Basket Case.

I discovered pretty early on that the best way to not get so depressed about James being so far away was to keep busy.  I have completed close to a million sewing projects since he's been overseas.  Well, maybe not that many.  Lets go with a bunch.  So here's a little project for you.

In Germany we were strolling around Marburg and I came across this little kitchen shop.  In the window (like I'm going to take my children in a cramped kitchen store!!) I saw these great fabric bowl type basket things that were apparently used for rolls.  After the sharp intake of breath,  (cause seriously, those were cute) I started to figure out in my head how to recreate it at home.  I can sew after all.

My first attempt was a little...large.  That's a dozen muffins in there. I figure it'll be okay at family gatherings to hold rolls, hamburger buns, chips, etc.

Like large.

This is a much better size.  Again with a dozen muffins.

Then I went a little crazy.

The smaller two are a different design and WAY easier to make.  The bottom here is rectangular instead of round. 

The possibilities are endless really with what to do with them.  Flowers?  I'd even put a jar in the taller (of the small ones) and put cut flowers in it.

But here's what I do with them.  Cotton balls and q-tips.  A nice way to brighten up a bathroom!

So there you go.  My fabric basket making craziness.

**Bonus**

Here's a bonus for you.  I'm in love with this fabric.  Can you tell?  Anyway, I have an e reader.  A Nook to be specific.  My nightstand is basically shelf that is pretty far away from my bed.  It's fine for a clock but a little tricky to reach to put away glasses and the nook when I'm finished reading at night.  Solution:  A nook and glasses pouch that hangs on the side of the bed. 

I've been thinking for a while about having a separate craft blog. What do you guys think? Would you follow that one? Should I just keep posting crafts on here every once in a while?

Craftastically yours,

Kristin

Tribal Children

Something happens around here when the weather starts warming up.  My kids get all tribal on me. 

They do love their mud.  It very common to find them like this after they've been outside for 5 minutes.  Only now a days it's so warm they are naked.

Look at that face!!

I mean...I've really gotta get some grass back there!  (And I am working on this. No, for real this time. I hope to have some progress pictures to post soon - but these are good "before" shots.)

There we are all nice and clean and waiting for Mr. Pizza Man.

But you know what?  They did it again the next day and the day after that and on and on and on.

They. Love. Mud.  They'll probably be really sad when I get the yard done.  I sure do hope they get over that.

Tribally yours,

F and P

For the love of hammock!

Guess who got a hammock chair for the summer?  And probably spring, fall, and winter too.

We are a little in love with this here chair. (Nope, I didn't tell him to do that.)

And...can you tell Mama finally learned how to crop photos?  Yes, you heard that right.  I haven't cropped or edited in any way ANY picture I have ever posted on this blog.  Or The Fisher Show email newsletter before that.  I'm learning!  Woohoo!  I've made HUGE technological leaps in the past two weeks.  Just ask Carly.  She doesn't even recognize me anymore.

Couldn't you just climb in there??
Happy June 1st.

Love,
JKFP

Eleven Years

Look at those young faces... man we're old now.

Eleven years ago today I married the greatest guy in the history of forever. I couldn't imagine my life any more perfect. All the kids, dogs, chickens, fish, etc - it all started with this day. Best wedding I've ever been to. Best decision I ever made. I love you!

Kristin

I'm linking this up to my friend Jessa's blog and her Peek of the Week.  She and her husband are celebrating their 11th Anniversary today too!

Not Cool

So guess what I got to do Tuesday night?? I took Pipey to the ER. She'd had a cold that progressively made it more difficult for her the breathe. Yes, it did suck. AND, we don't have insurance. Yes again. Ouch. But I'd pay it a hundred times over for my sweet little Pipey to be alright.

And you know your kid is really really sick when you DON'T have to wait in the (very full) waiting room of the ER. And when they bring the breathing specialist person to the triage room with 15 minutes of you walking in the door to give her a breathing treatment. We were actually IN a room within 45 minutes of arriving. Then she got another breathing treatment, chest x ray's, and a RSV test. X ray was fine and test was negative. Yay!

We got home around 2am. Thankfully, Carly had come over to stay with Fisher so I didn't have to drag everyone out and I could just focus on Piper. And he got to sleep.

THEN I got up the next morning and went ahead and made an appointment with her regular Dr. even before she woke up. Good thing too. I woke her up to take her in and noticed she was pretty bad again. Maybe even a little worse than the night before. We got to the Dr's office and you know what??? The Dr. came in FAST. The nurses weren't even finished getting vitals and they'd gone to get the Dr. Poor thing had 3 more breathing treatments back to back and an oral steriod before they would let us leave. She was pretty bad.

Luckily Carly happened to have a nebulizer from when Johnny was sick earlier. So I didn't have to buy one. She's having at least 3 treatments a day. More if we need to. And she'll take the steriods for 3 more days. She's VERY sick. But she seems to be slowly improving. She's a champ at doing the treatments herself...

And Fisher and Bob are excellent nurses.

