Charlie Brown Tree

For years we've had a fake tree. Not something Mr. Bailey and I like to well. But hey, it's cheaper than buying a precut one. If we still lived in the Beehive state there is no doubt in my mind we would have a real tree cut from the Manti-La Sal or Bridger Rec areas. In our little community we have two local Christmas tree farms. We've never gone and decided it was time. So, this year we loaded up the kids on the Saturday after Thanksgiving-which coincidentally began a rather wet month for Texas. It was cold and we that day, but the experience was pretty fun for the kids. Unfortunately the trees were not in very good shape because we're deep in the heart of a Texas drought. They painted the trees to make them look greener than they were and they all looked rather dry and sparse. However, we were already there and decided we'd stick with the plan or cutting a tree. What we ended up with was a Charlie Brown tree for sure! By Christmas it was so dead that when we un-decorated it there were more pine needles left on the ground than the tree! And no, that is not an exaggeration!
The good thing was it did smell like pine for a few weeks and it was pretty small and easy to move so we could clean up the needles easily!

 We ended up setting it on a stack of magazines to make it taller. It was decorated and re-decorated on a daily basis. Thank goodness for wood, metal, and fabric ornaments! The last pic is right after we took off the lights and took it outside. Next time, we'll take it outside and THEN take the lights off. We're learning!

Age is relative...or maybe irrelevant.

Tex sometimes comes to very interesting conclusions. This week he's apparently decided that 18 is a really big number. He's very interested in how old people are as well. Here's a few tidbits of what I learned this week from my feisty five year old.

"An airplane costs $18, cause that's a lot of money. A farm costs $21, cause that's a REALLY lot of money."

And later...

Tex: "How old is your Grandma? My Grandma-great?"

Me: "How old do you think she is?"

Tex: "18 Hundred. And Grandpa-great is 'probly' 21 hundred."

-I am apparently about 18 81s. And Mr. Bailey is 18 21s. 

Obviously, we need to keep working on his number sense. But hey, we've got time...he's only 5.

I have a dream

This week we're talking about Martin Luther King. Naturally, we had a journal entry about dreams. This is what LM wrote.

Four dreams
I have a dream that it could snow in Texas. That way we could make snowmen, slide on the snow-covered hills of Bastrop, and play snowforts.
I have a dream that we could live in Wyoming, have a farm, no fire-ants, snow, four-wheelers, hundreds of acres, a forest, hills, and nearby family.
I have a dream that we could have hpets and a new baby sibling. I love babies, and pets are good. I would live in harmony.
I have a dream that I could be humble and be righteious, and repent.
Those are my dreams.

LM turns 11!

Happy Birthday to LM! He turned 11 just last month! It's hard for me to believe that he is growing so old. His feet are now bigger than mine. I anticipate that this next year he'll pass me up. He's past my chin now. He is growing so quickly that the pants I bought for him in September are three inches too short in December! We love this little man so much and we're so happy he's part of our family!
10 Things about LM...
1. He loves food.
2. He eats a lot of food. Usually more than his Dad.
3. He loves to read.
4. He loves to write.
5. He plays piano and has a natural talent for music.
6. He is getting to be a good helper and is starting to realize that he is stronger than he previously thought.
7. He wants to be a scientist (something space), a meteorologist, or a park ranger.
8. His favorite color is blue.
9. His favorite subject is science.
10. He is a great big brother and is starting to babysit the younger kids for short periods of time. And he does a great job!

Family Birthday-12 years

Another post I never got to this last year was celebrating our family birthday (our anniversary). We decided a while back to include our children in this celebration and call it our family birthday, as described in a previous post. Mr. Bailey and I still do something together, just the two of us. But we also do something as a family to celebrate the beginning of it all. This year we had had several visitors for the weeks prior to May 7. So when the time came, we were pretty tired! We made a trip to Galveston. We sat on the beach and did nothing. The kids played in the water and the sand. Mr. Bailey took them out in the water and played as well. I stayed close to shore with Curious and played with him. It was very relaxing. We ate dinner that night at a local Mexican restaurant and stayed at a hotel for the evening. We really enjoyed getting away for a few days and having nothing to do. If you haven't done it in a while, I highly suggest it. In fact, I think it's about time to do something similar again. Happy 12th Birthday family!

Tex turns 5!

I have no idea why I didn't post on this, but it makes me sad! My little Tex turned 5 in April! Happy Birthday to you Tex! We love having you in our family! We had several friends over for a birthday party and I made a a shark cake. If you know me, you know this was rough. I have a phobia. But for Tex, anything! Here are some favorites at 5.
1. Ketchup is a food group. Tex eats it on everything!
2. Peanut Butter is also a food group.
3. Daddy walks on water.
4. Tools are the best toy ever, hands down.
5. When Tex grows up he wants to drive big trucks and be a Dad so he doesn't have to help clean-up (I will note here, that this is his perception, but Mr. Bailey does help, often!)
6. Trains, planes, and automobiles.
7. Following Cowgirl around as her sidekick.
8. Girls. Yep, he lets us know if he thinks they're pretty or not. Weird and I'm not sure how I feel about it sometimes. But, overall, it's pretty cute.
9. Music and dancing. He thinks his aunt, SMO, is a rockstar. And she is.
10. Playing at the park. One of his most favorite activities for sure!

Sweets for the sweet-Best Caramel Recipe!!! Ever!!!!

Caramels
Another amazing recipe and super easy, although they are a bit time consuming. Grab your kindle and get out your wooden spoon. You'll need both! This is with my own little tweaks.

• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup corn syrup
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1 pint whipping cream
• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Line a 12x15 inch pan with parchment. Seriously do this. It is worth it.
2. In a large pot, combine sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, evaporated milk, whipping cream, and butter. Monitor the heat of the mixture with a candy thermometer while stirring. When the thermometer reaches 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) remove the pot from the heat. I took my thermometer out when it hit 220. I stirred and stirred, watching and waiting. When I thought it was ready I took a spoonful out and dropped it into some cold water. Then I checked it to see if it would roll into a small ball and keep it's form. I'm pretty sure I only cooked it to 240-245. However, we live at about 400 ft above sea level and I'm thinking this had something to do with it.
   
3. Stir in vanilla. Transfer mixture to the prepared pan and let the mixture cool completely. When cooled cut the Carmel into small squares and wrap them in wax paper for storage.  

 

Let everyone take a turn for 10 minutes!

 

And while all of this stirring is going on, employ the children in throwing dinner together. Chicken breasts, cranberry sauce, Russian dressing, and onion soup mix. 350 for 50 minutes. Easy and tasty.