A Rockin' Coffee Cake

by Amy

Since I got so many comments on the last cake recipe I posted, I thought I'd post another one for your dining enjoyment.

This cake recipe is also from The Cake Mix Doctor. She calls it Kathy's Cinnamon Breakfast Cake. It's Brad's favorite breakfast! We have it every year for his birthday breakfast. It's really yummy! But, since it's large and our whole family can't (or shouldn't) eat it all in one sitting, I often cut the recipe in half. I'll give you measurements for the full and my "half" version, which isn't always exactly half.

full (half)

filling:

1/3 (1/4) cup brown sugar
2 (1+) teaspoon ground cinnamon

cake batter:

1 box of yellow cake mix (1 1/2 cups of mix, not packed)

1 small box vanilla pudding mix (1/3 cup mix)

3/4 cup veggie oil (6 Tablespoons)

3/4 cup water (6 Tablespoons)

4 eggs (2)

1 teaspoon vanilla (1/2 teaspoon)

Glaze:

1 cup powder sugar

2 Tables milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Select a pan and grease it. The Cake Mix Doctor recommends you use a bundt pan, but since I don't have one here, I always bake it in my 9x13. If I make half the recipe, I use a round 9in pan.

2.Then, in a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar and cinnamon. Then, set aside.

3. Place the ingredients for the batter in a bowl and mix thoroughly, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

4. Pour half the batter in the prepared pan. You want to err on the side of pouring less than half in the pan instead of more than half. The batter will be really thick.

5. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture on the top of the batter.

6. Cover the cinnamon sugar with the rest of the batter. Since the batter is so thick, you'll have to carefully pour it evenly since you won't be able to spread it without messing up the cinnamon sugar.

7. Bake it until it's done! :) If you use a bundt pan, the she says it will take about 58-60 minutes. When I bake it in a 9x13 it usually takes 30-35 (or more) minutes. The 9in cake pan usually is about the same.

8. While the cake is baking make the glaze. Make as much or as little as you like. I typically make a full recipe of glaze when I bake half a recipe. You can pour the glaze on the cake before you serve it, or you can serve it on the side and let people individually ice their own pieces. (That's what we do, so we need more glaze than the recipe requires.)

9. Serve it warm and enjoy!!

** Free Tip: If you're using this as a birthday breakfast, don't put candles into a warm cake unless you want them to melt through the cake....

Too Funny to Pass Up

by Amy

OK, this came from my friend's blog. I thought it was so funny that I had to post it on mine too. (I hope you don't mind, Carrie!) Sorry, if you follow both of our blogs!





She also lives overseas and this is the type of bacon she found in her local grocery store. She writes:

"Nobody, I mean nobody can resist the treasure of 'Elaborate Bacon: Piece in Heart. Fragrance in mouth.'

"The description reads: 'Western New Technicr Offer Everyone High-Quality Nutritive.'"

Oh, that's too fun!

School Update

by Amy

Well, Savannah has now completed her second week of local first grade. And, PTL, it's still going really well. Her teacher agreed to allow her to attend the classes we wanted her to attend, so that was a huge blessing. Here's her basic schedule:

Monday - 7:50-11:15 (language, math, language, PE)
Tuesday - 7:50-8:50 (language)
Wednesday - 8:50-11:15 (language, health, language)
Thursday - 8:50-11:15 (language, English, PE)
Friday - 8:50-11:15 (language, music, art)

(All the other kids go to school everyday from 7:50 to 11:15 and from 1:10 to 3:10.)

Everyday she goes to the same classroom. It's located on the first floor of a five story, U-shaped building and the classroom door opens to the courtyard. She had a different teacher for most of her classes, but she doesn't change rooms - the teachers do. Since she is taller than most of her classmates, she was assigned a seat towards the back of the room. Her classroom has four rows of nine desks. Two students sit at each desk. They sit on a stool - with no back - OUCH! She shares a desk with a boy that likes to lay his head on her and draw on her side of the table. So far, she's handled that OK. We've tried to remind her that all kids are sinners and there's a good chance that would happen if she attended a school in the States. Her new best friend sits next to her on the other side. They enjoy holding hands as they walk together. It's cute!

