Another year goes by...

It always amazes me how fast time goes by and sometimes I don't realize it until another holiday or birthday comes and goes marking the exact amount of years "since this..." or "since when we.. "etc. So I had another birthday this week, yes, it came around again, and didn't skip me like I was kinda secretly hoping. Now, don't misunderstand me here.. I LOVE the gifts, parties, surprises, loving comments, hugs, being spoiled etc etc just not the part about getting another year older, that can pass over me. So, I am still in my 20's hanging on... (I know someday when I hit my 30's,40's etc etc) I will laugh at that statement, but here's why 20's is so nice for me. I am STILL in the age bracket of our students and interns..once I hit the big 3-0+ I will officially be in the "whoa, you look younger" club (they will say that to me right?!" Here's to big dreams :) But a few students and interns are the same age as me! I REALLY like that....

I had a marvelous birthday this year!

Here are 28 reasons why.... :)

1. Walking through City Park holding my hubby's hand

2. Accidentally becoming a part of a protest! so exciting and hilarious "Here's to a Stronger Europe!" WHO-HA haha

3. The Russian (stinkin awesome) Circus!! Absolutely amazing!!!

4. Watching an alligator get thrown onto an unexpecting man-awesome.

5. Date night with Megan to Amici Pub and Corner House, yes 2 restaurants in one evening :) great food and even greater company

6. My new fabulous sandals-ruffles of course

7. Handmade cards from my too sweet little girls

8. SURPRISE PARTY! still trying to get my mind wrapped around that one

9. Drinking flavored coffee EVERY day for my birthday week!

10. M'M's and Cadbury Eggs!-thank you Angie and Andris!

11. Watching Henti, Andy and Andris play Wii-hilarious

12. My beautiful Beach Cake made by Megan

13. Making an order for craft and sewing supplies from Joann's and Angie bringing them over

14. Having a morning to sew

15. Our Family Trip to the Jazberny Zoo

16. Dinner with the Bartos' and Meszaros'

17. Having 5 different people babysit over the weekend

18. Going into BP by myself

19. Buying some summer clothes on sale!

20. Eating at Vapiano's

21. Strawberry Blended Lemonade

22. My lovely new cupcake stand-thanks Anouska and Henti!

23. An uninterrupted bath

24. Not having to do dishes

25. Playing Ticket to Ride

26. Grilling with friends and eating home made Guacamole

27. Eating Mexican Food at Aariba's

28. Having friends and family here to make this week wonderful!

Recycling Broken Crayons

I remember making these crayons as a kid. Its a simple solution to all those broken crayons we keep ahold of.. Clean out those junk drawers, desks and art boxes and pull all those broken crayons out that are too short for those darling little hands.

Have them collect all those crayons and take the paper off and separate into similar colors, we had to break many of them into smaller pieces (I think the girls enjoyed this part the best) :)

I used a mini muffin tin.

Put in a pre-heated oven 250degrees for about 10-15+ minutes, just until the crayons have melted through.

Pull out of the oven, allowing it to cool off for several moments before putting them into the freezer for about an hour.

When the wax has hardened, pop them right out!

And clean-up is simple! Pour hot water over the remaining wax pieces and wipe off.

Enjoy this special time with your little ones!

111 prints for $1.11

Last week I saw an amazing deal on Snapfish 111 photos prints for $1.11!!! How can you beat a deal like that! What a blessing, especially when we need some brochures or photos for our ministry table this summer. We were going to order postcards but you can't pass up photos for a penny each! As I read the small print I realized I had a day before it was to expire!!

I called our friend and asked if she could meet us in 20min. behind the castle to snap a few shots for us!

Andy was gone with the Sports Ministry Team to a village 10min. away I called and he was already on his way home, we were all gross, sweaty but threw on nice clothes and rushed to the castle.

I was shocked with how wonderful the photos turned out! and we were done in 30min!

We got them taken, edited and order in about an hour :) 111 of the same photo! Visit our ministry table this summer to get one!

Backyard Party

As you can already tell, my posts will be farther apart now that it's sunny, warm and we are outside all day long. I've already been "kissed by the sun" twice!! Yay for some color on my skin.

This past wknd we had our first outside Bar-b-que, Campfire, hang-out time!! It was sooo much fun, we played "Throw-the-Rock" haha, badminton, Ninja, talked, laughed, shared stories and enjoyed the company of so many friends! Days like these are such a blessing and encouragement to our hearts being surrounded by those we love and care about. We started around 4 and the last little group left around 11pm. We never want the fellowshipping and laughter to end.

Here are a few photos of our wonderful, encouraging, relaxing day.

Super Daddy!!!

Over the holidays Andy and I discussed the potty-training dealio about Eden. When should we do it? when are we home for a few days etc etc. So the plan was over Christmas break we would train her. Then we all took turns getting colds, and the sickness so we knew we would have to postpone until Feb. February came and went and as we got into March it dawned on me we leave for furlough in a couple months and I HAVE to potty-train her BEFORE we go and she needs a couple months under her belt. OK, cancel everything this week we are doing it!!!

I pull out the calendar to see what I need to cancel, and realize Hungary has a National Holiday and Daddy will be home from work! Yay, perfect!! Daddy can play with Novie and Eden and I can get to work.

Then my husbands throws me the MOST AMAZING curve ball yet since having children. "Why don't I do it this Sunday??" "you take Novie to church, have a date day with her, and I train Eden!" I about fell over!!!!! When does any man willingly volunteer to deal with pee,poop, accidents, dirty , laundry and a stubborn 2 year old?? YAY!!!!! I was still in a state of shock which produced an open-jaw-speechless-moment. So we got planning...lots of juice, crackers, treats, undies, pants, towels, etc. the whole works. We got her excited and at 6am when she woke up Sunday morning her little adventure into Big girl undies began. The morning was going pretty rough as Novie and I left for church.

