School Happenings...

Even though we were pretty exhausted from a great trip to Berlin (pictures to come)...we couldn't miss the Fall Festival held at ICSV last night

One of our favorite teachers, Miss Gerdes, rocked the fall sweater vest ;)

there were lots of games and candy, but the chocolate marshmallow game was by far our kiddos favorite

first one must don a garbage bag

then get blindfolded

then dip your marshmallow in chocolate

then let the fun begin!

and the kids also liked watching the teachers get "pied"

here is the school's director being a good sport!

And in other school news...

Abby received this month's Fruit of the Spirit Award...Self Control!  Way to go Abby :)

It's really Friday again?

Last weekend we had a fantastic time at Apfelhof!

:: The weather was perfect, the fellowship was fun and the food was delicious.

:: We came home with BAGS of apples and potatoes.  We have made tons of applesauce and I plan on making THESE too!

:: and speaking of baking, we can't stop eating these delicious Snickerdoodles!

other happenings this week...
:: Luke had his last soccer game of the season
:: I signed up for another round of German classes
:: we finally ordered our new kitchen from IKEA!
:: and the kiddos began their Fall break today :)

Happy Weekend and Flower Friday to you!

Orange...

Based on the photos from my phone... I think I am gravitating towards all things orange 

I guess that means that Fall is really finally here. And that makes me happy :)
(And no, that is not our chameleon, Mo...that is a grown one that we saw at the pet store)

This weekend we are headed to Apfelhof.  I am sure more orange photos will be coming your way.

Flower Friday...sort of

Hope you can find some leaves to play in...

Happy Weekend!

Snippits...

Another week, full of good stuff.

It began with an invitation to our neighbor's place for homemade Knödel. Yum

Brad left Monday for 3 days away for a "Synod" mtg. with other churches in our denomination

Abby and I made Gingersnaps

3/4 cup softened butter

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp.salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. cloves

1 tsp. ginger

Mix all ingredients together. Roll into balls. Roll in sugar.  

Bake for 8-10 minutes in a 375 degree oven.

(Recipe compliments of my friend Sharbelle)

Mo took a field trip to school...it was Tiertag

It was the 3rd week of our "Intro to New City Wien" classes

Luke had 3 soccer games this week

 and Brad and I snuck in a breakfast date before our team meeting

Happy Flower Friday!

P.S. I totally want to do THIS

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????

An afternoon at Naturpark...

Sometimes we need a break from the city... to feed the fish, take in the mountains, smell the fresh air, play in the streams and carve a good walking stick.  Today we did just that :)

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!

Feeling Fall~ish...

:: After 4 years without a crock-pot...I finally broke down and ordered one.  It came just in time, as my oven konked out this week :)

Please feel free to share any of your favorite slow-cooker recipes!

:: yep~ that is a scarf and a hat!  I looove that we are finally having some cooler weather.  It was also fun to see my friend Tammy for a few days, as she was here visiting from Arizona.

:: We have made several batches of homemade applesauce this week..so easy and so delicious!

:: wow, I really want to make THESE

:: and it wouldn't be Fall without someone in the family getting sick...Abby is the first one to be taken down with a fever and the sniffles ;(

Happy Flower Friday!

Enjoy your weekend :)

Be-lated Budapest

A few weekends ago we went to Budapest.  We met with great friends, ate yummy food, saw a bit of the city and went to a wine festival...a lot to pack in for just being there 24 hours!  Here are the photos from my phone, and HERE are the rest

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!

Piles...

This week we thought we would take advantage of all of the kiddos being back in school to switch the boys' bedrooms upstairs and move ours downstairs.  What a task!  And a mess!  It is like moving without moving.  We are stepping over pile after pile of clothes, toys, office supplies, new IKEA furniture and junk.  But there is progress.

Abby's room is about 99% done (as most of her things just stayed the same, she just inherited some of the boys closet space) and Levi's new room is also close to being finished... remember my little "oasis"? It is no longer mine :(  But when all is said and done, it will be better, as everyone will have a little more space of their own.  So stay tuned for pictures...hopefully I can post some next week.

This weekend we are headed to see our friend, Joanna, whom we haven't seen since she became Mrs. Luper :)  We will head to Budapest just for a night~ but it should be a nice break from the piles!

Happy Weekend and Flower Friday to you!

In case you were wondering...

Levi loves his new cereal bowl that we made on our date :)

A Happy "Flower Friday" to you too!

More Malta...

Tonight I dumped a bunch of pictures from my phone, and I found some from our vacation in Malta

seeing them makes me smile :)