Christmas

Under our Christmas Tree



We had such a wonderful, relaxed Christmas yesterday. Usually we open gifts at our house in the morning, then go to my mom's house for lunch, then go to Brian's mom's house for dinner. Before we know it, the day is gone. This year Brian had to work so it was just Justin and me at home.

The Thursday before Christmas Justin went to the doctor because he had been running fever for a while and just couldn't seem to get well. Turns out, he had the flu and a chest infection. Thankfully, he was well by Christmas. My mom had the flu at the same time so we're having to postpone Christmas with her until Friday.

Our tradition is to open one gift on Christmas Eve...the one I happened to open was a cappuccino maker so I started Christmas morning with a yummy homemade cappuccino.

Christmas morning cappuccino

At about 6:00 in the morning Justin and I went out to tend to animals. We fed the goats, filled their hay manger, let the chickens out, & prepped all the heat lamps because we were preparing for a 20 degree night. We spent the day watching Christmas movies and munching on cherry, pomegranate, habenero sauce over cream cheese with Ritz crackers. A sweet friend of ours gave this to us as a gift for Christmas this year. It is soooo yummy!!

Cherry Pomegranate Habenero Sauce over cream cheese

I got to make our first Christmas dinner at home this year. I was so excited about this! We started a new tradition for our Christmas dinner. Beef prime rib roast, loaded baked potato casserole, roasted asparagus, & pots de creme. It was DELICIOUS!! 



Beef Prime Rib Roast

Deliciousness!!

Baked Potato Casserole


Roasted Asparagus

 

 

 

On Christmas Eve, Brian's grandmother always made a pot of chili and we would all go to her house to have dinner and open gifts. When Brian's grandmother passed away, I started making the pot of chili on Christmas Eve. This year was no different.

Justin's favorite chili

Linds went to Corpus for Christmas this year. Both of her grandparents are in a nursing home so before she left we made goodies for her to take back to her grandparents and their nurses.



Keepin' it real folks

Lindsay's mom got me this personalized
 cutting board for Christmas. Love it!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chewy Pecan Cookies

Cookie tins with thumb print cookies,
butter finger cookies.

 

 



Homemade Toffee

On Wednesday, December 19th Annabelle had her babies...twin girls!! Their names are Noelle & Natalia. I don't have pictures yet but will try to soon.

The week before Christmas, Lindsay's mom came up to spend the weekend with us. While she was here we all went to see the largest Christmas light display in the state of texas, Santa's Wonderland.



Linds & Me



Linds & Me

Brian, Me, & Justin



Linds & Her Mom

Linds & Her Mom

Merry Christmas from Texas Y'all!

Ch, Ch, Ch, Changes...

Helloooo....anybody still out there? It's been almost 4 months since we've been on here. Wow...how time flies!

Things are changing here as our warm season finally seams to have come to a close...at least I'm hoping it has come to a close. This is Texas and we could be in shorts Monday, bundled up in jackets and scarves Tuesday, then back in shorts by weeks end. This past Sunday we actually were in shorts and t-shirts and were bundled up Monday. I am LOVING it!! This morning it was 26 degrees when I got up. Bliss I tell 'ya. Pure bliss for me. Of course, we're not getting snow like my dad is further north :( He takes every opportunity he can to let me know when it's snowing in Kansas.

Here's an update of changes in pictures...

 

Fall Garden

 

 

This is the romaine lettuce Brian planted last week.

We also have collard greens (not pictured).

 



 

Heat lamp

 

 

We dusted off the heat lamp last night and hung it for the chickens & goats to warm their houses & lessen the chance of their water freezing. The chickens water didn't freeze and the goats water inside their pen didn't freeze. Only their water outside of their pen froze last night.  

 

 



 

 

 

 

 





 Animal beds have been hayed heavy for the long, cold, winter nights.

 

 

 

 

 

 



Hay is in the manger to keep the goats' bellies full and warm. Looks like we'll be refilling this one today.

 

 

 

 

  



Left: GG / Back Right: Annabelle / Front Right: Duke





The trio...always together. And guess what?!? Annabelle is pregnant again!! We really think there's triplets this time. We're not sure exactly when she took up the first time but the first time we saw it was in August. However, Duke joined the farm in mid July so it could have been any time since then. Not sure if we'll have Christmas babies but we'll definitely have babies in the cold. We're checking her pin bones daily and can already squeeze colostrum from her. Can't wait to have a fridge and freezer full of goats milk again. Unfortunately we're back on cow's milk for the time being. 





Hot shot!

Duke in action!






Yum...Treats!

Ms. Doubtfire

This is one of the baby ducks we bought over the summer. It was supposed to be a female but has turned out to be a male so we named him Ms. Doubtfire because,  "dude looked like a lady". If you're too young to get that, then google it.



Daisy Mae is a mama! She had 10 little ducklings on 10/28/12. However, 2 of them died soon after. She now proudly waddles around with her clutch of 8. We're not sure how many, if any, we're keeping just yet. 




