And They Did Go Forth and Labor...

We had told a few of our friends that our main tree in the front yard would have to come down sooner than later because it was at the end of its life and it had recently split all the way to the ground. With a few winds, it would be a danger to our house, possibly car, and the chance pedestrian. We asked if anyone was available, to come out for an hour or so on Labor Day morning.

 

Upon returning from Westfest on Saturday afternoon both our mouths dropped open when we drove up to the house and saw this...

 Yes, half of the tree lying on our lawn!  Tom, our friend and home teacher and Rich, another friend, had given us a head start!  We were so thankful!

On Labor Day morning, we with Tom and, our friend, Carter did, well, labor.  The chainsaw and loppers were out and in a little over an hour the branches were all stacked for removal later in the week and the limbs, in part, had been converted to firewood and stacked, and the rest awaited a new chainsaw blade.  It would have taken us all day without the help of our friends and we are grateful for their willingness to serve.

We will get to the rest of the tree later but for now we feel the chances of it suddenly splitting have been greatly reduced.

Polka Pride!

Today we headed south to West, Texas for Westfest and embraced all things polka and sausage. Westfest is a Czech/Polka festival.  It includes food, culture, dance, and Czechoslovakian fun!  We started out by ordering some kolaches (both fruit and sausage) and gobbled them up while listening to polka and watching a few brave couples dance.  Who doesn't love a little accordion, right?!

After that we perused the wares and I didn't know "bedazzled" camouflage pants and tied-dyed shirts were part of traditional Czech dress but to each their own. Keri had to be strong.  Didn't even touch the tied-dyed stuff.  She knew once she did her college years addiction to it would resurface. (Kelly, you'd be so proud of me!).

Doesn't tied-dye just make you feel happy, though?!

We made sure we did fun stuff for the kids too.  Played with blocks, visited the petting zoo... 

Then we enjoyed some of the cultural dancing and parade of costumes.  It was shaded and we had a breeze there!  Whew!

The folk costumes were traditionally worn at wedding, funerals, and important occasions.  The decorations revealed what area the person was from, marital status, and often included symbols depicting their religious beliefs, such as designs repeated 3 times to represent the holy trinity.  The embroidery and lace on many of the clothes was amazing.  And the sleeves were puffy beyond belief in some cases.

 

This couple has been married for over 50 years!

We had a great time even though it was still in the triple digits out and our kids held up pretty well.  On the way home we stopped in Waxahachie to venture into a crazy little art studio we'd heard about.  It was funky as all get out!  There were several toothpick sculptures - an Eiffel tower, zeppelin, Ferris wheel, wind mill and other craft, each made with thousands of toothpicks.  Thank goodness for Elmer's glue! Couldn't get a decent picture with either glare from outside and back lighting from inside!  Oh well, you get the idea.

 Also, just a few steps away we saw this beautiful Ellis County Courthouse, constructed in 1895.  Gorgeous! 

Very full day!  Lots of fun to try something new!

Sophie Heads Off to Real Preschool

As you may know, Sophie and I participated in a parent-led preschool co-op last year to introduce her to academics and develop those social skills.  We had a great time.  This year, however, Sophie is enrolled in "real" preschool.  She is attending two days a week in a play based program. 

Today was her first day!  She was not hesitant at all (no surprise to those who know our Sophie).  Today Sophie got to pack her favorite teddy bear for some teddy bear fun and Mommy got to pack her first of over a thousand school lunches.  Hooray for our little girl!

 

Sophie in line to get name tags for herself and her bear.  Ms. Debbie (above) and Ms. Louise are her teachers.



Grandma Sue Comes to Stay

Susan, Neal's mother, came for her annual August visit.  It was great to spend time with her.  She had lost 80 pounds since last year and looked great.  She also had more energy to play with those grandkids of hers and run around town with the family. 

We had a lot of fun.  We went out to Lake Lewisville to beat the Texas heat.  We finally got Rhys to put his feet down on the sandy ground when in the water.

We went for a nature walk at the Heard Wildlife Sanctuary but at the end of the walk we took a wrong turn and ended up hiking up steps and wearing everyone out before making it back. We did see a water snake, though.  That was cool.  Also, as a lovely souvenir, we took home some chiggers--just Sophie and Keri.  Maybe our cat brought some in, we are not sure how we got them we just know that we got eaten good.

We also had the chance to see the Barnett side of the family and get caught up.  We missed Alvin, though, who passed earlier this year. They are a kind, accommodating bunch.

From Right to Left: Susan, Melba, Dorothy, Frank, Diane

We also shopped, watched the kids play in the fountains, visited the farmer's market, hit a few restaurants, and went for some walks.  Neal and I even went on a date to the Crow Collection of Asian Art in Dallas. The museum was spotlighting the mystical arts of Tibet.  We were able to observe monks preparing the mandala surface for the sand and an outdoor blessing for adults and children encompassing emotional well-being, wisdom, and healing.  Which sounded like chanting, singing, chanting, singing, followed by yet more chanting.  It was interesting to see another culture and religious view.

It was a nice 10 days with Susan.  Because we live in Texas, we had to send Grandma off with much fanfare!  The day before leaving we parked ourselves along the parade route for Allen's High School Band.  Every year before school starts they march the city through neighborhoods and parks to kick off the new year.

