A Quick Layover

Today was a wonderful day as we were able to see some old friends that we have not seen in over three years! The "B" kids had a layover in Milwaukee...and the airport is just minutes from our home so we had over an hour to see each other.


Even though they are in the St. Louis area now Hannah and Sally (Tatiana) have almost weekly chats on the phone. It was good to see them together.


This is our usual "birth order" picture. Since Rebekah was unable to make the visit Marla (Anna) got to be first in line. She is a sophomore in college now studying Interior Design and seems to be enjoying it. Next comes our Philip and then Matthew (Tony) who will be graduating this year. He hopes to pursue something in the art field, perhaps painting icons, one day.


We have known these "kids" since they were babies...each and every one of them and it was so good to catch-up and give each of them a hug.

Friends

Last night we spent New Years with some friends we have known for about eleven years.
They invited us out to their place for New Year's Day...and after first accepting their invitation, I had to send an email saying we would have to make other plans. Our Hannah was working on New Years Day, and since she is very good friends with our friends' two daughters we thought it might be a good idea if she was with us. I threw out a few other ideas...one of them celebrating New Year's Eve at our house.

So here is the order of events:

1) Our friends invite us over for dinner.
2) We cannot accept the invite, so they agree to drive 45 minutes to join us at our house.
3) They bring most of the food, even making some gluten free stew for me! (Thank you Sara!) They even brought some champagne to bring in the new year.
4) Their oldest daughter, Cacia, agreed to adopt our two guinea pigs since life with them didn't work out as we planned. They took them home with them at 1:00 a.m.!

We had a wonderful night attending Divine Service, playing games, laughing, the guys smoked cigars (on the porch), we laughed some more, watched a few episodes of "The Office", talked about life, the guys drank some beer, and we heard about Cacia driving their van all they way to our house! At midnight we brought in the new year...and said our goodbyes around 1:00....I was in bed by 2:00! It was a wonderful night! Thanks Alex and Jenni for inviting us!

Piercings

Yesterday was the day we talked about for many years, Rachel finally got her ears pierced...but this was no mall piercing.


No, we heard some good things about getting ears pierced at the "Tattoo Parlor"...so three moms helped each other out and all three entered the parlor, with our children...even a baby...and Rachel. We did not want her mom to do this alone.


This is Rachel very happy to have the deed done. Everything went very well...the piercing room was clean, the woman really knew what she was doing, and best of all...the holes are completely centered!


Here are the girls in front of the piercing truck. I guess they go "on the road" sometimes piercing all sorts of body parts. We are just sticking with the ears...I did ask Mary if she wanted to do her tongue, while we were there. She passed. Maybe next time? :)


And here are the kids shivering in the Wisconsin cold eating their Kopps frozen custard. (We also talked about going out for ice cream, after Rachel got her ears pierced, for many years.) The weather was actually beautiful...in the 80's!

Farewell

Last Friday we said goodbye to some friends we have known for many years. This is Emiliano, Antonio, Melody, Sue and Mario. (They are also guardians of their 2 year old grand neice, Marisella.)The will be moving later this week to New Mexico where Mario will be working part-time at an LCMS congregation as he finishes his studies at the seminary to become a pastor. This has been a long road for them and I pray this last part of the journey goes smoothly. We will miss them and all the happy times we had together very much!

A day at the beach

This is how I found little Miss Sarah as she waited patiently for us to pick her up for a day at the beach. (I love the hat!)


And here are our girls at the end of the day. They were in the water for hours...talking, swimming and floating. What a great day! (Just in case anyone would like to know, this is: Sarah (Kathy's dd), Maggie (Susan's dd), Rachel(Kathy's dd) and Mary (my dd). (Dd is dear daughter.)


And here they are again.


The Looper moms...Kathy, Laura and Susan.

Tomorrow it will be back to school for all of us...or whatever else life will bring us for the day...but for today, for a few little hours, we all could relax and enjoy the company of friends. What a blessing!

