Taking a break for a crepe...

Moving overseas makes you finally go through the high school, college and even wedding piles that you once threw in a box...hoping they would just magically arrange themselves by the time you found them again. Well, that is my project tonight. sigh...

Only 11 more days until the movers start to pack up our container. sigh again...

Levi must have heard my sighs from the other room and came in to give me a much needed break!

Levi proceeded to say, "Mama I want a grape...wif peanut butter, jelly, syrup and whip creem"!
I then said, "Your wish is my command my dear sweet one"...well not exactly, I knew there was a huge stack of leftover crepes that Brad had made from the day before, so his request could be granted without much difficulty.

So we took our break together...he enjoyed his crepe, while I ate a bowl of delicious Apple Jacks. I know... not a very exciting blog entry...but the distraction was a sweet moment I will cherish in my heart, along with many other memories that were made in that kitchen.


Adding the final touches to his crepe...

Levi then moved on to the leftover milk from MY cereal...

Luke's class travels to Austria

Luke's second grade teacher, Miss Woodburn has been teaching different cultures from around the world this month...so she invited us to come and share our vision for the country of Austria. As many of you know, we are moving the end of June to Vienna. Brad will be attending the University of Vienna and we will be starting an international church plant in the center of the city. (If you are new to this blog, check out our ministry website HERE).
It was fun to interact with the kids and talk to them about what life might look like for us in Austria. They even got to see some pictures of where Luke and Abby will go to school next year. We passed around Schillings and Eurocents (the old and new money of Austria) and they even got the history of how coffee ended up in Vienna. Abby got to join us, and helped pass out "Austrian Flag" cookies to Luke's classmates. We taught them the song "Vater, wir danken dir" and how to say goodbye in German. The class was excited that we were going to be sharing the love of Christ with others, but are sad to see Luke go.







Please remember to pray for Luke (& Abby & Levi) in this upcoming move. It will be a huge transition for them!
Pray that they would make friends easily, that they would like learning and using German, and that their faith would continue to grow as they see the faithfulness of a GREAT God who loves them very much!

Beech Mountain Team Building

Team building in the mountains is the way to go! We finally got to meet as families just having fun together. All of the kids really hit it off and enjoyed exploring their new surroundings together. The "big" kids (aka the adults) had lots of time for talking, laughing, sharing and dreaming about the future once the little ones went to bed. We are very excited to serve with these families and look forward to what God has in store for us in Vienna!



Are these kids cute or what...can you imagine all of them speaking German with a Viennese dialect?


One of our traditions in NC is to go fishing. It was a very special fishing trip for Emily and Ewan, as they had never gone fishing before. Everyone caught a fish and we enjoyed trout for dinner...sort of... I'll spare you the photos of removing the skin and bones and then deep fat frying it! It was all about the total experience I suppose.




And if we weren't having a ton of fun already...then it snowed 6 1/2 inches! I don't know who was more excited, Brad or the kids! They went sledding at the golf course and on the closed ski slopes! It definitely was a suprise highlight of the trip!

I'll close with one of my favorite shots of Levi...expressing pure joy as he played with his new friends!



If you would like to get the McMullen's take on the week, click HERE.

North Carolina...here we come

After a busy weekend with Tomas and Lana's wedding, spring break is finally here and we are off to one of our MOST favorite places in the world...the mountains of North Carolina. Beech Mountain to be exact. Brad has been going up to this place since he was 7. Lots of memories...lots of fun...lots of playing...lots of laughing...lots of eating (oh yeah...lots of driving too...about 16 hours) But we have our snacks, our iPod, the DVD player and the Gameboys for the kids! Can you guess the favorite snacks of our family members? (The sixth person is my mom)
A. Peanut M&M's?
B. apples with peanut butter?
C. Slim Jims?
D. BBQ Lays Potato Chips?
E. white cheddar popcorn?
F. Mounds bars?
(see below for the anwers)

We are meeting Jeff, Jodie, Ewan and Liesl McMullen and Dominic, Kathryn, Emily and Andrew Christisen (another family who is also considering Vienna and will be going to assessment and orientation in June.):)
All of us are very excited to spend some quality time together! We'll be sure to post lots of pictures when we return home!

Have a blessed Easter! And click

New Album 3/31/07 11:39 PM

if you want to see some great shots from the wedding

the answers for snack quiz:
A. Me Moo B .Brad C .Abby D. Luke E. Levi F. Stacey

Twas Blind But Now I see

Yesterday I went under the laser knife with 20/400 vision and came out 20/25. This morning I was 20/15. It really is amazing, and I have annoyed Stacey to no end reading far-away signs with small print out loud, and singing a modified version of "I can see clearly now the rain is gone". I also have a new-found freedom to call glasses-wearing friends "4 eyes".