Neal was in band in California but band is BIG here.  It is actually cool to be in the band here.  The band is huge!  Neal was in a band of approximately 30.  Allen has well over 600 members! and includes band, color guard, and drill team.  They just kept coming and coming.  They had police escort, a prop plane doing fly-bys, and all!  It was fun and a great way to show Susan that we do everything big here in Texas.

 Glad you came Grandma Sue!  We love you and will see you next year!

Nasher Sculpture Center

This morning we threw together a chicken gumbo in the crock pot and took off to the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas' arts district.  Admission was free today and we beat the heat by wandering through the sculpture garden and viewing the art indoors as well. 

We had fun participating in an art scavenger hunt. We were provided with 4 images showing only part of 4 separate sculptures, had to recognize the feature, and write down the title and artist. Kids got some snazzy sunglasses as a prize.



Neal and I both saw this shot at the same time and made sure we got it.  The "Hammering Man" was in the Nasher Sculpture Garden and The Museum Tower was being constructed across the street.  Rather befitting.



These stairs were so cool!  With every step someone took up or down it played a piano key following the scale up or down.

Do you see that wall behind us?  It is a room absolutely stuffed with large, gold balloons.  People were allowed to go in there but we didn't think the 90 minute wait with two hungry kids was a good idea.  Sad kids, happy parents.



What Neal and I do best.

We were lucky enough to come during story time and the kids each got a free book.

Not too bad for only paying parking!  Spent the afternoon napping and hanging out.

Anticipation

Our kids sitting in the empty swimming pool, chatting up a storm with each other, waiting for the garbage truck to rumble down our alley.  So cute.

Braving the Texas Heat

We are trying to break a record here in the Dallas area.  The mercury has hit at least 100 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 consecutive days in the DFW area.  The record is 45 days, set in 1980.  The "cool" thing about this heat wave and drought is that receding Richland-Chambers Reservoir has revealed a small, unmarked 19th century cemetery.  Two persons remains found thus far.

But on the less somber side, we have still been able to enjoy ourselves despite the heat.  We headed to the Arboretum this week and spent the morning there before the more severe heat hit.  We had not been there for over a year since Keri was sick last year.  It was great to stroll the grounds again.

They had several fairy tale castles on display depicting a variety of tales from around the world. It was fun for the kids to go in them and try out some of the thrones.

There were still some beautiful blooms and the koi kept the kids entertained, especially because one of Rhys' favorite words is fish.



Here Rhys is saying and signing "water."

After we walked around for some time, we decided to cool off at he frog fountains.  Keri brought extra clothes and towels because there was no doubt with the weather that we were going to miss the fountains.  So Keri found a nice spot in some shade and let the kids enjoy.

Oh My YUM! -- Carrot Cake Pancakes!

This morning I made Carrot Cake Pancakes and my life was changed forever.  I posted this on Facebook and many of my friends were interested in the recipe.  I used the basic dry pancake mix recipe from The Thrifty Mama.  Yes, we hand grind our wheat--it's good exercise!  I used hard red wheat because that's what we have and it turns out great.  Yes, we use raw sugar.  We have made A LOT of changes to our eating.  And yes, I keep the mix in the freezer because although pancakes are quick, I am not a morning person and the sooner I can go from sleep to indulging myself with delicious food the better.

I got my inspiration form Picky Cook.  Her recipe and toppings sound absolutely decadant.  You may want to check that blog out.  She also has a Lemon Poppy Seed Pancake recipe I am going to adapt slightly in the near future.  I mean, I can't have pancakes EVERYDAY.  I 'd miss out on some other super yummy options.

In a bowl, I put 2 cups of that dry pancake mix (from The Thrifty Mama) and added:

1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (get out your microplane--makes me feel so chef-like)
1 pinch of ground ginger
Mix that up and set aside.

In another bowl, combine the following wet ingredients:
1 cup buttermilk (I always cheat and put 1T of lemon juice in a 1 cup measure and fill the rest with milk and let it sit for 5 minutes or so.  This makes buttermilk.  You can also use 1T vinegar instead of lemon juice, I hear.)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 Tablespoon coconut oil (also new to our family and SO yummy, especially in baked goods. You can use canola but the coconut oil is really something of a pleasurefest.)
1 1/2 to 2 cups finely grated carrot
1 Tablespoon of orange zest (use that microplane.  I would not make the pancakes without this ingredient.  It's a must in my book)
Lightly give all that a whisk and dump it in the dry mix bowl.  Stir until combined. 

I do my pancakes over medium low but you know your stove.  I lightly greased my griddle with real butter.  You can use more coconut oil if you want; it does well with high heat.  You can even try it out without a greased griddle because it already has oil in it and see how that goes. These make moist, thick pancakes so I use a 1/4 cup measure and pour them on the griddle.  I use the bottom of the 1/4 cup measure to spread them out a touch. Should make about 8 pancakes.

I served mine with just 1 teaspoon of pure maple syrup per pancake.  No pats of butter or anything else.  It really doesn't need it because it's moist and sweet and oh so tasty all on it's own.

If you make them let me know how it went and what your personal touches were.

Rhys Lends an Ear

This morning Rhys had his hearing not just screened but, evaluated.  This was important information to have due to his speech delay; although, we did not suspect hearing loss.  Turns out his hearing is fine as far as they can tell for his age and developmental level.  And it was painless, even fun, for him to participate.