I Think I'll Keep Him

I'm pretty sure that I love Jeff more than I love bacon. It's close, I'm not gonna lie, but bacon can't make such an amazing latte for me just because it loves me; my Handsome can. And that tips the scales decidedly in his favor.

German By Immersion

The best way to learn a language is by using it. Jeff and the kids and I have learned phrases and words that we use in our everyday conversation which helps keep the language fresh in our minds. In addition to what we're learning through Rosetta Stone, we also labeled a bunch of stuff in the house with German tags.

Spiegel - mirror; Steppe - stair; Bild/Bilder - picture/pictures

Some things are labeled with their noun, some with their color. In this case, the fireplace itself is labeled as a Kamin, while the mantel ...

... is labeled as weiß (white).

All the doorways are labeled with the room name you are entering, in this case the Küche (kitchen).

As for Selah, she's still trying to master English, but we haven't let her off the (German) hook. Jeff translated one of her books into German. "Old Hat, New Hat" has become "Alten Hut, Neuen Hut"!

Home Improvement

I have lots of projects I would love to do in the house. Some cost a little, some cost a LOT, and some are blessedly free. Depending on how much money I have available, I like to take out a project idea and bring it to life now and then. You've seen my nerd clock and my dry erase board just to name a couple. Well, another free project I completed recently is this:

I had this shelf put away for a long time, and I finally hauled it  I finally had Jeff haul it out of storage. I cleaned it up, he hung it, and now it's the perfect spot for a few treasures. My copy of my cookbook, a Mason jar (not in the picture, but it holds all the dry erase markers for my board), a little (East) German teacup from my childhood, a recipe box I was given at my first wedding shower, and all my aprons! I love making little improvements in our home -- especially free ones!

Boys Are Different

I don't know if you can quite see what's funny about this picture, but I'll tell you about it, anyway. The other day, Joe needed to read Ginger Pye for school. It was a beautiful day and he requested to be able to read outside. I readily agreed and sent him on his way. I looked out the window a few minutes later to see this:

He's standing on the swingset reading his book! By the time he'd finished the chapter, he'd also sat on top of the slide and in a swing. I've said it once, I'll say it again:

Boys are different.

My Permanent State of Dorkiness

Okay. It's a known fact that I am a dork. As a teenager I did not spend countless hours learning how to apply makeup, fix my hair, how to pose for a camera ... I was too busy reading. And as a result of this deficiency, I am now incapable of being in a photograph that does not show my glaring dorkiness. Being photogenic is not a skill I've mastered. My head is always tilted to one side or the other. Or, though I'm not overweight, I somehow hold my head in such a way that I have a double-chin. Or I have buckteeth. Anyway, Jeff was poking fun at the pictures he was taking of me the other day, and I explained to him that there was no use in even taking pictures because I did not need photographic evidence of my permanent state of dorkiness! So he asked me to go through my rant again. While he filmed it. And I didn't know it.

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Two things:

1. I love how casual Kris is about the whole thing. "Oh, okay." It's perfectly reasonable to him that Jeff is filming me being a dork. Also, please note that Kris doesn't say, "You're not a dork!" or anything like that. Because he knows it's true. *sigh*

2. Jeff loves the ending where I say, "You can stop anytime now ... Heifer."

Circle Yer Wagens - Fall 2011

Last Saturday, Jeff, our friend Kris, and I drove up to Sevierville, Tennessee to Circle Yer Wagens, a VW show/swap meet. We rode up in Kris's little diesel VW.

My handsome fella.

"Stop taking pictures of me, already. I know I'm a dork, I don't need photographic evidence!"

Hi, Kris!

On top of the mountain! A balmy 36° - those aren't smiles on our faces, we're grimacing!

Jeff and Kris talking with Gary and Gary, Jr. about all things V-Dub.

You'll see this again soon. I bought it for a craft project - for ONE dollar! Score.

On the way home we stopped on the side of the road with about 50 other people to watch 2 elks tussle with one another. Apparently it's the beginning of their rutting season.

Weekend Getaway

This past weekend the kids were beside themselves with excitement to be able to go visit with Grammie and Bobba! We met in the middle at a Dairy Queen where the grandparents asked if the kids wanted ice cream and the kids cried, "Of course!"

The children and Grammie and Bobba thoroughly enjoyed their weekend together. They ate lots of fun food like Chick-Fil-A and Oreos, they played with Lois, they visited with Grandma Fran, they went to the pool, they watched movies, played on the Wii, and were generally silly.

Gramma's House

Friday we had the privilege of visiting with my grandmother - my dad's mom. She lives about 2 hours away, and we still don't get down to see her as often as I'd like. The kids enjoyed their time with Gramma, and loved finding tadpoles in the rain barrels!

Start 'Em Early

My kids love to read at the table. Kaity and Joe consider a book to be as essential to eating as something to drink! Well, it's already filtered down to Selah!

She's perusing one of Joe's history books, The Book of Knowledge.

Selah and Joe

Selah loves her siblings. She brings books to them so they'll read to her, she follows them around, she hugs and kisses them spontaneously ... where they are, she wants to be! The other day, she was sticking to Joe like glue:

Selah loves the little swing set we have! She loves to swing with the kids and to slide.

Joe eventually just tried hiding from Selah to make her stop loving on him!