A Picture Doesn't Do It Justice!!

This is by far the prettiest door holiday decoration I have ever seen...I've taken anybody I know up to the 6th floor here in the towers and shown them this gorgeous "display" that a lady made for this couple when they were feeling under the weather!! As you can see the door handle is on the left and it extends below that and covers the entire top as well!! Gorgeousness!!

Dec. 23rd Advent Idea!!

CRAZY HAIR NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Advent Calendar Idea #14

Well some people have their traditions of making gingerbread houses every Christmas but us Strommers' like to be nontraditional and shake it up a little bit!! So we made pomanders and I think we'll keep this a yearly tradition for us..that is if the kid's fingers hold up to it!! I had read somewhere that putting masking tape on your thumb would help keep your finger "intact" and a resemblance of it's old self...so the first picture is Kyle's need for tape on his finger for his one clove in his lemon!! ;)

Pardon My Goose Neck

This was the day that Daddy was "supposed" to be home so Destinee was actually happy to let me do her hair into something pretty....but why do something fancy when she actually WANTS me to..how fun would that be...I'd miss all the torturous screams when I'm doing it on a day she doesn't want to!! ;) So anyway, we went with an elegantly decorated crocheted hat and Mommy decided to even get it on the fun mainly because I'm a dork and don't care if I look like a 7 yr. old kid!!...Sorry for the bad angle on me though...hence the turkey neck!!

Advent Calendar Day# 15,085,426

I say that because I've missed all the other days that I was so gung-ho about sharing with you...so much for that!! Anyway, this morning's activity for the day was "Camp under the Christmas Tree" and though Kyle actually started down there with the two older ones, as you can see his little "pad" there in the middle he never quite made it all the way through the night!! But I think the other ones did since they asked if they could do it again the next night.

The Orchestrators Of Christmas Pleasantries

The first orchestrator is Ms. Downey, Destinee's music teacher and she is the dedicated lady that put all this music club performance together.....(we even brought her a poinsettia and some homemade cookies..refer to previous post!!) And the second orchestrator is Good 'Ol Santa Claus!! ;)

The Big Haired Girls

This is one of Destinee's friends and her family..and her mother is the person that initially started my interest and "obsession" (some might say) with fancy haridos and BIG hairbows...so I think you for that Danielle and Aubrey!!

Singin' It To You

Well for the second time in a row Daddy missed one of Destinee's performances for Music Club, but at least I had a camera to document some of the happenings...not video mind you though because Chris has MY camera that videos...UUURRGGHHH!!!! I'll have to do some of these pictures in shifts so it doesn't take an hour to upload them all!!

Sir Bakes-A-Lot

Well when your husband is gone, what else is there for a girl to do with her nightime other than BAKE!! So I made some 3 dozen batches of different cookies to deliver around to people here at Hallasan. And this was Kyle helping me roll the cookies into balls (nevermind that his look like a flattened pancake...he tried!!) Now this was my first time making this type of cookie mainly because I don't like PB cookies and that was the base for this particular cookie, but with Hershey's kiss flavors like "Mint Truffle,Cocoa Cream,and Cherry Cordial" how can you go wrong!!??

Enough of Desi's Freaky Face!!/You Won't Get Much Out of It That Way!!

Alright I figured I had to update something so that everytime I come to my blog to listen to some Christmas music I don't have to see Destinee looking like a werewolf/vampire mixture of scariness!! Anyway, after an overbooked flight in Atlanta and a day late Chris did FINALLY make it home!! Most of you probably didn't even know he was gone...that's how good I am at "doing it myself" that you didn't even know I was suffering in silence!! Just playing...anyway there were some cute outtakes and a performance that I captured while Chris was gone and so I mainly took them for him but maybe someone else would enjoy a peek into our TDY week and a half!! ;) Now onto the other half of my novel sized title!! I am playing in an instrumental musical program at my church next Sunday and had pulled out the good ol' $50 clarinet that I've had since 5th grade to practice a little bit and Kyle was very interested in how this little wooden piece made noise, so thinking he had it ALL figured out he wanted to try and this was his result...nevertheless that there's nothing holding the reed in place but it's also backwards!! Future musican in training!! ;)

Look What You Missed Daddy/Thought It Might Never Happen!!

