Our second picnic

On Saturday we went down to Vermont to buy groceries. At the grocery store, they had seeds for the kids to plant, and they each got to choose a pinwheel. That made shopping much more fun for them.

The weather was so nice we decided to have another picnic. There is a picnic table outside our apartment building that we can use. Stephen cooked chicken on our portable grill, and all of the kids helped carry the other food and dishes outside.
We enjoyed the picnic so much that we had one after church on Sunday, too. (I didn't get any pictures of that one.) We are really enjoying the nicer weather.

Picnic Weather

We are glad that warm spring weather is finally here. Stephen and I had Thursday and Friday off school. We spent much of the time catching up on things, but we did take time on Friday to go to a picnic with some other people from school. I forgot to get pictures of the actual picnic, but Stephen got some of Caleb playing on the playground and one of some of us at the picnic table.

Brazzaville Days

We are back in class today. Stephen has the morning class, and I have the afternoon class. I have lots of pictures of the kids from this weekend that I will try to post this week.

Today I wanted to tell you about a very interesting blog called Brazzaville Days. It is written by the wife of a US diplomat living in Brazzaville (the capital of the Republic of Congo.) It is full of information and pictures of the Congo in general, and Brazzaville in particular.

We will not be living in Brazzaville, but it is the city we will fly into and out of, and visit from time to time.

Some of the posts that I have found very interesting are as follows:
Olde Tyme Communications
Gorilla Watching in Congo
To Market to Market

If you have time, you should read all of the posts and look at the pictures. I found it very fascinating. It will give you a little picture of some of our life in the future.

Restoring Order

This week, I worked on some of the surfaces that tend to collect clutter in our house. The pictures are of a little set of shelves that sit in the kitchen. It has many of our things from around the world, or at least around the country. The horses and mugs are were parting gifts from people in Browning, and they remind us of the reservation and our friends there. The Japanese teapot and cups were some that my brother brought back from his trip to Japan. The little buffalo (that you can't really see) on the top shelf is one that we got on our move to Montana when we drove cross country. It is from the oldest recorded Indian Village. The drum is from our trip to Gabon, and the basket is from some missionaries who were in Papau New Giunie (I have no idea how to spell that.) The other things are things the kids made or that we just like. These things have a lot of meaning for us and add some color to our apartment.
The shelves tend to be a good spot to put things out of Caleb's reach, but eventually those things need to go somewhere else!

I finished packing up all of the coats, hats and mittens from last week. Now we have two big plastic containers full of winter gear, and a detailed list of what is in each container.
Yesterday, was our first day off school between semesters. Stephen and I tackled our papers and files. That is another thing that tends to pile up very quickly. We wanted to get rid of as much as we could. We shredded anything with personal information, and took the paper to recycling.
We had several interruptions along the way. We stopped to help our friends who were moving out upstairs with their window cleaning, and say good-bye to them. It was sad to see them go, and it will be weird to have the empty apartment upstairs.
We also took a trip to the store. A local store was having a 20% off everything sale, so of course I had to go. I only bought 2 small plastic boxes for organizing.
It took a long time to get our papers sorted and organized, but it is a nice feeling to have it done.
Here is Caleb supervising the window cleaning.

Kristy cleaning windows.

David cleaning windows.

Stephen cleaning windows.

Caleb shredding paper. Don't worry, he was very well supervised.

There are more participants in Restoring Order at The Homespun Heart.

Easy Birthday gift

We had a birthday party this past Saturday, for one of our neighbors who was turning 10. I wasn't really sure what to give for a present. I didn't have the time to go out and look for a present, and I really wasn't sure what to buy for a 10 year old girl.
I decided to make something. I had this box for several years. It originally came with a punch and some stamps. I saved the box knowing that "someday" I would alter it. "Someday" finally arrived. I pulled out some patterned paper and scrapbooking tools. I was able to complete the project with things that I had on hand-- no money spent, and no time consuming trip to the store.

I used the paper and the red sticky tape to cover the inside and outside of the box. The turquoise part of the lid had a white swirled design, so I left that plain. Then I filled the inside with various blank cards, envelopes, patterned paper, images, stickers, and ribbon. Isabelle insisted on making a birthday card. (You can see it on top of the box.) We decided that the box was too pretty to wrap, so I just used a ribbon and tag.

Here is the birthday girl opening her present.

She came our house yesterday and brought some of the cards she has been making this week to show me. (She also received some other scrapbooking supplies for her birthday.) Another young crafter in the making!

You can find more frugal ideas at Life as Mom.

Neighbor's Birthday Party

One of our neighbors had a birthday party this past Saturday. Isabelle insisted on wearing her tiara to the party! They started with some games outside.

More games...

Even some of the adults got in on the fun... go Beth!

A group shot

Tomorrow I will post the present that I made for the birthday girl. I liked it so much that I wanted to keep it for myself.

Goodbyes

Today, during our regular chapel time, we had graduation for the students who are finishing this semester. Two of the students took their test early, and have already left. The other four are pictured here with our teachers and some of the school administration.

There are many goodbyes in missionary life, but the exciting part is that we know so many people all over the US and the world now.

After graduation, we had our last test of the semseter. (It was a little weird to have graduation first. All four of the graduates in the picture took the test at the same time I did.) It is a relief to have all of the tests over, and all of our paperwork for the semester completed. We have a few days off, and we will begin the next semester on Monday.

