Life in Mountain Home, Texas

And then there was Lucky...

2012-02-04T19:17:00.000-08:00

On New Years Day, we made an addition to the family. Lucky, the beagle puppy came home to us. Some friends had his parents and offered him to us. We had wanted to get Darcy a puppy at some point, but had just not been ready for it. Plus we were looking at other breeds. This beagle came as a surprise and a hurried decision. It probably wasn't the best time for us to add a puppy to the menagerie, but Darcy was thrilled, and still is. Lucky is a good puppy and was pretty well house trained in two weeks. At 8 weeks old, Doug had him sitting on command. He's very smart, and has a lot of character. Over all, he's been a great puppy, and we're glad we made that rushed decision to get him. I think both kids will enjoy growing up with a dog like Lucky.

And by the way, Darcy named him after Lucky in '101 Dalmations,' just in case you were wondering.

Smile!

2012-01-29T07:20:00.001-08:00

New Years Eve

2012-01-24T19:09:00.000-08:00

Thinking we were going to stay home for New Years Eve, we hadn't done more than venture out to feed the goats when our neighbors called and said they were out for a few days. They invited us over for dinner and to let the kids play. We ended up having a great time taking it easy with friends, and the kids had a good time too. The next day, they brought the kids over to see all of our new baby goats we had the week before.

We love visiting the baby sheep and goats ourselves, so when other folks with kids come out, we try and share them a little.

Wyatt had someone sneak up behind him while he was checking out the baby. That's Oreo, and she got a good sniff, and maybe a tiny lick before we realized she was there!

Divide School Christmas Program

2012-01-23T07:30:00.000-08:00

The Divide School does Christmas up big. And this year was no different. The day the kids get out for the holidays, they have a lunch and then party where EVERYONE exchanges gifts. That means all the kids in the whole school exchange gifts. Granted, there were only 16 kids in the whole school, it still gets very hectic when you add in all of the teachers and their gifts and 16 mothers hovering trying to get photos and make sure everyone has their own stuff and no one elses. It's a blast for the kids, and Darcy came home with two reusable grocery bags full of stuff.

Darcy and her classmate Anneliese are so cute together. Plus, who can resist a little girl in cotton stockings?

The school also does a Christmas play and it's usually a full house with the community there. They did a series of songs and narratives this year. And the younger grades completed a living nativity in the middle of the program. Darcy was an angel again this year, and managed to only flash the audience once (she doesn't wear dresses much, and hasn't figured out to not pull it up).

All of the kids of the Divide...

Christmas, Again

2012-01-22T19:01:00.000-08:00

And then came Christmas Day. My parents and brother came down, and Darcy got to open hers and Dax's presents again. We didn't have that much for her to open, because this was her main present.

Nathan scored major points on the Barbie house, and Dax got some trucks that he really enjoys. I don't know how little boys instinctively know that those cars and trucks are meant to be pushed along, like they're driving, but they do. Darcy would have just picked it up, looked at it, and put it back down. Just another time I'm amazed at how God makes things work.

Of course, after we had opened all of the presents, THEN we remembered the camera sitting on the camera. So much for recording that first Christmas Dax! Luckily we did have the video camera going on a tripod the whole time, but it's nice to have some still shots too. I'm sure I'll really lament this later in life as I look back on all of our photos. But all I can say right now is, oh well.

The rest of the Christmas holidays passed with Darcy visiting Gran and Mike for several days, and Dax learning to sleep in his bed all night (which was a barrel of fun, as you can imagine).

Christmas

2012-01-22T18:51:00.000-08:00

Our fall went well, with an uneventful theme. That's the way we like it here. Well, there was a string of illnesses that I would rather not remember, and I'm sure no one wants to hear about, so I won't bring it up here. Our Christmas with the Pfeffers culminated with the quote from Darcy of "I got a gun!"

There were other presents of course, lots of them for everyone. Unfortunately, Dax came down with a fever that afternoon and was fussy and didn't feel well through the evening. Darcy ended up opening most of his presents for him, and still plays with his toys most of the time.

Halloween

2012-01-22T18:42:00.000-08:00

Well, since it's January, I thought it would be a good time to do a Halloween post...

Not really, but I am going to play a game of super fast (as Darcy would put it) catch up on the 'ol posts. So hold on to your pants...

We don't normally do Halloween as far as the dress up and all, but this year I just couldn't resist. Darcy already had a Princess Tiana dress, and I joked with Doug that maybe I should dress Dax up as a frog. Well, behold, our own version of The Princess and The Frog.

(By the by, do you know how hard it is to get a good pic of two kids, one of which cannot stand by himself and isn't exactly happy to be dressed up like a frog?)

The deal was sealed when I walked into Sam's on a routine visit and they had frog costumes right inside the door, and the first one on the rack was the right size for Dax.

Everyone needs embarrassing childhood photos right?

Watch Out!

2011-10-29T05:47:00.000-07:00

He's on the move! (And has been since a week shy of his 8 month anniversary...)