A few fun things

Recently some land has been cleared near our home. It was sad to see the little house and trees torn down, but the intersection is filled with a few businesses and it does seem logical that a business should be at that location. Well today I found out what business is going in...ALDI! We are spoiled with a few Aldis in our area, but this will be amazingly convenient. I can actually send the kids to the store to pick something up AT A DECENT PRICE! We can run out to get milk and be home in less than 10 minutes!

And another great thing happened today, too.


This was a hot topic on the Martin Loopers (LCMS home school loop) awhile ago. Apparently you can make your own vanilla with some vanilla beans and vodka. A dear friend graciously gave me some beans awhile ago and today I, finally, bought the vodka. I wonder how long it take until I can use it?

And one last picture...well, actually it will be a few.


Ben loves cleaning equipment. His two favorite things are the vacuum cleaner, especially the cords, and our kitchen broom. Today we bought him a broom his own size and here is is putting it to use.


On Monday we went to the Wisconsin State Fair where we filled up our tummies with lots of yummy, probably not so healthy, things to eat. Here is Mary enjoying three scoops of Cookie Dough ice cream. (And she wants you to know that she did not eat the whole thing.)


This was a first for our family...Hannah is eating a fried Snickers bar with powdered sugar on top. Mmmmmmmmm good!


And here is the group that went, minus Gabe since he is taking the picture. This is the second time we have attended the fair with friends from church...Don and Karen and their son, Alex. I think we have started a nice tradition.

Eating Light

I saw this article Eating Light in Touchstone magazine last week and found it very interesting. I do not enjoy spending hours in the kitchen preparing a meal. If it was healthy for our family I could just stick a few boxes of something in the oven and call it a day. I even have a wall hanging that says "I only have a kitchen 'cuz it came with the house". This article gave me a new insight in meal preparation and the fellowship we enjoy when eating. (Thanks, Susan, it worked!)

Farewell

Today we said farewell to Nathan (Lu's son) and Katie (Susan's daughter) as they travel to Ft. Wayne, Indiana where Nathan will begin his studies that will lead, God willing, to ordination.

I have known Katie since she was about 6 years old. I have gone from watching her climb trees and acting like a tomboy to witnessing her state her vows on her wedding day. She has grown into a beautiful young woman and will certainly be a wonderful wife to Nathan...and I do look foward to the day when she will become a mommy. She is a precious daughter of our precious friends.

We have known Nathan since he was about 16 years old. We met him over the internet as he and our oldest daughter became "chatting" friends through Higher Things. All those years ago I never thought he would become a student at Concordia, Wisconsin and a member of our church. We have watched him mature in the faith over the years and, with God's help, he will one day be a faithful shepherd of God's people. Who knows...maybe we will be in the same circuit four years from now?

God bless and keep both of you!

Why Blog?

The purpose of my blog will be simply to share a bit of life of our home life with you. By doing that I hope that I can be of some encouragement to you as some of you have been to me. I enjoy reading your blogs about just ordinary life and how God uses each of us in our God given vocation to serve our neighbor and especially our family.

Sometimes just being a "mom" seems so plain and simple. My day usually consists of waking up, before the baby, so I can get ready for the day. Then I have to plan dinner, get the laundry going, keep the house in some kind of order, and home school our youngest daughter. Sometimes life includes running kids to high school, piano, jobs, doctor appointments, and important playdates with friends. Sometimes I don't even know where I am driving until the kids yell, "Mom, where are you going?" My life is serving my family.

My oldest daughter is a CNA (certified nurse assistant). Her job is very involved in serving the needs of the body. She wakes people up in the morning, helps get them dressed for the day, helps to feed them, cleans them up when they get messy, and talks to them when they are lonely. I am so proud of her for handling her job in such a gracious manner. I hope she knows how important her vocation, at this time, is...which reminds me how important mine is too.