Baltimore Wedding Photographer Kathy Freundel » 443.844.2352

From our family to each of yours . . . we hope you had a blessed Christmas, surrounded by those you love. And that you draw closer to God in the coming year than ever before.

I am so thankful to my blog readers for taking the time to shoot me an email, respond to a post, or offer a word of encouragement. Those life giving words are like nuggets of dark chocolate in my mouth, and they are precious to me. You, reader, remind me constantly of the power of building up those around me. Thank you, and I hope each one of you feels Jesus’s incredibly perfect love for you this day.

p.s. I mean it with all my heart

“School, schmool. I wanna go work on my Christmas cards.”

“Why do we have to do school today? Can’t we go Christmas shopping and let that count as math?”

“Gingerbread men. Gingerbread men.”

And that’s me talking. It takes every ounce of self discipline I have these days to do the have to’s before the want to’s. But the kids are being good sports about it.

“Come on, Christmas break!”

I played “lurking camera lady” to give you a peak.

Whadduya get when you cross a rookery of middle school boys with the cushion top of a wooden bar stool?  The entertainment for a holiday party, apparently. That’s what I love about these kids . . . it doesn’t take much to keep ‘em happy . . . all that joy is such lying inside, waiting to bubble up.

But add a group of high schoolers with a desire to invest in the lives of the kids coming up behind them,  crazy skits,  inspired ice breakers, presents, unlimited snacks and sodas by the case . . . well, you get the point. It’s the place the kids WANT to be- and it’s delivered laced with a pretty powerful spiritual message. But just as important as the message, it’s the place where my kids know they are safe, loved and covered. Where they will never stand alone on the sidelines. And hanging in the shadows are the adults that have always come alongside our family to speak truth into our kids’ lives. So if the going ever gets tough, our kids will know where to go.

That’s something that Carl and I have always purposed . . . that our kids would have a cadre of adults available to them that would speak light and truth into their hearts and minds. And that doesn’t come by accident. Part of the vision is choosing who we’d like those adults to be and the other part is getting our kids in regular relationship with those people. For us, it’s making time spent with grandparents, aunts and uncles regular and meaningful. It’s joining a small group at church where families are living life side by side. It’s being focused on who is filling the role of car pool driver, soccer coach, youth group leader and babysitter . . . because life is HARD- even in middle school. And Carl and I do not do this thing even close to perfectly. It’s a constant struggle with good days and hard days and honestly, sometimes I’d rather be home in my jammies on a cold Friday night . . . but I only get one chance to raise my kids, and it’s already gone way too fast.

So, you are invited. Email me if you want to get on the mailing list.  WyldLife is the middle school version of Young Life. We meet monthly and if you are in middle school, you are invited. Crossroads Community Church.

Where else are you going to find a furry bunny, an pouty elephant and a chicken-o-hubris at the manger? At Crossroads140. Let’s face it. We’ve heard the gospel according to Holden Caufield, The Wizard of Oz, Romeo and Juliet and Schindler’s List . . . and for the last six weeks we’ve had a live worship artist creating on a huge canvas right in front of the congregation as the whole worship service was taking place . . . so, it’s not surprising that the children’s Christmas pageant was something WAY out of the box. Not at all ordinary, but very special.

We three kings. And this one took it very seriously.

Rachel and Steph were  ”narrators-with-attitude” and had us all mooing, braying, and bleating “Goat-Boy” from the congregation. How two beautiful high school girls could get totally enthusiastic audience participation? . . .  Well, not a surprise.

Margaret Newton,  has invested so much life and love into our children’s program. Are you looking for a safe place your precious ones? Margaret’s your girl.

Kudos to Lisa Nibbelink, who kept a corral of excited kids totally quiet and hidden on stage.

Reid’s teaching righted my heart for the Christmas season. Every single Sunday I leave challenged and encouraged and poised to process for days. This day was no different. (see the canvasses on the wall? . . . live art!)

