HAPPY REFORMATION DAY

It was on this day in 1597 that Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses denouncing the papal corruption to the north door of Wittenburg's Castle Church, beginning the Reformation. Happy Reformation Day!!

Tomorrow is All Saints Day. Depending on when your church celebrated these two holy days will depend on what color your altar is on Sunday. If you don't have special services during the week for them (which we don't but some churches do) your altar last week should have been RED for Reformation and your altar this week should be WHITE for All Saints Day. If you had services during the week for these then your altar should be GREEN, the color for the time after PENTECOST. This is the color it has been all summer by the way!!

OK, moving on to funnier things. Instead of Trick or Treating our family spends Halloween inside, with the porch light off, playing games and having fun together. The kids had a blast tonight. We got some candy and pop from Walmart and had Hot and Ready Pizza for dinner. Then afterward there was an impromptu wrestling match between the kids. It was great watching Daniel cling to Grace's legs and the boys try to pull her pants off by the cuffs. They weren't successful but Daniel has a great grip!!

During dinner the boys, Doug included, some how got to talking about marriage. Doug said that once they were married nothing would be theirs anymore. Their wives would take all their stuff, especially their clothes, which I have a habit of doing. His are always lots more comfy than mine. Anyway Doug adds that sometimes they will even steal your underwear, giving me a knowing look :-) (boxers mind you but still underwear just the same.) And Nathan proceeds to say, speaking of his future wife, heaven help her, "I hope they are dirty when she puts them on."



After dinner and the wrestling match the kids and Doug went up stairs to play Star Wars. He sent Grace on a recon mission to scout out where the "Queen"(me) was. At the time I was sitting in the living room putting together a puzzle of the USA that Sarah had dumped out. So Grace goes back to report my location and says, " We can't go down there she's not in a good spot. She is smack damn in the middle of the living room!!!" (I think she meant "smack dab")






The laughs just kept coming tonight. Nate was injured during one of the Storm Trooper missions and needed repair from a medic. Grace the medic went to work and when she was finished Nate exclaimed, "I feel like a new myself!"



I don't think we could have had anymore fun trick or treating, do you?

Oktoberfest, I mean Lutherfest!!

Tonight was what used to be called Oktoberfest but is now called Lutherfest at our church. They had carnival games ( donuts on a string, pumpkin painting, face painting, bean bag toss) for the kids and a great traditional German dinner. Sausage and saurcrout, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, hot dogs, cole slaw, rolls and lots and lots of pies. I took the kids and Aunt Amanda up at about 4:45pm. Dinner began at 6pm luckly we were one of the first tables to be served. Sarah still isn't feeling that great so she was cranky. Daniel was tired since he didn't take a nap today. Not a good combo. Needless to say we, that is Daniel, Sarah and I, left before the dancing even started. I did get to see the St. Paul's cloggers do one dance. That was neat. Sarah liked it but thought it was too loud. Rev. Oliver Washington, an army chaplin, was there as a guest speaker. Doug and I knew him from our Concordia days. He graduated with us. So we were able to visit with him, actually Doug and Amanda visited with him. Amanda knew him from Concordia too, he was the interm Campus Pastor last year. Then there was a live polka band. Daniel was upset he was going to miss the chicken dance, but he was asleep with in a half hour of coming home. Sarah was too. She is feeling better today thanks to that great Azitromyacin. That worked literally overnight!!!


Funny of the day: Sarah knows how to blow her nose and she has been doing a great job of it lately. Yesterday, however, she was really stuffed up and constantly had gook running out of her nose. When I asked her to blow her nose she would try but just couldn't get anything to come out. Her reply? "I can't, its broke!!" Gotta love two year old logic!!

Still Sick

I took Sarah back to the Dr today. She still had a fever of 103.5 in between doses of Motrin. She now has pneumonia. Happy Joy!! Thankfully we caught it soon and she doesn't have to have breathing treatments. He put her on Azithromyacin. Good stuff.

Oktoberfest/Lutherfest is tomorrow and then church on Sunday. Dr. H said she should be better in 24 hours. We shall see. I will probably still get a sub for Sunday though, just in case. She is sleeping now along with the twins, they worked hard today. Daniel is still up but he fell asleep on the couch watching Curious George this afternoon. Grace is up too but won't be for much longer. Me, I am going to bed sooner than later I think. No more Smallville to watch, at least not yet. Our source doesn't have season 6 so we will have to wait to watch it later.

blessings all!

