Rain, Roses, and Rainbows

Southern Cooking in Switzerland

Yesterday we went to pick cherries next door in our neighbor, Mrs. Margaret's backyard.

When we finished, we brought them home and found a great Cherry Crisp recipe.  Here is the original recipe we found on line:

Ingredients

• 4 cups pitted sour cherries
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
•  
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup shortening

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine cherries, 1 1/2 cups white sugar, and 4 tablespoons flour. Pour into 9x13 inch baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, oats, and brown sugar. Cut in butter and shortening until crumbly. Sprinkle over cherries.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until topping is golden brown.

To see how I made this recipe, click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTdbtOtbLGo

Kathryn

Super Nanny

We are still having computer problems, so this will be quick and no pictures, sorry. 

Today we went to the Art Museum because they have a Roman antiquities exhibit and the kids are studying Ancient Rome in prep for our summer trip there.  We got there taking the train and then the bus.  And how did I do this with all of my children and zero ability to understand the public transportation system?  By following behind Sarah, AKA super nanny, who posesses master ninja navigation skills and figured out the whole train/bus/tram system in about 10 minutes.  She arrived last week and we love her and are so grateful she was willing to come and live with us for the next few months. We had a great time, walked all around downtown and got home without fighting traffic.  It was delightful.

More updates later!
Mary

The United Nations

Have you ever thought about something like a world meeting, and where it is held?  Well the name of this thing is called the United Nations and was started after World War II.  The U.N. has done many important things over the years. The U.N. is still affecting the world today. The United Nations is an important organization that influences countries around the world and strives for world peace.

 The founder of the U.N. was Franklin Roosevelt.  The original name was the Declaration of United Nations, and the day it was founded was January 1, 1942.  The main countries ‘chartered’ are the U.K., China, Russia, France, and The United States. . The Security Council is the seats that the U.N. focuses on. There are five permanent spots are The United States, The United Kingdom, China, Russia, and France.  The first meeting was held in San Francisco. The day was on October 24 and now that day is U.N. day ‘the day of peace

 Important things that the U.N. has done are promoting Human rights, create international laws, and promote women’s rights and protecting the o-zone layer.  All of these things are protecting the world and how people live every day.  Something like protecting the o-zone layer is very important to the world and our health.

             The United Nations today makes war rules.  Also, they are trying to keep peace.  An example is the U.N. is dealing with the Libya problem.  The Libya problem has to do with the army bombing their own people.  The U.N. is also fighting against landmines. There is a big chair in front of the U.N. in Geneva with a missing leg that represents their protest.

           In conclusion, The U.N. is a very important organization to the world.  It makes peace and also keeps war from happening. If the United Nations didn’t exist there would be more fighting and problems around the world.   From my perspective, if we didn’t have the United Nations we would be having a lot of world problems.  It is a very critical organization to the world.  The founders would be very proud of what the U.N. is today.

PS.  We did a guided tour of the UN this week and have lots of pictures, but we are having trouble with the computer, so they will have to wait.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame!

I think I know why baseball is called America's favorite pastime.  Today was opening day for the Geneva Baseball League and it was definitely done a little differently than we do things down in Dixie. For starters, we didn't even know what team Jack was on until last night.  This morning was the first game, as well as the first practice.  All the coaches started by asking the players what position they wanted to play, and then they just sent them to the field, often having to direct them to where their chosen position was.  We were told it was "laid back"....to say the least.

However, once we wrapped our minds around this kinder and gentler approach to athletics, we had a great time.  Jack is playing shortstop and had a triple and an RBI double.  Kate and Josh are playing third and short and also got hits everytime they went to the plate.  Unfortunately, I have a feeling the coach will eventually have to change their positions because they are close enough to argue with each other-constantly. I'm not sure why that surprises me.

All in all though, I am really proud of them.  They were less than thrilled to sign up, but did it in hopes of meeting some other kids.  Kathryn has never even played baseball before!  But they all had a super attitude and were great sports.  And of course, they completely dominated the other teams.:)

Here's to a great season!

Their biggest fan!

Josh always plays like it is the World Series

Kathryn offering some innocent direction, Josh telling her to "shut up!"

Thankfully, they didn't let this guy play second.  I'm not sure if it was his "ready position" or his crocs that forced this difficult coaching decision

One of the spectators...I'm not sure, but I think showing up to a little league game dressed like this is a misdemeanor in Georgia.

A Royal Weekend

I started my royal weekend on Friday by watching the royal wedding and getting my hair done for the event.  Then on Saturday I went to visit a castle in Montreaux, which is about an hour from here. 

I led the way up the ladder!

View from the tower where I tried to let my hair down, but I forgot my Rapunzel wig!

Josh liked the knight's armor.

Me in the dungeon, I was not afraid at all.

But these steps were scary!

In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue, in 2 thousand 1 and 1, I went to see where he was from.

Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in the prt city of Genoa, Italy.  He made four trips to the Caribbean and South America in his life, but from Spain, not Italy.  This is because the King and Queen of Spain were the ones who would give him the money for the ships he needed.  But he did not get where he was trying to go.  He was trying to go to India by sailing west.  He was one of the first people to believe the world was round.  But the first European to really land on America was a Viking named Leif Ericsson.  And Amerigo Vespucci was really the person was figured out that the Americas were new continents to the Europeans.  The continents of North America and South America are named after him.

by Joshua (with help from Jack)

Christopher Columbus's House

I climbed a tree in his backyard

In Chris's backyard