Gardening

As many of you know, Matt and I started our first garden last year. You may have followed the progress on this blog or on Matt's Facebook page. You can still go there to see MANY pictures of all the produce we collected. We loved it! There's just something so rewarding about being able to walk out to your backyard and gather everything you need for a meal. Someday we hope to have some land out in the country where we can have a huge garden with enough produce to start a co-op or just store it for the winter and be completely self-sustaining as far as produce goes.

Anyway, last year we planted seedlings that we bought at a local gardening center. This year we're going to try starting from seeds. I have no idea how this will go, but we like the idea and it's a lot cheaper.

I read some gardening blogs and this week The Greenest Dollar has a giveaway for seeds from Hometown Seeds. One option is to leave a comment and hope your name was chosen, and the other option is to be the first of three people to contact Hometown Seeds and be willing to post a link to your own blog to receive free seeds. Well I hopped right on both of those bandwagons! They aren't choosing winners from the comments until Wednesday (so head on over there and enter to win!), but I just got an e-mail back saying that I was the second person to e-mail Hometown Seeds! Woo Hoo!! I'm so excited!!

The coolest thing about Hometown Seeds is that they sell survival seeds. "What are survival seeds," you ask? Well...The Greenest Dollar says this about them, "Survival seeds are not genetically modified, which means you can harvest the seeds from this year’s harvest to plant again next year. Survival seeds enable you to have a garden and not depend on buying new seeds year after year." VERY cool!

Anyway, hop on over to The Greenest Dollar to enter the contest (you have until Tuesday night), and then head over to Hometown Seeds to check out all of their flower and produce seeds.

Growing Hope for Haiti

Haiti is on my heart lately...like it is for most people, I assume. If you're reading this and haven't had the opportunity to donate or just don't know which organization to choose, may I make a suggestion? Growing Hope for Haiti is a charitable foundation that a friend of mine from college set up with her husband. Ever since I've known Heather she has had a heart for Haiti. She spent a lot of time in Haiti as a missionary and married a Haitian whose family is still in the country. Prayers were answered the other day when they got word that his family is safe and accounted for. Gerson and Heather are putting together a team of doctors and translators to travel to Haiti to aid the people there. They are in need of medical supplies and other support, and are collecting donations through their foundation. I'd like for you to read this letter from Heather and consider donating to Growing Hope for Haiti. It is a good cause and you can be assured that every penny will be well spent to help those in Haiti. Please also pray for their safety as they travel and that God would use them in mighty ways!

(Letter From Heather):

Hi,

It has been quite an eventful night/morning. Gerson was able to get through to his sister's cell phone for the first time a few hours ago! He talked to his sister, his brother, and his mom, and they confirmed that everyone in his immediate family is accounted for!! Some minor injuries...a lot of fear and shock...but they are all ok! I can't tell you how happy we were to hear their voices.

The situation they described there is overwhelming and heart-breaking. They said that their yard has become like a refugee camp, with many people who have lost their homes and some who are injured, sleeping there because they are the only house in the neighborhood that has a yard. They said that food and water are becoming an increasing concern, as everything is running low. They said there is a dire need for medicine and medical care. They have seen people die there with them because there was no access to a clinic or hospital. They said Gerson's 5-year-old niece, who they think has a broken arm, stays within the yard because she is afraid of the dead bodies in the street. None of them have slept since the earthquake.

We have been up all night, talking to people and making plans. We have decided to get to Haiti as soon as possible, to do what we can to help. Gerson is going to take the semester off school, and I am going to take a leave of absence from work. Gerson will be flying into the Dominican Republic on Monday (there are no flights into Haiti right now), where he is going to meet up with a group of Haitian and Dominican doctors and medical students. They are going to buy medical supplies in the DR and take them into Port-au-Prince to set up mobile medical clinics. This group has already had thousands of dollars worth of supplies donated by the med school and a local hospital in the DR, and we hope to raise thousands more. There are many injured and hurting people in Port-au-Prince, and not nearly enough resources to treat them all. This is one of the most immediate and desperate needs, so this is what we're going to focus on for now.

