Birthday and Haircut

This post is almost 2 weeks overdue, but I thought I'll share the "old" news anyway.

Katie's 5th Birthday!

A couple of days early the "local" family gathered to celebrate Katie's birthday.  Katie asked for a chocolate and strawberry cake, but she had to make due with raspberries and strawberry filling.  What can you do with a December birthday??

 Katie got all dressed up for her party.  She was not only the birthday girl, she was the birthday PRINCESS!

 2 sets of grandparents and the only uncle that regularly visits our house came for cake and ice cream in the afternoon and a light supper after.

 Opening presents was of course the best part, and Katie sure loved the gifts she got!!  Thank you to all who blessed her!

 

Birthday Party # 2

On her actual birthday we had Katie's (and mine as host) first party with school friends.  Since it was close to Christmas I though we could do a Cookie Baking party.  It was more work than I thought, but I loved it and I think it was an all around success.

 First the 6 girls were split into 2 groups.  One group helped make Choc Chip cookies (everything measured and ready like a cooking show, they got to help me dump and mix) 

 The other 3 girls got to roll drop sugar cookie dough in coloured sugars and sprinkles.  Thank you Jeff for manning the making of the balls.  (I made the dough the day before so it had time to chill)
After about 15 min we switched and the second group of girls helped me make coconut/cranberry oatmeal cookies.
 Then while I got caught up with the baking, and Jeff cleaned up the sugared and sprinkled table and floor, the girls went and played for a while.

 For the second round we had some previously baked sugar cookies and a gingerbread man that the girls could decorate

meanwhile some of the girls helped with the chocolate cut out cookies (dough was made the day before and chilled).

For the loot "bag" they all got to take home a tin of freshly baked cookies as well as an apron (which they got at the BEGINNING of the party:)

 

 My best idea about the whole party was going out for supper after.  Katie loved the attention she got at East Side Marios.

The Haircut

 As you can see Maya's hair was getting quite long, half way down her back.  Even though brushing and doing her hair in the morning was getting to be a bit of a chore, she looked so nice and angelic with her long blond hair that I just didn't have the heart to cut it.

 Well, Maya made the choice for me when she took the scissors to her mane.  She took chunks out all around her head leaving the cut sections about chin length.  (And yes, I was over at the mission feeding 20+ Germans when this happened so I can blame no one but myself)

I though the "end"result looked so cute!  I just kind of evened things out around the back and left her lopsided bangs as is.  After about a week though I decided I should take to a hairdresser anyway, just to polish things up.  That was on a Friday.

On Saturday...

...our little Miss Maya decided to give it another try and cut her hair AGAIN!!  I was getting ready for Katie's family B-day party and when I want to check on her in the bathroom she was busy cutting her hair.  She chopped the side of it at about the middle of her ear.

 So, thankfully there was a 7 day guarantee from the hair salon so I took her back on the Tuesday to see what they can do.  He first tried to just round things out, but in the end there was just too big of a chunk of hair missing.  So the end result:

A short, LAYERED cut that still looks cute, but doesn't give the illusion of "angelic" anymore :)

Maya's surgery

After Maya's surgery got post-poned last minute, we finally headed to McMaster Hospital in Hamilton on November 14th.

Maya was excited to see the Dr. who will remove her "ball" above her eye.

 All ready with her hospital gown and pj bottoms.  Vitals were taken and off we went for some more waiting.

 You can see the little bump just at the end of her left eyebrow.  A dermoid cyst, which is totally benign, but they will send it for testing just to make sure.

 Maya was very patient as we were waiting for her turn.

 I got to go into the OR with her until she was asleep.  The full body suit will come in handy for painting in the future.

 Maya got to take her blankie with her until she was out.  She did soooo well, no fussing or being scared or nervous with all the strange people and weird surrounding.

 At this point I was probably more nervous that maya was.

 Ready for "the mask that will put the medicine in my tummy to make me sleep"

And back home after a successful operation.  Maya didn't wake up very well from the general anesthetic, but she settled down once we got to the van, she slept most of the way home, and we spend the rest of the day snuggling on the couch and watching TV.
She is really a trooper,  she never complained about pain, and she leaves her eye and her bandage alone.  On Tuesday we go back to the doc to get her stitches removed.  We're glad that everything went so smoothly.  Thank you God for your peace!

Us in a nutshell

Hydro - or NOT!!!

