All the hair cuts you see in the magazines and hairbooks at the salons, that is what you see here. Very unconventional. So, I had great fear! After waiting nearly 2 years I finally got up the courage to go. Armed with pictures of the length and color I wanted, I went to a friend of a friend. What I left with was nothing like I wanted or my pics! It wasn't bad, just not what I wanted. So, it has now been another year and 2 home haircuts and colors and I am done. I must get a new "professional" cut. There is a lady in our church that needs guinea pigs (models) so she can get her special certificate or something, I don't understand how it all works. But anyway, she will do my hair free! And I have seen her work and I like it. So next week I am off to the hair wizard and I will post pics and info. when I have it. Pray that I don't get blue hair or a mullet!

Neighbors and Flowers

2008-09-12T21:55:00.007+02:00

Now you may ask, what do neighbors and flowers have to do with each other? Nothing really, but I want to share a little about my neighbor and the flowers she "gave us".

God blessed us with an awesome neighbor (family). We moved into our house in June of 2006, knowing only please and thank you in German. But God is so gracious. Our neighbor not only speaks excellent English (she did a year as an exchange student in Texas) but her father just happens to own a language institute! So, language problem, solved, tutoring needs, solved. The story could go on, but then I might forget to share about the flowers.

We have a small yard behind our house. We have a small fence and shrubs that separate our yard from our neighbors'. Every year our neighbor plants flowers along her side of the fence. Inevitably though, we always reap the benefits of her plantings. The last 2 years we have had sunflowers. Sunflowers are really popular here and almost everyone grows them. They get REALLY big here, upwards of 20 feet. (I last lived in west Texas where they had had a draught, so nothing grew) Anyway, this year's flowers were pretty impressive.( I think the only ones that grew, grew on our side of the fence!) So, here are a couple of pictures to give you an idea of the flower and it gives me a chance to share a little about God's blessings and my neighbor. I will tell you more about her and the story later. They have 4 precious girls, ages 5 to 6 months. This is a very unusual for east German families! Me under the flower, getting dusted in sunflower dust!
The main flower and one of the other 9 flowers or buds.
Jason under the flower to give you a little idea. In case you don't know, he is 6 ' 3 in. tall (or so he says) The flower is also a little top heavy and is bent quite a bit. Although our flower isn't especially large, I have seen some sunflowers here as large as dinner plates or frisbees.

About Me

2008-09-08T16:43:00.000+02:00

I am not a writer or a deep thinker, just a wanna-be. I live in a European city where I am a missionary. This is just a bunch of ramblings about some of my experiences and frustrations in my life here and back in the states. I come from a “good Baptist family” in Texas where I lived for 30 years prior to moving here. I am a wife of a former youth pastor (who did everything in the absence of other church staff), Sunday school teacher, mother of 4, VBS director and everything else one can do in the church. I am trying to discover my true purpose, or at least a significant one. I am also trying to find ways to share my faith in a contextual setting and trying to get past my shyness and terrible language skills. I am a mother who is trying to be a good spiritual example. I also am trying to teach my 6 year old to read in English before he starts school next year in German.
I also love to scrapbook, photography and read and may add these elements into this blog.

personal identity

2008-09-06T19:50:00.000+02:00

I was reading a blog the other day about stay at home wives. Apparently, CNN or another outlet did a piece on SAHW. I know nothing of the actual piece, just my friends thoughts on it. I am not a stay-at-home-wife, nor was I ever, but I am a stay-at-home-mother. I have been a SAHM for over 8 years. I consider it a full-time job and not to be frowned upon or considered less worthy than a “career”. I often think of how sad it must be to “have to” work outside the home. And as far as stay at home wives, if that is what they choose to do, then I am sure that it is quite fulfilling and honorable.

I do struggle with thoughts of “should I do more”. I often find myself bored, even with 4 children between 10 and 3. All my children are now away from home for a better part of the day. I am not all together thrilled by this but feel it is important for my 2 younger boys to be in their 2^nd language environment more than 2 hours a day. The older one will begin national school next fall.) So, the question of what to do with my time becomes even bigger. What should I do with the extra free time? I don’t feel that anything outside the home is encouraged nor do I really want a “Real job”. I have several hobbies that can be very time consuming, but are these in the best interest of my goal in living here? I keep my house fairly straight all the time (thus the OCD in the title) by separating my chores out to one or 2 a day. So, cleaning house won’t keep me busy. I have often thought I should write a book, or write praise songs or paint pictures or something that would benefit others spiritually or something but I don’t think I am gifted in any of that. I can’t even keep my blog thoughts from going in circles! My dilemma continues. I guess I am in a self-discovery phase of life.

Newbie

2008-09-04T20:18:00.000+02:00

The blog thing is new for me but my husband Jason has done it for a while now. Just thought I might put my two cents out there too! To better understand where I am coming from, please read my profile. I am just planning on writing some of my thoughts and feelings and observations for anyone who has time or interest. I also plan on adding pictures of churches and whatnot with short explanations of their significance, etc. I live in a place with very beautiful but empty churches.