Wednesday without Words

Monday Mortals

This week's mortal was an easy choice for me...mainly because I love her so much. She has become one of my best friends, by way of many obstacles. There was a time when I would dream of throwing spiders in her bed or worse, due to my little sister syndrome....then succeeding in moments like when I ripped jewelry right off her neck and forced her into hiding (sorry about that, but you DID throw kool-aid in my face that one time). Our sibling rivalry has left an imprint of my most fondest memories that have made us both laugh and cry at the same time.


My seester Thyme is an amazing person! She is intelligent, loving, a phenomenal bargain shopper, an extremely nurturing mom, one heck of a snazzy dresser, and above all...B.E.A-UTIFUL, inside and out! I admire her for so many of her qualities...and am super proud to be her little sister (even if I didn't realize it 20 years ago). Thank you big sis for all that you are to me...for showering me with love everytime I came to visit you, for holding my hand in my greatest time of need, for standing up for me, for engaging in my life, for being a great Aunt to my kids, for making me feel like your equal. You deserve the best in life and we both know you are succeeding in that everyday. I love you and look forward to the day when it is just us siblings again so we can make up for the times when we didn't really appreciate each other.

Sisters are a bond like no other. I have two of them and I feel so lucky to be in the middle, actually. I adore my little seester, Ebeth, just as much. She was much younger than Thyme and I, but a lady Crichfield still the same. Don't worry baby sis, your mortal moment is coming SOON!! Aren't we awesome.....? (plus, this picture makes me look tallest, hee hee)


I come from a family of five children...

...and that is what I mean when I say we didn't really appreciate each other...we were too busy beating each other up or stealing each other's clothes! I love all my sibs and hope that one day we can all be in the same place (geographically and emotionally) to make up for the lost time and lost feelings. I dream of it...

This is a terrible photo...must have been a K-Mart special going on. Seriously, why don't I have that same posture?...and Holy barrettes and bangs!!

I Heart Faces...in costume!

With the move and being in Internet rehab, I have missed out on doing the I ♥ Faces contests. But, there was no better way to get back on the horse than with this week's theme...Halloween Dress-Up!! Are you kidding? This was made for me. I ♥ Halloween and all that goes with it, including seeing swarms of little children in their best get-up of the year. This picture is from last year's Halloween. I snapped this at my son's preschool. I love how NONE of the kids are looking at the camera because they all have something going on at the same time. I can't wait to see this year's little rugrats...

Go ahead and feed your inner desire to play dress-up over at...

Pumpkin Carving 101

I bought two pumpkins last week so that the kids could get their "carve" on. I love when the Fall Holidays come around. I had bought this drill attachment/pumpkin-gut-scraper-thingy last year AFTER Halloween and never had a chance to use it, so I was excited to see how it worked. Of course it was cold outside so we had to throw on all necessary glove and hat attire...which is not ideal when scooping out slimy punkin' guts.

Anyway, you should always get yourself a nice size pumpkin with at least one side looking fabulous. Then you need to choose a pattern....Teage was in charge of choosing this first design. He knew right away he wanted a spooky bat ("but not a 'cary bat Mom", he reminded me). And I have no idea why JD is on the ground...just always tryin' to be "laid out" somewhere.



You know, I was a little disappointed because the big kids had too be hit over the head practically to come outside and join the festivities. What is with that?? Finally, at one point I said "why are we doing this?"...and once again Teage chimed in..."I'm gonna make the punkin!" Yes you are lil man!


After the top came off, I had each of them take part and cleaning out the seeds.


Once JD plunged his arm down in there, he had a major meltdown.


"This is GROOOOOSS!!! ...and my hand is freezing!!" He never was one for handling really different textures. I told him to smile and this is what I got LOL...the look on his face is priceless.


The funny thing is, we do this every year...you'd think it wouldn't be gross anymore. Saige handled it like she was a pro, or maybe it was just that she had better things to do and wanted to get it over with....she scooped guts like nobody's business!!



This was George's job...cutting and drilling. Way to go Daddy!


I love roasted pumpkin seeds!


The finished product came out excellent...



but it kinda took forever. So we opted to carve the second one later this week...JD chose the Pirates of the Carribean skull and swords. SPOOOOOKY!!

I can't wait for Halloween now...

Foodie Friday!!

