picture collage and farm update

Someone asked where the pictures were at in yesterday's post. It was not through a comment on the blog, but directly to me while I was eating my third helping of potatoes last night.

T: No pictures?!
Me: (chewing thoughtfully) Um... no? I wasn't sure if I should?
T: .....   (probably thinking about me begging him to go take some pictures FOR me while I scarfed down both pieces of our cake.) (He's a good man.)

So, while he was drawing our future house plans I was making a collage. (I saved you from scrolling through nine pictures, okay? You're welcome.)

I'm such an artist. And a preserver of memories. 

I have no transition here so we'll dive right in with the...

Farm Update

We went from a micro herd of cattle to a mini micro herd. If that even makes sense. They are my brother's and he picked up the two calves and one of the cows last night. So we went from 5 to 2.

Next up are the chickens. We have 22 or 23 chickens. They have steadily dropped their egg production to four eggs (at the most!) a day. I thought, at first, it was just the seasonal drop off... but let's think about it this way: they are getting old, which means fewer eggs, which means I am buying $15 of feed a week for 28 eggs (at the most!). Wow. Those are some really expensive eggs... are they made of gold or least silver?? That's something like 0.53 an egg.  Anyhow, it's not worth it for us to be sinking money and feed into non productive chickens. We do plan on getting a new flock next year, though. I enjoy my chickens for the most part and love the fresh eggs we get. However, I only plan on getting 6-12 chickens. Our main goal in this farming thing we are doing is to feed our family, first and foremost. I guess that's all I have to say about that.

I guess I'm off to try to make some bread. Maybe, or not, we'll see. (leaning heavily on the or not) I try to bake when it's cold out, but I also don't feel like moving much. It's pathetic. Especially since yesterday I did one load of laundry (wasn't even clothes) and didn't even bother taking it out of the dryer. This is a new low for me. Of course, Rose is punishing me for leaving her for two nights in a row this weekend... Velcro child at the max. Hopefully I'll be slightly more productive today.

update: it's always fun to catch errors after you publish... I know it's collage not college. Try to ignore it in your readers, okay? So sorry.

Weekend Details

Guten Tag! We had a wonderful weekend. Friday night we went to a rehearsal dinner, even though we were not part of the wedding. The food was yummy and it was nice to hang out with our friends before their wedding the next day. We got home late and surprisingly we all slept in on Saturday morning. It was a rainy/cloudy day. I spent the morning cooking waffles and then grocery shopping and figuring out what dress to wear. I decided on a old classic black dress I've had for years. (I smartly paired it with a cropped sweater since I am prone to freezing.) We packed up the kids and dropped them at my parents house for the evening and started out to the wedding venue. Since we left early (and the Longhorns were playing) we met some friends at a family bar/grill/Chinese restaurant/ice house to watch what we could of the game. When we left the ice house collaboration they had a live "band" playing Celtic music... so walking out was almost like taking a world/culture tour. It was... different.

We made it to the venue with time to spare and this was one of the best weddings I've ever been to. They started serving drinks prior to the reception (a big hit with all the guys) and due to the weather they moved the ceremony inside (to the reception area since there's no chapel) and we unknowingly picked the best table to sit at for watching the processional. I must say Matt and Jessica had told us Friday that they had a surprise that only T and I would understand... it was the music. They played the theme of Lonesome Dove. I think I almost hyperventilated I was so thrilled. The bride walked down the aisle to Canon in D (which made me tear up because I had that at my wedding). The ceremony was short and sweet. One of their friends is an ordained minister and performed the ceremony (very cool). The atmosphere was relaxed and laid back (which is a great reflection of Matt and Jessica) and really beautiful at the same time.

It was a late night! We didn't get home until about 2am. Sunday we got to sleep in again! It was raining (hallelujah!) so we hunkered down and watched football. The kids wanted to "cook" and we don't have a play kitchen so I improvised and drew a stove top on a piece of cardboard, took a small shoe box and turned it into a microwave and gave them a small pot that I was going to throw away. Rose has some tiny stainless pots and some food that she got for her birthday last year. I really want to expand on that for her birthday and Christmas this year. She has a blast cooking and playing with her tea set. They have a little table with two chairs and I gave them some small paper plates to play with, too. One of their specialties was tomato and pea soup. They really get a kick out of that cardboard stove... imagine if I got them a real fake kitchen!

Last night I made pizza (like always), but someone has started requesting three pizzas instead of our usual two. Well, I ran out of pepperoni and didn't have enough mozzarella for another pizza... So, I turned on my thinking cap and remembered I had bought a rotisserie chicken and bbq sauce on Saturday. BBQ chicken pizza was born. I really liked it and am waiting patiently for lunch time so I can eat the last two pieces!

I guess that's it for now. I have some important Internet browsing to do for Christmas. Who knows, maybe it'll spark some decorating spirit in me because I'm sort of surprised at how unmotivated I am to put up a tree this year. I almost just want to throw a construction paper tree up on the wall... classy.

later wonderful friends!

10 happy things for Friday

It's Friday! I'm in a good mood and I think that's it's going to last all day.

one

My number one reason for thinking this is simply: MUSIC. Music can always put me in a good mood. My musical taste is one mixed up jumble of greatness. However, my itunes library is lacking some of my favorite new tunes so I'm getting my fix through youtube and pandora this morning. For a couple years I thought music was getting super terrible, but all of the sudden there's some awesome songs/bands showing up and I'm so happy.

two

Another reason I'm happy is that tonight T and I are going out. We've been invited to the rehearsal dinner for our friend's Matt and Jessica (they're getting hitched tomorrow). The kids are welcome to come, but we have T's dad lined up to babysit seeing as it's probably going to be past their bedtime about 30 minutes into dinner. So, a night out with an awesome group of people is nice to look forward to.

three

I don't have to cook a real dinner tonight. I'm going to make something for the kids to eat, but not having to really put much thought into it is kind of a relief. (Not that I always put a lot of thought into dinner any other day.) That means less clean up, too.

