A Susie Ickle Story

Hey everyone!

I hope you all had a great Christmas and are getting ready for the New Year! I just wanted to take the time to share a story my Great Aunt Lynda sent us all for Christmas. It's called a Susie Ickle Story The Next Generation. She used to tell these stories to my aunts and uncles, as well as my mom's cousins and their families. I'm so glad she started writing them for us now too! I hope you enjoy!

A Susie Ickle Story

The Next Generation

How the Kids Saved an Old Lady

Once upon a time, not too long ago, there was an old lady who lived in a house (part of the time) by a pond in the woods. The woods were lovely and sometimes a family of deer would come to visit. However, they stayed on the other side of the pond and didn’t speak English. They old lady grew up in an era when Deerish was not a common language, so it was hard to communicate. There were lots of beautiful fish in the pond and they often jumped out of the water and tried to talk to the old lady. Unfortunately, they only spoke Fishish, so the old lady could not understand what they said. She had taken a crash course to learn Fishish but never got the hang of it. When she tried to talk with the fish in their Fishish language, all the frogs would break out in a big belly laugh and go “Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit” in their own Frogish language. This made the old lady very grumpy.

She became so grumpy that she refused to take out the garbage and absolutely refused to burn the trash. Each day she got a little grumpier and the trash stack got higher and the garbage bucket began to overflow.

Then on day, when she was at her very grumpiest, the old lady got a call from the Katzes. They said they would like to visit. Well that made the old lady smile.

“Oh boy a visit from the Katzes!!!”

Then a call came from the Kropfs!!!

“Oh boy a visit from the Kropfs!!!”

Then a call came from the Strans!!!

“Oh boy a visit from the Strans!!!”

Then Paula called!!!

Oh boy a visit from Audrey, Paula, and Gray!!!”

Then Ben called!!!!

“Oh happiness, a visit from the Schemmels!!!”

Then the Sweets called!!!

“Oh more happiness, the twins are coming!!!!”

The old lady was so happy; she danced a jig as each family arrived.

Suddenly, a really nice thing happened. Benjamin, who knew Fishish went to the pond and spoke with the fish. The frogs were so happy they jumped up and down. They jumped so high that the water started to come onto the banks. So Jonathan and Jakob, who both knew Frogish, explained to the frogs that they would have to calm down or they would be evicted from the area and, truthfully, any other location but the pond put them in danger of being used for frog soup. Sydney and Lyndsey felt so sorry for the frogs that they stepped in and said (in frogfish of course, because they had both taken an online workshop on strange languages) “Don’t worry, Sydney can teach you sign language and Lyndsey will teach you all about the wonderful history of your ancestors, some of whom were great pianists. That way you can talk about your family background using sign language. Nobody will think of evicting you.” In the background, you could hear Charlie, Lukas, and Bobby giggling as they rolled around the grass acting like frogs, mimicking sign language, and pretending to play the piano.

In the meantime, Kathryn, Audrey, Gretchen, Shauna, and Rebeka said they would take out the garbage. So they carried the bucket to the edge of the woods and all took a handful, threw it into the woods as they shouted, “KLATZ”! This made the old lady laugh so hard she had to go in the house and change clothes. When she came back out, the Klatz bucket was empty and the garbage was gone.

Then Megan said, “Well I guess we better burn the trash. I’ll supervise and you can all help.” So Gretchen, Kathryn, Shauna, Rebeka, Audrey, Jonathan, Jakob, and Benjamin all took a stack of trash out to the burn barrel. Every one of them had a huge armful, as there was a lot of trash! (You could hear Benjamin say under his breath, “How could one old lady have so much trash!”) Soon they had a nice fire going and the trash was soon gone. The old lady was so happy because she was having so much fun and was laughing so much she forgot all about being grumpy.

That night they ordered pizza from Buds and had a wonderful evening playing games and telling stories. Bobby, Lukas, and Charlie fell asleep after the first story—they were so exhausted from giggling all day. Soon everyone was tired and they all went to bed.

The next morning, Megan walked into the living room and said, “Mommy, I had the craziest dream last night—I dreamed that fish and frogs could talk and Benjamin and Jakob and Jonathan could talk to them. I dreamed about tossing out garbage and burning trash.”

Susie, Patti, Teresa, Mary, Ben, and Paula all looked at each other, smiled and said, “Oh well Buds Pizza can do that to you sometimes!”

Moral of the story: For a crazy good time, get the Schemmel clan together and stay close with your family!

My Aunt Lynda is one special lady. She can make us all laugh and realize the true importance of family and Christmas as well as every day life. I hope you all enjoyed this story as much as my family did.

Hope you all have a great new year!

plans for christmas!

I hope everyone is having a good break, and time off! I hope you are enjoying time with your family and friends!

With all the presents wrapped and baking done it's time to start the celebration!!

