Just an old cat!

When I Am An Old Cat


When I am an old cat
I shall wear a diamond collar
and leave footprints on white couches;
I shall drink my cream with a touch of brandy
and spit out my vitamins;
I shall sit on the laps of dog people just to irritate them;
I shall nap on top of the neighbor's petunias
and perch on the top of birdbaths
and grow charmingly chubby.

But for now I must tolerate the dog
and use my litter box
and not sharpen my claws on the sofa,
so no one can doubt the truth
that cats are superior to dogs.

But every once in awhile I wonder
if I should be naughty now and then
and nip a few toes,
so my humans won't be too shocked
when suddenly I become an old cat
and start to wear a diamond collar.


--author unknown


This is by far one of my favorite poems ever!

Spitting Fire

The last few days something has taken hold of me. I am so darn angry. I don't really know why. Of course I can spout off circumstances that are looming and are totally out of my control. But it goes deeper than that. I am trying desperately to hold my tongue; to not say things or make decisions that I will regret. The truth is my life is beautiful. I am so blessed. My love is home. My children are precious. I have every material thing I could hope for. I live in the place of my dreams. I have seen more beauty than my mind can comprehend. I have amazing friends who would drop everything and come running if I needed them. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? I just wanna scream today. But I know that, "Temper tantrums, however fun they may be to throw, rarely solve whatever problem is causing them." ~Lemony Snicket

O, Lord help me to have joy. Let joy be the breath on my lips, the bounce in my step, the strength of my bones. Take this anger from me. Make my path clear.. take control of the uncontrollable.

Is it the red hair?

Funny Story:

My little red headed 8 year old (whose birthday is not until Nov) decided that he wanted to have his birthday party at WalMart (not that there is one in Germany anyway). Nevertheless, He said that way we could pick out all his decorations and eat whatever he wants. Also if anyone came without a gift they could just buy one really quick. Then after the party if he did not like his gifts, he could just return them. Humm? It must be the red hair!

What a week!

What a busy week it has been. Wes had his surgery on Monday. Everything went wonderful. The surgery itself was quite long. We arrived at 1300 and did not get back home until 1900. Wes slept most of the day. His physical therapy started on Wednesday. We are so thankful that he is being allowed to have all his treatments off post. It is very encouraging. We expect a full healing in his knee. He is looking forward to being able to run and play with our kids and join us on our family bike rides. He will have physical therapy until 14 July. He will also begin a cartilage replacement therapy next week. That will last for 5 weeks. In the meantime, his exercises at home include skateboarding.. yes skateboarding! Here is my skater dude in action:




We are on hold still as far as his deployment status which also puts the children and I on hold for moving back to the states. We are hoping to have some answers by the end of the month.

The waiting, wondering, and creating possible scenarios in our mind has been exhausting. I am such a checks and balances girl. I want to know all the details ahead of time and make my list to be checked off. I am slowly learning that it impossible to do in the army. It will leave you confused and simply frustrated. I am trying my best to surrender it all.

I happened across this verse yesterday; it has given me a new hope. It is Psalm 139:16 (NLT) "You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day passed."

How wonderful is that. I do not know what my future holds. But I do believe that weather tragedy or triumph awaits me, that God has written it. He will not leave me forsaken. I am trying to rest in that and enjoy each day that I am given. I do not want any regrets. I want to live and experience this wonderful place that we have been brought to. I know one day we will call the states home again, but until then I pray that I make the most of my time in Germany.

On another note, our little Hermann came full circle.





This was Hermann on day five. He had fully risen and produced two little babies to begin new Hermann's.












This is Hermann ready to go into the oven.
















Now this is Hermann ready to be enjoyed. We made him into four flavors. One was plain and we put chocolate icing on him. One was brown sugar and raisin. One was cinnamon crunch and the last one was banana nut. They were all delectable.

Farwell D-Wing

What a joy it has been for the to work with the teachers on D-wing this year. Each of these ladies are precious. I learned so much from them. It is hard saying goodbye. But we are full force into PSC season. Several of the teachers are moving to various parts of the world. Though we will be separated by miles and oceans, I hope that we can stay in touch. Who knows when the army will bring us together again.




On another note, we are day 4 into raising our little Hermann. He is growing quickly. Just a few more days and he will have babies and then we can bake him and eat him.

Here Hermann!

Well-P, we got us a Hermann today thanks to my sweet British friend Lisa.

For those of you who do not know Hermann, he is a bread starter that has been leaving little babies everywhere here in Mannheim. I suppose it is like Friendship Bread. This is my first one ever. The kids are excited about it.

There was some hilarious confusion at first that I must share with you.

When Lisa called to tell me she was bringing over our little Hermann, I told my children that I would be right back I was going to get them a surprise. I returned with a little plastic jelly jar filled with milky liquid and introduced them to Hermann. My little red head was quite excited. But when I began to explain his care plan, He became confused. I told the children that we would feed it, it would have a couple of babies, then we would give the babies away to friends and cook what was left of Hermann. My red head started sobbing saying that we could not eat out pets. It took forever to re-explain that Hermann is not a pet... he is bread.

The whole thing was quite amusing.

Baring it all!

Form this point forward I will be shifting gears a bit in my blogging. Up until now, it has mostly been about fun and eventful happenings in our life. I have not been very consistent in my blogging. I purpose to do better.

Twists and turns in an army life are quite the norm. In our short three years as part of this army family, we have seen our fair share. I suspect will we see more. In the coming days I will embark on a journey that I thought I would never in my life face. That is the journey of deployment. But before we get to that point, I must first walk through this trail of yet another knee surgery with my love. It is a surgery that could in effect keep him from fulfilling his duty. BUT we are praying and believing for total healing! We have no doubt that God called my love to serve the military. We will not back down, we will not give up.

We have already seen God move mightily on Wes's behalf concerning this situation. We are seeing it again. For those of you who deal daily with the military medical system, you know how frustrating it can be. You also know that nothing happens quickly. But God does have a plan for my love and has moved swiftly to answer his prayers.

Through the grace and favor of a friend, my love was sent to a German orthopedic doctor. He had a same-day appointment that followed with an MRI just 2 days later. He was seen today for the follow-up. The doctor reviewed Wesley's MRI results and concluded that surgery is his best option. Wes is scheduled for surgery Monday, 8 June at 1300. Following surgery, Wes will begin physical therapy on Thursday, 11 June. The doctor recommended 14 days of convalescence leave to recover. He did not give Wesley an end date for the physical therapy. I am sure it will depend on his progress.

Wes came home this afternoon with the biggest smile on his face. He is so encouraged. He knows that The Lord has put this doctor in his path. He is expecting a full healing in his knee before the end of block leave.

We are both fasting and praying through this whole process. We believe that Wes will be fully healed and running by the end of this month. He will be able to lead his team into battle and they will all come home victorious! AMEN!

I can't wait to see the look on the faces of his company when Wes runs to formation lean and trim with no crutches. What a testimony of God's grace, favor, and healing it will be. Our prayer is that God will use this to open the hearts of those who need to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior! My heart races and my eyes fill with tears just thinking about it. Hallelujah!

So as stated in my title, I will be baring it all. The ups, the downs, the failures, and the victories of this Army life.

I hope that you hang in there with me and that through my journey you find hope and grace in your own life.

Peace and Love of Christ be with you~
Stacy