Latest bribe...

So yesterday "it" finally happened. "IT" being poopy on the potty! Levi had been trying to go all day...running back and forth to the bathroom...only to come back and say "not yet", when I asked him if "IT" happened.
He loves to look at toy magazines that come in the mail and make out his wish lists. This week it just so happens to be "kitchen stuff" that he is obsessed with. Hence, the latest bribe. So I told him that if he did "it" on the potty, we would go to Toys-r-us and get kitchen stuff. Sure enough it worked!
Needless to say, we have been playing kitchen all day! He and Abby even set up a little table in her room (with blankets as tablecloths) and had music playing (from her Gameboy). All the essentials...pizza, chocolate chip cookies, limes and donuts!

Cravings...

I am a woman of cravings...just ask my husband. Sometimes I crave sweet things...sometimes savory things, but frequently I crave something! I came across an article a few weeks back in our Miami Herald about Todd Wilbur. He is the author of Top Secret Restuarant Recipes. He has discovered the secret ingredients for the Olive Garden Salad Dressing, Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits...this list goes on and on. Anyway, if you are craving a little something and don't want to go out, you can check out his website at www.topsecretrecipes.com
(Some of the recipes are free, while others you can download for 79 cents a recipe) On Mondays he posts a brand-new recipe for FREE.

Making Progress

When we first started this potty training process, Levi wanted to pretend that his dinosaurs had a place to swim...we are making progress though!



Now as long as I keep a long shirt on him and no bottoms (yes, nudey pitooty) he will not have an accident and based on this picture...finds some extra reading time while he does his thing. We also bribe. Yes, bribe! We have a potty chart and after a certain number of stickers you get to pick a Hot Wheels car and if you have collected 25 stickers you get a lollipop as big as your head! Now we just have to start introducing pants in public...





We are also making progress with organizing all of our crap...I mean stuff. The Dymo LetraTag label maker has changed my life! How fun it is to organize and then make a fancy label for it! It's like a little reward for all your hard labor of purging!



I'll close with a picture that Abby recently painted...a reminder that there is always a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow...NO...wrong message...instead a reminder that God is always faithful to His people and He will always provide a way...whether you are struggling to potty train your little one, or move across the ocean...He is FAITHFUL!

Time in Texas

We had a great time in San Antonio! My Aunt Karen and Uncle Ron are great hosts and we enjoyed meeting many of their friends and eating Aunt Karen's delicious desserts. We also saw a few sites on the Riverwalk (where we took a boatride) and the Alamo. The Women of Faith Conference was a great time of worship, powerful testimonies and hilarious stories. We even saw Brad's longtime love...Sandi Patty:) We laughed, cried and then laughed some more. It was some much needed girls' time away!

I'll leave you with my Aunt Karen's recipe for Almond Poppy Seed Bread:

2 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/3 cups oil
1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3 cups flour

Glaze frosting
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
1 1/2 teaspoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Prehaet oven to 325. Mix together sugar, vanilla, oil, poppy seeds, eggs, milk and almond extract. Add the salt,baking powder and flour. Pour into greased pans. Bake for about 1 hour. Let cool for 30 minutes.
Stir glaze ingredients briskly and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Drizzle over loaves.

Makes 2 big or 4 small loaves.

Happy Birthday Abby!

Our little girl is 6! Check out some photos from a little party we had before Stacey's trip, from her school party, a beach party with Brad's college roommate Johnny Fish and his fiancee Maija, and then some fun with cousins Elisabeth, Ben, and Michael.

The Great Escape

A big huge THANK YOU to everyone who has been praying for our family...especially that I wouldn't get sick. Miraculously, I escaped the wrath of this flu and I am leaving for some girls' time in Texas with my aunt (who lives in San Antonio), my mom and Brad's mom. Brad and Abby are finally up and about and Luke and Levi are currently without fevers...just hacking coughs now.

So last Saturday we were supposed to have Abby's 6th birthday party, but the DR. recommended that we cancel it. Smart move. Instead, we had a little family celebration "Hawaiian style". Abby requested a "hula girl" cake with homemade vanilla frosting. My mom made matching outfits for Abby and Kit...complete with grass skirts and shell necklaces. Too cute.

Today the "early" birthday celebrations continued, this time for Daddy. One of his college roommates was in town on vacation (with his soon-to-be wifey-poo) and they came by for snacks and Brad's favorite birthday treat...lemon bars. Tonight the three of them are going to a Heat game (while I stay home with the sick children and finish packing).

If you get a chance...wish my sweet hubby a Happy Birthday on Thursday! Abby and my mom's birthdays are on Friday!

Another one bites the dust...

Another one bites the dust...and another one down, another one down...another one bites the dust!

It's Luke's turn! Yeah! That means the only one left is ME...will she get it? Stay tuned...