A few days after he started crawling, he started pulling up. Little stinker. And now, he has started to take steps along whatever he is holding on to! He's getting steadier by the day on his feet. Hopefully he will hold out a few more months before he lets go and walks, but who knows!

There's no hiding that red hair now either. He's getting more and more and it hasn't changed a bit in color.

Halloween pics to be taken tonight, hopefully it won't be too long before I get them up. Let's just say we're mimicking a Disney movie tonight. :)

The Kids

2011-10-12T15:36:00.000-07:00

So much for catching up with pics and events in order! Let's just fast forward to the present, since I'm not doing very well with those past pictures. Here's one of the kids a few weeks ago. Dax is crawling like crazy, pulling up, and getting into everything! Of course, he follows Darcy around mostly, and they amuse each other endlessly. It's a blessing to see them playing peek-a-boo with each other and both are just cackling away the whole time!

Until next time...

Still Catching Up

2011-09-10T07:34:00.001-07:00

I'm still catching up on posting pictures of the last few weeks of school, back in May. They did so much it's hard to keep up. We had a field day, where the kids did all types of competitions, like sack races, three-legged races, egg tosses, and tug of war. Here you can see we went a little ghetto on the sack races and used plastic trash bags.

Darcy and her friend Cody did the three-legged race together. They did great practicing, but when it came time to compete, it didn't go so well. Enough said.

And then the school had their end of the year program where they hand out awards and certificates. All of the Pre-K-ers received a notebook with artwork from the year that their teacher had held on to, plus a certificate. Here's Darcy getting her notebook from her teacher, Miss Mindy.

That's it for now. I'm still digging up photos from this summer, and one day maybe I'll get caught up to what is actually happening now!

Turning 4

2011-08-22T09:35:00.001-07:00

Darcy's 4th birthday was filled with presents and fun. We had a little party for her at a local place where they have indoor inflated slides and play areas. She had a blast and wore herself (and her Dad and uncle Darren, who were playing with her) out! Princess cake, throne and all!

Family Photo Session

2011-08-08T06:01:00.001-07:00

We had family pictures done back in June. Rebecca McCoy does a wonderful job, and we're always thrilled with the outcome! Check out her website at www.rebeccamccoy.com

I've been having technical difficulties the fast few weeks getting pictures loaded and so am way behind on posts. I'm hoping to get all our pics from the summer up in the next few weeks. The good news is Darcy starts school on Monday and I'll have more time to get some things done hopefully!

School Days

2011-06-25T16:16:00.000-07:00

Darcy's last week of school was filled with field trips and fun activities. Two field days were to the YO Ranch just a few miles down the road. The kids got to feed the giraffe on their exotic game tour and see a lot of other unusual animals.

And then, someone gave this child a weapon. WHAT were they thinking! The Pre-kers were too small to do the ropes course they have at the YO Adventure Camp, so they got to shoot bows and practice roping. Darcy really enjoyed both!

Baby Steps

2011-06-03T07:00:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago we started Dax on rice cereal, a few weeks ahead of schedule. It just seemed those bottles weren't cutting it anymore. And it seemed he was eyeing our food quite a bit. And while I think it's a bit soon for those steak and potatoe dinners we were eating, he took to the cereal really well.

I've also embarked on a journey of making baby food. This is a journey for me because I'm not a fan of cooking, and don't really care to do it very often. So when I bought a steamer and the containers, I think Doug thought I was going crazy. But it's a whole lot easier than I thought! I've already got his first batch of 5 foods ready to go in the freezer. I found a great book on making organic baby food and it's easy enough for me to cook from, so I love it. I know I'll still buy some food, in fact I already have bought a few jars, but at least I won't have to fill up my cart with baby food for the next several months. I would highly recommend making baby food to anyone, even the busiest of moms. It only took a few hours to make a LOT of baby food and it freezes easily. Even if it's something you do only to feed him at home or on the weekends when it's not so busy, I think it is worth the effort. This baby food actually smells good, which is saying something compared to the jarred variety!

Silly Kids

2011-05-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

These kids get up to some crazy stuff when we're at home. All 3 of them.

It's sad, but Darcy can walk pretty good in my socks and boots. I think she's going to catch up to me on shoe size in a couple of years.

Zoo Day

2011-05-24T15:25:00.000-07:00

Wow, May has flown by us it seems! We've done a lot, and now I have to try to catch up on all these pictures. Here goes... We visited the San Antonio Zoo during the week when Darcy's school went on a week long field trip to New Mexico. We didn't go on it (obviously) for several reasons, and thought we would take Darcy to the zoo while we could during the week. She had a great time with all the animals!

She did NOT like the smell in the area with the monkeys, and walked around like this for a while.

All she could talk about was the elephants, and we were able to catch the keeper doing his show with them. They did all sorts of tricks. And of course, when we hit the gift shop she went straight for the elephant stuffed animals.