Novie and I got home from church and I could tell Daddy was using his last inkling of patience. She had had quite a few accidents and we weren't sure how this would pan out, but man, was Andy determined!! We could really use that $30+ a month we had been spending on diapers.

We had lunch together, laid the girls down for their naps and when Eden woke up she was dry! That was it, something clicked while she was napping that afternoon and the rest of the day was a breeze with NO accidents!

So what did my AMAZING husband do to make this happen?? He used the timer on his phone. Yep, that's it. He set it for every 10min, then 15min. and every time EVERY TIME it went off they went through the WHOLE potty process, sit, wipe, wash hands, flush etc. Yes it was a LLOOONNNGGGG morning for the both of them but it really worked. ALL they did that whole day was potty-train NOTHING else! and it worked.

Parents, Potty-training in a Day really works, if that is all you set-out to do that day, it will really work! Eden is "peeing on the potty" proof! She is also completely dry when she wakes up in the morning and from naps. No accidents yet and no midnight potty trips (even thought I packed up those zipper footie jammies thinking she would wake up several times the first week at midnight.) But she sleeps the whole night, no midnight trips and she wakes up dry. We knew it was a success when we drove an 1.5 hrs. into the Buda side of Budapest with no stop and she made it there and back dry! Such a big girl..I'm so thankful and grateful we are out of the diaper stage but its another reminder they are growing up too fast!

Anybody need some size 5 diapers or pull-ups???

Once again, my husband is AMAZING! :) Thank you Andy!!!

A Sacrificed Day Off

Thank you, Nikki, Matthias, Geoff, Ashley, Miri, Filipe, Jonas, Shona, Kezia, Eszter, Dan, Dan, Andy, Novie and Eden!

Our yard looks amazing!!

March 15th in Hungary, is a National Holiday which = day off. No school and No work! Yay! But man, did we work! and work hard. The interns blessed us greatly with some major elbow grease yesterday.

They showed up around 2 and worked until dinner! They weeded, pruned, raked, replaced poles, trimmed hedges, pulled up alot of dead and overgrown plants, pulled vines, cleared out the cellar roof, driveway and garage, moved totes and bins, someone even vacuumed my house since half of the yard made it inside ;) most by me! The list was absolutely endless, and quite overwhelming.

Andy and I walked around our yard last week and were overwhelmed with everything that needed to be done in preparation for furlough. We want to have our yard perfectly pruned and manicured before we leave knowing it will be a forest when we return. We have been praying for warm spring weather and praise the Lord for "YES" answered prayers :) We leave for furlough in 11 weeks but only have 4-5 free Saturdays to get everything done. This saved us 2-3 Saturdays having our interns come and help!! I still cannot believe how many came out, and how hard they worked. At the end of the day as we were preparing our individual pizzas, I asked Dan to come in and make his pizza and he says, "can I keep working on one last thing?" YES! of course, what a blessing these interns are!! Thank you guys and girls for your hard work we are grateful for everything you have done for us!

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Spring!!!

I don't remember a time in my life when I was so desperate for spring to get here! I had a rough winter and felt it was winter in every area of my life. Andy and I had countless meetings and phone calls bringing bad and discouraging news, and often we were asked not to tell anyone and not to share, which sometimes makes the burden almost too much to bear. I struggled with being discouraged daily, struggled with some relationships, or lack of them, struggled with being home all day, going days without talking to an adult. Andy and I struggled in Jan finding time for each other. I felt I struggled this whole winter spiritually and mentally. Man, Satan was hard at work this winter, but Praise the Lord as believers we have our heavenly Father! I cried out daily, learned alot and was greatly blessed by His Word, He knew exactly what I needed, and saved me at my few meltdowns and breaking points.

Yesterday was our first day of spring! I stood outside in a gorgeous patch of sun, just stood there feeling it's warmth, listening to the birds, and praising the Lord, Spring has come! Now, here in Hungary it may go back into hiding again but right now, Spring is Here! and I'm staying hopeful and very positive that it will stay!!

I am a Florida Girl! you ALL know it, I am proud of where I came from, I LOVED that I grew up by the beach and from a State that boasts of warm gorgeous weather 10 of the 12months. I never saw snow, lived in snow, did winter things, experienced winter until I was 18 years old in college. I've now have had 4 whole winters under my belt, expert right? ;) but I still find it so difficult and tricky to comfortably survive winter... what's the trick, someone has to have some words of wisdom for this freezing uncomfortable Fl girl?! and the cabin fever! no one told me this was a real illness to deal with. I always think of this scene from Muppet Treasure Island and wonder how the song would have gone if it was winter and they were trapped inside for 3+months...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pWPg2DXcHA

Today we were outside from 9am-5pm only coming in for lunch, a short nap time and potty breaks, we had all windows and doors open all day, had 2 cats come inside and had to then watch the door every time little ones went in and out. We spent a couple hours at the castle walking around campus, visiting with friends, kicking balls around and rolling in the grass. It was a beautiful day, I was so grateful it came on a Sat. for Daddy to enjoy it with us! So excited about spring, taking photos and being outside every day!!

Eden spent the whole time running in circles and rolling in the grass. She was being a snake, crocodile and Shark, she cracks me up!

The girls gave a few of the interns quite the workouts.