Thursday, February 18, 2010

Farmer Brown & Farmer Jill

Farmer Brown

Do you like Farmer Brown cheese?
I do.
What?
You've never heard of it?
Well...I guess that is understandable. I hadn't either...until dinner the other night.
William asked, "Can I have some Farmer Brown cheese?"
My mind scanned through the possible cheeses he could be talking about:
Cheddar? No...that's already on the table.
Mozzarella? No, surely not.
Swiss? Maybe...it has holes...makes me think of a mouse. Mouse...Farmer...Hmmm.

Tim: You mean Farmer Jon?

William: Yeah.

Tim: Oh, I don't think it would be very good on chili.

(Is this some inside joke I missed out on??)

Me: Farmer Jon?...What are you talking about?

Tim: Parmesan.

It took me just a second. Farmer Jon. Parma Jon. I about choked on my chili. That was too funny. I had to take some pictures.
William didn't want me to take any pictures.

Oh man....I hope that was as funny to you as it was to me. Ahhhh...I need a good laugh sometimes.



Farmer Jill
The boys and I went out to our Group Garden yesterday to do a little harvesting.
It was so refreshing to my soul.
I made the kids help pull carrots...

Ahh, blue sky...soft, rich dirt...



My friend, Suzanne gave instructions for the Rutabagas...
Got one...


Did you ever wonder how Brussel Sprouts grew??
Brought some home to cook up. Sorry, Dad...I wish I could send some to you somehow...
I think I enjoy just looking at the veggies as much as harvesting them. I got a thrill out of this beautiful cabbage...
Here's my helpers. They may have started out reluctantly, but they wound up really enjoying themselves.



Ta Da!

Friday, February 12, 2010

My More-Dramatic Pictures

We have continued to get snow! The boys played outside in it this morning...

...until they got too cold. Then they went to Judson's to play for awhile. It rained all morning, and then started to snow again.
Saw these on our way home...
So we HAD to try it too... (or Trevor did...so I helped...)

Got William to take a couple pictures...

Trevor decided to head up the tree to find arms for the snowman...Made me a little nervous.
Here's me with the Nose...notice I am wearing latex gloves. :) All I could find to wear were thin little gloves that I knew would be wet in no time, so I put latex ones on top. Couldn't get Trevor to try it though...can't imagine why?
Trevor finally gave up and went inside to get dry. I had to finish by myself. I think it turned out all right.
I came inside and put on my snowman pants--and didn't feel guilty for it like I usually do.
The kids came in and started playing. I guess after Nebraska snow, there's not quite as much novelty. :)

White February?

It doesn't look that cold out, but it's cold enough!It's snowing!In Alabama!
I'm sure our little seedlings are glad to be inside!
Hopefully, I will have even more dramatic pictures to take later in the day!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Catching up...

First off, can you guess what this is?? ( I like to throw these weird pictures out there...to keep you on your toes.)
Well, this is going to be a ridiculously long post. It has just been too long since I blogged, and I have dozens of pictures to share. I may just have to make it a "chapter post" (derived from "chapter movies"-coined by William's preschool teacher for movies that you have to pause and finish later. We love the versatility of "chapter movies").


Chapter 1
Why I haven't blogged sooner:
Reason #1:
It is true that this picture alone would account for why I haven't blogged sooner...but there is also specific and pertinent evidence captured here.

Above is documentation of before-the-photo activity. It may help you appreciate the following pictures more. Here is the first try for a good picture. Notice that I captured Samuel contemplating how he will act--to smile, or not to smile; to act silly, or not to act silly...let's see what William is doing and go with that.Okay, smile. And, almost better, laugh. Makes a sweet picture.
Now the reward...a silly picture. Trevor branched out from his usual eye-crossing, and chose a new silly pose.
Now, why all these jammie pictures, you might ask? To document, of course.

Way back before Christmas, Hancock Fabric had a fabric sale. So, William, Trevor and I took a "field trip", and "researched" fabric. They picked out the above fleece fabric, and were ready to start making jammies right away. Fat chance of that happening in December. Trevor prayed every night that I would remember to make their jammies. Every night until Christmas, that is...then he tried most nights through January...and finally no nights in February. Poor guy. That's when I finally got them done. So, here they are, the much anticipated Police Pajamas!

Reason #2: The Piggy Back Project.

