Egg drop

Easter vacation has offically begun. To kick off the break, the elementary school held their annual egg drop competition. This is always done on the last day before break and the students bring to school creative containers with raw eggs in them to see if they can withstand a drop off a balcony. The night before, Anna was busy making her container with Jeff and then did a test off our balcony.

Anna was already for the event. So the next day, sarah and I met with the other parents and watched the competition. Jacob, had his own idea of how his containter should look. He made his container out of straws.

The second graders line up for their turn to drop their containers off the balcony. Anna's egg didn't break and she was so happy.

The fourth graders line up for their turn at the egg drop. For Jacob, it wasn't a happy ending, his egg didn't survive the drop.

While all the excitement was going on, I had to keep sarah content and not screaming by feeding her crackers.
Everyone got a piece of candy if their egg survived or not- so everyone is a winner! Afterwards, I let the kids play for awhile. Sarah had fun picking up rocks on one side and dropping them on the other side. This really kept her busy while I visited for awhile.

So now we are at the begining of our Easter break. Two weeks of having the kids home. To be honest, I am not prepared for this. I think because I was sick all last week. I am so far behind on my house work and now to entertain or do something "fun" as Anna puts it is just not going to happend. At least the weather is nice and I can send them outside!

Biola bound

Recently, one of our senior students excitedly told Jeff that she was accepted to Biola. She wanted to talk to us about Biola and find out everything she could. Biola was Sarah's third choice. Her other two were NYU and Emerson. But she was thrilled about Biola. Her only concerns was the price and finding a good church to attend. We invited Sarah over to our house for dinner one night to talk with her and answer her questions. We love having students over to our home and they love to escape the dorm atmosphere. Sarah is one of our Korean students. She has been at BFA for five years and spoke little english when she came. Shortly after she came to our home, her parents called her on her cell phone to ask her about her day. Her parents only speak Korean. So for ten minutes, Sarah switched and spoke to her parents in Korean. As soon as she hung up, she effortlessly switched back to english without even a trace of an accent. I am so amazed by these kids. Sarah wants to major in Communications at Biola specifically journalizm. I told her that she is such a great marketing tool already with the five languages that she can speak and the international life she has lived. I think you will see a lot of TCK's ( third cultured kids) in major jobs in the near future!

We had so much fun talking with Sarah about our experiences at Biola. It really brought back fond memories for us. Jeff and I wish that part of us could travel back with the seniors each year and help them with their tranistions. I know so many of them struggle and to have a ministry on a college campus to help them transition would be so beneficial. Good luck Sarah and the rest of the senior class as you prepare to leave BFA!

Down and out

For the past three days, I have been suffering from a bad head cold. Yuck! I haven't been this sick for a very long time. My wonderful husband has been pitching in with the childcare. I think one reason my cold has held on so long is that I am chasing Sarah around the house and can't rest. So today, Jeff took the morning off from school. He got a sub for his am class and took care of sarah so I could sleep. I sleep right up til he left for his afternoon classes. I feel so rested now, but am hoping to get over it all soon. On top of that, it has been snowing everyday this week. The snow always melts by afternoon, but then the next morning we awake to fresh snow. Today, we have the most snow with it still snowing this afternoon. So far, Spring has not showed up for us here. It is forcasted that we will have a taste of spring by Monday. I hope with warmer weather coming, that my cold will soon be gone.

Elementary school happenings

Time for an update on the social scene at the elementary school. Jacob and Anna, especially Anna keep us informed on the low down happening at the elementary school. I thought that I would post some pictures taken over the last few months. More pictures can be found at www.bfacademy.com. Here is a typical scene at recess with Jacob playing soccer. He is the one guarding the goal.

Another recess picture taken inside the gym area. The students just got a new rock climbing wall and ropes to swing on. Anna is the one in the back with pig tails flying.

On valentines day, the NHS students from the high school came over to lead the elementary students in a valentines party. Here is Anna's class getting ready to go to the craft activity. Look at all the red! Sorry I attached the thumbnail pic by accident. Anna is one of three girls in her class.

Next, Anna leads the way out of second grade classroom on to a fun activity. I wish she would let me put her hair up like this every day!

While second grade was busy making crafts, fourth grade was in the gym playing games. Jacob looks like he is having fun.

Last friday, the elementary choir performed three songs at the high school chapel. Anna begged me to wear a skirt that day. You can see her standing behind the music stand in the middle with her head poking around the shoulder of the director. Jacob is right behind her.

Snow Day!

Well, the last offical day of winter, and mother nature decided to give us a winter afterall. We woke up to snow everywhere and the school decided to take a snow day. Jacob and Anna were so excited not to go to school. Anna asked me if you get snow days in America too.


We don't have any big plans for the day. Maybe Jeff will take the kids up to a hill and go sledding this afternoon. For me, I plan to take a nap, sarah kept me up til almost 2 am. I am going to use this snow day to curl up with a blanket and sleep! Tomorrow, spring arrives!

