Green Camp and the Great Purge of 2013

This week the kids are off at Green Camp.  In many, many ways Green Camp has been the highlight of our time in Malawi.  It is, I am almost certain, one of the things the kids will remember long into the future.  This week they will be celebrating all things nature, as well as preparing for the upcoming Earth Day celebration at Four Seasons. They will have a busy, fun-filled week, and I am happy for them.

In the meantime I am alone in the house, completely alone for the first time in months.  The house is eerily quiet.  For the moment I am enjoying a blessedly quiet cup of tea, but in just a few minutes I will be even busier than the kids.  This summer is pack out.  That means packing everything we own and preparing it to go to our next post in Muscat, Oman.

The movers will show up sometime in June and everything we own will swathed in miles of paper and bubble wrap, sealed in mountains of boxes, and loaded onto trucks.  If everything works the way it is supposed to we will see our stuff again in about 4, maybe 5 months at our new house in Oman.

That does't sound too bad does it?  It sort of sounds like the packers will do all at the hard stuff. Of course there is a catch.  There is always a catch.  The trick is that everything we own must weigh less than 7200 pounds.  Everything including clothes, toys, books, towels, any furniture we own, dust collectors, pots, pans, cutting boards, and everything else  that turns an echoing house into a functioning home must weigh less than 7200 pounds.

This week I will be going through every closet, box, cabinet, and drawer purging our house of all that is needless weight.  FUN!  More fun than you can imagine.  It is both totally necessary and totally incompatible with homeschooling, so it must be accomplished this week.  While the kids are at camp.  So much for my dreams of hours of reading, lazing about enjoying the quiet.

I will be posting the weeded out weight each day.  I know you are thrilled to know how much trash, junk and broken toys I manage throw away each day.  There you have it, the oh so glamorous life of the foreign service spouse.  Jealous?

Wordless Wednesday - Zomba On Horseback

Wordless Wednesday -- Science Experiment by Colin and Grayson

Kelly Kits

Kelly is one of my dearest friends back in San Antonio. I literally wouldn't have survived the initial pack-out and move to DC without her, she totally held my hand during the whole sell the house thing. Thank heavens for good friends! I am really looking forward to seeing her and the rest of the gang this summer. Girls night out here I come, but that's not what this post is about.

Kelly is not only a great friend, but a talented artist, a mom, and now a business woman. She started her own business called Kelly Kits selling self-contained art kits. Everything you need to complete an variety of art projects with your child is included. Currently she offers two kits, each with five different art activities ranging from printmaking to sculpting. It would be a great item for a babysitter, scout leader, homeschooler or just to keep your kids busy for a little while this summer.

It would also be a great item to order for your kids as you head out to a new post. How nice would it be to have an all-inclusive art kit arrive in DPO* the first week at a new post while you are waiting for all the kids toys to show up in your HHE? They could enjoy creating some art and use it to start decorating their new rooms. What a nice way to spend a few hours that first rough week or two.

Kelly appeared earlier today on the local TV show SA Living. Check out this video of her appearance and get a peek at some of the activities in the kits.



If you have, or know someone with kids, a Kelly Kit would be great fun.

*I'm not sure how much liquid is in a kit so I didn't say pouch, only DPO. I will be checking with Kelly and updating this post once I know if it will meet pouch restrictions. My guess would be that it is fine. I can't imagine that a kit has more than 16 ounces of liquid.

Wordless Wednesday - A Special Treat

He's Off

David took Grayson's training wheels off of his little bike Friday. Doing the dad thing David started pushing but Grayson yelled, "Let GO Dad" and off he rode. Just like that. He was gone.



I took this video today. We spent hours riding around and around the Seidlung, or rather he rode and I walked or jogged along behind. He seems to be developing a real need for speed. He spent the afternoon trying to figure out how to make skid marks, I am sure his brothers will fill him in when they get home from camping.

9 years old!

Alonzo turned 9 today.  It hardly seems possible.  Just yesterday he was a tiny baby.  This year we didn't do the party thing. David is out of town so he had to miss the fun today, but before he left had a special day with Alonzo to celebrate.  Alonzo was allowed to skip school, hang out with Dad, and go shopping for his present.  He chose a wooden chess set.  I think he chose well.

Today is his actual birthday.  To celebrate each of his brothers made him a gift.  
Grayson made him a set of juggling balls from balloons and lentils.  


Colin made him an archboard marble set.


