The birthday...part 2

What do you get when you take 10 eggs, 4 cups of milk, a pound of breakfast sausage, 4 cups of baking mix, a loaf of bread and some strawberries and blueberries??? It's the second phase of Celebrate J&J Day. As we normally do, I gave Jonathan and Jeremy the choice of what to have to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner on their birthday. Since their birthday is on Monday, they asked to have their b'day breakfast this morning since Grandpa, Lois and Daddy could all be around today. And they asked for pancakes, belgian waffles and french toast and sausage for breakfast. So, Michael and I got up and got 'er done. You can kinda see the spread of waffles and french toast in the pictures. There were also pancakes and sausage that I'm not sure if you can see. We had a few waffles left over, but that was it. Yummy!!

Josiah, Lois, Jeffrey, Grandpa, Jeremy (and Michael's hand) waiting for breakfast.

Michael and the boys in front of the goods. Josiah's trying to sneak something!

The birthday begins...

Last night began the celebration of the 14th anniversary of the birth of my two favorite teenage boys. Grandpa and Lois came into town and quickly everyone dashed out to Target to buy birthday presents from Grandpa. (It's funny how quickly everyone loads up for THAT kind of trip to Target! The grocery kind....not so much.) While we were there, Grandpa told the boys to pick out a special dessert to have after dinner tonight. Brownie and Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream (Blue Bell, of course!) got the nod. So after a dinner of lots and lots of tacos, we had the first event celebrating their birthday. There's more to come, so stay tuned.

They wanted me to be sure and tell you that they are NOT standing up, they are on their knees!

On today's epsidoe of Survivor: Homeschool...

The contestants watch tribal rituals and eat insects...

In other words, we went to the symphony and did a cool science/art project. Jeffrey and Josiah and I went to the Young People's Symphony at the San Antonio Symphony. (J1 and J2 were at basketball practice.)This season each symphony shows ways that math relates to music. Very cool idea. I think in years past they've also realted other school subjects to music (like science). This was our first time to go because the other days they've done the symphony we've had company or something else going on.

While we were sitting there listening to the symphony, I was thinking "Why don't we make a point to do this more? This is so nice!" and then we got home and I remembered why. It's SOOOOOO hard to get schoolwork done when it starts at noon and you've had a fun morning out essentially playing around. (Did I mention we stopped off at Panera for free coffee and (not free) bagels?!)

Thankfully, this afternoon, Josiah had a fun science project to do. We made peanut butter playdough (pb, powdered sugar and honey....what's not to love about that!) grasshoppers. His reader, science, and even his history this week has talked about grasshoppers, so this was the activity for today. It was a lot of fun, and made for a nice midafternoon snack. I've decided the English idea of "tea time" is right on the money. Stopping for a bit in the afternoon for a little sweet and some sit down time sounds great.

And the "grasshopper" was great! We added more eyes (i.e.chocolate chips) as we ate up the body which made it even better.

Josiah cutting out the wings.

The finished product. It didn't stand up too well.

Josiah got the first taste, and then was "asked to leave the tribal council area immediately" so he wouldn't OD on the grasshopper!

Give the boy a cupcake!!

Excuse me a moment while I brag. I'm becoming more and more convinced that it's very important to honor the times we see good character developing in our children and praise them for it. Praise them even more for that than when they score a great goal, make 100 on a test, do great feats of athleticism. Not that those things are bad, but they do fade. Character matters and counts from now on. So, here's a story I'm proud to relate to you.

Jeffrey and I went to the breadstore this morning before picking up J&J and Josiah from basketball practice. While we were checking out, I was paying attention to make sure the items rang up correctly and trying to figure out how much cash I needed to pull out of my wallet. Jeffrey noticed that the people next to us had purchased a large amount of large pkgs. of hamburger buns. One of them was a lady about my mom's age, the other was probably her mother. Jeffrey noticed that the younger of the two ladies grabbed two of the large bags of buns and that the older one was struggling to get them both. So, he offered to help. The ladies were pleased at the offer and took him up on it. He even held the door open for them while he walked the buns out to the car. When he got inside, I quietly told him thanks. Then the owner of the store offered for Jeffrey to go choose out a cupcake for himself saying "I like to see kids acting that way!" The look on Jeffrey's face was priceless. He was thrilled! I'm thankful for glimpses that the Lord gives into our lives to remind us that our labor in Godliness is never in vain.

Way to be attentive, Jeffrey!

The farmily welcomes some young 'uns

During our Christmas holiday, Michael, dad and Tony "modified" our chicken coop. Actually, the right way to say it is that its like Alcatraz of the chicken world. It's only missing the search lights. And that's not because the boys didn't think of that! It's because momma has "lights in my eyes when I'm trying to sleep" issues, just ask Michael!

Yeah, it involved power tools!!

My man, hard at work.

My dad adding his bit to the project.

Now that our new coop has a super floor and there's not going to be anything getting in or out of this coop....so, we've added some new chickies. And young cuties they are!