We have pics with the hippos and the lion statue with her from 2 years ago, so we made sure to get the same shots this time so that we can look back and see the changes over the years.

We all really enjoy our zoo visits, and hope to make them more than once every two years in the future. If it wasn't so far away...

Easter 2011

2011-04-28T18:36:00.000-07:00

Easter day brought an early church service for us, then off to the Pfeffer's for lunch and a Easter egg hunt for Darcy. Enjoy the pics of the kids all dressed up... it doesn't happen often around here!

Divide School Easter Party

2011-04-24T17:09:00.000-07:00

The Divide School had their annual Easter party out at the HEB Foundation Camp, and this year we got to visit their Laity Lodge. It's beautiful out there on the Frio River, and a one of a kind experience since we have to drive down the middle of the river to get to the different lodges. One of the moms had brought a baby goat, and as soon as Darcy had gotten all the eggs she could find, her focus turned to that poor goat. Below are some pics from the day. Enjoy!

'Making Change'

2011-04-02T08:50:00.001-07:00

We've had an interesting month here at the Pfeffer house. Darcy swallowed what we thought was a quarter about three weeks ago. She was sitting with me watching a movie, and all of a sudden, coughed and said "Oh, I swallowed it." After an intense interrogation I found out it was money, and one of the "big silver ones." I had seen a quarter in the living room earlier and hadn't thought anything about it (since she's never offered to put money in her mouth before) and we assumed that's what she had swallowed. After an ER visit, we saw that it was in her stomach and were told it would pass in 5 days and to keep a lookout for it. Those 5 days went by and we had another x-ray that showed it was still in her stomach, and we were referred to a pediatric surgeon in San Antonio. A week later, another x-ray showed it was still in the same place, and the surgeon scheduled us for an endoscopy to remove the coin for the next week.

So this Thursday, we went in to retrieve the quarter.... and we got a nickel. Turns out it was the other "big silver one." Darcy came through the procedure great (probably better than we did) and we have a black nickel to show for it. Somehow we kind of feel like we got cheated... we lost 20 cents. (Maybe two dimes will still come out, eh?) The coin was embedded in her stomach lining a bit and that's why it wasn't moving. We'll be framing this expensive nickel, the x-ray, and hospital bill, and give it to Darcy when she asks if she can go to college. Our answer will be something like, "Well, we were going to send you to college, but then you swallowed this nickel when you were three."

Daxton, on the other hand, is very carefree and happy as long as someone gives him a bottle at the appropriate time. Hopefully he won't repeat his sister's mistakes!

Tired Boys

2011-03-01T07:38:00.000-08:00

It seems the only time I can get a picture of our little guy is when he is sleeping! Pictures turn out with the oddest faces when he's awake.

Everyone here is doing ok. We've now all got the sniffles and congestion, but seem to be getting over it. Hopefully it will go away and leave us alone for a while!

He's Here!

2011-02-16T09:55:00.000-08:00

Daxton James Pfeffer
arrived on February 8, 2011

at 9:18 p.m.

7 lbs 2 oz, 20 in. long

After much anticipation, Dax finally made an appearance! Of course, we picked a day in advance to be induced, only to find that it would be full of freezing temperatures, sleet and snow. So, since we had him late in the evening, our family had all gone home for the night to avoid the weather, and the next morning, could not get back due to icy roads. So our hospital stay was very uneventful after the delivery! Our doctor released us a few hours early on the 9th so that we could make it home before dark and the roads got bad again! We were very glad to be home and able to rest, as we didn't get much rest in the hospital.

All is going well with everyone here. Dax is a very good baby and easy going about pretty much everything. We've yet to see him really cry good about anything, and he's a great sleeper! We've even gotten a few 5 hour stretches out of him at night already! It's amazing how two kids from the same people can be so different! He and Darcy seem to be opposites! Guess time will tell for sure!

Darcy is loving having a little brother, if only we could get her to hold the noise level down a bit! It seems her volume got turned up in the last week and we haven't figured out how to turn it down yet. Dax gets a lot of kisses and pets from her, and the first thing she wanted us to do when she saw him was "put him down so he can walk and play." Ah, how little minds think! Of course, all the newborns (goats, sheep, cows) she sees around here walk as soon as they come out, so why not him too!

Enjoy the pics! More to come later...

P.S. His hair is red, we'll have to wait to see if it stays that color!

P.S.S. Doug is still in denial about the above!

School Christmas Programs

2010-12-31T15:32:00.000-08:00

Out at the Divide, they do up Christmas big at the school. They started with a musical program on Thursday night, of which I have no still photos since all I did was video. Darcy didn't have a part and the Pre-K class sang two short songs in the beginning, then got to sit down most of the program.

On Friday at lunch, they have a luncheon, then party where gifts are exchanged. I had time at the beginning of the gifts to snap a few pictures, then it got way too hectic for me to do more than try to keep Darcy and all her stuff together! She had a good time though, and it got her ready for all the present-opening she would do at Christmas... more to come on that later. For now enjoy these pictures of her dressed nice, with a clean face, and her hair fixed (GASP! All at one time!).