"It's probably just the flu"

"It's probably just the flu" were not the words I wanted the Dr. to say to me after being at the ER for 4 and a half hours. I am thankful that it is nothing too serious, like pneumonia (which they ruled out with a chest x-ray) but this is why I always second guess myself...should I take them to the ER or not?

This was my scenerio...Abby has been running a fever for 6 days now...all day she stayed in bed, ate nothing except 1 package of fruit snacks (which I gave her to take away the awful taste of her nasty cough medicine), coughed and hacked all day long and even threw up late in the afternoon. I tried to get through to the dr's office only to be put on hold forever. I certainly did not want her to get dehydrated and thought that something must be more seriously wrong if she still had a fever after 6 days...

Of course once we were taken back into a room and the Motrin they gave her in triage had kicked in, she was happy as a lark. Drawing rainbows, excited that she was getting to watch TV shows that were on past her bedtime, and even getting a little "saucy" at times...wanting to stand out in the hallway to see the action, instead of staying in her room. Ugh! Why did we come to the ER again...oh yeah, she's had a fever for SIX days now, she isn't eating anything and she's been taking 2 naps a day! It never fails that once you decide to take your kid to the Dr., they will magically get better!

I do want to thank you for all of your prayers and phone calls. I really am thankful that it is nothing too serious...just the flippin flu. I also want to thank our dear friend, Jessica who works as a nurse at Joe DiMaggio. Not only did she have a Dr. that she knew call down to the ER to try to get us in quicker, she also held a room for us just in case we were admitted and if that weren't enough, she stayed with us until 10pm, after getting off of her 12 hour shift! What a friend! We love you and appreciate all that you did for us!

The bummer in all of this is that the Dr. said that Abby is too sick to have her birthday party this weekend..really no big deal, we can reschedule...but I hope that the park where we reserved the shelter let's us cancel and get our money back! :)

P.S. Levi's rash is basically all gone now and he has just had a low grade fever today.

P.S.S. It's Friday morning now...Abby still has a fever, and Brad has been the next victim:(
but the park where the party was supposed to be graciously is refunding all of our money! Please keep Abby and now Brad in your prayers!

Please pray for our sick kids

Abby has had a fever now for 5 days. Levi developed a strange rash on his stomach and back and now has also developed a fever. We spent the morning at the doctor and both were tested for strep. The results were negative for strep, but he really couldn't say what they might have. He does want to see them again in 2 days if the fevers persist. Abby is not wanting to eat or drink and took 2 naps today...you know she is sick! Please pray that tomorrow they both would start feeling better.

One of our Favorite Places

Last week before everyone got sick, we had a chance to go to one of our most favorite places... Hollywood Beach. It has one of our most favorite restaurants, ANGELOS. If you like really thin cheese pizza, then you'll love this! We also love that we can get it to go and then eat under the shelter while the kids play in the sand!

The beach is something we are really going to miss. Thankfully we'll have a great place to come back on vacation! :)

Who does this make you think of?

This was Levi's fabulous playdoh creation today...who does it make you think of?

Sweet Sunday

Yesterday was filled with baseball games, swimming with friends, planning for Abby's 6th birthday party next weekend and running lots of errands! Today started much slower when Abby woke up with a fever.

It was great to have her crawl into our bed and snuggle with me, as she told about her dreams last night. She had dreamt that some of her best friends (the Courics) had moved next door into the Richardson's house and that we were having to help take care of the Couric's goats..(must of been the Motrin I gave her last night!:) Then Levi joined us and we all sang "Where oh Where did my Levi go...Oh where oh where can he be?" as he hid under his blue blankets...all of our feet tangled together. From the bed, we all moved onto the couch.

As we have been purging and packing to get ready for our move, it has forced us to get more organized. (Imagine that!) Brad has been taking all of our family videos and been transferring them to DVD's. We had great fun laying/lying ( I can never remember the correct one and Brad isn't here to ask!) on the couch watching Luke sing his ABC's at
2 1/2 and Abby as a baby, giggle as we tickled the rolls around her chubby little neck.

From there we moved into the kitchen for a big Sunday breakfast...complete with cinnamon rolls, pancakes and eggs. The boys then went off to church and Abby went back to bed...which is why I am finding a moment to write this. I think while all is quiet, I will go make some of Shar's famous chocolate chip/oatmeal cookies and even add pecans...

Hope all who are reading this is also having a sweet Sunday!

The Blessings of 4734 Jefferson

This is the view from my kitchen window. It is a rose bush that originally came from the funeral of Brad's grandfather-it is attached to a trellis that Brad had built for me. I'm going to miss this view and all of the memories we made in this house...