I drove the boys up to Burnet, TX (about 2 hours away) on Thursday to pick up these beauts. We got 5 hens and yep, a rooster. We're hoping as he grows, he'll be a real protector to these gals. The hen that was at the guy's house where we got the chickens was almost the size of a medium size dog, very intimidating. That's what we're going for!

This is our rooster. Jeffrey named him Hawkeye. Not so "big man on campus" yet, but time will change that.

Josiah chose his hen. Her name is Goldie.

Jeffrey choosing Hawkeye.

Aren't they cute!!!!! That's Goldie on the left and Comet (named by Jonathan-the name was chosen because Jonathan says that comets are also called "dirty snowballs"...he just learned that in science...and she looks like a dirty snowball) on the right. We still haven't named the other girls yet. Stay tuned for that. We each get to name one this time. Yeah-mom gets to pick a name!!

The one on the left looks a lot like Sacagawea. We think there's one Rhode Island Red and two that look like Cheetah, one that's probably a little like Dorcas and one cream colored one. They're about 8 weeks old, so it'll be a couple of months before they start laying eggs, but we're just thrilled to have chickens again. One problem this time may be the cats. Last time when we got chickens, the hens were grown and the kittens were small. This time the situation is flipped-the chicks are small and the cats are grown. We're really going to make sure those sweet kitties don't get hungry! That would be horrible!!!!! No chicken dinners, PLEASE!!

First tournament...first place

This weekend we had a first. The boys had their first basketball tournament. It was a round-robin tournament at Pearsall ISD. They played other public school teams. We were wondering how it would be. Well, they won. They won all their games. And they won big. Like by 30 or 40 points each game The Patriots looked great. Lots of great passes to one another. Jonathan and Jeremy have improved in their skills unbelievably. It was great to see. They had a great time.

Jonathan shooting free throws.

Jeremy stealing the ball.

Jeremy on defense.

The winning team. Way to go Patriots!

Close..but no cigar

Well I'm bummed to say it, but the sale of our house didn't go through! The people backed out of the contract last night. We THOUGT that once we signed papers to the relocation company to transfer ownership of our house to them that it wouldn't matter if the buyers backed out or not. Well, we were wrong. So, we STILL own a house Bartlett. We STILL get to pay two mortgages, utilities, etc. and we STILL know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God's got this one under control. We're going to have a great story to tell of how this one worked out! In fact, in the devotional I'm reading, the last few days have all been talking about having faith to believe God can do impossible things. I even read a verse that God had reminded me of when this whole move to Texas thing started about believing that He will do all that He promised- that I WON'T be disappointed. I really really believe that is still true. Regardless of the economy or the housing market, God has someone in place to buy our house at just the right time. And He will continue to provide for us just like he has for the last 16 months. So, stay tuned for a great story to come....hopefully sooner rather than later!!

Oh where, oh where has my blogging gal gone???

Oh, where oh where can she be?
She took off with the fam on a trip that was long...
A trip back to Ole' Tennessee.

(Did you sing it when you read it??? In case you didn't recognize it, it was "Oh, where oh where has my little dog gone?" Anyway....)

I really can't believe how long it's been since I've blogged. Many of you have probably long since stopped checking my blog not wanting to read even ONE more time about the college game night!!

We've been gone on a wonderful trip to Tennesse, first for a great wedding of a long time friend and then back to Memphis for a great 40th birthday party for Cheryl, Zoo Academy and lots of visits with friends we've missed. We had a contract signed on our house right before we left and were able to get some papers signed and some things done on the house while we were there. Please join us in praying that the buyers show up for closing (which is supposed to be today!) and that this all goes through. What a relief that will be to have the house sold and be officially DEBT-FREE!!!!! More on that later.

We took lots of fun pictures which hopefully will show up soon on the blog. Our old camera was broken and I ordered one just like it off of ebay and had it shipped to Memphis. I took the computer cord so I could upload pictures, but didn't bring the cord to charge the battery. Guess what??!! The battery in the camera wasn't charged. Right as we were getting ready to leave, Jeremy found our other camera, so we tossed it in my purse. I had packed the charger for its battery and guess what I forgot??? The computer cords to upload the pictures. So, hopefully, I can find the cord to upload the pics from Memphis and I'll put them on soon.

And I have to give a major pat on the back to those boys of mine. They are more and more like Michael every day in lots of ways. When it was time to head to TN, they cleaned out the car, packed their suitcases, bathed the dog, cleaned the kitchen, and packed the car. Then, when we got home (sidenote: We dropped Michael off at the airport in MEMPHIS, because he had to be at a food show in San Fransico on Sunday. So, it was me and the boys the whole way home. I decided in route, to make the trip all in one day instead of stopping overnight at mom and dad's...it's 13 hours of driving!) they unloaded all of the suitcases and Jeremy even started a load of laundry!!!! Then the next day, they unpacked all of the suitcases, cleaned the car, cleaned up goat poop off of the front porch, and did all of the laundry. This makes me so thankful on lots of levels: 1) I'm glad they're big. As much as I love babies, and wouldn't mind having more, babies can't do ANY of those things themselves-and wouldn't travel nearly as well in a car. 2) I'm thankful for Michael modelling all of those behaviors to the boys. Let's be honest, they wouldn't have picked up any (well, maybe cleaning the kitchen) of those behaviors from watching ME before I was married to Michael and he rubbed off on me! 3) I'm thankful for boys who follow the good, nope GREAT, things their daddy does even to the point where they do it when he's not around and without being asked.