Cody made him a button skeeball set.


I made him a cookbook with his very favorite recipe inside, waffles.  Now he can learn to make them for himself.


On top of his planned presents he received two more things.  New shoes,


and new glasses.


Both of were not so much presents as necessities since he manage to break both his glasses and his shoes this week and he still has two weeks of school left.

Oh, and one more thing.  What birthday would be complete without a cake?  He asked for a cake that was stacked like wedding cake,  carrot cake with chocolate chips and pecans.  This is what I came up with.


I flat refused to put chocolate chips in a carrot cake.  That's just gross! I put them on the frosting instead.  Speaking of frosting, what's with cream cheese frosting?  It never seems to work right for me.  Even though I ended up putting in a lot of extra sugar trying to make it stiffer, it still sort of oozed off the cake after a while.  It tasted OK though, and I guess that's what counts in the end.

A Coffee Cup, A Road Trip, and Mother's Day

This is my new favorite coffee cup. The sunny yellow inside with a matte black outside and happy daisy remind me to look for the positive in the day. It was a Mother''s Day present from David. He is good.

The other thing we did to celebrate Mother's Day was to take a road trip to the Netherlands. We set out about 6 in the morning heading to the Kuekenhof near Amsterdam. It took us about 4 1/2 hours to get there. The tulips and other flowers were stunning even if we were toward the end of the senason so some were bloomed out. There was plenty for the kids to do, from a a petting zoo to a maze. We all had a wonderful time and the kids did great. All the same I think we will pick something a bit closer for our next day trip. I will get some pictures up of all the flowers and fun when I have a bit more time. Now Mother's Day is over and I need to get the house cleaned. Does the fun never end?

Wordless Wednesday - Baseball Lessons

Wordless Wednesday - Rocks in a Pond

Wii Caved!

For many years, and much to the kid's disgust, ours has been a gaming free house.  While I had no general objection to the kids playing video games at other people's houses, I simply wouldn't let a game system in our house.  I don't like how gaming seems to isolate kids, encouraging them to spend hours lost in cyberspace instead of interacting with the rest of the family.

However after months of German winter weather, trapped inside with the kids, playing innumerable games of Candyland and Uno we have finally entered the modern age of gaming.  We bought a Wii.  I have to admit, I don't hate it.  We spent the entire afternoon all in the same room, playing together, without any fighting and limited whining.  Miraculous! Now Momma wants Wii Fit for Mother's Day. Oh Yeah!

We sent the kids to buy a soda at the feild house while we set up the game. The kids were a little suspicious but went anyway because I think this may be the first time ever we have sent them to buy a soda. When they returned they found Mom and Dad deep in a game of Wii Bowling.

Dad Bowls a split.

Mom bowls a strike!

Mom Wins! WooHoo!

Cody gives Grayson lessons on Wii bowling. 

Alonzo and Colin await their turn.

Rheinfels Castle

If you are ever in Hessen with kids then you must visit Rheinfels Castle on the Rhine River.  This stretch of the Rhine is thick with castles and many of them are open for tourists, or have been reinvented as  hotels, but few of them are as kid friendly as Rheinfels. In ruins since the late 1700's the castle has no fancy exhibits or delicate art work for the kids to destroy. Instead it is full of dark tunnels, crossbow slits, and impressive views of the surrounding countryside.

The boys had tons of fun climbing up and down and all around pretending to be medieval knights or Indiana Jones. It used up some of their never ending supply of energy.

David didn't let go of the camera for a minute, so no pictures of him this time, but bunches of cute pictures of the boys and few of me. Some places are blocked off for safety's sake but otherwise this was a wonderland for kids. We more or less followed the self guided tour and map (In English!!) we received with our entry fee. You can check out Rick Steves' self guided tour on the web if you want to know what there is to see. Next time I think we will try to follow his tour as I am sure there were things we totally missed today and a lot of things we saw but didn't understand. This isn't the fault of the map but more a function of letting the kids run and following them. David and I have been in a few castles now but this was a first for the kids. It was their day to explore. 