After having my sewing machine sitting out for over a month in the middle of my bedroom, I wasn't about to put it up (read: away--put it away. I think up might be southern?) without finishing every last project that I had stored up. Tami had given me some fabric to put some letters on the boys' new towels...so I gave that a shot. That was a fun, and new kind of project for me.
I stitched around the letters with my sewing machine on a really short zigzag stitch---my first try at that.
Looks good at a glance...but, closer up, not as nice, unfortunately. For one thing...why did it pucker-up after I washed it? I used Wonder-Under...did I dry it too hot and it melted??
Also, I missed some spots along the edges, and the fabric is wanting to come up. I'll have to go back and catch those spots, I know. And, I put the wrong side of the fabric up on the S and the W. Oh well, what can you expect from such an amateur? I don't know how Tami makes everything so perfect.
Anyway...all of that took up at least a week.

And, here's a random picture, of the guys watching the Super Bowl. What a bed-full.
Actually, this was what was on when I took the picture. Maybe they were watching commercials?


Chapter 2
When Kim and Miles Were Here:

We had so much fun with Kim and Miles while they were here. Let's see...that was about a month ago...can I remember what all we did? Ugh...work brain, work.

We went out to eat
We went bowling
We went bike riding
We went for ice cream
We made pizza
We watched a movie
We went to a State Park
We went to Sharon and Larry's for dinner
Seems like I'm missing some things...

Well, here's what I have pictures of:

Bowling

Bowling was fun. Here's Samuel getting ready to let-er-rip...
...or drop...

The pensive, watchful stance: (it did take at least 20 seconds for the ball to make it to the pins...)Trevor winding up...
...and watching... Looks like that was a strike....
Daddy, showing his good form...
Kim, lining up...
I see all the pins are still standing up... Poor Kim.
Miles decided to use this new contraption...The bowling attendant brought it out about half-way through our game...we think he must have heard all the balls the boys were launching down the lane, and thought this rolling-device would spare his floors...

Observe Miles demonstrate: you line it up...
...give it a little push...
...and enjoy perfect success! The pin shown did actually get knocked down. However, we were unable to recreate this feat even one time. Good thing I documented.
One big happy family!


Bike Riding
Oops, we forgot to take pictures of that. Even though Kim said, "we can't forget to take pictures of this!"

After-Bike-Riding Ice-Cream-Stop

Aren't they cute? See them wearing T-shirts in January? Maybe you can zoom in and see their goose bumps...
Tim, Kim and Miles rode to the ice cream place on their bikes. The boys and I rode in Tim's truck. I'm so glad I have a good excuse to not ride my bike that far. :)

Playing Phone Video Games

If the kids ever weren't playing games on Kim or Miles' phones, they were asking to. They actually make it look social. They spent a good bit of time piled all together like this.

We were sad to see Kim and Miles go, but were not sorry to part with their phones.

Breakfast

The Perales in me is compelled to take pictures at meals. It was a good meal, too. Breakfast, in the morning...it was essential to document.

State Park

One day we headed out to a State Park in Florida. After a picnic lunch, we had some time to kill before we took a cave tour. We got some good pictures.

Here's the inside of the cave. It was pretty impressive.
See Trevor?
See the cool, glassy pool of water?
See the bat?Here's a strange formation...with lots of texture...
ta da! That weird stuff is a rock!
On our way out of the caves...the Ham and Kim.


Chapter 3
Samuel's Birthday Week

Samuel started his day the way any birthday boy would want to...opening gifts.
He got Bakugans, legos...
...Play Doh, and an army coat... (to be modeled shortly...)
Following gifts was donuts (a MAJOR treat at our house these days)...
Ah, here's the coat. What a happy camper!
Judson came over after school, and they broke out the Doh.
Here's Trevor's creation. Can you tell where Trevor likes to eat? Here he has made a stack of pancakes with butter and syrup, and also a pancake with a banana mouth, a strawberry nose, and blueberry eyes. He likes to eat at IHOP.
Not sure what Samuel and Judson made...
After dinner, what else but more presents??
The name of the game he just opened is Toss Your Cookies. That makes me laugh. The kids didn't get it. We played it and had a great time.
Also, he got a transformer, which was a hit.
And lots and lots of gum.
Plus, a creatively packaged wad of money (complete with an amazing origami dollar ring)...
...and Pirate legos.
And a nice card from Great Grandma and Grandpa.

Sunday, we had lunch at Sharon's. Thankfully, Tommy walked around taking pictures. I would have fogotten to take any myself.

Notice, Samuel is wearing his cape...he wears it soo much.
Here's Mary Grace...
We had Little Ceasar's Pizza, and salad for lunch. Samuel's pick.
I put together this birthday "cake" using pirate legos and cupcakes. That was a fun way to jazz up our "food coloring-less" cake.
Woah! I'm at the end! I spent days loading up all these pictures, and I finally made it to the end with all my commentary.

Thanks, everyone, for the generous birthday gifts. Samuel had a fantastic birthday.

I hope that I can keep up better with my blog from now on! And that I didn't put you to sleep!

The End.