(Pandora constantly creeps me out... am I really that predictable???)

four

Tomorrow evening is the wedding (in the middle of nowhere) and I never did go get a new dress. I really thought I'd get one, but I have a black dress in my closet that will be fine... ah, but moms and sisters are nice to have. I have an invitation to steal one of their dresses for the wedding! (This makes me think of Rose. I'm glad she has two God-sisters to steal clothes from. Hopefully they will be living closer sooner rather than later, though.)

five

It's raining. Rain is so good. Life giving. Life renewing. It washes everything clean. I have such a new appreciation for rain now.

 six

Paper airplanes. I'm the queen of making paper airplanes in our house. It's pretty cool. (all the best paper airplane makers utilize scotch tape, right?)

seven

 Coffee with cocoa and milk. 'nuff said.

eight

T's pajama pants. Cause I stole them and they way more comfortable than mine.

nine

Picasa. I finally downloaded it yesterday and made my new header for the blog. Awesome. Now I can make a bunch of colleges! Little things like that make me giddy.

ten

Waking up and determining that today will be a good day. No matter how much whining I hear, fights I break up, screams about being clothed... and so far my resolve is working well. I haven't even heard any of that annoying stuff. There's plenty of time for it, but I think I'll be able to handle it quite well. Especially since I've got nine previously mentioned things to keep me in a good mood.

a short, but expensive list

D's Christmas list

(I may have let him trace my letters after I saw the first two lines... he's new at this writing stuff!!)
D wrote a letter to Santa yesterday. We have never done this before. He is very excited! (and was a little bit irritated that it was not in the mail yet when he woke up this morning.) I asked him what he wanted and can you will not believe this (or maybe you will), but one of the first things he said he wanted was a calendar. Specifically, "one of those paper things with the numbers and pictures on it... like the one on the refrigerator with the turkey on it." Sure! I can get that for FREE at our bank. I mean, Santa can. I will let him know. (Or, I am almost positive one of our relatives will gift him one if she comes down to visit.) (That reminds me that I will need to have some kind of picture album of the kids ready to hand over as well.) Anyway, sorry I got sidetracked, his list continues with:

• Train. (one with brakes that work)
• Bullseye (from Toy Story... Santa and I talked and he already has this! Isn't that wonderful!?!)
• Computer (hahaha!! wait, they actually do make laptops for children. And tablets.)
• Cowboy boots (this request might have had some mommy influence)

He also tried making Ry and Rose's lists as well. Such as, Ry needs his own Legos and Rose needs a play kitchen with a microwave. Um, okay? Not sure why he was specific about the microwave. I totally understand the Lego situation, though. I get to listen to them everyday. (also, I talked to Santa about Legos and he already had those, too!)

I guess I better go get some things done now that I've brewed myself some more coffee. At 11am. Don't judge me.

prehistoric black friday: chaper 3: happily ever after

Are you tired of my pictures yet? This is definitely picture overload, but I don't scrapbook or even get prints of my photos most of the time so I will keep the memories here for now. 

chapter one      chapter two

After we left the museum we decided to walk through the campus (since it was a lovely day) and see if the LBJ Library was open. (It's free, by the way!) We did make it there and yes, they were open. It was busier than the museum and I think we were the only people that brought children under 15 years old. It was also lunchtime and the kids were getting restless so our visit was verrrry brief (we have been there before though and it's really interesting).

oh look! downtown Austin construction! That's always a nice addition to great photos. (yes, that's the UT tower in the background... we didn't make it over there, but there's always next time.)

I really like this picture. It has a retro feel to it (at least to me). It's like we had the entire place to ourselves... which we sort of did. Inside was a different story as there were many older(ish) folks milling around (wait, does this mean we are old?)

We went to the 10th floor and saw LBJ's Oval Office (replicated) and then someone or maybe all of us started feeling really hungry. Apparently cinnamon rolls will only hold you over for so long (especially if you accidentally burn them.) T suggested bar-b-q or my favorite Mexican restaurant, Maudie's. Seeing how the last time I was going to eat at Maudie's I was experiencing contractions and was on the phone with my doctor's nurse when we pulled into the parking lot only to be told, "No, you can't eat lunch. Go to the hospital." I jumped at the chance for my favorite enchiladas! 

The food was perfect. The kids' behavior was exceptional. The tacos, chips & salsa, rice and beans and, of course, the enchiladas were all I had hoped and dreamed of for over 2 years. As many times as I make tacos and enchiladas at home I fail so badly to replicate my favorite.

she was worth missing Maudie's... although I still don't know why no one brought me some in the hospital

I know it sounds terrible that I hadn't been to Maudie's in over two years when I have frequently gone to Austin for doctor visits and such. It's just that my Maudie's is not close to my doctor's offices. And I like it being a special treat. It's a special place to T and I. I remember lunch breaks spent there while we were both working/living in Austin and childless. It was really fun to take the kids and reminisce about those days. We even drove to our old apartment complex (and I went in and asked how much they were going for just for fun). We stopped by our friends' place (they are getting married this weekend!) and said hi. Then we thought of going to Mount Bonnell (very cool, holds some great memories, too), but it was packed (what's with that?) so we just drove around and looked at all the awesome houses out there. Very much like back in the day. By then the kids were falling asleep so we drove home and rented Captain America and Horrible Bosses from redbox to end the night. Awesome daytrip vacation. I can't wait for 2012 Black Friday.

We had such a great day. I'm looking forward to next year! I'm glad I could share it with y'all, too. 

this sums up our lovely, lovely day