My plan is to go in shortly after Gerson-- probably next weekend-- with a small group of doctors and nurses from the U.S. We have talked to several medical professionals here who are looking for a way to get in and a place to serve. They have the medical skills, and we have the knowledge to coordinate the efforts, get them set up in Haiti, and translate for them while they're there....so we feel like it is a good match. Gerson and I are not able to meet the medical needs of the people ourselves, but we are in a position to enable those who can.

We will be raising money for this trip and for medical supplies. Many of you have been asking how to help-- here is a huge opportunity! We personally will be using this money to meet the needs of people in Haiti, and we can assure you that every dollar will be well spent. We are working on getting online donation capabilities set up, but for now, you can send donations to:

Growing Hope for Haiti
927 Wooden Drive
Florissant, MO 63033

Growing Hope for Haiti is a 501c3 organization, and all donations are tax-deductible. We are pleading with all of you to join with us in these efforts by praying and giving. Thank you for the compassion and love you have already shown in this crisis. We are grateful to be surrounded by so many people who genuinely care.

I am going to try to get some rest now, after being up all night. We are physically and emotionally exhausted, and I know we need to take care of ourselves so that we can be of use to the people in Haiti. Please continue to pray for us as we prepare to go.

Thank you,
Heather

Arika & Alivia

Things were a little crazy before, during, and after Christmas...so I'm just now getting the chance to catch up and share a few things with all of you.

This post needs a little background info: My mom's best friend, Bonnie, has a daugher Arika. Arika is my brother's age, and we grew up spending a lot of time together. I'll never forget our many roadtrips to Winter Park, CO. Good times. We were quite the little ski-bunnies. Well, Arika now lives in Japan with her hubby and gorgeous daughter, Aliva. Aliva is just a few months younger than Sophie, and they got to spend some quality time getting to know each other while they were in town for a visit.

We were able to get together two times. The first time they all went to the zoo while I was at work. After the zoo I met them at the mall to introduce Alivia and Sophie to Santa.

Here they are at the zoo:

Here's my mom, Bonnie, and the granddaughters at the mall:


This next one needs no explanation:

Priceless.

That sums up how she feels about the big man in red. Not to fond of him yet...neither was Aliva.

After Christmas we got together again to go swimming at the YMCA. The girls LOVED it!!

The girls were getting a little frisky before jumping in, but once they hit the water they were the best of friends and had a blast.

That's all for now, friends. I'll post more about our Christmas adventures soon! Stay posted.

Doing it Sophie Style

Sophie has been a bit of a picky eater lately. If she doesn't like something, she pushes it out with her tongue or throws it on the floor. She does pretty well during the day, but dinner just isn't her thing. Tonight she wasn't interested in what the house had to offer, so I counted on her trusty favorites to come through for me. (Considering she's 18lbs at 16 months old, we don't have any room to miss a meal around here.) Two things Sophs loves: black beans and frozen peas. I threw some in a bowl and let her go wild. Usually she chooses to eat them with her fingers, and she started off that way tonight, but it wasn't working for her. This was the more efficient method in her opinion:

"Yeah, so what?"

As you can see, we are clearly still working on our table manners.

No Luck

So, we bought a car tonight. Finally. It has seemed like a long journey to figure out what to do about the hole in the engine of the Subaru. We finally decided not to fix it and look for a new/used car, and then the hunt for the right car for us seemed like it took FOREVER. Just as I started to get really frustrated, we found it. We ended up with an Equinox. I love it and Matt likes it. (He just wishes it had more cargo space to haul things around. I can't blame him. He's a guy and guys like to haul things.)

We came home and I was feeling great about the car decision, put Sophie to bed, and started some laundry to get ready for our trip to WI. As I was down in the basement, I realize that the furnace was turning on and off repeatedly. My initial wonder turned into panic as I quickly realized that our furnace has done this before. Yep. It's busted. Again. Some luck, huh? We can't seem to catch a break.