Well though Chris discovered the renegade tooth first, he missed the actual removal...so hehehe!! And the "Thought It Might Never Happen" statement refers to the fact that her mother still has 4 baby teeth...no typos, you read that correctly. They are perfectly happy and set "in their ways" so much that they might never come out, or if they do it'll be when I'm 80 and already losing all my other teeth so Chris won't find me so hideous!! ;) Anyway, she was very brave and kinda thought the whole process was kinda exciting (in a I'm 2 seconds away from crying kind of exciting) but nowhere near as cool as her brother thought it was!! Dalin was standing there the whole time thinking that this was the most gross/totally wicked thing he'd ever seen!! So keep those bats away from my son or he might try to recreate this event on himself slightly prematurely!! ;)

Some Final Decorations!!

Just a few more extra shots of my door and inner entryway with all the stockings on it....mainly for Mom since she can't just come down the elevator and have a look!! ;)

The Night of Nickolstaag

Well I got this email recently from a friend explaining a tradition that their family has kept up for some 13 years and it's a German (I think) custom of the children shining their shoes and leaving them outside their door on the night of December 5th and St. Nickolas would visit them and leave gifts in their shoes, though they don't actually get to see "him" until Christmas Day. Traditional gifts include oranges/fruits, small candies, etc. And also he leaves twigs in their other shoe to remind them to be even better next year!! So anyway, we decided to participate (could only find one shoe for Kyle so it was a stuffed little shoe with twigs and candy in it!! Anyway, and the other picture is of the friend's house that started it all!! Their whole floor participated as well...how fun!!

A Slight Blast from the Past!!

Well I just saw these pictures again when I uploaded tonight, but thought my mom might like them....through the time we've been here the cute little cobblestone path that you see in these pictures has progressed from a very uneven (which it still is) muddy puddly dirt walkway to this bricked nice little path. So I have to hand it to Koreans in some ways..they sure can build something fast, just not necessarily correctly or accurately, (like I said the pathway is still VERY uneven!!)

A Sicky Baby!!

Well after making what I would even categorize as a "beautimous" looking cheesecake for the dessert social today....as luck would have it Kyle throws up 5 minutes before we are to go and afterwards he seemed to be feeling a smidge better so we try and get ready 10 minutes later and sure enough as soon as we get to the door, another barage of upchuck (actually it was only water thank goodness since he hasn't eaten anything today) so we decided it was the spirits so to say telling us to stay put and so the older two and I tried to make Christmas cookies that I would've taken pictures of if Chris hadn't taken my "do everything for you, can be a complete idiot and still operate it" camera and left me with his "do everthing manually, most people could probably operate but not me" camera. So you'll just have to imagine!! They were okay I guess in between trying to make them and calm the ever-crying and tired baby that is of the present laying on my lap face up, eyes wide open but not moving an inch. Do you think I should worry?? Oh wait, I felt a finger move....whoooh....that must mean we're in the clear!! ;)

Well though the profile picture I've had on our site since I began this blog some 6-12 months ago (I don't remember..stop giving me a hard time!!) was great because it was a family picture which honestly we don't seem to get alot of here because I guess that would involve alot of conversations that went like this:
US: "Excuse me, could you take our picture please??"
THE KOREANS:"Blank stare"...no those words would not be spoken, they would just be given very freely from their facial expressions.
And yes you might be saying, "But I thought your husband spoke Korean??" Why yes that's true but he's even more afraid that if he asked them in Korean that they'd run off with his camera. Yeah I don't know either!! Anyway, I digress yet again....Kyle was like 6 months old in that picture and since my strapping little *almost* 2 year has grown so much, I figured our profile picture should "grow" too!! So this was a pretty decent picture of us all from Halloween (minus Dalin's sideways face) and besides it shows our creative and fun-loving side right!! ;)

December 2nd Advent Happenings

Well nothing too thought provoking here, but we had a tree lighting here at the Base theater and we attended that tonight so that was our activity for tonight....and tomorrow's will probably be to go see the Harlem Globetrotters. But maybe after that I'll have some that might give you some inspiration!! ;) Sorry for the dark pictures, but the lights were pretty nonetheless.