Today is Christmas Eve, the beginning of the festivities! My family always goes to mass Christmas Eve, and dinner to follow. The last few years we've gone to an Italian Restaurant. We then open one present on Christmas Eve to hold us over till the morning. We also give donations to our neighbors who go and serve dinner at the hospital for those families who are not able to leave. This year, after dinner, we are going to have dessert with our neighbors. We made all kinds of yummy treats. Last night, my mom and I made sugar cookies into shapes. We will probably decorate some for ourselves and of course some for santa!!

In the morning, we will open presents, but more importantly we will spend time with family. We are going to breakfast at my aunt and uncle's house...It's baby Lukas' first Christmas, and we are so glad to be able to enjoy it with him. After that, I'll go over to Danny's house for Christmas with his family. It's one of first time all the kids have been together since school started. Being able to spend time with everyone is one of the best things in the world.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and are thankful for family food and presents, and remember the reason we are able to celebrate Christmas! Remember the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ in everything that you do this holiday season! Merry Christmas!

Holiday Treats

Hey everyone!! I hope this post finds you all well and enjoying your Holiday season. Just wanted to give y'all a quick update on the goings on here in Cary, NC!

So far for my break I've either been running errands, baking, or watching my baby cousin Lukas.

By far my favorite part of the holidays is baking with my mama. Although, she's been really busy and i've been baking a lot of the stuff on my own, it's all thanks to my mama who taught me everything I know about the kitchen and cooking and baking. Sure following a recipe will give you good results, but knowing the little tricks and additions make all the difference.

While i was still at school, my friend Melissa and I made truffles for presents. It was the first time I tried making them. It was really fun and boy were they good!!

I started this season at home by making peppermint chocolate ice cream cake for my birthday...and yes the chocolate layers are made from scratch not a box! We've have had this cake for the last 5 birthdays and we LOVE it. It definitely gives us motivation to finish our finals. On every card or note mama sends us has the message "peppermint birthday cake when you get home."

The next thing we made was buckeyes. They are a holiday must in our household. The peanut butter chocolate combination is to die for. Of course we make them for football season, but during the holidays it is a great treat. They are pretty easy to make. Plus we trade some of those with our neighbors for some new years cookies!!

Yesterday morning, I made my Chocolate Mint Cookies. I've been making these for a few years. We usually use the mints that come in pink and green and yellow, but we could not find them this year. Instead we found some white mint chips with green and red little round sprinkles and some other chocolate peppermint things. You make the chocolate dough and roll it into balls (similar to buckeyes so I'm a master at rolling them) and bake them. Right when they come out you put the mint in them and the mint melts into the chocolate and when it cools it hardens and makes a wonderful treat.

Just a few minutes ago, I made "Tire patch fudge". While that's not its real name, I don't know what it is, and neither does my mama. When her sister, my aunt, made it when she was younger, my grandpa walked in and said it looked like a patch of tire and the name stuck. The fudge has always been my favorite thing to make.

In the next day or so, we are gonna make sugar cookie dough and cut out all kinds of shapes. We will decorate them on Christmas Eve, which always gets interesting.

I hope you all have a wonderful and Merry Christmas. I hope you enjoy baking and cooking with your families as much as I love it with mine.

"dear 16 year old me" please watch

This is a moving video about something we think is not a big deal. something we think that we can fix easily if it happens to us. It's not saying never go outside or have a major freak out if you get sun burnt...just awareness that you need to take your skin serious.

Please watch and spread the message. Cancer of any kind is traumatizing and serious.

http://www.thatvideosite.com/video/dear_16yearold_me

That's Fathers and Daughters

"When you took the training wheels right off my bike

That's the first time I could feel my wings'

Cause you taught me how to fly That's fathers and daughters"

My daddy taught me many of the things I know in life. He taught me how to ride my bike...very patiently I might add...He taught me how to be strong and responsible. He was my coach for basketball and my biggest fan for swimming. He was there for me when I had to quit sports, and there the first time I walked after surgeries. He taught me how to garden and how to take care of plants. He taught me how to build things and how to work hard in school and in life. Even though he can be the "annoying" parent sometimes, I'm very lucky to have him.

Daddy, Happy Birthday! I'm glad we are able to celebrate another year of you. You the farmer, the computer engineer, the basketball coach, and you the dad. I love you daddy, and thank you for being the best daddy in the world and I'll always be your baby girl.

The Day The Earth Moved Haiti

If you are my friend on Facebook you have probably seen me post millions of posts from me about this book. After many months of hard work, these ladies have finally produced a wonderful and inspiring book about the story of Haiti. They give insight into the life before and after the earthquake that destroyed the already poor country in January 2010.

I have just bought a copy of this book and am beginning to read it. All the proceeds of this book go to three wonderful organizations that help the Haitian people. They include the Compassion Weavers, Hope for Haiti Foundation, and Ryan Epps Children's Home.

This book includes stories and testimonies of people who were part of mission trips, those who began programs, and poems and stories from the people who could not themselves go to Haiti.

While I am completely biased because I know one of the authors, I think everyone should read this book. So far I have laughed and cried, and grown inspired and I've only gotten to page 60! Please consider buying this book to become educated and to support Haiti.