My children are weird.

For some reason Elinor thinks it is hillarious to watch Connor pile stuff in front of her. Sophia is obsessed with taking it all away. And, I'm left thinking "Wow, these kids are strange, I should get a video of this."

Not a great video - but who doesn't love baby giggles?

I know I do.

Building it Right.

Today we went to visit with the pastor at Risen Savior Lutheran church in Basehor, Kansas. Risen Savior is one of the churches that supported Ben during seminary and we were fortunate enough to visit with them in the past.

This time was a little bit different, as we were able to visit their brand new church building. The congregation wanted the new church building to be something that was beautiful and looked...well, like a church.

The result is wonderful.

 Outside

 I love the wooden doors on the entrance. 

 It is hard to see, but over the doors it says Unaltered Augsburg Confession in German. 

 Stained glass Luther's Rose

 Reflection of glass on the floor - the kids thought this was very cool. 

 Baptismal font in the middle of the church. 

 Connor taking the opportunity to remember his baptism - something he loved to do in the Chapel at the seminary.  

 The font. 

 Altar.

It is hard to see, but on the wall as you leave is the Nunc Dimittis.

A week from tomorrow  Ben is going to be preaching at this church so that the pastor can have a Sunday off. We are looking forward to catching up with the congregation again. 

Little Miss Chubby Cheeks

Today was Elinor's six month well child checkup.

And the verdict is:

That this little girl...

 May actually be a distant relation to this guy.

I mean, seriously, look at those cheeks! (And I'm not talking about Winston's).

Our latest stats.
Height: 26 1/4 inches
Weight: 18 lbs 8 oz

Looks like we are well on our way to a girl's basketball team...or you know...wrestling. Just so long as we take State.

A boy, some bugs, and a snake.

It started very simply  (it always does) with a grasshopper. Then there were some crickets, some more grasshoppers, and the dream of a dragon fly.

Then there was a camping trip. My idea of camping is staying at the Motel 6 instead of the Comfort Inn and this trip involved sleeping in tents. Needless to say, the girls and I stayed home.

Connor went, and took his bug house with him along with dreams of bug catching awesomeness.

He brought his bug house home the next morning and proudly displayed his prizes. Two grasshoppers, a huge dragon fly, some worms, and...a snake.

When he told me there was a snake in his bug house, I really thought he was just trying to get a reaction out of me. But no, there really was a little ringneck snake in there. "Don't worry, Mom. They are only slightly venomous  and very gentle."

That wasn't the part I was worried about - or at least not until he said that.

Since Mr. Pet Snake (my name for him) is being set free today to...uh...do the things snakes like to do...I promised Connor I would take some pictures of him.

Enjoy, or you know, get the heebeegeebees. Whichever.

 Connor teaching Sophie about his snake. 

 Time for a close up. 

 Slithering. 

 Sophie and Connor giving the snake a piece of wood. 

 Sophie braving a closer look, 

A boy and his snake. 

Flea Market Finds

This last Sunday in Atchison was the fall flea market. This flea market is big - spanning a couple of blocks and I really really really wanted to go.

This was our schedule on Sunday:

8:00 - 9:15: Early Service

9:15 - 10:15: Sunday School (Ben and I are teaching the 9th and 10th graders)

10:30 - 11:45: Second Service

12:30 -2:30: Church Pot Luck

4:00 -6:00: Adult Catechism Class

6:30 - 7:45: Evening Church

The flea market ran from 9:00 am - 4:00 pm. 

But don't worry. I wasn't about to let a little old thing like lack of time keep me from a place where I could potentially score some Pyrex on the cheap. 

The kids and I went to early service and the minute Sunday School was over I grabbed the little ones, threw them in a stroller, told Connor to book it, and we ran downtown to hit the flea market. We only stayed there for approximately 45 minutes (we saw about 2/3 of it) and then rushed home to make something for the potluck. 

I did find a couple of great Pyrex dishes that I got for a total of $12. Totally worth pushing 45 lbs of little girlness in a double stroller up hill on the way back. Check it out.

Because I am at least 1/16th German

In my ongoing endeavor to be one of those domestic type peoples, I decided to try to make some Bierocks from scratch. In the past I have made Bierocks with Rhodes rolls and without cabbage because...well...it just seemed easier.

No more. I decided to embrace my Germanish heritage and go for the real thing.

I have been making a cookbook this summer of recipes that I've found online and want to try out or recipes that are some of our favorites. 

Here is my handwritten bierock recipe. Handwritten, because, um...well, paper and a pencil are cheaper than a printer and ours broke in the move. 

I don't know how people that don't have a Kitchen Aid make anything. I use mine at least three times a week. 

This is my favorite bowl to let dough rise in. 

While your dough is rising you can brown up some meat. I am not using all this meat for the bierocks, but when I brown up meat, I like to do a big batch and stick the rest in the freezer. 

Take out the extra meet and add some cabbage and onions. 

This dough didn't rise very fast. It is not my usual dough recipe. It was supposed to double in size in an hour. I waited another hour. 

Bake 10 - 12 little balls of dough and then roll the dough out into circles and fill with meat mixture. 

And if you find little finger pokes in your dough and it looks like somebody grabbed a taste....

It is probably this little girls fault. 

I decided to brush them with egg wash - it made them smell delicious while they were baking and made them extra golden brown. 

Ready to go into the oven. 

Roughly 20 minutes later they are ready to go. 

Mmmm...delicious. 

How to make your parents want to buy you a pet.

1. Ask for a mason jar with holes in the lid.
2. Catch three crickets and a grasshopper. 
3. Name the crickets and the grasshopper the following names: Marty, Little Black, Hanger, and Orange Wings. 
4. Carry this jar around and introduce them to the whole family. 
5. Hug the jar on a fairly continuous basis. 
6. Talk incessantly about how much you love your bugs. 
7. Watch television shows your pet bugs. 
8. Say things like "these bugs are just our pets for now, but they are going to become part of our family soon."
9. Talk about how fun it is going to be when the crickets have babies and we have a whole cricket family.
10. Put a picture of a bird on the outside of the mason jar to encourage your bugs to get some exercise. 
11. Give your bugs private time. 
12. Plan how awesome it is going to be to let the bugs sleep beside your bed all night long. 

This boy needs a dog.