Memorial Day

Most Americans have no idea what Memorial Day is all about.  From my vantage point, I think that most Americans consider it another day off from work, and have a big ole party/BBQ.  Of course, there’s nothing wrong with BBQ’s and parties (said tongue in cheek), BUT do we know what we are or rather ARE NOT celebrating?
Quoting from Wikipedia.com:  (copied and pasted)

This article is about the American holiday. For the holiday in Newfoundland and Labrador, see Memorial Day (Newfoundland and Labrador) .
Also called
Decoration Day
Type
National
Date
Last Monday in May
Observances
Remembrance of American war dead
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 25 in 2009). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War (it is celebrated near the day of reunification after the Civil War), it was expanded after World War I to include American casualties of any war or military action.
Many people observe this holiday by visiting cemeteries and memorials. A national moment of remembrance takes place at 3 p.m. local time. Another tradition is to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff from dawn until noon local time. Volunteers often place American flags on each grave site at National Cemeteries.
Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars take donations^[2] for poppies in the days leading up to Memorial Day; the poppy's significance to Memorial Day is the result of the John McCrae poem "In Flanders Fields."
In addition to remembrance, Memorial Day is also used as a time for picnics, barbecues, family gatherings, and sporting events. One of the longest-standing traditions is the running of the Indianapolis 500, which has been held in conjunction with Memorial Day since 1911.
The National Memorial Day Concert takes place on the west lawn of the United States Capitol. The concert is broadcast on PBS and NPR. Music is performed, and respect is paid to the men and women who gave their lives for their country.
Some Americans view Memorial Day as the unofficial beginning of summer and Labor Day as the unofficial end of the season.
Memorial Day formerly was observed on May 30. The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) advocate returning to this fixed date, although the significance of the date is tenuous. The VFW stated in a 2002 Memorial Day Address:
“
Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed a lot to the general public's nonchalant observance of Memorial Day.^[3]
”
Since 1987, Hawaii's Senator Daniel Inouye, a World War II veteran, has repeatedly introduced measures to return Memorial Day to its traditional date.
So anyway….not preaching at ya….seriously, I am not.  All that to day, I want to thank the soldiers who have died for me to be able to live free.  We didn’t have a BBQ this year as we normally do. 
It’s been a nice day here.  It was 89* when I checked the temperature around 3:30 or so…the warmest it has been this season for us in Germany.  I am a little fearful that we are going to have a rather warm summer….we don’t have Air conditioning here….One summer in Stuttgart, it was SO miserable the whole summer.  :(
I made two LO’s today while the older kids were working on school work and after I exercised and showered.  Here ya go:
Kylie gave me most of this stuff…the pearls and ephemera came from my stash. 

This next LO is a group picture of the kids in 2005 with their Easter baskets…except Emily…she didn’t get an Easter basket that year.  Seemed silly….so we didn’t buy her one.

Hump Day….

HMMMPH…glad this HUMP is over….what a horrid day.  Yet we are all well and safe.  So it’s okay. 
This first LO I did earlier this month.  I cannot figure out why I didn’t share it before…..or did I and I missed it when I went back to look???  LOL
My friend Ry and her sister introduced me to Starbucks in the Spring of 2007 when I flew down with Emily for a Unbirthday Party Retreat.  We had a grand ole time and this was just one of our “adventures”. 

this next LO I did tonight…it’s actually one of two I did tonight but the first one didn’t scan well so you’ll get to wait until I get it off my cameral. 
This is a simple LO that I used BPM November 2008 kit to complete. 

Here’s a better look at the individual pages:


Time for bed….or I’ll have a repeat of today’s horridness….(I made up a new word…like it?)

Resurrection Celebration 2009

We had a great celebration of our Lord’s Resurrection this year and here are just a few pictures to prove it:











CHILD…if you are gonna make funny faces on purpose please expect mom to POST them on her blog….paybacks!














Our Resurrection Rolls:

Look the “tomb” is empty, MOM!

Easter in MO was FREEZING

Resurrection Rolls

Wow! It was a LONG ole day! I didn't get to these until bed time but I love to do them because I definitely don't want the kids to think of Easter as bunnies and chocolates but about our risen Lord. We haven't gone to church on Easter in a couple of years now. This year my excuse is I haven't found a church (never mind I haven't looked too fervently but that is another discussion).

Recipe:

1 package of Pilsbury cresent rolls
8 large marshmallows
melted butter
cinnamon and sugar mix

Heat oven to 350. Read to the kids the Resurrection of Jesus from the chapter in the Bible that you like. I used Mark and Luke both. As you are reading about Jesus' body being annointed with the oils, put a large marshmallow in the melted butter to signify this. Then drop it in the cinnamon sugar mix-this of course signifies the spices used to annoint his body. The roll is the linen His body was wrapped in before burying. Wrap the rolls up by bringing up the sides in the middle. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes and allow to cool. While the rolls are baking, have your Roman centurions guard the tomb and pretend its three days. ;-) After the rolls are cooled enough to eat, break one open and show them that Jesus' body has disappeared from the linens! Enjoy your snack-its meant to be breakfast but hey, I got it done and they love it.

Easter baskets

After the photo taking session I guided the kids with finding their baskets. The older three are used to me following them around with a camera. LOL! They are good sports with that! The "fun" part was doing this rather loud activity as quietly as possible while daddy was sleeping. We want daddy to get enough sleep to go to work at night!

Emily was VERY protective of that basket. If I didn't know better I would think she remembered hers from last year. She just knew there was something special about that colorful basket. Of course she has barely gotten to SEE that toy in her basket because Seth's has taken control of it. DUH, Mom, its Little People and next to Thomas that is his favorite!!!

Easter brats

Don't flame me for this title...they totally were turds yesterday-well the oldest three anyway. LOL!!! I wasn't feeling very nice by the time they went to bed last night and just about lost it when their daddy came home to pick up some homemade pizza (crust and all). He heard me fussing at Tyler and turned to look at him and said (and I quote)' "You guys are brats. You don't deserve half of what she's done for you today". Sheesh-glad he agreed with me but he coulda kept that to HIMSELF! But here's some pictures of my gorgeous blessings-which they are even if they didn't act so nicely yesterday. Don't you just love that expression on Seth's face??? Told you he doesnt like his picture taken. But he did really well yesterday and sort of cooperated. Emily on the other hand was too busy trying to tear out big sis's hair bow that she meticulously put in all by herself.