And now I'm sick. Once I was able to slow down a little my body just freaked out. Pretty sure it's just a cold or maybe a sinus infection. Well, the mother of all colds. But I think we'll survive.

Love,

K and P

Travel Lessons

In this first international trip (with the kids) I sure did learn a lot. We don't yet know when or where we are going next. (or when James will be coming home) There are some cool places in the works but nothing signed on any dotted line. I'll let you know as soon as we do though. In the meantime I thought I'd share a few random lessons with you all.

My children (and likely most children) are amazingly adaptable. I mean, who'd have thought they'd have fared so well in all this city life? I was worried honestly. We are not what you'd call "city people". But they love it like they love chocolate and mud. (but not mixed together) The public transportation, escalators, crosswalks, etc. They loved it all. Fisher especially understood how it all worked. He knew what stop we got off the train at, what to do at crosswalks, and how to maneuver the train stations. They even fought over who got to push the button to open the train doors. Every single time.



They loved every minute of it. And I feel like they are so much more cultured for it now. They played on sculptures and in fountains. And Fisher will tell you most of those fountains have naked ladies on them. They just enjoyed being kids in another place having new adventures. I wonder if I'd have fared as well when I was little?

Oh and you should know this...NOTHING makes being hit by a wave of water, after a crazy German driver hits a puddle, better than the reaction of a 5 year old. Nothing. We laughed so hard. For DAYS. And he very animatedly told the story to anyone who would listen (strangers and all) for at least a week. Laughing hysterically. Exciting times. It's kind of a random lesson. But should it ever happen to you, just think like a 5 year old. It'll make your whole day. Maybe even your whole week.

What I really learned though, is that I'm so much braver than I ever thought I was. (and this is just an observation - I'm not horn tooting here) I was TERRIFIED about 3 days in. Mind you, I was still a little messed up with my sleeping, but I was ready to pack up and go home. The whole "culture shock" thing is very real. I thought, I'll NEVER be able to master this train stuff and I sure didn't want to just sit in the room the whole month. But, I wouldn't have thought before that I could take the kids on a NYC subway for instance, but Frankfurt is a HUGE city like that. So maybe I can.

I did all sorts of stuff I would have said 6 months ago that I'd never do. Like, I ate Turkish food. I would have automatically said no to that before. But I ate it. And I loved it. (I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of it!!)

There's this weird thing that happens. You have this overwhelming fear that (rather magically) melts away and is replaced by courage. It's something you can physically SEE in the kids.

The courage replacing the fear. It's very freeing. I'm suddenly more open to new experiences that the very thought of terrified me before. (like say white water rafting) It's this strange and wonderful thing. The video below is a pretty good representation of it. It's Pipey releasing her fear and celebrating!

Here's hoping I wake up tomorrow with a few more laugh lines than I go to bed with. And you do too.

Love,

JKFP

The Castle in Marburg

Close to the end of that reeeeally long walk up that hill things started turning a little. Not so many houses. More of this....

Then there was this water fountain which the boys drank from. Again, I had Piper in the pouch and there's just no way to drink from this warthogs face and not 1) wake her or 2) drown her. So I stuck with my water bottle. (I know, "when in Rome" and all. Next time.)

We knew we had to be getting close. It's hard to see the castle anywhere from town as it's on top of the hill and you're walking your way up it. So none of my pictures show the whole thing. We would have had to go over to Rapunzel's tower for that and there just wasn't enough time. You'll see bits and pieces along with a little history lesson.




The first castle was built on this hill sometime around 900. I know! If I'm understanding this little (terribly translated) pamplet correctly, construction on the new castle began in 1122. Shortly after that, Marburg became a town.

Now, this little timeline I have says several things. I think. :) There were several fires, plagues, and sieges (complete with looting and pillaging) And then in 1527 the first Protestant University in the world is founded in Marburg. In. The. World.

The castle was turned into a fortress from 1756 - 1763. Then in 1815 it was a prison. Can you imagine? Being in prison. Here.

I guess some of the beauty and "coolness" of it would be lost if it was your prison. Maybe.

I think it's fairly common for a castle to also have a chapel. This chapel here was consecrated in 1288. (Everytime I write a year I kinda freak out a little.) This was quite a beautiful (and very pink) chapel.

I love these windows.

And the art on the walls.

The East Wing was set up as a museum in 1981. The University Museum of Cultural History.

The lower floor, or as I like to call it (not very originally), the dungeon. It has a very dungeon-y feel to it, no?

I'm not sure what it is I like about this picture. But, I love it. Maybe it's the blurry hint of just how fast Fisher goes through this sort of thing. It's like capturing the essence of the boy. Plus I'm sure they have stairs like that in Hogwarts. (Harry Potter for those of you not in the know)

One of the better angles I got of the exterior of the South Wing.

In looking around for more information (other than this crappy little handout) I found this http://www.marburg-net.de/images/schloss003.jpg image of the entire castle. You're welcome.

This was my first experience with a real true castle and I've pretty much decided castle livin' is for me. James better get to work. :)

Love,

JKFP