We're getting back into the groove now. School's started up, the juicer's humming again, I've started P90X (and it's kickin' my booty!), basketball's back in swing. So hopefully, the blog posts should be a comin' on a regular basis again!!

T&G, Glad to see you can leave comments now! :-)

College Game Night

Just in case you didn't know, this is THE time of the year to watch college football! Well, tonight, in addition to the Fiesta bowl which features the Ohio State Buckeyes vs. t.u. Longhorns (hissssssss), there is also on TV here, a rare match-up of Texas A&M and the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux (in basketball). Michael came home and called all the boys together to issue the directive for the evening....go put on a game jersey. We have t-shirts for the Aggies (of course!), the Sioux (thanks to the Hagens) and Ohio State (thanks to the Richardsons). No Longhorns jerseys (thanks, Gin-gin!!). I took a picture with Michael's camera phone (since ours is still broken...you know when you drop it on the floor, it just doesn't seem to bounce back and work well! Go figure!), so the quality is not great, but you get the point. (** Note: I'm still waiting on the email that contains the picture. I'll put the picture in when Michael is able to get his phone to send it.) We couldn't find our OSU shirts on short notice, so it's Aggies and Sioux only.

Michael also passed on another directive....and I quote, "I'M IN CONTROL OF THE REMOTE TONIGHT! You'll have to trust me....just watch the master.(Yep, he used that exact phrase the master !)You WON'T miss any part of either game, but I repeat I'M IN CONTROL OF THE REMOTE!" The goofy thing is that there have been times the boys have seemed almost nervous about that. Their voices almost tremble "Dad, pleeeease we're going to miss the basketball game!" or "Can you pleeeease put it back on the football game???!!!" Hmmmmm, can you say "Control isssues!" Don't know where they get that! Must be the Dagerath genes!

So, the chips and cheese dip has been passed out and eaten. In Michael's mind, you can't watch any kind of sport (especially a college sport) without a liquid (preferably spicy) cheese product served on some type of crunchy something-and NOT a carrot! Of course, he's popped the top of a D.P. while the boys wiped the drool off their chins (They're in the middle of a 1 year long soft drink fast.). Josiah's running the length of our living room/dining room throwing a ball up and down catching it and shooting it up in the air. It's what he does during a game. Michael's also coaching the boys while watching the game. It's TIVOed (which is how he can watch both games at the same time) so he stops it and talks the boys through different things that he sees the teams do well.

I think I'll go in the back room and turn on Lifetime Movie Channel or Hallmark Channel and see if there's something a little less testosterone charged available for this evening....or maybe just hang with my boys. Yep, that's what I'll do. It's not really about the game is it, not to me.

They did it!! And had fun doing it!

For the first time in their lives, the boys actually made it to ring in a new year. Almost every year, they ask "Can we PLEASE stay up until midnight this year??!!" , Michael and I say "Suuuurrrre, you're welcome to do that." and then they get tired and fall asleep, usually by about 10. It's the Dagerath way. The sun goes down, we go to bed. Just ask anyone who knows us. Well, Wednesday night, the mold was broken. We all had a fun evening with our traditional New Year's Eve fare: tacos and chocolate fondue. Well, actually it's not truly fondue since we've long since given up the fondue pot for the chocolate; The chocolate doesn't melt fast enough for the boys and we end up with all kinds of stuff in the fondue pot. So now, I melt the chocolate in the microwave and include a large spoon. The boys make a lake of chocolate in the middle of the plate and surround it with angel food cake, strawberries, bananas, and pineapples. We do still use the fondue forks 'cuz they're fun. Truth be told, as I think about it, the boys START with the forks and usually end up using their fingers and tongues. You can't get ALL the chocolate off the plate with just a fork, you know. And they wonder why I never take them to the Melting Pot???!!

After cleaning up the food, we played Spoons for about an hour and a half. Lots of laughs. It was now about 10:00. When the game was over, the energy in the room rapidly drained. Jonathan and Jeremy were trying to think of something fast to engage everyone so it would not have been another year just like anyother. So, we put on a movie that the boys got for Christmas and hadn't seen. It was one of those from the cheap-o bin at HEB. It was called "Escape from Grizzly Mountain" with the guy in it who played Grizzly Adams back in the day. It was a pretty corny story, but it got the job done. It got us to 11:45. I say "us", but Michael headed off to bed at 11:30. After the movie was over, Josiah called it quits and went to bed. I read the next chapter in our read aloud "The Great Turkey Walk" to J&J&J, pausing at 11:59 to watch the clock tick over. When I finished, about 12:05, we all went to bed.

Maybe not exciting by most people's standards, but we had a totally great evening, just hanging out and being together as a family. Priceless!