Generations worshipping God together. That’s one thing that I love the most. My own family worships together every Sunday. Four generations. 99 down to 3. What a gift.

So, if you’re looking to put the Christ in your Christmas, you will feel comfy and loved at Crossroads.  No pressure, no fuss. Just come check it out. That’s what I did and I never left.

Dec. 11. County Wide WyldeLife Christmas event- 6:30 (middle schoolers) in the warehouse.

Dec. 19. LIVE nativity 5 pm. Stan and Kelly Dabkowski of Spring Meadow Farms are heading this one up, so you’ll KNOW they’ll be lots of animals and who knows what else. Oh, and hot chocolate too.

Dec. 24. Christmas Eve Service. 5 & 8 pm.

We are the big red warehouse building right behind the WaWa on 140. (formerly the TSC)

The future of our family traditions. Right there on the rock. And they know by now that Thanksgiving  means spending the day as a family,  complete with silly games, football, skits, recitations and lots and lots of food. It Dolly’s pretzel salad, Dawn’s succulent apps, David’s coffee chocochip cookies, Nancy’s spinach mashed potatoes and Mom’s fresh turkey and stuffing.

So, here’s a little taste of the Freundel Thanksgiving, from the kids’ perspective. I used to LOVE Thanksgiving as a child. I remember being with my siblings and cousins in north Jersey . . . eating too much, conducting interviews with an old reel to reel tape recorder, finding chocolate turkeys in the back of my Gram’s frig . . . and ending the evening watching the Gene Wilder Willie Wonka.

Katie and Dan planned the games this time. We had about 40 friends and family  at our celebration this year, and this game was a super ice breaker. You were given a sticker and had to ask questions to discover your own identity. Then, you had to find your “better half.”

Sam and Michael created these friendly critters to welcome the guests.

The “big kids’” table.

My beautiful 99 year old Gi-Gi with my sweet nephew Jake.

Miss “My eyes are most certainly not bigger than my stomach.”

My gorgeous mom who was and will always be the sculptor of everything good in our family.

Abba and Lils.

My gorgeous sis, Nancy and her Katie.

As usual, the evening ended in sleep over negotiations. We traded two for two. We’re set . . . Carl bought the Crunchberries yesterday

I remember my dad used to buy the Lucky Charms for us.

And here I sit in my warm bed, head spinning from too much dessert, and I’m grateful.

Sweet. Life.

We’re going on three weeks now, livin’ with the sheriff. Those duds weren’t made for daily wear, is all I’m gonna say.

But I know the look. I’ve had the look. In fact, I  lived the look  just the other day.

Learned my newly hired superstar accountant has left his practice for, well, let’s say performance issues. Drat. Need that like a snake in my boot.

So, here it is, reader. I want someone local. Someone that is accustomed to working with creative professionals. Someone proactive and rockstar good. Any ideas??

I led Ned to the tent. Ned led Nell to the tent. Nell led Dan to the tent. Dan led Ellen to the tent. Ellen led Bill to the tent. Bill led Ted to the tent.Ted led Al to the tent. Al led Nan to the tent. Nan led Nat to the tent. Crash! (c. 1965)

There she stood. That brunette with the Crystal Gayle doo, whom my sister and I argued about.

“I’m that one . . . you’re the one with braids, ’cause her name’s Nan,” I would argue.

It was the late 60′s and this was the first book that I remember reading by myself. So when I discovered this little gem in all its yellow glory perched on the children’s book shelf, well, needless to say I grabbed it, looked around to make sure no one was watching, and put it in my pile of treasure finds.

