A Georgia Girl in Germany

This post celebrates one year of the quarnocook blog site. A lot has changed over the past year, and we’ve definitely been busy with kid activities, visitors and excursions throughout Europe.

I occasionally receive emails from friends and family commenting on various posts, but not many people leave comments on the site itself. So, in that vein, I’d like a short comment from anyone who’s reading this.

If you’re not sure how, simply click on the words “0 comments” (or if someone’s already commented, then whatever number may be there) at the bottom of this narrative. Another page will open with room for your comments. You DON’T have to have a Blogger account to leave a comment. After drafting your comment, click on “other” (unless you have a Google/Blogger account you want to use) then type in the characters from the word verification (which prevents unwanted, automated comments). Finally, click on “Publish Your Comment,” and you're done.

It's that easy, and I would appreciate knowing who regularly visits the site. Thanks, and keep checking back to read about the latest Cook Clan happenings! Future posts include our recent trips to Strasbourg, France; Brussels, Belgium; Munich, Linderhof and Neuschwanstein, Germany; Luxembourg City; Pisa, Rome, Pompeii, Isle of Capri and Florence, Italy; the Vatican; as well as other cultural events here locally and various kid activities.

Labels: Pam's thoughts

Last night while I was getting supper ready, Benjamin commented that he needed to wash his hands. Since he had red ink from a marker on all 10 of his fingertips, I simply watched him head down the hallway to the bathroom as I turned back to my task at hand. That was my mistake.

After supper, Zachary noticed a cup sitting on the bathroom counter full to the top with water…with his hummingbird tooth flosser completely submerged in the water. Apparently, Benjamin decided it needed cleaning, so he dunked it. Fortunately, after removing it from its watery grave, we were able to resuscitate it. Twenty-four hours later, it seems to have completely mended…much to Zachary’s relief.

When it was time for the kids to get ready for bed shortly afterward, Benjamin sat in my lap with his mouth open for me to brush his teeth. He’s still primarily using the training toothpaste that’s safe to swallow, so I began brushing. But then a strange thing happened…after only three passes, he had a plethora of foam and suds in his mouth. He pulled my hand away from his mouth, scrunched up his face and simply said, “Soap!” At first I didn’t realize what he was telling me, but after about three more passes and noticing the rabid-looking foam quickly beginning to form on all of his teeth, it hit me. The training toothpaste doesn’t foam up like regular toothpaste, so there had to be another reason for the white foam now enveloping his teeth. He had pumped clear Softsoap Antibacterial soap onto his toothbrush. The look on his face was priceless and confirmed that it didn’t taste good at all!

While he didn’t admit to submerging Zachary’s hummingbird flosser, he readily admitted to putting soap on his toothbrush (still with his face scrunched up in a knot to emphasize how horrible it tasted). After spitting the soap suds out, rinsing out his mouth and thoroughly cleaning off his toothbrush bristles, we started over and managed to not recreate the rabid dog look in his mouth.

Sorry, no photo of the rabid dog look. That would have been too cruel to make him wait while I grabbed the camera.

And I thought he was merely washing his hands since the red ink was no longer on his fingertips!

Labels: Benjamin

I just returned from a few days TDY to Naples for a summit with the Navy folks there. We stayed busy, but also managed to head out for dinner at a few wonderful local restaurants. I also realized that I went to tech school with one of the individuals who had also flown in for the summit. Since he’s Navy (naturally), our paths haven’t crossed since we were in class together more than 12.5 years ago!

The kids did well while I was gone, as always, and were very excited when they saw the goodies I brought back: food. When we were traipsing through Italy over Christmas, they all fell in love with the pasta and other delicious food, so I had to find a few items to bring back so we could enjoy a taste of Italy back at home. Luckily I found several bags of make-at-home spaghetti sauce (simply combine with warm olive oil), a few varieties of pre-made sauces and a package of fresh mozzarella cheese.

