Hungry for red cabbage?

I started craving German red cabbage after our joint German-American church service. At the pot luck I tried some of the BEST red cabbage I have ever had. So I decided to make it myself. We have been cooking a lot since we moved to Germany. Not only does it get really expensive to eat out but we also miss "American" food. Or shall we say, "Southern" food, like Mexican food, roasts, and briskets. With all of that in mind I thought I'd share this yummy recipe with you. It's cheap, easy, and very good! The only downside is it takes some time to cook. So feel free to eat it with any main dish you want. Or you can even eat it by itself, it's that good! We ate this with Texas brisket the first night and ham the second. We mixed a little German with a little Texan and it was great...just like our time in Germany.

GERMAN RED CABBAGE

(you can also use white cabbage)

1 med. red cabbage
3-4 apples
1/3 c. shortening or lard
2 Tbs. vinegar
1 c. water
1 c. sugar

Quarter apples and remove core. Saute apples in shortening, shred cabbage, add to apple and shortening. Bring vinegar, water, and 1/2 cup sugar to a boil. Once the sugar is dissolved, add to cabbage. Cook for 1 hour or until cabbage is done. Stir every 5-10 minutes making sure all the cabbage has a chance to cook.

7 months old

Caden is seven months old today! I still can hardly believe how fast he is growing. Many people have told me to enjoy everyday because babies grow up really fast. I can see that is true!

The newest things Caden can do is get up on all 4s. He doesn't go anywhere when he is on his hands and knees but he's able to hold his body up which is great! He scoots backwards and in a circle when his knees are behind him. We are trying to teach him to go forward. One of his favorite things to do, however, is stand. He loves standing and holding onto things, whether that is our hands or a sturdy object. He can pull himself up from the ground to a standing position now. He doesn't do this unless we are right behind him or in front of him. We have started baby proofing more, Collin put up a gate on our top floor in front of the stairs, we still need two more gates for the stairs on our other two floors. It is hard to find baby gates that work well for spiral staircases. Not even the Germans know where we can buy them. We bought one from Amazon and will probably order the other ones from there as well. Collin will probably build something to make the other gates work.

I decided to attend my ladies' Bible study this spring which started back up a few weeks ago. I finally left Caden alone in the nursery there. It was really hard to leave him! He has done pretty well. He loves watching other kids and babies but would rather me be with him. He can go for 20 minutes without me now. So I go back and forth and keep him with me some of the time and then let him go back to the nursery. The first time he took a 40 minute nap so that was nice. I am also back in MOPS and we are still doing infant massage classes, which he loves!

Caden also now has 3 teeth! He has both bottom front teeth and his upper left front tooth. He is still drooling a lot but at least we have a few teeth now. We just just started feeding him solids twice a day and am I still only breastfeeding him the rest of his meals. He sleeps 10-12 hours at night, takes 2-3 naps a day, and is a very happy baby and so much fun to be with. We love playing games, playing with his toys, and reading books. He loves laughing and babbling. He smiles at everyone he meets and is very social. He is so cute and we feel very blessed. We could not have asked for a better child! Other than that, we are enjoying life and trying to stay warm during this cold winter in Germany.

Here are a few pictures.

Caden on all 4s!

He loves taking the numbers from his mat a part and chewing on them

Playing with his new "toy" - I gave him a spatula to play with when I cook and he loves it!

Sledding!

This evening after Collin got home from work we took Caden sledding for the first time. Over the weekend we got a lot of snow. Caden's German grandmother at church gave him a sled a few weeks ago. We took him sledding in front of our house and he had a lot of fun. We even built a little snow man. The weather is cold but the snow is beautiful! Here are some pictures.

Caden having a great time!

Caden was smiling and laughing

Building the snow man

Lots of fun in the snow!

6th Wedding Anniversary and Caden has a tooth!

Last Monday, we celebrated six wonderful years of marriage. Collin took off work so we had an extra long weekend to celebrate. This year was extra special because Caden was with us. We spent most of the day at home except for making a shopping trip out to look at baby carriers and going to dinner. We bought an Ergo Baby. We have a Baby Bjorn and Moby Wrap, both are great, but Caden is getting heavier and we needed something that could distribute his weight better that was quick and easy to use. We decided the Ergo Baby fit the bill nicely and will be very beneficial on our upcoming cruise.

Collin is the best husband in the world. I really could not ask to be married to a better man. Not only is he a wonderful Christian who tries to honor God in all he does, he makes life so much fun! He is also a great dad. I am truly blessed to be his wife. He was so sweet this year, he made whole wheat chocolate chip pancakes for me for breakfast, steak nachos for lunch, and took me to our favorite Greek restaurant for dinner. He also bought me a wooden picture frame box since the 6th wedding anniversary gift is wood. It has our names carved on it and a sweet message.

These past six years have been amazing! We moved overseas, have visited 19 countries, and 9 states in the U.S. We have gone on one mission trip together, joined several small groups, bought our first house, got a dog, gave the dog away when we moved, and had our first child! We have had a lot of good times. However, with all the travel and activities we have done, having Caden is by far the best part of our marriage. He is truly a gift from God.

I noticed today that Caden is finally cutting his first tooth! He's cutting a front bottom tooth. He is growing up so fast.

Here are a some pictures from the past six years.

6th wedding anniversary - 2010

5th wedding anniversary - 2009

4th wedding anniversary - 2008

3rd wedding anniversary - 2007

2nd wedding anniversary - 2006

1st wedding anniversary - 2005

Our wedding, January 4, 2004