At least once a year  we take “provisions trips”. At the Amish wholesalers we buy Oatmeal by the trash bag full (and it’s only a couple of dollars for a huge bag of Old Fashioned rolled oats!) and store it through the winter in a big five gallon bucket in our larder. But the real reason for going is so that we have an excuse to pop over to the “Re-Uz-It” in Ephrata to search the shelves and shelves of library discard books from all the school districts in the area. It’s such a fun treasure hunt. Each of us has a couple of authors that we search for . . .and it’s always changing. We fill up boxes of books and are happy as clams to read our treasures all the way home. The D’aulaire’s, Gene Stratton Porter, Maugerite d’Angeli, Horation Alger, Rosemary Sutcliffe George MacDonald and of course Munro Leaf . . . . these have become dear family friends over the years.

But this one was the find of all finds. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but I wanted Lily to enjoy it as I did at her age. She plodded through the text, sounding out all the names . . .  when she got to the end, she wanted to know . . .

“what are all the kids doing in that tent? And where’s the mommy and daddy?”

What can I say? It was the late 60′s . . .

Is it just me or do you also remember the first time you LOVED a book??? What was it?

Pumpkin Day kind of passed us by in a whirlwind this year. We’d been out of commission, and then on Halloween we had SIX soccer games . . . three players, different fields, all day long. Each morning that week the kids asked, “Can we go to Baugher’s to get our pumpkins today??” And the answer day after day was not what they had hoped for.

Sunday, November 1st, we’re driving home from church, and Dan asked to stop into the orchard where he works. Big sign . . . all pumpkins, $1.  WooHoo! So, I could finally say, “Today is the day! You can pick as big a pumpkin as you can carry . . . and they thought they had been released into Toys-R-Us on a shopping spree. So, I got outa there for $5, and the Freundels got their pumpkins.  Only Michael’s gotten to carve so far, but we talk about it most days.

The boys want to shoot their pumpkins off our backyard trebuchet. I think they’re waiting till they start to rot.  joy.

And yes, Sam is still livin’ in that Woody costume. Going on day 7 today. Ridin’ that pumpkin horse.

We had our first outing yesterday. Yup. Everyone’s completely better, so, we went to the dentist for check up.  Were the Freundels bummed that THIS was their first outing in two weeks? NO WAY. (well, Dan was a little bummed) They really love going to the dentist. And what’s not to love? It’s a Disney paradise . . . with myriad  chiming, crazy cuckoo clocks bragging  on cue,  movies looping continuously, and the best box of Mr. Potato pieces evuh. Dr. Marcus. Reisterstown. Worth the drive.

Sam’s first REAL visit. Can you tell he’s a little impressed with himelf?

And Melissa was there to paint on that yummy strawberry flouride.

Another reason to be grateful. I have time to mill wheat to make bread. This bread is so healthful and yummy! Seriously, if we had been eating it, maybe we wouldn’t have gotten the flu! But when the homeschool co-op is in full swing, I barely have time to keep my head above water.

Here’s the recipe . . .easy as pie. 2 T yeast, 2.5 c. warm water, 1/3 c honey, 1/3 cup EVOO, dash salt, 7-8 c. milled wheat. Don’t have a mill? Just use whole wheat!  My Kitchen Aid mixer broke, so I now do it by hand. So easy. {makes me wonder why I ever thought I needed the Kitchen Aid}

Best way to eat the bread, IMO. Slathered thickly with peanut butter. Zimmerman’s is the BEST. Under $5. for 2 lbs!!! Sonnewald in Spring Grove, PA.

I also get my yeast, wheat, and olive oil in bulk from Sonnewald or the Amish wholesalers in Lancaster. My honey I get from an Apiary in the Catoctin Mountains. Did you know that if you eat local honey, you’ll have some antibodies to local allergens?  And, buy in bulk, because honey is the only food that will never spoil and requires no refrigeration. We keep our wheat and honey in  five gallon buckets with tight lids.

It’s not about being perfect, for goodness knows we eat our share of Oreos around here. But for me it’s about making good and frugal choices as a rule, and not as an exception. Believe me, I was intimidated the first time I tried to make my own bread. It’s so easy that Kristiana and Caroline  make the bread now.