Next

Miserable. I think that about sums it up. She laid here like this and watched from "Sixteen going on Seventeen" to "So Long Farewell." The puppet show is her favorite. We watched that at least twice. Sarah went to the Dr today, but the strep test came back negative. I probably jumped the gun and took her too early, but we had a rough night and she had a fever and wasn't eating. We skipped bible study today, went to the Dr and just hung out at the house. Daniel is ready to go back to school or should I say I am ready for Daniel to go back to school. Other than miserable Sarah there is not much else going on here. Council meeting tonight for Doug and grocery shopping tomorrow for me. That means I need to make my menu and list tonight so that I have an idea of what I need to buy tomorrow. It is surprising how having a list really does help you to not over spend and buy things you really don't need. It makes shopping go faster too. I am going to go first thing in the morning after I drop off the kids. Wal-mart is much less busy at 8am than after lunch. Ok I have already rambled more than I intended to tonight so "Auf Wiedersehen" (I actually had to look that spelling up! So much for 5 years of German!!)

No News is Good News

Daniel is still sick, but so far no one else is showing signs. I took temps at dinner tonight and just about everyone had a low temp, but they had been playing hard in the blue room with Sarah. We shall see what tomorrow brings. The kids are all in bed as I am typing this. Our theory is that the more they sleep the less likely they will be to get sick. They all took a nap this afternoon so hopefully it works. The nap this afternoon though was long so this early bed time might be a challenge. I will continue to keep you posted on our health.

No church or Sunday School tomorrow for Daniel, Sarah and I. The big kids are singing at 10:30 so they will go as long as no one has a fever in the morning. Jacob and Nathan are singing "Christ be my Leader" and Grace is singing "Father Welcomes" all with their Sunday School classes of course, no solos or duets yet. Maybe someday.

Let us know you are reading. We would love to hear from all of you. And let us know if you blog too. I would love to add you to our links. Blessings All!!!

It Begins

I hate Michigan winters. As soon as we close the windows and turn on the heat we start to get sick. Colds, runny noses, sore throats, coughs and sneezes. A family this size is bound to have something at any given time all season long. Today it was Daniel.

We took Daniel to the doctor today because he had been acting very un-Daniel like lately. Crabby, irritable, tired and blah. He was up in the night dry heaving and complained of a sore throat. We have a great pediatrician and we were in to see him before noon and had the strep test back in five minutes, positive of course. So now he is on antibiotics for the next 10 days and quarantined to Grace's room cause it still has the TV and DVD player in it. Hopefully we can keep the rest of the gang healthy. Any and all prayers will be greatly appreciated. We will keep you posted.

Learning Curve

When Grace and the twins were little they pretty much lived on a diet of chicken nuggets, hot dogs and pizza. I would make one meal for Doug and I and one for the kids. Eventually I got tired of fixing two different meals. So I fixed things the kids should enjoy, spaghetti, chicken (not nuggets, meat loaf) and pretty much said eat what is in front of you or go hungry. It took several nights of tears and going to bed hungry, but they eventually got the idea.

There are still some things they refuse to eat, but I am done making several different meals. I try to fix things they like, that are healthy and are adult enough for Doug and I. I will occasionally fix them hot dogs or nuggets if I know they really won't like what we are having, but that rarely happens now. We used to go through two Sam's Club size bags of nuggets in less than two months, now I buy one and it lasts at least three. I will sometimes fix like meals that are different: we have salmon, they have fish sticks, for example, but for the most part they eat what we do.

At seven and eight they are just now starting to branch out into new territory. Jacob will now eat a double cheeseburger from a fast food place, Nate still just eats nuggets. Daniel is eating double cheeseburgers. Grace is just now eating a Big Mac or cheeseburger, this time last year it was only nuggets. All of the kids including Sarah will eat Arby's now but just a year ago Jacob would only eat the chicken strips. Spaghetti and tacos are favorites, but pot roast and meat loaf go untouched. They will eat a rotisserie chicken, but won't eat KFC or baked chicken from my oven.

My point, well I am getting to that. Daniel and Sarah have had a different meal time experience. They were never cooked special meals unless it was something like steak that a two or three year old couldn't handle. If Doug and I had it for dinner so did they. They get a spoonful or whatever of the meal, no questions asked, no choices given. They will eat it eventually and children won't starve or become malnourished just because they skip a meal. Yes they have had their share of chicken nuggets and hot dogs, but not nearly as many as the big kids. They eat what is in front of them with out much complaint. Daniel only complains if the boys do and will usually eat the meal even if the twins go to bed hungry.

This was most evident last night. I fixed a tater tot casserole, browned hamburger, cream of celery soup, tater tots and cheese on top baked in the oven till hot. You would think this would be a kids dream. Its like a cheeseburger and fries. Well the twins went to bed hungry, but Sarah, who has never had this dish before and for whom I almost made a hot dog but didn't, ate two helpings and loved it!!!! No fuss, not one objection, she just dug right in and ate.

