Our 5th Grader...

Levi's homework assignment tonight was to write 4 "BIG" words that describe him.  These are what he chose...

1. Vigorous- strong; active; robust:

a vigorous youngster.

2. Articulate- using language easily and fluently; having facility with words:

an articulate speaker.

3.Sympathetic- characterized by, proceeding from, exhibiting, or feeling sympathy;sympathizing; compassionate:

a sympathetic listener.

4. Amusing- causing laughter or mirth; humorously entertaining:

an amusing joke.

(I took this just a few days ago when we were at the eye dr.  They had given him drops to dilate his pupils and this is the face he made when I asked if I could take his photo...yes, he is definitely amusing!)

A look back and a recipe...

Yep- it's been awhile.  A looong while.  You probably thought I was done blogging.  I thought I was. But then I got a little bit sentimental yesterday looking back at our kiddos' first days of school and thought- oh hey, why not post a picture and a recipe.  It's fun and I have missed it!  So here goes...

Today was the first day back at school.

They are HUGE right?  How did this happen?  We have a Sophomore, an 8th and a 5th grader.

Look how little they used to be ::

First day of 2013,
2012,
2011,
2010,
2009,
2008 ,
and 2007.  We are so proud of them!
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And now, I will move on to a recipe- so I don't have to think about how Luke will be graduating from high school in 3 very short years...

There is a reason I have been craving granola.  This summer we went to Cyprus, and found the most delicious granola Brad and I had ever had.  We found it at Lidl.  So I went searching for it here in Austria, but with no luck.  They have different kinds of granola here, but not the crunchy kind with big chunks of tropical fruit that we fell in love with in Cyprus.

Long story short- I have decided to try to make my own granola, since some friends of mine said it is easy and yummy.

This was the first recipe I tried, but I could never get it crunchy- though it tastes ok.

This recipe had a video, which always draws me in :)  So I tried it and I liked it better, though I still couldn't get it super crunchy!  Is there a secret I am missing?  Help me out!  Now I am on a mission...

(I used pecans and cranberries, because that is what I had on hand)

P.S.  The longer it cooled, the crunchier it got :)

First Day of School...

We arrived back in Vienna on Tuesday evening- which meant we had one day to recover from our summer of chaos before school started.  Smart parenting right :)  I think I last looked at the clock at 2:30 am this morning and the last of the kiddos had finally fallen asleep. Ugh.  At least it is only a half day!

I think they all are were struggling with jet lag, but I also think they were excited to start school today!

Luke is a freshman, Abby is in 7th grade and Levi begins 4th grade!  Wow time flies.

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I know this summer I have neglected the blog- and I plan to document our crazy, fun, and exhausting summer soon! But here are a few recent finds that I thought I would share...

(As a result of all of the American treats, we are now trying to eat more salads...don't these look good)
Chopped Salad
Caesar Salad

Would your kids eat lunches like these?

What do you want your children to know?

Have you seen this video? :)

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

Last day of school for Levi...

Finally, Levi is out of school for the summer!  It is bittersweet, as he will be joining Luke and Abby at ICSV next year~ and is having to say goodbye to his friends and dear teacher, Miss Gerit.

Here he is going up to accept his grades...

Way to go Levi!

More Language Lovers...

I love that our kiddos love learning other languages!

I am super proud of Luke as he takes Spanish, along with German at school now, and last week Abby came home with a booklet of Korean phrases that a friend taught her.  It is so fun to watch her write out helpful words and names, and try to teach us how to say them properly :)

She says she would rather learn Korean now, instead of French...which for some reason she has always wanted to learn.

Crazy huh?  Yep- I am confident that Brad instilled this love and not me, as we all have heard my language learning ability :)

So are any of my readers out there Korean tutors????

Back to school!

Last night nerves were getting the best of them, but this morning they were all smiles as they were ready to start their first day!  This is yet another new school for Abby~ but we are thankful that she and Luke can be together and that she has a very nice teacher.

LOTS of nations are represented at their school!

This little guy was just along for the ride~ and is very happy that he doesn't start for a few more weeks! 

and this little gal is sad that summer (aka undivided attention) has come to an end :(

See how they have grown

2010

2009

2008

2007

Die Schöpfung (the Creation)

A few weeks ago, the kids had a program at school featuring all they had learned about Creation. Here is Abby with a few of her friends in masks they had made.

Levi was a giraffe

This is Levi's teacher, Mrs. Ulli leading the songs

After the program was finished, we walked around the school and saw the projects that the students had completed on the theme of creation

Levi's class drew pictures describing what they wanted to be when they grew up...

lo and behold, Levi said he wanted to be a Pastor!  Gotta love him standing at his "pulpit" overlooking his congregation...with the sun shining none the less :)

They did a great job and it was fun to see lots of their hard work come together.

We almost forgot...

In Austria when kids start 1st grade, they get a Schultuete.  The day before Levi started school here, he asked if he was still going to get one.  We couldn't believe he remembered...but we were thankful that he reminded us!  When we picked him up we presented him with a homemade one filled with lots of goodies!

We are so proud of our little first grader!