random stuff...

It has been seriously hard to blog without my own computer! Hopefully it will be fixed soon and I can get on with sharing pictures and so forth. Right now I'm sharing with Amy so I only have access to her pictures(and her camera broke so she's down to her cell phone). Here are some recent ones...


sunset over our back fence



the triplets


what really goes on in the girls' room


running with tiger at Long Park

In other news...

We were finally able to take a load of stuff to the local thrift store! Of course it barely made a dent; I'm still in the process of clearing out dresser drawers and closets! Maybe after another 3-4 loads we'll be to a manageable state. It would be nice to be able to get the last of the carpeting out of everyone's closet floors soon.

We've chosen one of the three paints for our kitchen/dining area so far; a nice super saturated olivey green for the dining area. I want to put orange in the kitchen area and a peacock blue or plum on the soffits to connect the two. Last week the kids helped peel wall paper but we still have a few small sections to go. Maybe today...(to see the paint sample go to http://www.valspar.com/explore-colors/choose-a-color.html; scroll down a bit and click on Creative Ideas for Color. Then click on Kids & Fun. Our oolor is the second green right above the word Kids; called Gecko). This is the color I've had in my mind's eye forever but for some reason I never came across the paint card(I think they just added the Kids & Fun line to our Lowe's store). It looks SO good with our warm wood stained cabinets and wainscoting.

I made a new dish last night and everyone scarfed it up! Its from Rodale's Naturally Great Foods Cookbook(1977 edition) and is called Dutch Kale with Sausage and Potatoes(or something like that). I simmered 4 medium sized potatoes(cubed) with a large bunch of curly kale(torn into small pieces) until both were tender. Meanwhile I fried a pkg of beef smoked sausage and an onion in a bit of butter then added a cup of milk. The kale and potatoes were drained and added to the sausage mixture along with a shake of cayenne pepper; some garlic powder; and black pepper. Simmer for a few minutes stirring to break up the potatoes a bit. This was YUMMY and all the kids ate it. We had no leftovers!! Tonight we're having chicken leg quarters; green salad; and parsnip patties(from the same cookbook).

We are planning an early spring camping trip out west to celebrate Mark's 44th birthday. Our destination is the Caprock Canyon State Park (you'll have to copy and paste this because Amy's comma button doesn't work so I can't make it a clickable link) http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/videos/state_park/panhandle_plains/caprock_canyon.phtml (video of the canyon worth watching!!).

And some sad news...

Our beloved guinea pig; Basil Ferdinand; died last night. He was old for a piggie and we noticed he'd been slowing down/losing weight over the last month. We'll miss his sweetness.

Now I must get busy doing something; I hear the girls stirring.

Piggers Free to Good Homes....

Locally of course. Landlords are wanting us to downsize our pets.


(Echo's pretty side)


(Echo's other pretty side, and Basil)


(Meadow, sister to Echo, Sundae is their mom)



(Moonshine, Basil's son)



(Stella, the Peruvian beauty)


(Sundae-mom to Meadow and Echo, Panda, and Rainbow-Moonshine's sister)


(Basil, daddy to Rainbow and Moonshine)

Ages(approximate): Basil 3.5, Moonshine and Rainbow- 2.5(born March 31st, 2007), Sundae- 2ish(born December 2007), Stella(acquired September 2007, age unknown), Panda- 2.5(born April 6th, 2007), Meadow and Echo- 1.5(born April 9th, 2008).

Cages are included with the sets. Girls will all go together unless someone already has a suitable cage and can take either Stella, Rainbow and Panda or Sundae and Meadow as sets. Boys are bonded and need to stay together. Bedding, water bottles and hay will be included.

Saturday Catch-up...

(as always, click each picture for a bigger version)

Saturday:

I woke up at 4:30 with a bad headache, something I've not had in years. I thought it was from sleeping on too many pillows so I did some gentle neck stretches and went back to sleep. At 6, I realized it was probably a weather-related headache so Mark brought me some Advil. I didn't wake up again til 10:40 but I'm still tired.

Now I'm puttering around the house and hanging out with the girls. Mark is helping a friend rewire a boat motor and Ryan is working. We're going to make homemade pizza pockets for dinner.

Friday:

I paid $4 for a 12-inch mixing bowl from Marshall Pottery at Hope's Closet that sells for around $38 on eBay. Mine is probably not real old. It has a hairline crack in it so I might plant some cactus in it or use it for popcorn or something. Tibert loves it! I also found a copy of the South Beach Diet, an awesome BHG Crochet and Knit pattern book and 7 acrylic catfood bowls from Fancy Feast. Apparently we got a great deal on the bowls, they are selling for $6-7 on eBay and we paid 99 cents each! Sarah feeds the cats, then collects and washes the bowls out in the bathroom sink.









Thursday:

Homeschool park day at White Oak City Park. Had about 40 kids, it was wild!!! These aren't pictures from this Thursday, I took them on our last outing there after most of the group had gone. Its a great park because its completely fenced in and the kids can go back and forth from the play structure to the spray pad. We've got it in our rotation.





Tuesday:

You know how my Wednesday went.

Sarah's birthday was May 11th but we waited a week to get her bike because of our trip to Ft. Worth. She picked it out and just loves it!











Monday:

We finally gathered up as many of the pickerel frogs from the pool as possible and took them to a local park with a creek for release. Of course when we came home there were at least 20 more still around.

The ones on their backs weren't dead, just out of sorts. When Amy poured the bucket out we used sticks to turn them right-side-up and they were fine.













We also took the girl piggies outside when we cleaned their cage. They were not real sure about the great outdoors but came around when they figured out the grass was edible! They are called pigs for a reason!!



Guess that's about it. Now you know why I haven't blogged much lately! Things sure do get busy around here sometimes. Now its about to rain and I'll have to fetch Ryan from work soon. He put in many, many hours this past week.

Enjoy the long weekend everyone!!