So what is the moral of my story: make your kids eat what you fix when they are small and you won't have seven year olds going to bed hungry cause they won't even eat a Tater Tot Casserole!!

Orchestra

I took Grace, Nathan and Jacob to an orchestra concert today. The Hillsdale College/Community Orchestra gave its first concert of the season this weekend. They played four pieces, all of which were very well done. They even started the performance with the National Anthem. The kids liked that one the best because they knew the music. Grace did great sitting through it, the boys not so much. But overall they did well. Sorry but I didn't take any pictures.

There were several students and community members in the orchestra that the kids knew and lots of people in the audience that they knew also. There were at least 10 orchestra members from our church, most of them college students. I really enjoyed it, despite the kids. The next attempt at culture is a Christmas Operetta called "Amahl and the Night Visitors" Two Johnson boys and a babysitter are in this one. It is only 45 minutes long so it should go over much better with the boys.

Then in December we take the kids to the Boars Head performance at Concordia College in Ann Arbor. This is a highlight of the Christmas season for our family. This will be Daniel's first year to go. (They get to go when they are four. Actually, Daniel went as a tiny baby with Grace but we don't count that. ) Tickets go on sale on October 29 so if any of you are interested in going along with us on Sunday or any other day the first weekend in December give me a call and let me know. I call that Monday at noon to order the tickets.

Hope you all had a great weekend. I know I did!!

Fun Times

Ok so I don't post for a while and then I go bonkers and make three in one night. Anyway today's set can start either with this post or you can scroll down to "Nothing is what is seems" either way be prepared to smile. Oh and this would also be the place to post the pictures of Daniel's first Field Trip. Well that won't happen because I FORGOT MY CAMERA!! Renee and I are in the running for Mother of the Year. We love and miss you all!!

Dimples

Gotta love the Dimples. Sarah may not have true dimples but she sure is cute!!! And Daniel, well his will steal hearts someday. Maybe he already has!

Nothing Is As It Seems

Today that is not a TV tray holder. Can you guess what it is??

Don't cheat and click on the picture to see what I saved it as. Had I know that before I would have given a less descriptive name to the reformated picture. I will not give out such a hint next time. Is that how you guessed the violin question too? Sneaky!!

Pockets

I have a new rule in my house. Boys (and men's) pants are not allowed to have more than four pockets. Two in the front and two in the back. (And I only allow four because I know it is unreasonable to believe that pants are even made with less than the standard four. If they were then the rule would be no pockets!! ) No pockets are allowed on the thigh or further down the leg. And front pockets with those tiny change pockets inside them are also frowned upon. I swear that I spend 20 minutes a load just going through pockets. I have found Star Wars guys, helmets and guns for the Star Wars guys, sand, money, wallets, dice, sand, paper, candy, candy wrappers, crayons, crayon wrappers, sand, Kleenex, stones, rocks, sun glass clips, and a zillion other things I can't remember. The worst is I have washed all of the above and dried some of it too. I ruined some good uniform pants with a dried blue crayon, obviously not a washable from crayola. I broke the sun glass clips and those weren't even in a pants pocket, dress shirt pockets are off limits too. Thankfully I was able to replace those before the warranty had expired. In conclusion please remember that I have BOYS and lots of pockets means that one day I may just stick my hand in one and pull out something ALIVE!!!

The Domestication of Robyn Continued ... Again.

So you have been wondering what that contraption was that I showed you a few days ago.

Well it is affectionately know as "The Smasher". It has various uses, but I used it to smash my tomatoes so I could make sauce. It can also do apples for applesauce.

I lost count as to how many tomatoes I used but I ended up with about 8 quarts of smashed tomatoes.

"The Smasher" rings the tomatoes and the seeds and skin come out one end and the pulp and juice another. I am planning on using this to make and freeze some spaghetti sauce. I still have some tomatoes left, but those we will have to eat the traditional way.

Notice that is not me in the picture smashing the tomatoes. Doug helped with his muscle. He was better at getting the tomatoes through than I was. Maybe I should call this the Domestication of Doug!

I just made sure the things stayed on the table and that the junk didn't get in with the good stuff. We made a mess but had fun too. This is the bowl of seeds and skin. We should have a compost pile or put this back in our garden. I hear I might get some volunteer plants next year if I put them back in the garden. I don't think I am that domesticated, yet.

I will let you know how the end product turns out. Thanks Kathy, for the smasher and the recipe!!!