Linds and Big Rooster still do not get along...that has not changed!

 

Mabel

This is Mabel & City the Kitty. We found their mama dead in our pasture next to our shed. Brian and Justin found her kittens 2 days later in the shed. They seemed to have just opened their eyes and were so hungry when we found them. We milked the goat and bottle fed them until they were old enough to eat dry food.

City the Kitty







Linds with Mabel & City



Sadie with her adopted babies. She's been a good mama!
 

Sadie adopted Mabel & City Kitty as soon as we found them. She would clean up after them, bathe them, sleep with them, & follow them wherever they went. They love their mama!



And yes, this is posted on our place. Don't say you haven't been warned!







Fun Summer Tradition

Our family started a fun summer tradition quite a few years ago. Every summer we have ice cream for dinner!! Justin looks forward to it every year...even this year at 13 years of age :)

Every summer we each pick out our favorite flavor of Blue Bell (it's the B E S T) ice cream. We each eat our own pint and savor the flavors...and most importantly, the memories.

It's a simple tradition we look forward to every summer. It's nothing big...just fun. I mean, seriously, what child wouldn't love for their mom to say they get to eat ice cream for dinner...whatever flavor they want, and they don't have to eat anything else?!?

I hope you enjoyed making new memories with your family this past summer. School is back in session and the race is on...school, sports, sleep overs, work, farming, holidays...and the count down to next summer!!

Olympic Recipe Reviews

We had so much fun cooking from a different country each night during the Olympics! We have decided to make this a new fun family tradition. We are creating an Olympic Recipe Binder & placing tab dividers through it with the year and season of the Olympics for the recipes we tried that year. Of course, this year will be labeled 2012 Summer.

We can't wait for the 2014 Winter Olympics, officially the XXII Olympic Winter Games, or the 22nd Winter Olympics, scheduled to take place from the 7th to the 23rd of February 2014, in Sochi, Russia.

Here are our families medals on the meals we made during the Olympics:

Great Britain - Fish & Chips **Opening Ceremonies**
We ALL gave the fish and chips a gold medal. We also made this garlic aioli that was sooo yummy with the fish!

Mexio - Chicken Enchiladas, Spanish Rice, & Charo Beans
These are Lindsay's chicken enchiladas, Pioneer Woman's Spanish rice, & my mom's Charo beans.
We ALL gave this meal a gold medal.

America - Hamburgers & Hot Dogs with Chips & an Unknown Dessert *Having another family over for dinner & they're bringing the dessert*
We had another family over to watch the Olympics with us this day. Of course we all like hamburgers & hot dogs. I think we'd have our American citizenship revoked if we didn't.

Japan - Asian Lettuce Wraps
These received a gold medal from all the adults. I LOVED them!!! Justin on the other hand said they didn't even qualify for him. There's clearly something wrong with this kid!

Germany - Jagerschnitzel, french fries, salad
Lindsay and I gave this a gold medal.
Brian and Justin loved the pork but didn't like the mushroom topping so e gave it a silver.

Morocco - Make Ahead Vegetarian Moroccan Stew with crusty bread
We were all unanimous with the reviews of this soup. We all agreed that it was good, but not for a summer soup. It's a heavy, very aromatic, soup. The aromas were very distinct of fall. We all think we would like this much better on a cool, fall day. Therefore, we all gave this one a bronze.

Greece - Souvlaki, basmati rice pilaf, & baklava
We all agree to give the souvlaki a silver. It was good, but could be a little more flavorful.
The rice pilaf & the baklava received a gold from us all.

India - Curried Coconut Chicken over rice with broccoli with garlic butter & cashews
We had another family over for dinner when we made this. We all enjoyed this meal & all give it a gold medal.

Italy - Italian Meatball Soup with crusty bread
Lindsay and I both give this a silver medal.
Brian and Justin gave it a bronze.

We were on vacation August 5-8.

China - Kung Pao Chicken, Fried Rice, Homemade Egg Rolls
YUM!! We LOVED this meal.
Gold medals all around!!

Lebanon - Lebanese Chicken and Potatoes with steamed broccoli
This one was only ho hum. The potatoes are too lemony.
Sorry, this only received a bronze medal.

Spain - Empanadas, queso, sopapillas
This is the only meal we haven't prepared yet. A sweet friend of ours has invited us over for dinner with their family tomorrow night and she is going to teach Linds and I how to make homemade empanadas from scratch. We are super excited!

France - Chicken Cordon Bleu, creamy au gratin potatoes, & roasted asparagus
Y-u-m-m-y!!
Linds has already requested this as her birthday meal for next year...in May!
Justin didn't like the potatoes but aside from that, this meal received gold medals all the way around.

This was sooo much fun!!

Olympic Tour Meal Plan

This is our meal plan for the duration of the 2012 Olympics starting TONIGHT!