Rheinfels has lots of dark unlit passageways and even underground tunnels so make sure to take a flashlight, or if you are braver than me you can buy candles and matches in the gift shop.I wasn't about to wander around in the dark with four boys (five if you count my husband) all of whom would think it hilariously funny to blow out the candle leaving me in total darkness. Of course that would leave them in the dark too, but who thinks that far ahead? Also when you are in a dark tunnel and your husband calls your name DO NOT turn around to see what he wants. Fool that I am I turned when Dave called my name and got a face full of flash. For the next few minutes all I could see was spots and a dim halo of light from my flashlight. Glad he did this on a flat stretch and not on the stairs. We stuck to the larger tunnels but there are smaller tunnels that are only about 3 feet high. Braver souls (or more foolish) can explore those as well.

The only problem I had was the guard rails in the higher spots. They seem to be of the "suggest you don't fall here" variety rather than the more useful "I will catch you if you fall" type.  I just don't see how those two tiny rails are going to save me if I trip. I was very, very, careful not to trip.  I have seen these types of rails at every castle we have visited and some were much higher up than this.   In this picture I am about 3 stories up, but it seemed like more to me. We took all our kids up those stairs without accident but since I have no head for heights David had to hold tight to Grayson who can fit right under that bottom rail. I was too busy hyperventilating and holding on for dear life. Colin figured out just how scared I was when we were up at the highest look out point.  He stood next to me then suddenly yelled while lunging at me. He was rewarded with his mother giving a little scream and abruptly sitting down. Anything to get closer to solid ground. Of course some of the other tourists, not to mention the rest of my family thought it was hilarious.  Some day one of them is going to give me heart attack! Of course I could avoid this by not climbing up high but then I am sure I would get teased for being a chicken.  I am not sure which is worse.

I have no I dea what purpose these arches might have served back in the day but they make a nice back drop for a picture!

Pine Wood Derby

Alonzo and Colin participated in their first Cub Scout Pine Wood Derby today.  Each had to construct a car from a block of wood.  Our pack allow for family members to race as well, so Grayson added wheels and paint to his block of wood and called it done.  Here they are waiting impatiently to check in. Each car was weighed and measured to make sure it complied with the rules.


The cars are raced on a slanted track, gravity alone powers the cars.  In this video Colin, Grayson, and two other cars are racing. The races go very quickly, which is a good thing becuase each car runs multiple heats to determine the winners.
 


At the end of the day Alonzo took third from the Wolves, Colin took first place from the Tiger cubs (in all fairness he was the only Tiger participating), and Grayson took 3rd place in the siblings race and was the runner up in the most original design category. Unfortunately they only gave medals to the cub scouts (funding issues). Grayson doesn't understand this and was very sad he didn't get a medal. His brothers are going to try to make a medal for him, I can't wait to see what they come up with.

The winning cars.

Proud cub scouts showing off their medals.

Events of Christmas Eve

Today was full of fun and excitement. As promised I am providing an update on how the tamales and houses building went. Well… actually it all went really well. We got the masa and the meat all done yesterday so all we had to do today was assemble, cook, and eat.




I didn’t get any pictures eating them because… well, we were all too busy eating them. These tamales would give “Rubens Homemade Tamales” on Rigsby Ave in San Antonio a run for their money.


Today we found the best way to get rid of the candy you still have from Halloween is to have the kids decorate gingerbread houses, or in our case graham cracker houses. We all had a blast with our decorating. I am not sure how we made such a big mess and to tell the truth I am not sure how much the candy actually made it on the houses. From the sounds I am hearing from the kids, the ones that are suppose to be asleep upstairs; I would say a good portion made it in the kids.




Have a wonderful Christmas!

The night before Christmas Eve

The boys are all tucked in to bed and Shannon is hard at work in the kitchen getting the fixings ready for tomorrow. If all goes well we will be having tamales with chili con carne and beans for lunch and the boys will be decorating their gingerbread (aka graham cracker) houses. Next year Shannon swears that we will get the gingerbread made and frozen by November.



Check back tomorrow so you can see the finished results of the house decorating and the fruits of our hard labor in the making of the tamales. If all goes well perhaps we will be able to have them more often, you know like once a year instead of once every time we go back to Texas.

Recycled Art Paper

This month's PSBN is an easy one. Give your kids used paper to draw on. My kids could happily go through an entire ream of paper in no time flat drawing, painting, folding, and cutting. Instead of crisp blank new paper and coloring books I give the kids junk mail, all those notices from school, old magazines, and any old paper I find laying around. A lot of these pieces of paper have only one printed side leaving a blank side to color and draw on. Even if both sides are used the paper can still be used for origami, and paper air planes. Some of the junk mail and magazines have bright colors that can be cut and glued to make a fun collage. Kid level recycling!