I FOUND IT!!
(last week's foodie post I mean, not the missing sock from the other day's laundry)

I have several mouthwatering photos to last me the next 8 Fridays....but I will go with the most recent because it was just so DAMN good! I had heard of the Turkish Pizza from George's old Sergeant Major...and I was like, "Isn't that just a doner/gyro?" I've had that...and yeah they are delish! When Steve got here, he insisted we get this advance version...the Lahmacun,


...aka the Turkish Taco (his second in two days...making up for lost time I take it). The first place we went to....closure, weird. I said, "is there a holiday we don't know about?" Second place...lights out and no lamb meat heater on. Hmmmm.......the funny thing was, we weren't giving up once we passed this overpriced boutique that was surely open 2 days a week minimum. If they were open...we were gettin' some frickin T.T.s (that sounds worse than I mean it...honestly)!

A couple side streets and u-turns later....ALAS, Doner Heaven!..err I mean Turkish Taco Wonderland.

What to choose....actually I just chased Teage around the tables while the TT expert ordered for us.


This was after he decided to try and run behind the counter and help the dude out...

And this was after he drank too much orange crush...HAM!!


This was what he wanted to do the WHOLE time we were there, and yes that's a casino game...I should have given him a handful of Euro cents and let him win us some moolah, but gambling's illegal for 3 year olds they say.


The doner guy uses this fancy machine to shave the lamb (or goat) meat off the spit.


Back in the day it was just a plain old knife..even doner shops are coming with age. Next, he added some yummy goodness to a flatbread that was encrusted with some sort of spice mix...and rolled that sucker up like a homemade stoagie...not that I've ever rolled anything up and smoked it. ;o)

T.T. Triumph!!

I wish the pics came out better...it was wrapped too tightly I guess. (I know you are eye-balling my Schwip Schwepp aka Cola Orange...it was goooood)

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME...

Wednesday without Words (belated)

Monday Mortals

Typically, I have posted mortals who are in my life and whom I love. While this is exactly the idea behind starting "Monday Mortals", it certainly doesn't refrain me from throwing in a celebrity to shake things up a bit. You know how I ♥ my overpaid, mostly unworthy, mostly trainwrecked, and gorgeous celebrities. This week, I have got to rave about my newest mini crush. He hasn't reached Matt Damon, Leo Di or Mark Wahlberg status, and probably never will....but all in all, he still intrigues me.

I have been obsessed with Gossip Girl ever since we got to the first hotel here in Germany. What can I say, I had some time on my hands...ANYWAY, this guy's character disgusted me at first...vile and cocky and a womanizer. He wasn't even that cute! But as the seasons evolved so did Chuck Bass.


His smarmy essence was slowly replaced with wit, mystery, and an overall gratifying stature. And THEN, I found out he had a British accent in his unfake life. SOLD!!! Chuck Bass, you can pour me a scotch anyday...

Home Coming Together

I had this whole post written for Foodie Friday about my lunch adventure with Steve...it was a good one, too. AND THEN, I went to upload the pics and they were M.I.A.! Not on the camera, not on the hard drive, not on the laptop or desktop. The Cyber Monkey took them, I know it! So weird...

Anyway, I still have plenty to say that isn't related to food.

This past week, there have many things going on. The obvious was our peep visit (did I mention that more of my peeps need to jump on the bandwagon and get their arses to Europe...our guest bed is calling...and HELLO, it's Europe!!). Back to my story...after Stevie E and J left, I had to take Teage to "gyumsticks" (his interpretation of the word...so precious), and I finagled some waaay better photos that day.


He was such a good listener, that he was the only one to receive two stamps that day...I was like "Really??"
Stick it and Stretch....


He has never had a problem with heights...GO TEAGIE!


Saige had homecoming week going on, too. In spite of my own anxiety preparation, the school does a pretty good job of easing the kids and parents into THE Dance of the Fall. Each day of the week, they dress up according to the spirit theme. Tuesday was wacky tacky (she looked neither wacky nor tacky I thought...unless you call 3 necklaces and some leg warmers tacky. I thought it looked like any other trendy person on the street). Wednesday, was PJ day (again, my kid walks downstairs with some black sweat pants and her Oki All Day tee on...not so PJ-ish to me). Thursday, it started to get a little weird. It was "Gender Bender" day. Hmmm....I don't remember that ever being something our school had. Sounds good to me and she took it and RAN!! After scouring her dad's closet for some "boy jeans", she walked into my room looking like this....


I thought "OH NO, bring my daughter back!! I cannot be invaded by all boys up in here!!" All kidding aside, she looked like she finally got the idea of spirit week. Since the boys had to dress up as girls I thought for sure the boys would back down. I mean, how many boys do you know that would hike their skirts up and model the stilettos?? Saige reported that afternoon with pictures to prove that the boys went ALL OUT!! Make-up, midriff shirts, bras, and minis. Far cry from our school days. I was happy to hear it though. It means more and more kids are self confident. LOVE THAT! I guess being a girly girl really is desirable to the male species. I wonder if George wouldn't mind squeezing into a....oh wait this is a Family Blog, not Diane's headspace! Back to the Fam Bam goodness...