Advent Calendar Ideas

Okay, though I don't celebrate the actual happening of Advent...(I think it's a Catholic observance, is it not??) Anyway, I do love the calendars that you can hang on the wall or wherever and put a little treat or fun activity for that day in and help your kids celebrate this wonderful season a little bit longer than just the one day of Christmas. SO starting tomorrow we will have a daily activity that our family will be doing...some of them are pretty hum-drum but hopefully my kids won't think so and will think they're a blast...it doesn't take much with them to have a good time if Mommy or Daddy is in on the activity. So maybe you can get some fun ideas to do with your families or just kinda be a part of ours as we go along celebrating this wonderful month of celebrations for our Father in Heaven's son. Though most of those previously said celebrations do not center around Christ...they should a little bit more I think and that's why with each little activity for the day I've also included a small scripture to go along with it and help us remember the "True Reason for the Season!!"

Some Updates and Pretty Lights!!

Well after seeing everyone else's pretty pictures of their Christmas decorations, I figured I had to put up a few since I'm SO sure everyone was just "itching" to see mine!! Anyway, these are for my mom especially since she wasn't here this year...she was last year.....to help us and take part in all the Christmas decorating splendor....oh yeah and I lied about the wreath picture 'cause it just wouldn't come out right so we'll try that again soon before Chris is gone and can't help me lighten it or whatever on the computer!! ;) TahTah for now and Goodnight!! ;)

This comparison picture is just to show how big a bow I made to decorate our wreath outside on our balcony (in later pictures...you just can't wait I know!!) and the bow on the right (with the cherries) is probably the biggest "hairbow" I've ever made but who said I couldn't branch out to trees and building sized bows!!

He Finally Did It!!

After many long months of indecision on Chris's part (I say Chris's because I knew what I wanted him to do all along...)my wonderful husband decided to re-enlist again for one more term at least just to support his family better in these awful economic times. Though we have tried really hard sometimes to save money for "the future" (I say sometimes because we do well for a few months and then find something that costs more than what our paycheck can afford and we dip into our savings...shameshameshame I know) the money we had saved from agreeing to be here for the extra 3rd year (which is so not worth it if anybody was considering it) is just not enough to cut it for supporting a family of 5 and who knows maybe 6 one day and put food on the table. So we still do not know where our new "assignment" will be and I'm sure there will be many heartaches along the way with all the changes in Chris's job assignment field lately, but at least we know we HAVE to be in the states somewhere...and hey anywhere sounds wonderful to us after being here for just a tad too long!! Thanks again to our wonderful friend and church member Brother Stokes for going to all the trouble of giving Chris and our family such a wonderful re-enlistment "location" and just being our family's friend overall!!

Just random playtime for the two smaller "babies" of the family...pardon my silly catch phrase at the end...I'm a goofball and just thought of the funny irony of the video and the phrase!! You know me!! ;)

Just a random pic of Desi before some event we were headed off to and I thought her brown and pink outfit (complete with new matching bow, of course) looked very stylish and I thought you know that I'd post for those less fashion forward than the beautiful, gorgeous prim and proper Strommers...oh you knew I was kidding when I started that prim and proper junk didn't you!! ;)

Scenes from the Strommers

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

The Freedoms "WE" Hold Dear

Just a "blog-lifted" story from my good friends' The Fishers site and thought my readers might like to read it too...I know I sure did!! This does go to show the ignorance and pure lack of respect that SOME (not all I know) Americans have for those brave men and women that protect their right to whine and complain!!

True story from the editorials of the Arizona Republic online Jun. 23, 2005:

The Complaint: A wake-up call from Luke's jets.

Question of the day for Luke Air Force Base: Whom do we thank for the morning air show? Last Wednesday, at precisely 9:11 a.m., a tight formation of four F-16 jets made a low pass over Arrowhead Mall, continuing west over Bell Road at approximately 500 feet. Imagine our good fortune! Do the Tom Cruise-wannabes feel we need this wake-up call, or were they trying to impress the cashiers at Mervyns' early-birdspecial? Any response would be appreciated.

The reply is classic, and a testament to the professionalism and heroism of the folks in the armed services.