Warm Play-do

What to do with the kiddos when the weather isn't looking good for playtime outdoors?  Make play-do! My kids prefer the homemade play-do to the store bought because it is softer.  I prefer it because I make a big batch all one color.  No more tears over mixed up colors.  As an added bonus I know exactly what is in it, so if they eat it no big deal. I keep their play-do toys in a cheap plastic tool box so they are always ready to go.  If you don't have play-do toys don't worry garlic presses, rolling pins, plastic cutlery, tortilla presses, and cookie cutters work perfectly.  Kinda makes you wonder why we have so many play-do toys. 



The preferred play-do around our house is Kool Aid play-do. It comes in bright colors and smells good too.  The color pictured above is Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade.  Try the old fashioned flavors (cherry, lime, grape) for the brightest colors.

Kool Aid Play-Do

1 cup flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 package unsweetened Kool Aid
1/4 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
1 cup water

Mix flour. Kool Aid, salt and cream of tartar in a pot. Stir in water and vegetable oil until smooth. Cook over low heat stirring constantly until it forms a ball. It will get pretty hard to stir.  Remove from heat and knead until smooth. Give the warm play-do to bored kids and watch the fun.

You can find this recipe and a whole bunch of others at teachnet.com.

For some reason cooking the play-do seems to keep the Kool Aid from staining hands and clothes.  When it gets on the floor it sweeps up pretty easily.  If it gets in your carpets, don't panic, or get it wet.  Just pick up what you can and let the rest dry.  When it is totally dry use a butter knife or spoon to scrape at it until it crumbles then vacuum it up!  Have Fun!

Market Day

The kids have no school for two weeks because of fall break. Keeping them busy is a bit of a challenge. This morning's entertainment consisted of a trip to the Tuesday Dornbush Farmer's Market to pick up some fruit and flowers. I gave each of the kids two euro and reminded them to use their German and to mind their manners. They ran up and down looking at every thing and talking very loudly. I drew a few disapproving glances from some older people but most just seemed amused, or maybe they were glad they weren't me. Could be both. Eventually Alonzo bought a purple carrot and a small pumpkin while Colin bought a tomato and a small pumpkin. They each have a little change left and are looking forward to going to the market next Tuesday.

*Alonzo won't let me peel and slice the carrot until Dad gets home. I try to post some pictures of the purple carrot.
**Grayson DOES have school, and Cody is still off hiking in Spain, so I only took Alonzo and Colin.

UPDATE: Purple carrots are purple and orange. They stain your fingers purple when you slice them. They taste just like carrots, David thinks they are sweeter than regular carrots. We will be buying more 'cause they are cool!

Cody made it home safe and sound late this afternoon. He can no longer say he has never seen snow. Apparently snow was cool for about 10 minutes, then it was just plain cold and wet.

Let's Go To the Zoo....

Monday David had off from work, and Grayson had off from school. The rest of the kids had to go off to school. What to do with a 3 year old on a rainy Monday morning in Frankfurt? Go to the zoo, of course. The zoo is right downtown and there is a U-bahn stop just outside the entryway. We gathered up raincoats and umbrellas and hopped on the U-bahn. For Grayson riding the train is as much fun as as the final destination.

The Frankfurt Zoo is pretty nice. My favorite exhibit was the nocturnal animals. Here is a picture of the huge bat that marks the entrance.  The lighting is controlled so the animals think it is night time. They are very active.  It takes a few minutes for your eyes to adjust but once they do it is wonderful. There is quite an array of different animals inside. I think my favorite is the aye-aye, which is a weird looking critter from Madagascar. I have no idea which was Grayson's favorite he just ran from one case to the next as fast as he could. I really do wish I could show you some pictures of the kangaroo rats, bats, sloths, and other cool creatures, but it was just to dark so you will have to pack up and come for a visit if you want to see the exhibit.

We spent most of the day at the zoo. The zebras put forth their best side to impress the foreign visitors. There is a petting zoo where Grayson discovered horns are sharp, don't worry the little goat was very friendly. 


The playground let Grayson burn off some of his boundless energy.  I even managed to pry the camera away from David long enough to get a picture of him with Grayson watching this sleepy bear.
I took the picture of the bear too!

David is a better photographer than me. He managed to capture this lizard with his lens.  It was taken through the glass enclosure.  Usually that doesn't work, but every once in a while....