Hunting Season Success

2010-12-09T14:17:00.000-08:00

This year was an exceptional year for deer in the Hill Country, this ranch included. It also happened to be the year that both Doug and I were able to take trophies. Doug decided to take his with his bow, which until now, he had not shot a trophy with. It took him about a week of hard hunting to finally get him, and he scored 168 5/8 B & C with a 30 3/8" spread. My trophy did not take as long. No one has ever really seen this deer much from a stand, so it took Doug and I by complete surprise when he was at the stand we were sitting at the first morning of season. He was there at daylight, and it still took me over 15 minutes to shoot. Luckily, I was trying not to pay attention to how big he was, but was just waiting for the right shot. Doug on the other hand was looking at him through binoculars the whole time and ended up more nervous than I was! He scored 192 B & C, and is by far a deer of a lifetime!

Quick Family Photos

2010-12-01T17:55:00.000-08:00

We had a few quick family photos taken back in September by a lady who was coming through and taking photos of some of the other families out here on the Divide. The only problem was, we were first up, Darcy had to be woken from her nap after only 20 minutes, and the photographer didn't take the time to let Darcy warm up to her. So we didn't get many smiles out of her! But sometimes you don't need a smile to make a good picture. Overall, I think we came out alright. We were mainly looking for a few pictures while it was still just the three of us. Plus you can see a bit of the baby bump in these (it's a lot bigger now!).

Pigtails and More

2010-11-10T17:42:00.000-08:00

I love me some pigtails!

We've had a lot going on here lately, but not a lot of time to post about them. I'll try to catch up in the next few weeks since my calendar is blessedly empty for a little bit. We took some impromptu family pictures, started deer season with a bang (or two), and helped with the Divide school's main fundraiser, a wild game dinner!

Meanwhile in our spare time, we still make it to school everyday (for the most part), and do all of our other normal jobs around here. Darcy's hair has been giving us fits since it's longer now, and I've been trying to find ways to keep it out of her way. She hates having it brushed, and very rarely makes it through school (which is just in the morning) without pulling ponytails or braids down. But it sure does look cute before we leave!

More to come on other events soon!

Darcy's First Day of School

2010-09-13T08:42:00.000-07:00

Darcy started school this year as a 3 year old in Divide School's Pre-K class. Pre-k, I know, is usually for 4 year olds, but they take 3 y.o.'s in the class when they have room out here at Divide. And as I was pretty much at the end of the rope as far as things I knew how to teach her, we decided it was a good idea to start. It just means that she'll get to spend 2 years in Pre-K getting ready for Kindergarten. Plus, I needed the break. Not gonna lie.

The Kerrville newspaper came out on the first day and did an article on the Divide School, which is the smallest ISD in Texas. The Pre-K class made the front page with a picture to go along with the article! See it here!

She's doing pretty good in school so far, and we're really glad it's all working out!

Feeding the Ducks

2010-08-31T12:59:00.000-07:00

We recently visited my parents in San Saba and took Darcy to the park there. She likes to feed the ducks, who usually go crazy over bread. This time they were not so excited about it, but at least they didn't get too close.

Of course, after our last visit where Doug caught a tiny baby turtle (and kept it), he had to inspect the streams that wind through the park before we could leave.

Summer Happenings

2010-08-26T08:51:00.000-07:00

So it's time to catch up on what's been going on around here this summer. It seems like it flew by, and we were so busy, I barely had time to download pictures, much less post them. So let me take you back a few months...

Swim lessons....

Blowing bubbles and learning to hold your breath was a big part, and as you can see, her tongue rarely stayed inside her mouth. Which, as you can imagine made it hard to hold her breath. Although jumping in from the side was her favorite part!

Stay tuned for more updates on this summer. And first day of school pictures! Since I have all morning to myself now, I'm getting a lot more done. :)

Busy Summer!

2010-08-05T12:02:00.000-07:00

While we've been super busy here, it's been mostly work. And nothing exciting enough to take pictures. I haven't even had time to look on the camera to see if I have anything interesting! I'll try to do that in the next few weeks. So for now, I'm celebrating figuring out how to take video off the camera and converting it so that I can email or post it! Here's one from this winter, when we had Cotton, our bottle baby sheep. This is an example of her and Darcy's daily exercise routine...

Darcy's 3rd Birthday

2010-06-27T06:30:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pics from this weekend. We celebrated Darcy's birthday early in a low key manner. Just cake. I think she was fine with it. She gobbled down her cake before anyone else! She sure had fun with the dress up stuff that Nathan brought her, and then Saturday night, had fun playing with the stuff Grandpa and Nana brought. I don't have much time right now, as I'm supposed to leave for camp in about 10 minutes. So this is all for now. Enjoy the pics!