Awana Olympics

Yesterday, we loaded up on a Bus and headed up to K-Town for AWANA olympics. It was an early start for us and a long ride, but you could feel the excitment in the air as you listented to the happy chatter of the kids on the bus. Jeff and I took turns holding and playing with Sarah. She did real well the whole trip!

I'm sure in the states Awana games require only a two hour committment, but for us, it was all day. Even preperations before that , turn in all passport information, car information so it is approved by the army base before hand. We knew we were in for an adventure! Once there, the teams were organized and final instructions were given.

Jacob did great, he was focused and really worked hard in all of his events. Here are some cool action shots of his competitions.

Anna was in her own world as well while Jacob was busy competing. She was busy playing with her friends. Later that day, she told me that this was the best field trip she had ever been on.

First place goes to... Black Forest Academy! Good job Jacob!

After a long morning of driving and afternoon of cheering, it was off to some good old yummy American food! What should it be, Burger King? Taco Bell? Baskin Robbins? We went for Taco Bell. It was like an oasis for us! We filled up on enough food to last us for a long time. I was even able to purchase a case of root beer. My dream one day is to shop at the store and get some more American supplies but we will see if that is to happen. I was just thrilled to get the root beer- pitiful I know, but a real treat for us! Sarah finally crashed on the bus and I think this picture says it all about our day.

Out of the mouths of children

The other day, Jeff was driving the kids into BFA in the morning. On the way to school, he asked them how they see God around them. Anna quickly answered," I see him in the birds." Jacob, said," I see him in his creation." Then almost on cue with no prompting from Jeff together, they both start reciting from memory Psalm 29.

Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones,

ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;

worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;

the God of glory thunders,

the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful:

the voice of the Lord is majestic.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;

the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,

Sirion, like a young wild ox.

THe voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning.

The voice of the Lords shakes the desert;

the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.

The voice oof the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare.

And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"

It turns out that every morning the entire elementary school is reciting this Psalm together before the start of school. What a powerful reminder to me at how easily our children are influenced in their lives. What ever input they get from teachers, peers good or bad, children take it all in and eventually spit it back out again. I am so thankful for the christian education that both Jacob and Anna are recieving and are influenced by godly men and women outside of the home!

Sunday morning

It seems like spring has arrived here in the Black Forest. Actually, winter never showed up for us. We bought some flowers yesterday to adorn our house with. Jacob has been outside playing basketball and gathering the neighborhood boys up to play lazer tag. But today was sunday and we were busy getting ready for church. Here is Sarah acting silly as she was eating her breakfast this morning. I just had to get a picture. She did this all herself.

Since the sun was shining and the sky was crystal blue this morning, I decided to take advantage of my kids all clean and dressed in church clothes. I couldn't decide which picture to post so let me know which one you like.

Photo #1

Photo #2

Museum trip

Today there was no school not because it was a holiday, but because so many people were worn out from the retreat that this was considered a winter break day. We will take it and enjoy a nice family day! We decided to go to a car musuem in Mulhouse France. This was mainly because it was raining outside and we didn't want to be miserable. We were pleasently surprised by what we found.

Here are the kids standing in front of the oldest car in the museum built in 1891.

Sarah wanted to take us for a ride in one of the cars. I'm not real sure if she knew what she was doing.

What I liked about the museum is that Jacob and Anna were given a booklet as soon as we got there and told that it was a treasure hunt. They were given clues about certain cars and had to find something on the car to write down. At the end, they could solve the secret message and get a prize. This kept them busy the whole time and we didn't hear any whinning from them at all. Here they are finding a clue and using teamwork to write the message down.

Jeff even got to go in a car and feel what a car flipping over feels like. I was not brave enough to do this. But here are some sequence photos.

High School retreat

This weekend, Jeff traveled up to Nurenberg with our high schoolers and staff for the school's yearly retreat. The group of around 300 people stayed in an authentic castle that is now a youth hostle.

There were times of sessions with the guest speaker and times where they broke up in their small groups to discuss topics and open up.

Jeff got home sunday night very tired but excited about the connections that he was able to make with many of his students. This was the first time that he was able to see spiritual maturity in many of them. Now, back to lesson planning and teaching these same students about the great depression!

What is it?

Look what Jeff brought home for me. I have never bought this before in such large quanitites. What do you think it is.

A. Laundry detergent

B. Peanut Butter

C. Butter

Once a year an order is placed at BFA for staff to purchase large quantities of Brown Sugar and Peanut Butter from a company in Holland. You can not get these items here in Germany. In seven years, I have never purchased in bulk but have asked visitors to bring food items over when they come to see us. In fact, I am still using the brown sugar that my brother in law brought with him a couple of years ago! So did you guess right? In that tub is enough peanut butter to see Sarah through college. Actually, it is only half full as I split the order with another family. I hope I can use it all up in the next year and half before we go on our year furlough. Please send all recipies that have Peanut butter in it! Anyone know what the shelf life of Peanut butter is. Maybe I will sell the extra on Ebay.