This week...

:: Levi received the "Fruit of the Spirit" award for Love!

:: Luke and Abby played in their first soccer game together

This was Abby's first soccer game EVER, so she was a little more nervous and saw a little less playing time than Luke, but they did great and tied 2-2.

:: My grandparents celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary!  Happy Anniversary!!!

:: We made these (but without the ice cream)

:: And we may have had some dance parties to this song :)

Happy Weekend everyone!

Room Updates...

I wouldn't say we did total room makeovers for the kiddos, but we did make some improvements over the past few weeks.  We moved the boys upstairs last year around this time- but we are just now getting around to making their rooms fit their personalities, likes and ages.

Luke is a bit of a mini Brad, and loves to travel and collect things along the way.  We wanted to update his room to showcase the things that he enjoys, and he also needed a bigger space to do his homework.  Brad purchased a counter top, just added some legs and a new desk was born!  For such a tiny room, I feel like we have maximized the space and most importantly, Luke likes it :)

Levi loves all things "Star Wars", so Brad found some panels (like wall paper)  with just about every Stars Wars character and put it up around his bed.  Talk about a happy little guy :)  His room is actually a hallway, so it takes some creativity to make the space work, but Brad did a great job lifting his bed off of the ground to make a place for his toys and still have room for his desk.

Our Abby girl loves lots of color and displaying her artwork and photos. Brad had painted a dolphin a few years ago, and most recently he painted some backgrounds to display some pictures of Memoo and Abby swimming with dolphins in Malta last year.  He is crazy creative and just free-handed them!  I know, I am lucky that he likes to do this sort of thing :)  She also loves the end result!

Hopefully we are done for awhile now :)

Back to School...

So the kiddos have been back in school for a few weeks now... and I am still behind on everything :)

This was the first day of school!  Finally all of our kids are in the same school and on the same calendar.  Hooray!  Everyone loves their teachers and are doing great!

Levi is now in 3rd grade and here is his cursive signature...I love it!  And below are a few things that he took to school to help introduce himself to the class.  A picture of his family and dog, a Star Wars and Pokemon figure and a map from the Olympics, that we saved from this summer. Levi continues to have a tender, compassionate heart and keep us in stitches with his sense of humor!

Abby is now in 6th grade- so we have 2 middle schoolers!

She loves organizing, so it is no surprise that all of her school supplies were organized in rainbow colored order and that her folders were decorated to match her love for bright colors :)  Most of Abby's friends are International- coming from Korea, Philippines, India, Nigeria and more. One of her favorite foods is Kimchi!  I love her willingness to try and discover new things.

Luke is now in 8th grade and has had a tremendous growth spurt over the last 7 months. He is now 5'10 and wears the same size shoe as Brad... a 13!  Crazy.  He got braces right before school started and loves all things related to soccer and a game called, Minecraft.  Our Lukey is growing into a fine young man :)

I don't know where the time goes, but this year for some reason all of our kids seemed to really grow and mature in new ways.  I am so proud of how they have handled the stresses of cross cultural living and have grown in their relationship with the Lord.  I have been reading through, "Praying the Scriptures for your Children"  and have been convicted of my need to be praying more for them, but also be praying specifically for them to recognize the gifts that God has given them and how they can use those gifts to Glorify God.  So that is my goal for this school year...to pray more intentionally for my kiddos.   Would love to hear from other moms out there how they pray for their kiddos or any other resources that have equipped them to parent better!

Walking home from the first day of school...

See how they have grown...
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007

Happy Father's Day...

to the BEST DAD EVER!

Starting to feel like summer...

While most of our friends in America got out of school a few weeks ago, Luke and Abby just finished on Wednesday and Levi is finished on June 29th.

Yesterday we went to the Alte Donau with some friends, and it finally started to feel like summer.

Abby and So Hye

Andy and Luke

Good friends, sunshine, refreshing cold water and ice cream...let the summer begin :)

This week...

:: Luke and I had a mini date...dinner at McDonalds and his Track and Field Appreciation Dessert

:: All 3 kiddos had an appointment with an Orthodontist here in Wien...Abby will get her braces on June 12th!

:: I went with Abby's class on a field trip to the zoo

:: I started a new photo challenge

::We made Oreo Cupcakes

::And we ate them as we celebrated our friend Sarah Clark's birthday :)

March Madness...

March always seem to be really full of fun things...

:: Here is Abby with a few of her friends at the "International Family Fun Night" at their school.  Each classroom represented a different country~ where native food could be eaten, traditional clothing could be seen and kids got "passports" that they could get stamps in.  There were also some cultural performances.  It was a really great night!

:: This week has been Spirit Week, and the kids have had a fun time dressing up each day.  For Abby, today was "book character" day

She chose Violet, from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!  She begged to be taken by car this morning instead of by public :)

And for Luke it was "blue and gold" day (school colors)

It was probably a bit over the top, covering his bike helmet with gold paper and gluing a trophy on top...but I love that he has really gotten into dressing up, and is not too cool for it :)

:: And last night we celebrated Brad and Abby's birthdays with our team

 

Happy Birthday Brad and Abby!