Summer Light

2010-06-13T12:46:00.000-07:00

Wildseed Farm in Fredericksburg

2010-05-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

We made a side trip to the Wildseed Farm in Fredericksburg a few weeks back. If you've never been, go. They have fields of flowers in the spring that you can walk through, a butterfly exhibit, a great selection of native plants, wildflower seeds, pots, and ice cream and beer inside. (I swear I don't work for them)

Most of the flowers out in the fields were past bloom, so we missed most of the bluebonnets. We were all dressed up from church, so of course we had to find a few spots for pictures. We even found a few plants left of their 'maroon' bluebonnets!

Brandon's Wedding

2010-05-23T16:02:00.000-07:00

We went to Bellville at the end of April for Doug's good friend, Brandon's wedding. We all had a blast that weekend! I think I had more fun at that wedding than most we've been to. Darcy had a good time too, although she pooped out on us about 8:30, and before the dancing even started. So we didn't get many pics of her. The church had a nice flower garden out to the side and we tried to get some pictures of her there, but she wasn't having any of it. This is the best I got.

Doug was the best man in the wedding, his friend Brandon is in the middle, and Eric on the right.

Kim did most of the decorations herself, since she's an artist by trade. Everything looked great! They even had a table with all kinds of craft supplies for the kids; what a great idea!

Of course, we had to get a shot of us all dressed up. Because lets face it, it doesn't happen often. And when it does, we have to document it.

On a side note, we were getting dressed for the wedding, and had about 10 minutes before we had to leave when I felt a strange breeze across my back. The zipper of my dress had split, and there was no fixing it. I had to rush to change into jeans, which was the only other thing I had. Then it was off to drop Doug off at the church since he had to be there an hour early, and then I made a mad dash to JCPenney's to try and find a dress that fit. They had one rack of dresses. I literally bought the only dress they had that fit and wasn't grandmotherly.

So it wasn't even my wedding and I had a 'wedding snafu.' Wasn't the one at our wedding enough??

Fishing Again

2010-04-26T11:18:00.000-07:00

Fishing again in Bellville...

On a recent trip to Bellville for our friends', Brandon and Kim, wedding, we took a little time out to, of course, take Darcy fishing. We hoped that she would have a little more interest and ability than last time we took her.

And boy were we right!

We got her a Mickey Mouse rod and reel that she picked out at bass pro and she had a blast! She caught the most fish by far! Of course, all Doug did was bait her hook, throw it out, and set the hook on hers so she could reel it in. He would barely get the hook in the water before she had a bite! We lost count on the perch, and she caught two small bass also!

At first we had to help her a bit...

The first perch of the day! They were eating size, but we didn't feel like cleaning them. So she got to have fun throwing them back too.

She's finally getting the hang of it by herself...

And she reeled in this bass!

Hmm... what's in there?

She got it down fast and then there was no stopping her!

On the other hand, I have no pictures of my fish to show you. I caught a few small bass and perch. And then I hooked the biggest fish I've ever had on a line. We had no idea what it was at first, but Doug assumed it was a catfish. After me yelling at him that I needed help, and couldn't do it for about 3 minutes, he finally realized I wasn't kidding and came over to help me. Mind you, I was fishing with a standard rod (7 ft) that had 10 pound line on it baited with a minnow for bass. We worked the fish up to the bank and realized it was a grass carp! For those of you who don't know, grass carp are vegetarians and do not normally eat minnows. They are also very hard to catch on a rod and reel because they have such small mouths and don't go for the usual lures. This thing was about 30 inches long, and no telling how much it weighed. Doug said they were about 24 inches long when they were put in several years ago. It. Was. Huge. Doug got a net and I was supposed to work it along the bank into the net. He swam the wrong way and the line hooked on a piece of metal sticking up out of the water and as Doug moved around to try to get it in the net, it took off away from the bank, breaking the line!

Doug said afterwards he didn't think we'd get it on the bank since the line was too, too small for a fish like that. But it sure would have made for a great picture! It was a fun battle while it lasted.

Makes me want to go fishing again. But I know the odds of a repeat are slim to none.

Wedding pictures to follow soon!

Texas Hill Country in April

2010-04-18T11:05:00.001-07:00

Bluebonnets Everywhere!

Oh My Easter Eggs!

2010-04-04T16:05:00.000-07:00

What a weekend! Lots of Easter eggs and candy! We started off at the Divide school's Easter party at the beautiful HEB Foundation Camp north of Leakey. There's nothing like driving down the middle of the Frio River to get to your destination!

The beauty of this place astounds me and I'm so glad it is admired and used by so many. And well taken care of and preserved for future generations!

Darcy, of course, is 2.5 years old. And as I discovered this weekend, is rebelling against looking at the camera and smiling. So I took what I could get.

She had a blast picking up eggs! She even found a "money" egg! Every egg after that one got shook to see if it was money.

We then had a Easter egg hunt with the Pfeffers at our house. With Darcy as the only child there to pick up eggs, she ended up with a load! We even had to empty her basket once so she could keep on filling it up!