Sugar Shack

In March, Stephen and I had a field trip to a Sugar Shack. This is the name of a place where they get the maple sap from trees and make maple syrup and other things. In a small "shack" they have maple sap that has been boiled and refined. Some one pours some on snow or ice. You can use a wooden spoon to pick up the hardened syrup and eat it like a popsicle.

Caleb is ready to eat.

This is cold!

After the syrup, we went for a walk in the woods. We got to see the buckets they have attached to the tree to gather the sap. Caleb mostly enjoyed walking in the mud.

You might be a missionary if. . .

Some friends of ours from language school who are on their way to Guinea posted this list. I will have to come up with one for us before we go. Any suggestions?

More spring pictures

It Must Be Spring

Clothes hanging outside to dry, kids playing with no jackets, deer in the backyard.... it must be spring! I'm so excited. I have been waiting for warmer weather, and it seemed like it would never come. But the last few days here have been beautiful.

Part of the reason that I wanted warm weather to come was so that I could pack away all of the coats, snow pants, boots, hats, mittens, scarfs, etc. I want to start getting things more organized for our move this summer. I was going to try to do it last weekend because we had a few days off school for Easter. However, since it kept SNOWING, I couldn't.

At the beginning of this week, I saw a series on Restoring Order. Two women Monica and Rebecca are hosting it on their blogs. I thought that would be a good way to have a system to tackle some of the projects I want to get done. Yesterday, after catching up on some of our laundry. I washed all of the winter things and hung them out (the first load was dry by that point.) Today, I just have to sort through them to decide which to get rid of and which to pack away for the future.

Of course, I had to take a picture of the clothes hanging up outside. For some reason I just really like the way they look. It has the advantage of saving money for us. Since we share a washer and dryer with our apartment building, we pay per load. Yesterday, I hung a total of four loads on the clothesline and our indoor drying racks. (For more frugal tips see Frugal Fridays.)

Monster Cookies

Two Decembers ago, we were at my sister's and she made some delicious cookies. She was making them for her neighbors, but of course there were plenty for us, too. The recipe makes a ton, but the dough keeps well in the refrigerator or freezer.I asked for the recipe, but never had a chance to make them until recently. I wanted to make cookies as a thank you to someone, so I mixed a batch up. I have made quite a few since then, and I may have to mix up another batch soon!

Monster Cookies
2 pounds (4 cups) brown sugar
4 cups white sugar
12 eggs
2 Tablespoons corn syrup
1 pound butter
3 pounds (5 1/2 cups) peanut butter
8 teaspoons baking soda
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
18 cups oatmeal (one large round container plus 2 cups)

Mix and match the following ingredients:
1 pound M&M's
1 pound semi-sweet chocolate chips
Raisins
Dates
Nuts
Coconut
Other chips (white, butterscotch, etc)
Anything else you want (sunflower seeds, etc)

Mix together first 8 ingredients (everything down to- but not including- the oatmeal). Then add M&M's, chips, nuts, etc. and mix well. Then fold in oatmeal last in a huge mixing bowl or two, using your hands or a spatula. Place by 1 tablespoonfuls (you can use ice cream scoop) on ungreased cookie sheet to make a 4-5" cookie. Use a teaspoonful for 3" cookies. Bake at 325 for about 15 minutes. Done when brown around the edges; they will still look moist in the middle, but will firm as they cool. Cool 5 minutes, then on wire rack on counter. These are also good as bar cookies. The dough keeps well in refrigerator or freezer for a month or more. Bake an additional 3-5 minutes if dough is cool.

For other cookie ideas see this Cookie Recipe Swap. There are some on there I definitely want to try... you know, in my spare time.

Update- Our Plans

Or should I say, what we think our plans may be... because I have learned how quickly plans can change. But I think it is good to have a plan, but remain flexible in case of changes.

1. Stephen and I are almost finished with our second semester. We have our last day of regular class tomorrow, which will be mostly review. We have finished all of our presentations, papers, etc. We each have to have 74 hours of language labs (Rosetta Stone and other things) turned in next Wednesday. We've both been working on that all along, and are close to being done. Starting Thursday, we have our end of the year exams. Our last day of the semester is next Wednesday, the 22nd.

2. The following Monday (April 27) we start our 3rd semester, which is the conversation class. We are supposed to get that schedule tomorrow. I'm hoping to have less homework outside of class, but I don't know yet. I will be in the Intermediate, Stephen will be jumping ahead to the advanced!

3. Our last day of class is June 23. This is also the kids last day of school. We hope to leave here that day or the next.

4. The week after school (June 29-June 3) we are going to be camp missionaries for Camp Nathaniel, a camp in Eastern Kentucky. It is the camp Stephen attended when he was younger, and worked at as a teenager.

5. We plan to spend the rest of July visiting family; however, we haven't worked out a schedule yet. We do know that we have a family reunion for Stephen's father's side of the family July 31 -August 2. Stephen's mom's side of the family will also be having a reunion one weekend in July, but we don't know the date yet.

6. That is as far as our plans go. We would still like to leave for Africa in the early fall, but that will depend on our finances, as explained by Stephen on our mission's blog.

On another note, we had snow last week and this weekend. Today was sunny and nice. It was almost above freezing when I went to class at 8:30. I think Spring may be on its way!

Easter Egg Hunt

We had an Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday. Fortunately, we had nice weather in the afternoon. I didn't hide the eggs well enough and the kids found them in 2-3 minutes. I will have to do better next year.