I also made my way to a new town this week...Saarbrucken. My Itouch had a brainfart and decided to freeze up and crash on me. When I tried to call tech support, they told me I had to take it in to the nearest Apple provider...which is in Saarbrucken, about 60k away (not that this is breaking news, but the Itouch coded, I gave it mouth to mouth, and it is now doing just fine) Back to the drive...I popped in my trusty Garmin, strapped Teage into his Chico and off we went.

Man, did I say this out loud yet?....this GPS thing is like GOLD!! Who knew the hype was so dead on!! It sends me onto many unknown adventures and I could care less where I end up because home is only a fingerprint away. I have it set for Dr. Nightmare to talk to me sometimes....George sets it to the British heifer Serena. What does that voice have that British Daniel's doesn't...lol! Anyway, I found a mall on the way, some riverboats and of course, tons of food stops. I didn't have the time on a Friday afternoon to visit all these places, but with my steadfast GPS I will be back out on the road again in no time, with camera in tow.

Next up for the week was the middle school's Fall Carnival. I had no hand in the planning of this event, but I was more than happy to help man one of the many game booths. Meet your Bean Bag Toss Maestro (that was for you Farrah)...

The boys had a blast...especially when they got their faces painted. Teage wanted a Batman mask (that is what he is going to be for Halloween)...

and JD requested a skeleton (I beefed him up in the editing room with all the wounds & vampire eyes)!

While I was there chasing after bean bags, I also met someone that lives in my village. She has two smaller kids, but seemed pretty nice. It would be nice to know one of my neighbors I guess. So far the only one I've met is the guy across the street, Axel a.k.a Red "cause I'm a redneck". His words! I've never seen this guy when he wasn't fuming alcohol. However, he does have the up and up when it comes to getting oil and firewood. I'm sure he would have porchtime with me, but I'm not that desperate yet...errr, YET!

Back to homecoming week.....the inevitable occurred on Saturday...the dance!! Saige made her way to the football games that morning while all the men and I did some flea marketing...love it! After that, she came home and napped until 5 so that I could help her get ready. Once my palms stopped sweating, I started doing her hair and makeup. Yeah I said it...makeup. This is not starting on the regular, but for the occasion I thought it was time...plus it was fun for us. Nick and his parents came to pick her up and he had flowers for her (insert "Awwwww"). His parents seemed pretty normal, so that was good. I took more than enough pictures...against Saige's wishes. She looked beautiful, and GROWN!





I cannot believe I am here in this moment in time with her already. She is going to drive the boys wild here, because she is good girl and knows what she wants. Boys are second to her goals and I admire that. It makes waving the nightstick to the boys less necessary.

While she was whooping it up, we killed time by going to our new fave local restaurant, Porbacher Hof. It is literally two minutes away (that's what Garmin said) and is owned by the brother of our landlord's wife. The place is beautifully decorated and the food is off the chizzle...Here's a couple pics I took in there.



A plate of steak and potatoes later, I was on pins and needles to find out how it went...and to see if Nicky tried to pull a fast one on my girl...I'm just sayin'!! She is no wallflower, but boys are boys, and I'll cut one if I have to! George picked them both up and dropped 'the boy' off at home first. I tried to act like I was just chillin' with Teage when she walked in, but I was dying for her to spill her guts! She answered my prayers and was full of stories about dancing with her friends, trying to drag Nick out there, and taking pictures the whole time. She pulled out the camera and said...

S: "Oh, by the way, we did kiss and I took a picture of it".
Me: "Ummm, ok"
S: "It was nothing bad though, just a quick one"
Me: "Well, did he try to put his tongue in your mouth?"....it's a reasonable question, she's not 5 anymore!
S: "MOM....No, Mom. In fact, I'm glad he didn't try because I wasn't ready for that"
Me: ....Breathing again....

Now, I know she has 'kissed' before in Okinawa, but then they broke up and she had said to me "it really should be worth it 'cause you may not last with that person, ya know?" YES I DO & thank you Jesus for figuring that out!! I hope all my kids stay on this path of cause and effect. It's all about "What'd Ya Learn?" But, overall she had fun and that was what mattered.

That's all for now...I'm still looking for the M.I.A foodie pics, I'll let you know when I find them!!

P.S. Did I mention it is flipping freezing here now?? Try a high of 40's and frost on the ground...my boys wear Winter well though, don't they??


Good thing we finally lit this thing....(and yes, I do have a chestnut tree growing in my backyard)!


Tschuss.....