Easter Sunday morning had us heading into town for church. And we rounded out the weekend by, of course, feeding all of the livestock. (sans pretty dress)

Quickie!

2010-04-01T18:55:00.000-07:00

Bangs! Doug demanded that Darcy get a haircut. Her hair grows forward towards her face, and although we have trained it to go to the side, it is still always in her face, food, just everything. So her Gran helped me to give her bangs, and trim the back to all one length!

Easter Egg Hunt pictures to follow shortly hopefully!

Shed Hunt Score: Me - 5, Doug -2 (although his does include one from the largest deer here, oh well, I'm still winning :) )

Shed Hunting

2010-03-14T15:35:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again... time to hunt for whitetail shed antlers. Darcy and I found the first shed a few days ago and boy, were we excited. You see, every year Doug and I have this informal (somewhat serious) and playful contest to see who can find the most shed antlers from that year. He always wins. Sure, I usually pick up one earlier than he does, and I have found bigger ones than he has, but he wins the overall count. Which is all that counts in our book.

I got "the look" a few times while I was taking pictures. Like this one below:

Poor Brusky. What a trooper (most of the time). He needed a hug after taking pictures with Darcy.

Hopefully the next few weeks will hold a lot of sheds for Darcy and I (and none for Doug). :)

A What??

2010-02-25T09:11:00.000-08:00

When we were in Galveston last weekend, we saw in the paper that a local boy had found a pink grasshopper and it now lives at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Then, this morning Doug was moving stuff around with the machine, and bolts in the house with "Look what I found!"

A PINK GRASSHOPPER!

I called the lady at the museum and she had another later near San Antonio find one yesterday!

(Sorry the picture is fuzzy... it's in Darcy's bug keeper thing, and I'm not letting it out in the house!)

A Trip To Galveston

2010-02-23T06:39:00.000-08:00

Doug and I ventured out to Galveston for the annual meeting of the Texas Chapter of the The Wildlife Society, a conference we try to go to when we can. We left Darcy at home! My parents graciously came in and kept her. And we're glad to say, it doesn't even seem like she missed us. Gran and Mike must have kept her busy! So now we know... I think we'll be leaving her a little more often than once every two years!

We got to go to the beach that was across the seawall from the hotel a few times. And while we picked up a lot of sea shells, took pictures of the sea and birds, we didn't manage to take a picture of the both of us. We're bad about that. So all I have are bird pictures.

We did have a great time at the conference catching up with old friends and new research. It kind of makes me want to go back to school... kind of.

New Addition

2010-01-19T17:39:00.000-08:00

As one of our sheep had triplets this last week...

We decided that momma sheep was not going to be able to sustain all 3 babies once they started getting bigger (triplets in sheep in not common).

So we caught this little girl and brought her home.

So we are now bottlefeeding a baby, much to Darcy's delight. We do have a faithful babysitter on standby...

And in the meantime, Darcy and the baby sheep run up and down the length of the house, or jump around like they have ants in their pants together. Luckily it's been warm enough to have this little thing outside most of the day. I don't think you can house train sheep...

So here are a few pics of Darcy and the baby sheep, who we have yet to name.

Winter Update

2010-01-07T16:28:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been a long time. We've just been so busy this winter with the holidays, Doug's work, and my work in Kerrville a few days a week. It's amazing how fast this house can look like a tornado hit it when I'm gone multiple days in the week. I just can't keep up.

So, before Christmas, Darcy spent a lot of time with Gran since I was working a lot in town. And on other days, she stayed with her Dad, and they ended up doing things like this:

You know, things that are just plain fun.

We made our Christmas trip to Bellville and multi-tasked by taking Doug's mule deer in to the taxidermist in Bryan. And of course we couldn't be in that great area without a drive down University and a stop at Northgate. After a while in the bookstore looking for Darcy a t-shirt...

We had lunch at Freebirds, oh what memories! And we couldn't be next door to the Chicken without going in. And you can't go in without having a beer. So we sat and reminisced for a while, making sure we didn't run over our meter in the parking lot out back. Yes, those dang things are still there. Meanwhile that night we had a good Christmas with Doug's family, with Darcy having the biggest pile of presents of course. She had lots of fun, needless to say.

And of course, she had to deal with the occasional uncle that wanted to play with her new dolls more than she did. Hehe...

We had Christmas at our house on Christmas Day with my family, and had a great time then too. Although somehow, I can't find any pictures of it, just video. And I'm not savvy enough to put video on here.

A prescribed burn the weekend after Christmas (Doug and I love to set things on fire!), and some shopping the week after in San Antonio capped off our holiday season. We did watch some pretty good fireworks and New Year's Day night (it was too windy n.y. eve) at the neighbor's place.

Now, we're back to working in town a few days a week, with Darcy in tow, and Doug back to work also. Hopefully we'll be uneventful for a few weeks, as I've had my share of happenings, and would like to catch up on office work, housework, and sleep. I'm too used to my boring ranch life.

Until next time....