Friday, July 27, 2012 - Sunday, August 12, 2012

Friday: Great Britain - Fish & Chips **Opening Ceremonies**

Saturday: Mexio - Chicken Enchiladas, Spanish Rice, & Charro Beans

Sunday: America - Hamburgers & Hot Dogs with Chips & an Unknown Dessert *Having another family over for dinner & they're bringing the dessert*

Monday: Japan - Asian Lettuce Wraps

Tuesday: Germany - Jagerschnitzel, french fries, salad

Wednesday: Morocco - Make Ahead Vegetarian Moroccan Stew with crusty bread

Thursday: Greece - Souvlaki, basmati rice pilaf, & baklava 

Friday: India - Curried Coconut Chicken over rice with broccoli with garlic butter & cashews

Saturday: Italy - Italian Meatball Soup with crusty bread

Sunday: on vacation

Monday: on vacation

Tuesday: on vacation

Wednesday: on vacation

Thursday: China - Kung Pao Chicken, Fried Rice, Homemade Egg Rolls

Friday: Lebanon - Lebanese Chicken and Potatoes with steamed broccoli

Saturday: Spain - Empanadas, queso, sopapillas

Sunday: France - Chicken Cordon Bleu, creamy au gratin potatoes, & roasted asparagus

2012 Olympics

Today the 2012 Olympics begin and this house is planning our day around it!!

We only have two kiddos today and one of them leaves at 12:30. We're taking the other one with us to the store so we can be back home to do chores early while he naps. He's a baby & usually sleeps 3 hours so we can get everything done in that time. He'll be gone by 5:30, animals will be tended to promptly, & dinner will be made. We will eat dinner after opening ceremonies...while watching of course :)

We're about to decorate with flags, table runners, wearing USA t-shirts, dining on red, white, & blue plates, etc.

What hadn't been decided was if we are going to  make the food a tribute to America or opt to celebrate the host of this year's Olympics - London - with some British classics. The final decision is to honor the UK's traditional cuisine of fish & chips!

Remember, we'll be dining around the olympics through the next three weeks.

Go USA!!!

You can check out the schedule of events here

Welcome to the Farm

Okay, so I'm behind on updates again...imagine that.

We were very fortunate to find a great small stock farm here locally. We enjoyed the time we spent there and loving on the goats. The owner's name is Matt and we spent quite a bit of time talking with him and learning from him. That's what farmers do...they educate each other. Then you take that knowledge you gained and you teach the next generation. My dad was the foreman of a poultry farm when I was growing up so I've learned quit a bit from him since we've had chickens. Any time there's a problem, that's who we call.

We sold Anabelle's twins two weeks ago on July 7th. Then we used that profit to add our two newest additions to the farm on July 14th. Please welcome, G.G. & The Duke.

Duke is a bottle raised male. Fortunately for us, he's very gentle, sweet, & loves to be loved on. He was dis budded so I don't have to worry about horns around the kiddos we keep...or with us for that matter. Duke and G.G. are Nigerian Dwarf goats.

While we were at the farm to get our goats, there were ducks waddling around with the rest of the animals. We said before that we planned to eventually add ducks and later, pigs. So, we've also added a duck family. We bought four Muscovy's. A drake, a hen, and two ducklings. Meet, Professor Von Drake, Daisy Mae, and ??.

We still do not have names for the ducklings. They're supposed to be females. Any suggestions?

**By the way...anyone with small children who watch Mickey Mouse Club House know where we got the drakes name.**

And what shall the goats be needing this winter? Hay! We bought ours today & Linds was excited to get to haul hay to the hay barn.

They were small bales weighing in at about 35/40 pounds each. The people we bought from were having problems with their hay baler so the bales were sloppy and not tight like they should be. But, because of that and because we were willing to pick up the hay from the field so they didn't have to move, we got a great deal on it.

A lot has been done around here lately:

We got the pool up on the 4th of July & have been enjoying it on the scorching days of summer...

Fences have been built...

A picnic table has been built & enjoyed...

Puppies are almost 6 weeks old and ready to sell...

We said good bye to our first kids, Tom & Jerry...

And we lost Cali. About an hour or two after taking this picture, we never saw her again...

So here's where the current count is:

67 chickens (including 9 meat birds we'll be slaughtering in about 2-3 weeks)
3 goats
4 ducks
3 dogs
7 puppies (all for sale!)
3 adults
1 teenager
and a partridge in a pear tree
...not really, but what's one more thing around here, right?!?
Now we're gearing up for the Olympics this Friday and vacation soon!! We are so ridiculously excited about both!!! We're doing a tour around the countries of the Olympics in our meal plan over the next three weeks. We'll be enjoying baklava, curried coconut chicken, chicken parmesan, chicken cordon bleu, souvlaki, kung pao chicken, fish & chips, & so much more. Can't wait!!

Hopefully we'll have more updates sooner rather than later...but don't hold your breath.

7/27/12 Update: We sold 6 out of 7 puppies between Tuesday & Thursday!! We only have one puppy left & it may wind up staying here because he is deaf & we don't think anyone will want him. We're still trying to find him a home though.