Stuff, Stuff, Stuff...I'm feeling stuffed.

I'm reading No Impact Man's book right now and he mentioned a short little film called "The Story of Stuff." If you ever wondered why we need to stop consuming so much or even why we need to stop supporting stores like Walmart and Target, here's your answer. We throw out 99% of the things we buy within 6 months. Most of our items are either designed to break and need replacement or to look "unfashionable" and be replaced. Think cars, electronics, and fashion. Take twenty minutes and check out this video and help stop this cycle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLBE5QAYXp8

Tony and I are feeling this conviction pretty strongly here lately, especially as we see how drastic the lifestyle differences are between the Europeans and Americans. I'm not sure exactly what all we are going to do at this point, but I feel some major changes are in the works for our family.

Traumatized by Documentaries

Tony and I have been watching several documentaries and reading "eco" books. We have been fairly traumatized by the information on America's beef industry. For those that are unaware, I'll spare you the grusome details and just let you know that we'll be eating either local grass fed beef from a farmer we know or no beef at all. Since my German doesn't include that kind of vocabulary yet, or sadly the vocabulary needed for blonde highlights, Tony and I made a vegetarian lasagna for dinner in place of our usual meat-n-cheese variety:

We started with a delicious organic tomato and mushroom marinara by adapting my Grandpa Monaco's recipe into a veggie friendly variety. We added fresh garlic, shallots, mushrooms, basil and oregano.


Next I sauteed some eggplant and zucchini in some olive oil.

We began by layering in some marinara sauce, followed by the noodles and ricotta mixture. (Side vent: Never use cottage cheese in lasagna. No self respecting Italian would do such a thing and no self respecting Italian imposter would either). Next we layered some tomatoes and spinach, then topped it with the sauteed zucchini and eggplant. Add some Asiago, Provolone, and Mozzerella mixture and start over with the next layer.

This is the banana bread we made earlier. Mmmmm.

In keeping with our organic theme, we made little tree sugar cookies. Not a word, Keri!
See- they are leaves, so that makes them organic, right? ;-)

Homeschooling the kiddos

I began homeschooling Ryan a couple of months into his Kindergarten year. We are now a couple of months into his Fourth Grade year. Crazy how the time has flown and how I am still homeschooling. I thought it would be for just a year, until he went into first grade. We use Sonlight Curriculum and just loved our Kindergarten year so, we ordered the First Grade curricula. Next thing you know, a few years pass and we are still homeschooling. It's been a great fit for our family, especially with all the moves we have being in the Army. Here's a typical morning at our house after breakfast:

Ryan gets started on his math and Olivia comes around to "help".
Ryan shows her his spelling. He hates spelling. He'll pass it off to anybody who will do it for him, even the baby.


"This schooling stuff wears me out!" Me too, Olivia, me too.

This is why Ryan shouldn't pass his spelling off to his baby sister...

Ally diligently working on her spelling. She's always the first one done with schooling. She's highly motivated by recess and strawberry milk. (Just like Tony).

Hanging out on the weekend

Our kitties arrived early Saturday morning and after being robbed by the German government under the veil of pet transport, they are settling in.Here's Mia checking out the new place. Rather, she's just finished eating for the thirty-fourth time and after a couple of weeks will no longer fit in the crevice of the chair and table.
Olivia hanging out with "Bubba". That's what she calls him. He HATES it!

Nick, still experiencing a little jet lag. He hasn't left our side since arriving.

Daddy and Olivia spending some time together.

The other kiddos join in. Aren't they just darling?

I love our cozy weekends here in Germany.

Playing around with my new Nikon

I finally decided on a new camera. I went with the Nikon D90, my first SLR digital camera. Boy, it sure has a learning curve. The user's manual is as thick as an encyclopedia.

Here is my usual night routine. A hot beverage and the computer. Please ignore the fact that I look like I homeschooled three kids today, because, well...I did.
Here's my teeny-tiny Olivia with nothing teeny-tiny about her gorgeous eyes.
See how she get's everything she wants? You tell this girl, "no".

I'm not sure where this red hair is coming from, but she sure is a cutey!

Date Night with Tony

Here are some pics from our date night out for our fifteenth anniversary. I can't believe we've been married so long already. It feels like we are too young to have been together this long! The secret to our success? Perseverance.

Cappuccino mit Baileys, which was more like Baileys with a shot of cappuccino. Mmmmm. Perfect for a cold night.

The pizzaria we dined in. Pizza by candlelight and run by Italians is always romantic.

The ice cream shop we went to for dessert. Sure beats Baskin Robbins!

The dining patio.

Tony's Hazelnut and Chocolate concoction of calories, fat, and goodness. I had one too. I'm not about to share a gelato sundae!

Wildlife Park

Ally, just as gorgeous as ever.
My little princess, Olivia. How I have kids this cute, I have no idea.

This is the museum at the wildpark.

A reindeer!

Wandering down some paths.

Ally feeding the goats.

Ryan making new friends.

All in on the action/feeding.

Being watched.