The Victorious Hunter

2009-12-10T16:34:00.001-08:00

Doug just got back from his Colorado hunting trip. He was there to hunt Mule Deer and his dad was along for the trip. Poor Doug is very cold natured, so you'll understand his frustration on hearing that it was never going to get out of the teens while he was there, with some of the lows below 0 F. Here's how cold it was one morning:

They didn't even make it through Oklahoma before the snow and ice hit, but those Texas boys plowed right through to Holyoke, Colorado, a little town in the very northeastern corner of the state. After hunting in this:

For what seemed like hours... they spotted and shot a buck on the first day around lunch. Here he is:

And more pictures with Doug and his dad of Doug's first mule deer kill!

Doug just couldn't pass this guy up; an 11 pt that scored 174" B & C (for those of you that will know what that means). He had 41" of mass, and you can see that his tines were thick and bladed like knife blades. He was also blind in one eye (with a chunk missing from the eyeball) and had a piece of antler in his face from fighting. I'm sure there were bigger deer out there, but I'm sure glad he decided to shoot this one. The weather just got worse, and he most likely would not have had another opportunity at another deer.

What a great first mule deer, Doug!

Darcy sure was glad he was back after a 5-day absence, too!

Ponytails and Pigtails, Oh My!

2009-11-22T16:07:00.000-08:00

Darcy's hair is finally long enough for ponytails!! Yeah!

*Note in the first picture we have camo bows to go with the camo shirt (We do have other colors of bows, I promise: no pink one yet Emily!).

Fall Fun

2009-10-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

A long over due update is finally here. We haven't done too much interesting enough to have a camera along lately, so it's been hard for me to update. We've just been going through our daily routines.

But last weekend brought the county fair to Kerrville. Of course, I charge my camera in anticipation the night before, and then forget it the next morning. I did take some pictures on my phone, but who knows when I'll figure out how to get those off that phone! I got Darcy a bubble gun at the fair as something to take home. She seems infatuated with them as the man demonstrated it. Here she is using the whole bottle of bubbles up as soon as we got home (I remembered to get the camera out then).

And, of course, it is the season for camo! Darcy got all dressed up the other day, including matching hair bow! Even though it is camo! I'm pretty proud of myself for figuring out how to fix her hair, although it's nothing fancy. I don't know what I'm going to do when she really wants it fixed.

And she took a ride on her four-wheeler...

If you haven't notices, I can't seem to keep her face clean these days. She always has food on her mouth! She seems to be a grazer, you know, eating small bits all day long, instead of eating real meals. Oh well... at least she's eating something. Maybe one day I'll get a picture of her with her mouth clean.

Hopefully it won't be as long until the next set of pictures. We've got some events and other things going on and maybe I'll actually remember to bring the camera! One last picture to leave you with...

Too Much

2009-10-04T19:38:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time, I know, since I last posted. It seems we just have TOO MUCH going on. And it seems to be getting busier as time goes on. I don't have much time tonight, but wanted to write a quick word.

We had our family pictures taken since I posted last, and I will add a few of those this week hopefully (I don't have time to wait on our old, slow computer tonight). Then, of course, we started gearing up for deer season. Checking trail cams every other day, doing surveys at night, and starting to sit in deer stands takes up more time than you would think.

Then, just as things were going into 'full swing' mode, a tragedy hit. We lost a friend Thursday night. He worked at the YO Ranch, and was working exotics at the auction barn for Saturday's sale, when he was killed by a barasinga in a tragic accident. He was 27, and leaves behind a young wife. Please take a moment and say a quick prayer for her and the family. We go to the funeral tomorrow, and it will be a hard day for everyone.

Even though we have been so busy, we haven't done anything extremely exciting. So no new pics other than the family pics. I'm sure we'll have some in the near future with deer season here and all.

Darcy is doing well and getting a little more sociable. She still takes a little while to warm up to someone new, but she's getting better. She decided that she would be potty trained about a month ago, which was a nice surprise. Although we had slowly been working on it for several months. It's hard for us to keep up with potty training when our normal trip to town takes an hour. A two year old bladder usually doesn't hold out that long. We have to get creative on days we're heading to town, but we're figuring it out. Maybe she'll be ready for school next year after all!

To all... be safe and love strong.

First Fishing Experience

2009-08-27T12:05:00.000-07:00

Again, I know we are long overdue for an update. It seems the days have been sliding by, especially since we have started deer surveys.

We took Darcy fishing on our last trip to Bellville a few weekends ago, and here are a few pics. While her 2 year old attention span did not allow her to sit patiently and hold the pole until a fish bit, she did have fun splasing in the water and playing(harrassing) with the (to be sympathized) minnows.

Meanwhile, she relied on others (namely Dad and Grandpa) to hold the pole and do the fishing.

She was more than happy to assist reeling or pulling a fish in though. And she first thought she was a girl and didn't want to touch the fish, but soon changed her mind when she realized she was supposed to take it back over to the water and throw it in (we were practicing catch-and-release).

