Saturday, May 10, 2008

Bagels


Ok they say that bagels are super high in calories, but I don't care. Last week I came home from some activity, I don't remember what it was but I got home late..and the house smelled wonderful! Jeff had made Dutch Apple Bagels. YUMMY ! We had tried these at Einstein Bagels, a few weeks ago and they were great. We stopped by for more but they close at 4 pm...(dumb) so Jeff made them! I was really impressed!

Then things got even better, this morning Jeff let me sleep in....all for a "Mothers Day Weekend" He made the bagels again! He woke up at 6 to start them so that they would be ready by 9. He is so sweet. They turned out great!

All I can say is that I am the luckiest mom in the world, I have great kids, with a wonderful husband. I am so blessed!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

A-Z a little about me.......

A-Angels, I have such wonderful friends, they are my earthly angels. They are the ones that drop an email, or a phone call, come to play, say hi at church, and make me feel so special to know them.

B- Benjamin my favorite little boy, brings me so many smiles through out the day.

C- Cats, just to let you all know, we will never have any in this house.

D- Dogs, yeah they're a no too.

E-Education. I am so thankful for the opportunity our family is having right now to further our education. Jeff is learning so much, and its so innovative and cool. I really enjoyed my semester as well.

F- Family, I have the coolest relatives. Both immediate and extended rock. I love spending time with my husband and kids, and I love family reunions. I can't wait till our kids have families of their own and we can organize the first "Jeff Maas Family Reunion" its going to be great. I have about 20 years to plan it.

G- Garden at Purdue, I love this "self sufficient" feeling...now I only hope that something actually grows, other than weeds.

H- Hair, Jeff has asked me to grow out my hair...that means long...well um.. my hair grows terribly slow... If I calculate it right, in 10 years my hair "should" be long.

I- Interesting people, I love getting to know people. I love learning about who they are and what they like to do. There are so many interesting people, that don't look interesting, and once you get to know them its amazing.

J- Jack O'lanterns, one of my favorite seasonal activities. ... mind you this activity must include roasting the seeds, and then later making pumpkin pie.

K- Killer Whales, ok maybe I watched too much "Free Willy" growing up, but these creatures are amazing, not only are they huge but they're cute too!

L- Licorice, a favorite treat of mine, but not the cheap plastic stuff. I love the kind that come in a huge tub....sounds good right now huh?

M- Management, there are so many things to manage in a house life and in our personal lives, thank goodness the Lord is generous and doesn't expect me to be perfect by tomorrow. I enjoy learning to manage what I have. Its a learning process, but hopefully I am moving in the right direction, in becoming a well organized mother.

N- Nap Time, personally my favorite time of the day. The house is quiet I can read a book, sew or clean....well I better find another fav time of the day, Ehre just outgrew naps. :(

O-Oreo's, another absolutely favorite dessert. This is definitely a genetic preference. Thanks dad for passing on such wonderful genes.

P- Primary, what a wonderful calling I have. I get to spend the time with Ehre and I get to teach all the little kiddos about Jesus Christ.

Q- Quality time with Jeff. I love spending time with Jeff. One of my favorite things to do with him, is working on a project. I love the time we spent building our headboard, or working in the garden...its soo much fun.

R-Reading with Jeff, Jeff and I used to read a lot of books together and then......well we got busy, but summer is here and we have some more free time so we have stared reading together again. Bring on the good mystery's and novels!

S- SUMMER I am definitely a summer person, especially in IN. Despite the humidity, it beats the winter/spring rain and blues.

T-Talking, ok this is a no brainer, I like to talk, but I promise I also like to listen.

U- Umbrella, we finally bought a good one. After 2 that couldn't stand up to the wind... I hope this one works well.

V- Volleyball. I wish I still had my athletic body, but to everything there is a time and season right. I do miss playing though. I've seriously contemplated finding a rec group or something, it would be fun just to play around on a court.