Savannah usually gets home from school about 11:30 or 11:40ish. We eat lunch around noon and she starts homeschooling about 12:30 or 1:00. I've been really proud of how hard Savannah has worked. I can tell she's making an effort to be diligent and to do her best. I know it's hard to be in school ALL day long, but I haven't heard her complain a bit. In several subjects, I've given Savannah freedom to decide when she finishes her lesson, and it's been fun to watch her manage that. For example, I'll tell her that I need her to complete these five handwriting pages by Friday. She has been really motivated to work hard at the beginning of the week so she can have an easier end of the week. (That's totally what I would have done too!) Actually, Savannah did school until 5:30 on Thursday night so she could have Friday afternoon off. I took her to Mc Donalds for lunch, then we went shopping together. It was really fun!

I have to say, I am so proud of my daughter! She is a hard worker, loving, brave, understanding, and encouraging. It is exciting to see the Lord faithfully develop godly character in her. I praise Him for the joy that she daily brings us!

Summer Fun

by Amy

Some summer fun pics for your viewing enjoyment.....

Flashback to Savannah's 7th Birthday

by Amy

Since we were in Hong Kong for Savannh's birthday, we celebrated her twice this year! While we were in Hong Kong, she started her day off with a Sarah Lee Double Chocolate Pound Cake. It seemed pretty breakfasty and fun! :) Then Anna and Rachel called all the way from Kentucky! They had a great time talking to each other. Then, we went to Toys R Us to spend some money that Grandma had given each of the kids for their summer birthdays. Savannah picked a snorkel, mask, and fins set as well as a cute stuffed bunny. Then after eating lunch at Burger King (Savannah's favorite!), we went back to our flat for naps. While the boys slept we gave Savannah the one present we had brought with us - a princess game her her new leapster (that Papa and Nana sent.) So, she played games while her brothers slept. That evening we went out for some yummy Italian food.

Then a couple of weeks after we got home from HK, we chose a day to celebrate Savannah again! This time she got to open gifts and eat cake! We had issues designing her cake this year. Savannah really wanted an Ariel cake, but as I looked for ideas online, they all seemed impossible with my limited resources here. (I can collect a few things and make it happen next year, though!) So, after we ruled that out, Savannah came up with the idea for a triple layer cake Peppermint Chocolate cake. It was really yummy! The top layer was heart shaped, the middle layer was oval shaped while the bottom layer was a normal 9in. round cake. Between layers was a peppermint butter cream icing. But, since I had some leftover, I also sliced the top two cakes in the middle horizontally (the heart and oval ones) and put some icing in them. It took quite a few hours to put together, but she loved it! And, it was REALLY yummy, if I do say so myself!

And, when you're seven years old, you're old enough to light your own candles!

Savannah got several fun presents including a paint-it-yourself porcelain tea set from me and Brad, make-up from grandma, and a fun book of interview questions from Aunt Mel. But, I think her favorite gift was roller blades. Savannah's been asking for them for months! And, believe it or not, she does OK on them. It so brings back memories.... I used to love to roller blade!

I cannot believe my precious little girl is really seven years old! Oh my, where has the time gone? It has flown by. It seems like it was just yesterday she was taking her first steps and now she's riding her bike (without training wheels) and roller blading. Craziness! We praise the Lord for Savannah and are so thankful for the godly character we see the Lord developing in her. Savannah is thoughtful, hard working, considerate of others, honest and down right beautiful inside and out. What a priceless gift from the Lord she is. May He give her many, many more years serving and loving Him.

Flashback to Hong Kong

By Amy


So I know I already posted a little bit about our trip to Hong Kong, but as I was looking through our summer pictures, I found some cute ones that I couldn't pass up posting.



We had some friends take us out to a beach. It was perfect! There were hardly any people there; there was a Subway sandwiches nearby; and it had a play area on the sand. What more could you want?





During our 12 days in Hong Kong, I think we hit this beach three times. The kids had a blast!


Then, as I mentioned before, we also hit Disneyland. Here are a few pics....

Look at that amazing blue sky! It actually seemed fake. Where we live, the sky NEVER looks like that! So, we couldn't resist taking a picture. Beautiful!

As I'm sure you know, Hong Kong has a beautiful skyline. I think I read it's one of the most famous in the world. So, there's a place called The Peak that you can go to and have a beautiful view of the harbor and downtown HK. To get there, you can either drive yourself, take a busride for about 25+ minutes up winding mountain roads, or you can take the Tram. It takes you to the top in 6 minutes! You go almost straight up. Needless to say, my kids were super excited to take the tram.

