Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Wordless Wednesday- Doorman and Family


On The Way To The Store

This morning when I headed out to the store for milk I grabbed my camera to get some pictures of the snow. We won't be seeing any for the next three years so I thought I better take some pictures. Even with the cold it was a nice walk. I actually kinda like the snow, but I think in the future I would prefer to visit the snow for short periods of time rather than live with it all winter.





Monday, January 25, 2010

Stump the Cook, Malawi Style

I am addicted to NPR. Since I am in Germany I can't just tune in to 89.1 like I did back home. However, thanks to modern technology, I can download podcasts of my favorite shows. One of my favorite shows is Splendid Table, a really cool cooking show I like to listen to when I am cooking dinner. At one point in the show the host, Lynn Rosetto Kasper, plays a game show called "Stump the Cook." A caller names five ingredients they really have in their kitchen then Lynn has to create a dish they would actually eat.

The episode I was listening to tonight originally aired on January 9th. The caller for the stump the cook segment was calling from Malawi. No seriously she really was! Not only that she was a peace corps volunteer who had no fridge and would be cooking over an open flame. Tough challenge for Lynn, but she pulled it off. What I really want to know is if she is some place that has no fridge and not stove, how is it that she had a phone to call the states, and how is she listening to the Splendid Table?

Friday, January 22, 2010

Good Mom or Bad Mom?

I am trying to decide if I am a genius or just a bad mom. You see mornings have been a problem around here since the day Alonzo started kindergarten. I don't understand how a kid that can crawl out of bed at o-dark-thirty on a Saturday morning to watch cartoons can take so long to get up dressed and ready for school during the week. Now multiply that time by three since his little brothers are school aged as well. We have gradually moved the time they get up earlier and earlier until they are getting up well over an hour before they need to leave for school and we are still struggling to get out the door on time. Then one sleep deprived morning last week in a fit of desperation I announced that if they would just get ready by 7:30 they could watch Scooby Doo before we went to school. Like magic I suddenly had 3 neatly dressed kids ready to watch TV. They even made their beds and cleared the breakfast dishes without me nagging. They asked if they were ready by 7:30 could they watch Scooby tomorrow? I said sure, why not? For a week now they have gotten up dressed, made their beds, brushed their teeth, cleared the table and appear slightly earlier each morning ready for a Scooby cartoon. There has only been one day where they didn't make it and they got stuck reading until it was time to leave. This morning I even heard Colin telling his brothers to "Pick up the pace." So my question is am I a genius or am I a terrible mom for letting the kids watch TV during the school week?

Friday, January 15, 2010

Things Kids Say

We were driving home from school today and everyone was singing along with the stereo:
If everybody had an ocean
Across the U.S.A.
Then everybody'd be surfin'
Like Californ-i-a
You'd see 'em wearin' their baggies
Huarachi sandals, too
A bushy bushy blonde hairdo
Surfin' U.S.A.
Alonzo suddenly yells, "I love this song! Bob Dylan is a really good singer."

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

New Year's Resolutions 2010

I decided this year I wasn't going to make any resolutions, I was just going to get on with my life. I guess I didn't tell my subconscious. I have several new things going on in my life and it seems I have waited until the new year to begin so I might as well label them resolutions and get on with the year.

New Year's Resolutions 2010
1. Get organized! We are heading to Malawi this summer so getting everything organized before packout will make our life so much easier both when we pack up and when we unpack.
2. Get rid of all the junk in the house or at least most of it. This really goes hand and hand with number one. We have so much junk in the house and as much as I want to blame it all on the kids a good bit of that clutter belongs to David and myself.
3. Get in shape! OK this is the same thing that has been on every list since I was about 23. This year we are moving to Malawi (I said that already, didn't I?). It has a nice, warm climate. Which means swimming more than once a year. I LOVE swimming but right now I really don't want to be seen in public in a swimsuit. I have until the end of June to get in swimsuit shape. Plus I really want to be able to keep up with the kids.
4. Make the children help out more around the house. It used to drive me crazy when I was teaching and my students had no chores at home, but my own kids have next to no chores. Well they HAD next to no chores but as of this week they have chores. They are not very happy with me at the moment but they will get over it and more importantly when they eventually leave home they will be able to take care of themselves because they will know how to cook, clean, and do laundry. After all, unless they are very very lucky they will not have a maid when they grow up. In case you are wondering YES we will have a maid in Malawi but make no mistake she will be my maid, not the kids!

That's it. It is a short list. There are more things going on but they are mostly short term projects over in a month or two. These four items are all yearlong things I struggle with on a regular basis. Apparently I am a disorganized couch potato and packrat who likes to spoil her kids. Maybe by this time next year I will be a organized hard body with disciplined, obedient kids who are happy to help out around the house.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Monica it's NEVER too cold!

This post is for my friend Monica. She made the comment the other day that is was too cold to go jogging. She lives in Texas. I guess it is a good thing she doesn't live in Germany or she wouldn't be able to use that as an excuse!








Sunday, January 10, 2010

Duck Pond Today


We went to the duck pond today to go sledding but ended up playing on the ice with everyone else. Grayson spent his time between sliding across the ice where it had been swept and dusting the snow off looking for frozen fish. We are not actually in the picture above but almost everyone in the picture is walking on water, frozen water that is.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Wii Fit Plus

Well I took the fitness test on Wii Fit Plus it was better, told me I had a Wii fit age of 49 which is better but still much older than my real age. Sigh. Better get exercising.

Wii are Old, Well I Am Anyway

David and I took the Wii fitness test from Wii sports. Apparently I have robbed the cradle. It pegged David at an Wii fitness age of 26 and I have a Wii fitness age of 80. Yikes he is young and Wow am I old. I guess the first New Year's Resolution will be to get in better shape than an 80 year old!