The girl NEEDS more clothes!

As I was getting breakfast, I heard Victoria begin to cry. It was not the 'hurt' cry so I thought she would come and inform me which of her brothers had wronged her. After about 10 minutes I realized that she had not stopped nor come to tattle on a brother. I went up to her room and found her in her bed sobbing. When I asked her what was wrong, she replied, "You told me to get dressed, but I do not have the perfect clothes!!!!!" I had to exit the room quickly to keep from busting out laughing! She did eventually find the right outfit. Poor girl. She has a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear.

Food for Thought

Today I began to realize just how much food is consumed in our home each day. Over the past 12 years we have changed from a couple to a family of four children. With three boys and a very tall girl, we eat a large amount of food each day. I just did not realize how much more as compared with others around us. However, I was confronted with this very fact not once but twice today.

In Sunday school, we were discussing how Jesus is the bread of life. The teacher was commenting on how universal bread is. He then asked some people at the front of the room to state how much bread was consumed by their family each day. Or so I thought.... Most of the responses were 1 loaf. The teacher asked me how much bread we eat each day, and I responded that we eat 1-2 loaves per day depending on how hungry our 12 year old son is. Every head turn on that response. That was when I realized that most people had answered a loaf a week. Great! Now everyone knows to hide the food when the Schneiders are around.

The other instance happened at supper. We had a wonderful, polite young man over for supper. His family consists of two parents, a very petite sister, and himself. I cooked a pound of macaroni and made mac and cheese. I dished out the portions, giving him a smaller portion just in case he did not care for my version of Mac and Cheese. I dished out the rest of the pot to the other kids realizing that I should have made two pounds of pasta instead of one. Our guest realized that we had run low on the food and commented that if I had made the whole one pound box of pasta, we would have had plenty and perhaps even leftovers. Imagine his surprise when I told him that I had made the whole box and that I often make two pounds of pasta at a time and not just one pound. Poor kids now knows that "Eat fast or starve" is the motto of the Schneider kids. How else did they get to be so close to the top of the growth chart. Now if I could just get them to do their school work with the same amount of speed as they exhibit at the supper table. We'll keep working on that.

Five more inches in height and Matt will pass Mom!

Baby, it's cold inside!

Once again, we are experiencing life in a cold climate. Heating oil is a wonderful substance. It easily burns to heat water that flows through the radiators in our home. However, it is a sad day when the heating oil man does not come and there is no more oil. Our complex ran out of heating oil today. As of 6pm our house was a cozy 60 deg F. I am not going to be able to get out of bed tomorrow, and I am not looking forward to anything hygiene tomorrow. Our house will be in the low 50's by the time the alarm goes off. If it gets much cooler, we will be driving to Patch Base Library for school tomorrow.

The kids have come up with there own ideas on how to survive without heat. Ethan's solution is to sleep in his longjohns which are under his t-shirt, sweater, and jeans. He does not plan to remove any layers before bed. Smart guy! Daniel is excited that the temp is finally about right for him. Matt will ignore our pleas for warm pjs and just freeze. He literally sleeps in the rafters (loft bed above the top floor bathroom) so he should be in the warmest area of the house. Oh yeah, we have a playdate tomorrow here. Looks like we will be serving lots of hot chocolate.


Just makes me appreciate the heat when it is available!

Boys say the funniest things

Pubescent boys say the funniest things. Tonight, the children were inhaling the food set before them. It was not as though any of them had eaten two full meals and snacks today, but they were still famished. Matt was reaching for another roll when he knocked over his juice. Without hesitation he stated, "Sometimes I just don't know where my hands are!" Oh dear son, sometimes we wonder about your feet and head too!

Mom, what is a Super Bowl?

Neal and I realized that our kids have been away from the US Conus culture a little too long. Our almost 7 year old son asked us to explain football. He did not understand. He thought it was soccer. He also asked why everyone got together, ate junk food, and watched a game. He did not understand the importance of the Super Bowl. Not that the champion American football team is decided by this game, but that the best commercials of the year are finally broadcast. Who cares about the game! Let the commercials begin! However, after a few twinges of guilt, I let him watch some of the pre-Super Bowl shows so he could see what football is. I felt this should further his education. Although it will not be listed on the homeschool schedule this week. We'll watch the Super Bowl tomorrow at a decent hour. It is on at midnight here. So, good night! We'll watch while North America sleeps....

After reading Tami's post of a school day at her home, I just had to post snippets of a day at the Testosterone Academy for pre-pubescent boys. Yes, I homeschool. All my German neighbors think I am NUTS! Who would want to be with their kids ALL DAY! Even the German doctors at the base clinic think anyone with more than a couple of kids who homeschools is nuts. Oh well, count me in!

In addition to the regular grind, we had a few gems pop up during the day. Of course, we had to see what the hurricane had destroyed last night. What boy does not want to see twisted homes and downed trees?! Language is always the best part for us. Daniel was sooooo confused. "Mom, what do dishes and s-h-a-t-t-e-r-e-d have to do with each other?" I replied, "Do you remember when Matt dropped the bowl of cereal on the tile floor? That is an example of what shattered means!" "Oh", he utters as he proceeds to write his sentence. Art collage is always fun until you realize that your first grader has found the NG story on heart transplants and is carefully studying the photos. Not exactly the collage I had in mind!

Princess is not an official member of the Testosterone Academy. The name will have to change next year! She does, however, love all of the craft stuff that I wanted the boys to do but never got enough interest generated. In the time it takes to do the Languish Arts part of the day, she has successfully pulled out every manipulative possible.

This was just a glimpse at my day. I wonder what tomorrow will bring.......

Well, here I go.....

This is a feeble attempt to join the 21st century and actually blog my life. I thought I would try this just to document my day to day life here in Germany. I do not like to write. I am not one to get side tracked on beautiful prose. I am more of a black and white writer. I would love to be one of those who can just make the descriptions of the simplicity of life flow in beautiful prose. However, God did not make me that way, so here I am.

I live in Stuttgart, Germany where my husband is currently stationed. We have four kids: three boybarians and one little PRINCESS. We love to travel as much as the kids can stand. We also love to hike, bike, swim, and generally be outdoors. Germany in the summer is wonderful for those activities. Lots of rain means lots of green when the sun does emerge from the rainy clouds. Germany also has lots of trails and parks to explore. The kids usually complain when we leave for a hike and complain that the hike is too short when we get home. Ethan really loves to look for bugs while Victoria looks for birds and tadpoles. Matt and Daniel are usually piking up sticks for a bit of sword play or to build this latest fort. I love the fresh air!

Germany is not without challenges. Our home is a small townhouse with a backyard that faces everyone. The kitchen is the smallest space I have ever had. Fortunately, the dining room is in the kitchen so I have more prep space as long as the table is clear. Parking is a challenge also. The parking lots are several blocks from the stores. The town centers are usually almost impossible to park in either due to the amount of spaces available or the amount of money it takes to park in the parking garage. Language is a huge barrier. People here do not speak regular German but something called Swabisch. It is kind of like speaking Texan in the states. It is close but not understandable if you are new to the language. Overall though, I am glad we are here and love the exposure to world cultures that our family is getting.

Well, that is my world. I look forward to jotting down other tidbits as I go along. More later......