So on Wednesday Oct 31st at about 8 a.m. we heard a huge BANG outside and our power went out.  We didn't think much of it, figured we just blew the switch on our transformer and called our local Hydro company to come and fix it.  Well, it turned out that we had an underground short in the main line supplying power to the house side of the Liebenzell Center.  All Hydro did was disconnect the line and told us to call an elecrical contractor to deal with the problem.  Easier said than done.  Seems like the electicians in the area are super busy so we were without any hydro or water until Friday afternoon.  It was like camping - in our own home.  See the breakfast picture below.

 So, now we have running COLD water on our side and partial hydro (no lights in the bathrooms, master bedroom, office, no stove, some light and 2 recepticals in the kitchen that work, no heat (baseboard heaters).  We have the fridge and freezer plugged into an extention cord running from the mission side (it's a newer addition to the building and has its own power supply).  We can have showers over there too, but the girls had their bath at a friends house.  We have a fireplace in the apartment downstairs so we've been keeping a fire going 24/7 so that our house is at least at about 16 degrees.  Still, I'm wearing a longsleved shirt and 2 sweaters to keep comfortable.
We are now waiting for locates, our neighbour agreed to dig a trench for us and then the electrician will run a new line.  Estimated time until we are restored to full power - 2 more weeks.  Fun fun fun.  At least this didn't happen in the dead of winter.  The girls don't seem to be bothered much by it and still insist on running around barefoot and it's a fight to get them to wear a sweater.  I have to be a little more creative with my cooking without a stove or oven, but I can use the one at the mission when I run out of ideas.  It's amazing how much we take for granted!  We are blessed to have all we have here and are trying to make the best of our situation.  We've spent many an evening just chilling in front of the fireplace.  No lights downstairs.  The TV and lights in the living room work, but it gets cold in the evening when we just sit.

Afternoon Walk with Grosi and Grosvati

Early November, my parents came for a visit, despite the lack of hydro.  They ended up taking Maya to the farm with them for a few days. 

 While they were here we all bundled up and went for a nice walk.  The girls had a lot of fun with Grosi and Grosvati.

 Katie in full swing rolling down the hill.  We played there for a little while until the girls were starting to get worn out from going up and down the hill.  Then off we went to hike around the pond.  The idea of wearing the girls out worked!  We all had a lot of fun together too.

 Grosvati was the Train engine and the two girls were getting pulled.  This reminded me a lot of the Sunday afternoon walks we did growing up in Switzerland.

Halloween

 Our church was hosting a Trunk-or-Treat event.  The idea was to decorate your vehicle and then the kids could go from one car to the next in the safety of the church parking lot.  I think the idea was awesome and was quite disappointed when we got there and were  informed that because of the rain everything was moved inside.  Oh well, the kids still had a lot of fun and collected their treats with minimal effort and no frozen toes.

 Maya was a Mommy Jaguar (same as Katie was last year)

 Katie dressed up as a "baby unicorn that can fly".  Value village find that will do us for a couple of halloweens anyway.

In the church gym they had many games set up for the kids.  One of Katie's favorite was the dangling donut.  It was fun watching her trying to get a bite.  Maya didn't want to play, she just chewed on the rack they used to hang the donut on.  Silly girl.

So this is us.  Hanging in there and keeping busy.  Please pray with us that we would be plesantly surprised and the hydro issue will be resolved sooner and cheaper than expected.  Thanks!

Afternoon Hike

So it seems like I have better luck downloading the pics, but still have no say about where the pictures go.  Oh well. 

 A couple of weeks ago we took advantage of a beautiful afternoon to go for a family hike in a park down the road.  The girls had a lot of fun exploring the bush and we just enjoyed watching them.  It is so nice to not have to drag a wagon or stroller along.

Daddy and his girls (and Gordie).
Life is still hectic and feels a little unsettled, but we're hanging in there, trusting that God is in control and well lead and guide us even through turbulent waters.  He does promise to lead us to quiet/calm waters so I'm sure we'll get there eventually. 

Last weekend we were at my parents farm celebrating 20 years in Canada!  Amazing how the time goes by.  Life sure has changed in those 20 years, our family grew but also moved further away, so only half of the family was actually there to enjoy our traditional fonue.  Chris and Rudy and their families were missed.  Maybe we can try for a full family meal next summer.