W-WORK HARD, my parents taught us to work hard and I am thankful, hard work really does pay off.

X- eXpert advice. I know that free thinking is good, but I love getting advice from my mother and mother in law. Such practical wisdom.

Y-Yellow Dandy=lions, ok I hate this flower, not because its pretty, but the yellow color is just shouting a warning, on how terrible this weed is. IF you get one plant in your garden watch out, in a week you'll have a billion.

Z- ZZZZZZZ I treasure my sleeping time. We have an excellent bed, that is so comfortable. To prove my point, I went to bed last night while Jeff was working, and fell asleep so quickly I never noticed when he himself came in. The next thing I knew, he was kissing me good by as he was leaving for work. Excellent nights sleep!

RF Confrence


Jeff has been gone all day with this conference, he left our house around 6 am...so the kids are beginning to go nuts, and starting to miss him.
I think that its incredible, how children get use to things. They are ready for their dad to come home right now, but they don't understand that he is gone and won't get back till late. I love seeing their dependence on him.... I don't like the crankiness that comes a long with missing him, but I love seeing that they do miss him. I don't want to know what it would be like if kids didn't need their parents...wait that's when they think they are teenagers right?! I love feeling needed by my kids, that they want to spend time with me. I know that Jeff misses them too.
SO the big debate is this, do I keep the kiddo's up till dad comes home...accepting all behavior trauma that may come with sleep deprivation, or do I just put them to bed and let them see him tomorrow...sometime?
These are the BIG questions I deal with daily, hmmmm they require lots of thinking sometimes.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Virtual Garden




This is our garden... everything starts off with a plan.


So far we've


1. Weeded 1/2 of it


2. Installed the kids playpen, built specifically for Ben since he eats the dirt like its chocolate!


3....well that's all we've done, but hopefully we'll follow this plan and have it done by the end of the week!

Virtual Garden

This is our garden... everything starts off with a plan.

So far we've

1. Weeded 1/2 of it

2. Installed the kids playpen, built specifically for Ben since he eats the dirt like its chocolate!

3....well thats all we've done, but hopefully we'll follow this plan and have it done by the end of the week!

Semester Update...WE DID IT ! ! !

WE'RE DONE!!!...and alive! Jeff and I have finished our finals, and this morning they posted the grades. I am beyond happy to report that:

- Jeff pulled off a 4.0 semester, along with more homework than usual, he watch kids twice a week, worked LONG hours in the lab, managed a church calling and a baby on Sundays...he's soooo amazing!

-Ann pulled off a 3.5 semester. Seriously Marriage makes you smarter! Evening classes were a challenge, but I can successfully speak/understand some German, and I have a greater appreciation for culture diversity here within the USA. :)

That's the big news for today, we are quite pleased with ourselves, to do this, as well as maintain our parental responsibilities wasn't easy, but we enjoyed the challenge.... (we won't be doing this again for a long time)

So whats next?

-Jeff, will be attending conferences and working on his research. He won't be taking classes this summer.

-Ann, sadly 43 of her AS credits were rejected by Purdue (they are a little snobby) so instead of redoing her degree she'll hold tight, until sometime in the future she is able to attend full time and finish up. (Seriously though, whats a degree? Time and effort, well I have a 2 year degree, and 3 years experience as a mom...so heck I'm all ready working on a masters right?!)

So there you go no more "homework" till August!

(please excuse all the 1st and 3rd person comments, sorry if it is confusing!)

Monday, May 5, 2008

BIG NEWS!!!

.......................................................................................................................................................................................................... our family is growing! Green Thumbs. We've decided to plant a garden this year at Purdue. We have a 12 x 9 plot. and grow as many green things as we can. We are planning on zuchinni, tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins and maybe some broccoli. We are really excited. We hope to post pictures, and creat a virual garden for you to enjoy as well. So far we've weeded 1/2 of it...we'll do the rest in the next few days.