-watching Brad splash around in the pool with the kids
-Abby and Levi's first steps
-Luke losing his first tooth
-entertaining family and friends in a spacious dining room, complete with a built in buffet
-holiday celebrations
-Levi running down our LONG hallway to greet me with a hug...over and over until my back hurts from throwing him up too many times
-the "butler's" pantry
-frequent visits from out of town guests
-preparing for hurricanes (probably won't miss this one!)
-having both moms live with us for a period of time
-being 4 minutes from church
-laughing as Abby does "cheerleader jumps" on the trampoline
-asking Missy for brown sugar instead of going to the grocery store
-birthday balloons from the Richardsons
-LOTS of great babysitters in walking distace
-unending supply of bananas from our backyard

The list could go on and on and I could grow weary and sad thinking about all of the things we are leaving behind in this house...

But after this morning's women's bible study on "The Art of Authentic Praise", I was convicted to praise God even when I don't really feel like it- instead of the pity party, today I will choose to praise Him for who He is- and for what He has done in blessing us with this house on Jefferson St. And I look forward to praising Him in Vienna when He provides just the right place for us to live and minister in and just the right neighbors-and it will all be in His perfect timing!

Join me in Praising God-even if your circumstances are overwhelming you today! Here are some of the references we used in our Beth Moore study, "A Heart Like His"...all taken from the Psalms

9:1
103:1-5
42
34:1
63:1-4
52:9
144:1-4
40
22:3

Quotes to remember...

No quotes from famous people...just notable quotes from our kids and conversations that we had over the weekend...

Luke: after getting out of the tub wrapped only in a towel, he enters his room to find that his shades are up...he immediately starts yelling for one of us to put down his shade as he could
"perish from embarrassment"!

Abby: During family worship tonight, we were talking about how we need to love our enemies and ways in which we as Christians can do that. Brad asked the question "If you didn't know Jesus, what might be some of the ways we treat our enemies"? Abby responded, "By giving them wedgies"!

Levi: When asked to go help Luke and Abby with cleaning up some toys, he promptly replied "I can't, I have a headache"!

They are too much! :)

Chocolate-Pecan Pie

Tomorrow is our annual church picnic when we get together for food, fellowship and fundraising for the summer mission trip. This year the team will be going to the Island of Grenada for the second time. There they will continue the rebuilding of houses and churches that were destroyed in hurricane Ivan a few years ago.

Usually what happens amidst the eating and game playing is a pie auction. Members of the congregation make delicious desserts (traditionally pies) and we bid on them and all of the money goes towards the summer mission trip. It is a lot of fun and there are two great outcomes...money for the team and yummy pies to chow down on!

Maybe next year they'll be raising money for the team to go to Vienna!:)

I'm making a Chocolate-Pecan Pie...here is the recipe if anyone is interested:

1 packaged pie crust (only need one of the 2)
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (6oz)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup bourbon
1 cup dark corn syrup
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Fit piecrust into 9 inch pie-plate according to package instructions. Sprinkle chopped pecans and chocolate chips evenly onto the bottom of piecrust...set aside.

Combine sugars, corn syrup and bourbon in large saucepan; bring to a boil over med. heat. Cook 3 minutes stirring constantly.

Whisk together eggs and remaining ingredients. Gradually stir about 1/4 of the hot mixture into the egg mixture; add to remaining hot mixture, stirring constantly. Pour filling into piecrust.

Bake at 325 degrees for 55 minutes.

*1/4 cup water may be substitued for the bourbon.*

Having fun with our new Mac

Chocolate ice cream fight

Levi got in a fight with a bowl of chocolate ice cream.. obviously the ice cream won! :)

A moment with MeMoo

For those of you who know my mom, affectionately called MeMoo, there is never a dull moment when she is around. This afternoon she came over dragging a 15 foot rope behind her. She is planning the games for our church picnic this coming Sat. and instead of buying individual jump ropes, (she always wants to get the good deal) she buys the super long, multi-purpose rope that she can cut up and then burn the ends off. Or actually Brad does it, while she plays jump rope with Luke and Abby.
What I love about my mom is that she will make do with whatever circumstances come her way...note the picture of her twirling two ropes so both of the children can jump at the same time! What you can't see is that one rope is tied to the basketball hoop and the other one is tied to the kitchen door! Levi loved that both of MeMoo's hands were tied up so he could enjoy her diet coke as he watched the show! Hope you had a fun weekend too!

Life in Bitter Cold South Florida

While we hear of 11 feet of snow in upstate New York and 6 inches of ice on Pennsylvanian highways, we just wanted everyone to know we feel your pain. Abby's t-ball practice was cancelled this morning due to the bitter cold temperatures--48 degrees! But nothing would deter Abby from playing outside. She used her critical thinking skills...staying in her warm fuzzy pjs and adding a pair of mittens...and she was all ready to shoot some hoops!