Anyway, I gotta go and take Maya to her pre-op appointment.  Her dermoid cyst by her eye is getting removed next Wed.  Please pray that all will go well.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Back to School

Today was Katie's first full day at Senior Kindergarten.  I really like the gradual entry our school has for the little ones.  By the time they have their first full day they'll have been in the classroom 3 times already and had a chance to meet at least some of their classmates before their first day.

So here's Katie, ready for a new school year.  I was going to upload more pictures, but after half an hour I still  only had 2 that were ready I gave up.

Maya still has to wait another year before she gets to go on the bus.  She was disappointed, and kind of grumpy most of the morning, but after enough time of bugging her sister after Katie got back in the afternoon we had a fun time going for a walk looking for frogs and enjoying nature.

I hope I have better luck with pictures next time.
Blessings to all, Ursi

BUSY

It's been too long since I did a post, and this one is going to be quick and without pics. 
Our last 6 weeks or so seem to have gone by in a whirlwind.  School ended, VBS, a big wedding at the mission, new neighbours move in, our wonderful volunteers from Germany go back home, my cousin from Switzerland comes to visit for a month, Renters in our house in Elmira leave, day trips here and there with Moritz, trying to find new renters,  groups at the mission, not good news from the dentist, August long weekend means we work an extra day, ups and downs with internal mission stuff, found new renters, finally a week away at a cottage (but of course with that comes planning, organizing, packing, etc).  We had a wonderful and relaxing time with some wonderful friends in a cottage near Kinmount, ON. Our new neighbours move out again, more running around for our Elmira house, canning 2 bushesl of tomatoes, hosting our new batch of German volunteers (planning, shopping, preparing and cooking).  And right now the kids are screaming their heads off because they don't want to go to sleep and keep bothering each other. 
Wish me luck.

This and That

Swimming

Hello again.  Hope you're surviving the heat!  We've had a couple of super hot days, but have discovered that now that our girls are old enough to go swimming with us, the pond on the mission property makes a wonderful swimming hole. 

  Both girls love to go to the pond, perferably with Otto and Lukas along, but Mommy and Daddy will do if the guys are not around. As you can see we all wear life jackets as the pond is really muddy on the edges and we actually have to use the canoe to get to deep enough water. Maya still wants to be in physical contact when we swim, but Katie is quite happy to do her own thing. We have both girls signed up for swimming lessons this summer so I'm sure their skills, and Maya's comfort level will improve dramatically.

Canning

Summer time means processing time. Over the last couple of weeks we've dealt with Strawberries (freezer Jam), Red currants and Black currants (Jelly)

 Yesterday our new neighbour from downstairs and Michi our newest addition to the family (Michi is one of the german volunteers who will finish off her stay in Canada with us) helped us make black currant Jelly.  We started by picking the berries, boiling it down to make juice and then make the jelly from the juice.  Thanks to Nikki's thinking we also discovered that the otherwise yucky blackcurrant juice is quite nice when mixed with Sprite or Gingerale.  We ended up with 20 jars of jelly and 3 little bottles of juice left over. 

The week earlier Michi helped me make red currant jelly.  It's been really neat to work with these two young ladies and being able to teach/share a bit about canning. 
Our zucchini are growing like crazy so before Michi leaves (end of the month) we'll probably make some zucchini relish, and maybe some pickle beets.  We'll see how things grow.

Too much fun

To make things easier for Uncle Marc to go swimming in the pond (it might be too hard to try to climb into the canoe from deep water) we bought a rubber dingie (sp??) to float him past the weeds and into deep enough water.  Of course we had to blow it up first and the girls just loved playing with it.  As you can see they got along very nicely and they played for a long time quite happily with "the boat".  Unfortunately we have a very curious girl (Katie this time) and she wanted to find out what would happen if you poke it with a knitting needle.  Well... let's just say that what was left of it would not float Uncle Marc.  I think Katie learned an important lesson and Walmart gets to sell a second $10 boat.

Sounds of Switzerland

So every 3 years the swiss choirs all over north america gather together for a competition and a grand concert during a 4 day weekend.  This year the local choir was the host and planned the grand concert at the Center in the Square (one of the largest stages in North America - seats just over 2000).  Mom, Dad and I were asked if we would play the alphorns during the concert.  We've been practicing for months and I think we did a pretty good job.

 After the concert we were happy and relieved.  The tickets were sold out and from the comments I received from the audience they all really enjoyed it.  On Sunday morning I was the guest speaker for the ecumenical church service for the participants of the Sängerfest 2012.  I was nervous, but again, based on the comments I think I did ok.