I called my folks to tell them about the car and subsequently about the furnace. They gave the usual parental advice and as we hung up, my mom said, "Well, good luck." Sorry, Mom, but we ran out of luck a while back...right before the engine got that hole.

Our Latest & Greatest

I'm not a very good blogger. Sorry about that. I love reading other blogs, but feel like I don't have much to say or share about our lives. Anyway, maybe it will be my New Year's resolution to be better about that. Maybe. I watched Julie & Julia the other night and was so impressed that Julie started a blog not knowing if anyone at all was reading it. Sometimes I feel like it's not worth blogging, because I don't really know if anyone is reading. Is it worth it? Are any out of town people reading this thing and enjoying updates about our family? Are you out there?

Anyway, for the sake of keeping this blog alive, I'm going to give you a few Schaefer family updates and up load some recent pictures we've taken. Enjoy them...whoever you are!

Updates:

1. Our Subaru has a hole in the engine, so we're scrapping it and cutting our losses. We're heading out this afternoon to look at some cars. Wish us luck!

2. We're headed to Wisconsin to see family over Christmas break. Should be a good time had by all. We're excited to see everyone ooh and ahh over how big Sophie is getting. She's changed so much since we were there in August. Most notably...she walks & talks a lot more now. She's going to be the life of the party, I'm sure!

3. Sophie has her first cold. Last night she had a 101.5 fever. My poor baby. I am, however, so thankful that she made it 15+ months before getting really sick.

4. Yeah, I can't think of anything else. See, I'm not so good at figuring out what you guys want to know. So...I'll let some pictures do the rest of the talking:

Sophie is big enough to have blankets & baby dolls in her crib now. This was a big step for me; it was like a "coming of age" moment in her life. :)

Speaking of getting big...she can now climb up into the rocking chair in her room. (Please ignore the hideously old and worn chair...I got it for $5 at a garage sale when I was in college.)

She is definitely a climber. She loves climbing in and out of her toy box.

She'll just sit in there and play with her toys.

Just had to throw this one in. She's such a clown.

Sophie put the star on top of the Christmas tree this year. (Not really, but it makes for a cute photo, right?) She was sleeping when we set up the tree and put the lights on. When she woke up she came out and was so cute as she explored the tree and "helped" us decorate it.

Sophie with her aunt Joy.

Sophie has her first cold, which is why her nose is all red in this picture. We gave her a pretzel to munch on and she took it over to the pillow on the floor and just hung out there eating her snack. When did she turn into a little kid?! Matt and I can't handle that our baby girl is slipping further away every day. Her expression here is priceless. Speaking of priceless expressions...check out this one:

This is one of those photos that will show up at every family get together when Sophie is older. Priceless.

Tagged for a Cause

I've been tagged...but it's okay, because it is for a good cause. It's the season of giving, you know.

My friend Jen's husband works for Habitat for Humanity (HFH) out in Colorado. Now, I don't live in CO, but I know that Dan's job means a lot to him and that it does a lot of good for A LOT of people! That makes me smile. So HFH is doing a fundraiser so that they can reach out to even more needy families. It’s called “HFHSVV Five Dollar Difference” and it goes like this - five minutes of time to donate five dollars and pass it on to five friends. The goal is to reach $15,000 by the end of the year.

So I thought about it and decided that $5 isn't really much of a sacrifice for us right now and that it was feasible. If you think that you and your family could spare $5, please consider donating.
I'm supposed to tag 5 people, but if you are reading this, just go ahead and consider yourself tagged.

Here's what to do:
Click the picture below. Donate 5. Send to 5 more friends. Then, leave a comment on Jen's blog page, cause she'd like to keep track of how far this can go. Plus, if you comment, she'll even send you a copy of her fun Christmas mix CD that she likes to call, "Christmix 2009". Piece of cake!

click here to donate!