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!

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.

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!)

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.

FINALS ARE OVER!!

Hey we made it and we are still alive! I just finished my German final and I am actually sitting typing in my hubbies lab! I just found out that instead of leaving at 5 pm we should be able to leave within the hour! What a sweet guy, he actually packed us for the trip (this is a FIRST). So there won't be any new posts for a few days, we'll be busy playing with cousins. Have a wonderful weekend!

More Bow Ideas

Ok a friend just sent me this link, it also has a billion tutorials on how to make cute bows!

http://bowdesigns.50webs.com/index.html

I can't wait to try out some of these!

VIRUS ALERT

I recieved a responce to one of my recent posts, almost imediatly after I had posted it It went like this:

Fenrisar has left a new comment on your post "Baby Girl Headbands" :

See Please Here:

I went to see what the comment was, and got a bad feeling, I think this may be a way for viruses to infect computers. So anyways, please be aware of this. Be Careful!!!

Cute Kids

This is Miles, Kelsey, Chandler and Lydia, four small friends of Benjamin and Ehre.

Aren't they cute?!

Cute Kids

This is Milo, Kelsey and Lydia, three small friends of Benjamin and Ehre. Aren't the cute?!

Baby Girl Headbands

Materials:
Knee Highs, the legs of bay girls tights, or women’s nylons or Trouser socks. You can get the little egg shell knee highs at Wal-Mart for about 33cents and they are great for very little babies or their Trouser socks are a good deal as well and have a “higher” quality look in the fabric. The only limitation with the knee highs and trouser socks is the length. If you are trying to fit a bigger head sometimes nylons or tights are better to use. And it is hard to find the pink color unless you go with little girls tights.

Flowers. Hobby Lobby usually has the best selection and a lot of time s you can get them 50% off. Look for colors you want as well as flowers that look like they could lay somewhat flat. Another tip is to take a Hawaiian Lai and use the petals from it. You can combine lots of different colors which make for a great deal.

Glue Gun
Needle and Thread
Wire cutter or scissors
Jewels you can find these in the bead/jewelry section of Hobby Lobby. They have lots of different sizes, shapes and colors.

Instructions:
Take your knee highs or tights and glue or stitch the ends together.
cut or pull the flower of the stem as close to the petals as possible. The petals may come apart but that’s okay.

Take each petal and glue it one at a time onto the headband over the part where you attached the ends.

Take a jewel or the original idle of the flower and glue it to the center of the flower petals.

Curly Clips

Materials
¼ inch grosgrain ribbon in different colors
chop sticks (you can get a 50 pack at Wal-Mart) or wooden dowels
Two silver alligator clips (you can buy a pack of 100/$5 at Sally’s Beauty Supply)
Spray starch (like you would use to iron a men’s dress shirt_
Needle and Thread
Glue Gun

Instructions:
Take your grosgrain ribbon (you can use other kinds but this kind works the best) and wrap it around the whole length of the dowel (or chopstick) making sure to NOT overlap the ribbon, and then cut it off. Use the alligator clips at each end of the dowel to hold the ribbon down.

Take the dowel with the ribbon and alligator clips on it and hold it over a kitchen sink and spray all sides with the spray starch. Place the dowel on a cookie sheet (note: do not remove the ribbon from the dowel OR the clips holding the ribbon down, just place the whole thing on the cookie sheet.)

Repeat steps above with anther dowel for as many ribbons as you would like.
Bake at 250 for about 10 minutes. Keep in mind that it is best to cook the ribbon very soon after spraying it with starch.

Remove from oven and let sit until cool enough to handle and then remove the ribbon.Cut the ribbon to the length you would like it to be on your clip (it seems shorter like the shorter the piece the better it looks)

Use 6-8 pieces of ribbon (cut to the same length) and layer on eon top of another. Put a couple of stitches through the center.
Separate the pieces of ribbon they way you like and then using a glue gun attach the ribbon to your clip or headband.

Little Girls Hair Bows

Materials:
Ribbon in any width you like
Needle and Thread
Piece of Cardboard cut to the width you would like the bow to be. Usually 3-5 inches with the center cut out to allow for stitching.
Alligator clips
Glue gun

Instructions:
Take your ribbon and wrap it around and down the cardboard using the clips to attach it to the cardboard at the top and bottom. Wrapping it 3 times around to make a 2 loop bow. Make sure

to leave some extra end hanging off the cardboard on the top and bottom.

Stitch through the center of the ribbon using about 2 stitches per “row” of ribbon.

-Remove the needle and slide the cardboard out from the middle of the ribbon.

-Lay the ribbon down and make sure the thread is even on both sides.

-Start to tie the thread into a knot but hold down the sides of the ribbon so that the bow can begin cinching. Make sure the sides of the bow do not fold over themselves. Pull tighter until the bow completely cinches. Have someone (toddler fingers work great for this) put their finger down in the middle to hold the bow together while you tie the knot on the side and then repeat on the other side.

-Use a lighter to barely singe the end s of the ribbon to keep them from fraying, or use fray check.

-Glue on to an alligator clip and its ready to wear!

Examples of Finished Bows:

These were sooo easy to make, really anyone could do this! I figure that each bow costs less than 50 cents but retail in the store for upt to $5 a pair! Ehre is really excited about these bows, they hang in the bathroom and this morning she INSISTED that she wore the green ones!

Summer Camping Trip HOPEFULLY!!!

There are 12 new posts on the Maas family website! Happy Reading!

We love and miss you all, just to make you all jealous. It looks like Katrina, Alice (hopefully) and I are planning a big camping trip WITHOUT YOU to Mammoth Cave National park. We're not sure when we would go we've only just started on plans, but if it does happen its going to be the best camp out we've had in years!

So currently anyone and everyone is invited...you just have to proved your own transportation!

This week

Well this weeks email update was pretty lazy, here it is...

Well I was going to write a lot but I just updated our blog with about 5+ (12 actually) posts... so this week I am going to ask that you check out our blogsite. Its even better than the weekly email becuase it has PICTURES!!!

We love and miss you all have a great week, pray for all of us taking finals!


Jeff, Ann, Ehre and Benjamin

Mouse Trap

....do you remember this game?.... My little sister Christy got this as a Christmas gift a long time ago, and well I've not seen it since. But we found it a few months ago, and tonight we cracked it open with some friends. IT was a blast! The treat for the evening was SMORES....cooked in the kitchen over the stove! What a fun evening!

konked out

Well what did you expect would happen when you take kids on a walk in the PJ's at 6pm? This was definitely the result I was hoping for.

Dump Truck

Last summer we purchased a plastic swimming pool for the kids, it was a great idea, if we had been living in UT. Because it was made of small plastic we had a problem with mold growing in it...YUCK...and had to toss it. This year we weren't sure what we were going to do. We didn't want a hard plastic one because friends have mentioned that the break easily...well thanks to Craigs list we didn't have think long. We found this dump truck. Its a toy and 2 wading pools, just perfect!