The Response: Regarding "A wake-up call from Luke's jets" (Letters,Thursday):On June 15, at precisely 9:12 a.m., a perfectly timed four-ship of F-16s from the 63rd Fighter Squadron at Luke Air Force Base flew over the grave of Capt Jeremy Fresques. Capt Fresques was an Air Force Officer who was previously stationed at Luke Air Force Base and was killed in Iraq on May 30, Memorial Day. At 9 a.m. on June 15, his family and friends gathered at Sunland Memorial Park in Sun City to mourn the loss of a husband, son and friend. Based on the letter writer's recount of the flyby, and because of the jet noise, I'm sure you didn't hear the 21-gun salute, the playing of taps, or my words to the widow and parents of Capt Fresques as I gave them their son's flag on behalf of the president of the United States and all those veterans and servicemen and women who understand the sacrifices they have endured. A four-ship flyby is a display of respect the Air Force pays to those who give their lives in defense of freedom.We are professional aviators and take our jobs seriously, and on June 15 what the letter writer witnessed was four officers lining up to pay their ultimate respects. The letter writer asks, "Whom do we thank for the morning air show?" The 56th Fighter Wing will call for you, and forward your thanks to the widow and parents of Capt Fresques, and thank them for you, for it was in their honor that my pilots flew the most honorable formation of their lives.

Lt. Col. Scott Pleus

Commander, 63rd Fighter Squadron

Luke Air Force Base

Before I Forget

Well I've been meaning to post about a few things that have happened in the last few days or so that are very important to remember and so I'll post them here so I can and so that you readers can see that the world hasn't gone COMPLETELY to H-E-double hockey sticks in a handbasket yet!! Anyway, I kinda unbeknownst to me became in charge of a squadron unaccompanied activity and so faced with the daunting task of making holiday cards for 250 or so soldiers and trying to prepare for a bazaar I was feeling quite overwhelmed and worried about making a design for these cards that would impress our commander's wife. Anyway, so I approached a friend that I know does wonderful stamping designs for a little bit of advice and some ideas. Well instead of helping me with just a template and then sending me on my way confused and bewildered as to how to stamp 250 Christmas cards without my hand falling off, she offered to help me stamp and copy all 250 that night. So between running down to my house every 15 minutes or so for 50 or more copies from my printer we got half of them done in about an hour and a half. But then the even more extraordinary thing happened and she told me to hand her the other half of the copies and that she would attach them to our cards and then all I would have to do between then and the time that we are supposed to deliver them to the airmen was hole punch them and string some pretty ribbon on them. I mean, things like that just don't happen that often and especially from people who are already busy with their own lives. Okay now that is "Post Remembrance #1." # 2 comes from my husband's recollection of an event that occurred at the commissary. We, being the wonderful parents that we are procrastinated or rather maybe just forgot to get diapers and ingredients for Sunday's dinner until Saturday night at 6:45 when the commissary closes at 7. Well Chris was "sent" to do the dirty deed and upon departure of our house Kyle decided that Daddy had left and was NEVER coming home and proceeded to tell Daddy how he felt about that and so therefore Daddy ends up with a little tagalong on his late trip to the commissary. Okay, so Chris tells me everything is going fine and he gets all things that we needed but when he got up to the register none of our bank cards would work. It's now probably 6:55 and faced with yet another trip to the ATM to try desperately to get money out to pay for these groceries, the man behind him offered to pay for the bill until we could get to the ATM since the commissary was now closed. Okay, so when I hear this for the first time from Chris I'm thinking that the only reason someone would offer to "foot the bill" for someone else would be to get them out of their way so they could get their own stuff and leave. But he told me that the man was very cordial about it and wouldn't even take the full amount of the bill for repayment. Just to show you that the human spirit is still alive and well in many people's lives around the world. Happy Holidays and I pray that we can keep the "holiday spirit" in our hearts all year long. :>)

A Few More Sets!!

If You Don't At First Succeed Then...Put It On Your Blog!!

Isn't that how that statement goes?? Anyway, I was trying to make a little booklet of the dresses I'd made (or rather that RC Creations had made-RuthChris Creations!! Aren't we just sickening!!) for the bazaar so that if one sold then I could show other people what I DID have and what they could "custom order"...okay well when I tried to do that in Microsoft Word the picture took up like the entire page when all I wanted was a thumbnail image...so I guess I'll be waiting for the computer guru of the house to do that for me!! But until then, I thought..."Hey I already have the pictures on the computer and at least I do know how to upload them to my blog so hey why not, maybe somebody other than my mom a million miles away might like to see them!!" (Direct Quote of myself mind you!!) ;) So here they are!! *Sorry I wrestled with myself on whether to say anything about buying them, but if you like them you know where I am!! ;)