We invited our friends to head up there and eat dinner with us. They had a daughter Savannah's age and a son Alex and Peter's age. Needless to say, fun times were had by all!

First Grade

**WARNING ** Really long, and probably pretty boring to most! **WARNING**

by Amy

She did it!! Yesterday was Savannah's first day attending classes at a local first grade! She did great!! When I picked her up for lunch, she was glowing! She seemed so happy! My social little girl finally has an outlet ~ with kids her own age! (At the preschool, she was the oldest. The other kids are Peter and Alex's age or younger.) I am so proud of her, I can hardly stand it!

Monday we had an orientation. So, she got to meet her classmates and teachers. (Brad and I were also there so we got to meet other parents and her teachers as well.) So when Brad dropped her off yesterday morning, Savannah knew right where to go and what to do. She said she felt a little nervous, but was also really excited. She had already made five friends at the orientation and was excited to see them again.

Schools here dismiss students for 2 hours for lunch each day. So, parents have two options. 1. They can either pick their kid up (or send a grandma to do get them), and take them home for lunch. Or. 2. They can hire a lady to come to the school, pick up their kid, with a few others, take them back to their nearby home, feed them lunch, help them with homework or let them nap, then bring them back to school. Most of the women doing this job are grandma-types, but some are younger too.

My plan for the first day of school, was to pick Savannah up for lunch and take her (and Peter and Alex) out for KFC. So, that's exactly what we did! (I also brought along some mint chocolate cookies for the occasion!) On our way to KFC, Savannah mentioned that she got all of her books except for her English book. We need to buy that one ourselves. So, I asked if she liked her English teacher. She quickly replied with, "I was the teacher, Mommy!" Her English teacher called Savannah up to the front of the class and asked her to say certain things and all of the students would repeat after her. She loved it!

Later she told me that the teacher said they only needed four books for school tomorrow, but she wasn't sure which four she needed. I told her that I was sure her teacher or a classmate would be glad to help her after lunch. But, when I picked her up yesterday afternoon and asked about the books, she said she just decided to bring them all back! -- No problem! That's probably what I would have done too!

Today and yesterday (Tuesday and Wednesday) we sent Savannah to school all day, just like the other kids. We wanted her to get a feel for what happened in the mornings and the afternoons. We also wanted her to be there when books were passed out or other important "School-Just-Started" things happened. But, normally, Savannah will only attend school part-time and home school part-time. I was hoping to send Savannah to school each afternoon, so I could continue homeschooling in the morning. (Mornings are her best time!) But, they only have 2 class periods in the afternoon (1:10-3:10) and one of them is a homeroom/study hall type class. So, we decided that probably would not be the best time to send her. Leigh (my house helper) and I have a meeting scheduled with the teacher this afternoon. I plan on letting her know what classes Savannah will attend and when.

One other interesting (and slightly annoying) thing about schools here is that no two days are alike. For example on Monday morning her four classes are 1. local language, 2, math, 3. local language. 4. PE. But Tuesday morning, her four classes are: 1. local language, 2. math. 3. English, 4. social studies. Wednesday she has 1. Math 2. local language, 3. music, 4. local language. Thursday and Friday are different too, with a local language class in the morning and in the afternoon. It's crazy!! So, since local language class is the most important class for her to attend (in our opinion), this will be her daily schedule:

Monday 7:50-11:10 - she'll attend all four classes
Tuesday 7:50-8:30 - she'll only attend local language class
Wednesday - Friday 8:30-11:10 - she'll attend three classes, skipping the math class each day (since I cover that in home schooling.) She'll also skip the two local language classes in the afternoon.

We asked Savannah if she wanted to go all morning on Tuesday or only attend local language class, and she said she really wants a long time to home school, so she'd prefer to only go for one class that day. I was glad! Hopefully we can get her teacher to agree!

I have spend months and months praying about Savannah's school situation, and I am so thankful for how all of the details have worked out thus far. The One in charge has taken good care of us! Last night as we prayed with Savannah we asked her what she was thankful for - "She said, I have 8 friends now!" She was also thankful she was able to understand most of what was going on in class. What sweet blessings in deed! I realize there may be some hard things coming, but for now I too am so thankful!

Wow - you did it! You made it to the end of a REALLY long post! Thanks for allowing this mother's heart to process and share!