We had angel-hair pasta last night (which Zachary calls “mouth-o-dynamic” because of how easily the thin pasta glides through his mouth) with one of the jars of sauce, topped with freshly-shredded mozzarella cheese...and it was absolutely delicious! Zachary and MacKenzie provided most of the work to grate the mozzarella, so we now have a bowl in the refrigerator for future dishes. I don’t expect it will last terribly long though!



As an aside, Nana was tickled at Zachary’s preference for angel-hair pasta (also her favorite). He’s definitely her grandchild when it comes to food preferences. He’s also taken to eating tomatoes as a snack. But, instead of slicing them like Nana does, he simply washes them and bites into them like an apple! He did the same with fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes when he was two years old. I guess some things never change!

Labels: Cooking, MacKenzie, Zachary

This year’s Boy Scout Sunday took on a different flavor for us. Last year, Zachary had completed his “God and Family” requirements and was awarded the corresponding medal during the service. Since his next opportunity for earning a religious medal won’t come until next year when he’s a Boy Scout (vice a Cub Scout), his participation was more low-key this year.

MacKenzie actually helped me with the first part of our involvement: baking goodies for fellowship after the service. Her favorite part of helping, of course, was to help lick the utensils and bowls clean, then sample the finished products. That was almost a job within itself since we made two kinds of cookies and a double-batch of brownies! Benjamin also wanted to get in on the action, but he was more interested in the sampling end of business.

I figured while we were at it, we’d bake some extra goodies for friends who are deployed to Djibouti, Africa, and Baghdad, Iraq...hence the abundance of baked goodies. (On a side note, we sent a box of Ritter-Sport chocolates to another friend who was deployed to Qatar over Christmas, and learned that the chocolates were much appreciated...although I doubt they all lasted the two weeks until the Wisconsin Cheese and Sausage party for which they were intended!)


I think there was more Scout participation in the Boy Scout Sunday service this year than last year, with several dozen boys wearing their scouting uniforms and assisting in various segments of the service. Zachary helped greet the congregation members as they entered the sanctuary by offering to take their coats to hang up in the back of the chapel. His other role, once again, was to be an usher during the offering...which he performed with great poise.


After the service, Zachary rushed to the back of the sanctuary so he could help people retrieve their coats as they left. All he really had to do was roll the coat racks back toward the exit. Then he and MacKenzie made a beeline to the gazebo for fellowship so they could sample the wonderful assortment of goodies available. Amazingly enough, they both gravitated to the plate we brought. I’m not sure why they did that since we left a few extras at home. They are always good about selecting a treat or two to take to Benjamin, who most Sundays goes to Child Watch where he can play with other young children instead of having to be stifled and shhhh’ed during the service.

Today was a great opportunity to recognize Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts for their service to God. After all, the Scout Oath begins, “On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country…” And with that in mind, please continue to keep the thousands of American Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines who are serving our country in harm’s way and in harsh conditions around the world in your thoughts and prayers as well.

Labels: Cub Scouts, Zachary

After doing well in the 5th-grade spelling bee the week prior, Zachary was ready Wednesday for the school-wide spelling bee with the top four spellers from the 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. This time, the spellers competed in front of a much larger audience -- the entire 3rd, 4th and 5th grades! The 12 contestants assembled together in front of their classmates before listening to the rules for competition. After one practice round, they began the official competition.

During the practice round, he correctly spelled “caboose,” and was ready to tackle the words that would determine the best speller in the school. His first official word was “petunia,” which he spelled with ease. After the first round, however, the field had been narrowed from 12 to six.


During the second round, the field narrowed to five, and he moved on to the next round after correctly spelling “Newton.”

When it was his turn in the third round, his word was “rotunda.” He paused, repeated the word, then began spelling “R-O-U...I mean R-O-T-U-N-D-A.” But, the damage had been done. According to spelling bee rules, while you can re-start a word, once you say a letter you cannot change the order of the letters. So, since he got ahead of himself by saying “U” before “T,” the judges had to rule his spelling incorrect. He knew what he’d done as soon as he uttered the letter “U,” and was disappointed. But, he made it to the top five of the school-wide competition and earned a medal for his efforts, so wasn’t totally dejected.

And, he really knows how to spell “rotunda” now.

Labels: Zachary