Potty training?

 Yes, that is Maya sitting on the table trying on Katie's underware.  She has been much more intersted in going potty like a big girl, and wearing UNDERWARE- not diapers.  She did pretty good for the first couple of days, but doesn't seem overly concerned if she wets (or solids) herself.  I think we'll do pull-ups for a while until she learned herself when to go potty and doesn't just wait until I tell her to go, or until she's wet.  We'll try that and see how it goes.  With Katie we rewarded her with Smarties, but Maya doesn't really care so we still have to think up a reward system that means something to her.  Ideas are welcome.

Cooling Off???

 Yup, I've got crazy girls.  Both of them on different occasion have dug up winter hats, mitts, and scarfs to play in.  Mind you it was 30+ degrees outside.  Go figure.

I must say though they both look pretty cute.

Playing Nicely

Don't ask me why, but it seems that there is a direct co-relation between the length of time Katie and Maya play together nicely and the mess they make.  Rarely do they play together without making a big mess somewhere.  I guess I shouldn't be complaining, but I sure hope they'll learn to play without the chaos.  If not, I think I'll still prefer the chaos over the fighting and whining.

So that's us in a nutshell.  July will be busy (as normal) but I hope that I'll update at least once a month or so. 
Blessings to all of you.

Been too long

So it has been over a month since I last blogged, and just in the last day I had two people tell me that they read my blog, so I figured I better give them something to read:)  I also want to mention that I do not like this new format of blogger so I might just give up on making it look somewhat organized and just type wherever blogger decides I need to type.

So the above picture was taken May 2-4 weekend.  Jeff and I had just returned from a week in Ottawa's National House of Prayer.  It was a very informative and refreshing time.  We learned a lot about our federal government and how we can more effectively pray and also be involved in what is going on.  I have been encouraged to do more than just vote and hope that the people in office will then do the right thing.  I want to be more informed and let my representatives know if there is something that I don't agree with.  But our week away really would deserve it's own post and I don't think that will happen anytime soon.  If you are interested in hearing more just let me know. (Or give me a call)

After we got back home it was time to put in our garden.  Jeff was doing most of the work with Katie and Maya helping.  We also had a friend from the group that was staying at the Liebenzell Center come and help.  Jeff was in his element teaching the kids about plants.  I was tired and grumpy and was happy to let Jeff deal with the kids.  I did help plant the tomatoes and peppers and dealt with the kids when they came in muddy and happy from working in the garden.

We planted: Potatoes, Sunflowers, swiss chard, cabbage, beans, carrots, onion (don't think they took), squash, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, basil and beets.  I'll have to take a picture again now that things are growing quite nicely.  Oh yes and we also have some lettuce that we already started eating.

The girls both love the water and have a blast playing in our little pool.  We're happy to have friends that have a good sized above ground pool close by and I'm signing the girls up for semi-private swimming lessons this summer.

Katie and Maya had this bad habit of climbing onto our table in the office to draw on our white board.  And to erase anything that we might have written on it so I decided that since I like their creativity I'm gonna move the board to their room so they can draw without getting into trouble.  They're having great fun and so far the marker only went on the board and not on the walls. 

We were so thrilled to have Katrin come and visit for a week in June.  She was our family helper from Germany when Maya was just 2 months old.  She was like a sister to me and we were so blessed to have her help us out two years ago.  We had a very busy week with her and enjoyed every minute!

This picture was taken at the Killman Zoo near Hamilton.  It was an awesome place to take the kids.  We were able to be as close as 2 feet to Tigers and Lions and other wild cats.  Katie got to hug a turkey and we had fun feeding emus, goats and sheep.  We will definitely go back!

Last week I took the girls to a little park with a friend and her 3 little ones. It was a beautiful morning and we had a lot of fun.  There's a lot that I could still write about, but I'm getting fed up with blogger and will just quite for now. 
I hope you all had a great month and a wonderful summer.  Hopefully I'll write sooner rather than later again, but with Katie almost done school having computer time without a kid either pulling on my arm, or fighting in the next room might be a little harder to come by.
Blessings, UrsiSo I'm having issues with blogger telling me where to write.  Anyway the girls love to play dress up.  They have a whole box of clothes, but 99% of the time Maya wants to be a firefighter (and a cute one at that) and Katie is a beautiful Fairy Princess.