Poor Mo...

Luke noticed a few days ago that Mo didn't seem quite like herself.  She wasn't climbing like normal or eating very well.  Then it became difficult for her to walk.  The store owner where we got Mo recommended a vet specializing in reptiles. (This vet is even giving a lecture on chameleons this Friday in Vienna, so she knows her stuff.)

After a blood test and an x-ray, it was determined that she has at least 17 eggs inside her little belly, causing the calcium from what she eats to go to her eggs rather than her bones.  This is causing metabolic bone disease. She also is having trouble with her kidneys.  Right now we are giving her calcium supplements and medicine for her kidneys to function better, but the vet seems to think her chances of surviving are pretty slim.

This is very hard for Luke, who hates to see a fly suffer- let alone a pet that he has saved money for and hand feeds on a daily basis.  It is amazing how attached to Mo we all have gotten. :) Luke has always had a compassionate heart, and he asked me to write this blog post so folks would pray.  So...for the sake of our Luke, would you lift up a prayer for Mo?

13!!!!!!!!!

How did you become a teenager so fast?  We love you Lukey!

Happy 13th Birthday!

Family Poem...

Luke has been working on a project about "his family" for school for a few weeks now.  He could choose from a long list of things to do.  He made a family crest, a family tree, provided a waffle recipe that has been passed down from his great-grandmother (and this morning I went to school and shared some fresh waffles with the kiddos) and wrote a poem that cracked me up....

Hunter, is my family name

From all around Europe, we all came.

Back to Europe we went,

4 and 1/2 years we've spent.

We came here a church to start,

Our home is in the city's heart

German, a language I not yet knew,

Schnitzel and Sachertorte learned to chew.

I've been to 4 different schools, 

But everywhere they think I'm cool :)

(and yes, he is just like his mom and put a smiley face at the end of his poem!)

This week...

:: Levi loves carrots, and instead of "peeling" his carrot, he refers to it as carving!  I love it :)

:: I added the Diptic and Camera Pro apps to my i-phone... and am having fun playing around

:: read this NY Times article and it reminded me how thankful I am that our kids have learned German, but it also stirred my emotions, remembering how hard those first few months were here

:: we went to dinner at the Schweitzerhaus 

:: the leaves started to change

:: it was Luke's turn to be sick ;(

:: Abby did an "About Me" project at school

:: I made an apple pie-but it didn't turn out because my oven is still not working right...but my friends and family graciously ate it anyway. Normally, it is very yummy!

Here's the recipe::
(from Missy Campo)

-store bought pie crust

-cut and peel 5-6 Granny Smith apples

-sprinkle with 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tsp. of cinnamon

-place apples in crust and cut up pats of butter (about 1/4 cup)

-mix
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup softened butter
1/2 cup sugar

-crumble on top of pie

-Bake at 350 for 1 hour ( or until brown)

:: and here's my Flower Friday

Enjoy your weekend!

Crazy for Chameleons...

It's official.  We have gone crazy!  I know it is not hard for most of you to believe, but we really have gone a little nuts for this chameleon.  Meet "Mo"(derived from Mohawk).

Remember when we went to Malta, and the kiddos found THIS...

Well, ever since we got home, Luke has been researching, going to pet stores and asking questions, pooling his money and even selling things to earn money so he could get his hands on a chameleon.

Here she is checking out her new pad

Her tail is pretty cool, as it can be all curled up

or straight out

and it is fun to watch her crawl and see her skin grow darker, as she blends with her surroundings

but even though she is pretty cute...

she only eats LIVE bugs and worms

so we no longer have anyone offering to watch our place when we need to go out of town :)

We have ourselves a goalie...

Last year it was American football, and this year it is soccer!

A few weeks ago, Luke tried out for the team and enough kids tried out that 2 teams were formed. He brought home the list of names for the blue and gold teams and asked me to find his name.  When I couldn't find his, he told me to check the bottom of the page...he had made BOTH teams! :)

Tonight was their first game, and they won 3-2!  Way to go Eagles!

It rained for most of the game, but as we were leaving, a beautiful rainbow spread across the sky...

God is so good!

Moments with Memoo...

On this vacation, we decided that every kiddo got to have a special moment with Memoo...

:: Abby and Memoo swam with the dolphins

:: Luke and Memoo went Parasailing

Getting their instructions

Memoo getting fitted for her gear

Luke's turn now

their parasail

Brad praying for their safety, and Levi thinking that he may not see Memoo alive again :)

Ready

Set

GO!

They both said the view was of course spectacular...and I wish you all could have seen Memoo's arms flapping like a bird, pretending she was flying!  It was too funny :)

and here they landed safely after about 15 minutes in the air

Look at their smiles!

:: Now it's Levi's turn!  He and Memoo went jet-skiing

and they are off... quite slow at first, but once he got the hang of it, he was willing to go much faster

more smiles, more fun and more great memories!  Thanks for being such a good sport Memoo! :)