And when we were done, she had to "release" the minnows by throwing each one in the tank. Many wet wipes later, we were back in the truck. I'll leave you with the classic "first fish" pose.

Long Overdue

2009-08-03T14:16:00.000-07:00

We took Darcy to the San Antonio Zoo for her 2nd birthday, hoping to start a tradition of taking a small trip each year for her birthday. We all had a lot of fun, as this was right up our alley (we love animals)! Darcy had a good time too, but it was hot the day we went. We're hoping to take her back one day in the fall when it is cooler and we can spend more time without melting.

Doug thought it would be fun for Darcy to ride the lion.

They have an amazing section for kids under 5 with a river and sand beach they can play in.

Darcy and I next to one of the huge trees. This zoo is really amazing. They incorporated so much of the existing landscape into the zoo!

Darcy looking at the hippos in their new exhibit. They're outside in a huge enclosure and we were inside in the AC!

Our July 4th Weekend

2009-07-08T12:05:00.000-07:00

Well, most folks spend their 4th holiday camping, or parading, or generally vacationing in some way. We worked. Well, I say we; Doug worked and Darcy and I rode around on the golf cart checking the cows that are calving. Here was one of many projects of the weekend. We poured a small area of contcrete in our front yard to use as a patio/play area. Here's the guys hard at work, with us watching from the porch (where we wouldn't get splattered). Darcy told them they were making a mess with all that stuff coming down the chute.

And of course, with freshly poured concrete, you have to make some kind of impression in it. So Darcy got to do the honors with handprints! Although she kept trying to put her hands down when they were trying to finish the concrete. Oops! We ended up having to go inside to keep her out of it.

Maybe now Doug can get some rest this week and go to his regular work. More updates later this week on our trip to the zoo we took for Darcy's belated birthday trip...

Catching Up

2009-07-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some things we've been doing this summer, and I'm just now getting the time to post the pictures. We went to Mason to visit Darcy's new friend, Clay Reitz. Oh, and his parents were there too. And he's just 4 months old, and almost weighs as much as Darcy does... Texas Aggie Football here he comes!

And then we headed to San Saba, where Gran and Mike (aka the Cradducks) had found this slide and swing at a garage sale! Big points to Gran!

Darcy was showing a bit of skin in her shorts jumper that day, but she was having fun so that's all that mattered.

Enjoy the pics, more to come soon. I'm enjoying these three hour naps that Darcy is taking! I sure get a whole lot more done!

Happy Birthday, Darcy!

2009-06-29T16:15:00.000-07:00

Darcy's 2nd Birthday was Sunday!

We had cupcakes with Grandpa and Nana (aka the Pfeffers), and Uncle Darren and (New) Aunt Laurie on Saturday night. Look what she got from Uncle Darren and Aunt Laurie!

Dogs Beware! Toddler on a 4 wheeler that goes 2mph = a weapon to run over tails with.

She also got a sandbox from Grandpa and Nana, pictures to follow later since I didn't take any yet.

Then on Sunday, we had a Tinkerbell cake! Doug and I are planning to take her to the zoo for her birthday next week, and will get her present there. We've decided to take a trip somewhere every year, with the hopes that she will remember it more than a party. We'll see how it works out! Here she is with her cake. She figured out the blowing out of the candles quick, and then we couldn't even get the cake set down good and those candles were out! So no good pics of that, I tried though. She was just too fast!

Summer Update

2009-06-26T15:24:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't updated in quite a while. We've been rather busy. We got through the Divide VFD fundraiser dinner we were helping with.

Then a few days later, we started VBS in Leakey with a bunch of our bible study ladies. And of course, while we were in Leakey, we had to visit the Frio River a couple afternoons after VBS. Luckily a couple of the ladies had nice spots on the river for kids to swim. Darcy loved it! I didn't take the camera out at the river, but maybe we'll get a few pics from other folks. Here are some pictures of Darcy on the first day of VBS. The lady I was helping put the bow in her hair! They said she really came out of her shell this week, so beware!

And on top of all that we are having our first round of calves from our heifers. Of course, our pet cow is sick and we're having to supplement her calf with a bottle. So we get to wrestle a calf a few times a day, which does not help with the fatigue part of summer. Hopefully next week, things will return to whatever we call normal. Hope everyone is doing well! I'll try to update more often as we have a birthday coming up....!

Sick Again

2009-05-17T08:11:00.000-07:00

Yes, Doug is sick again. This time with pneumonia. But I'm glad to say he is on the mend and feeling better, and will probably be able to go back to work this week sometime. Darcy was a little sick with allergies herself, but she too is getting better. We haven't taken any pictures in a while since we've been staying in and staying cool so no one would be prone to fever.

However, we did attend Doug's brother's (Darren) wedding a few weekends ago. And while you would think that we would have some cute pictures of Darcy all dressed up, and us too for that matter, we don't. The stinker fell asleep in the middle of the reception right as they were starting the music to dance. It was even before 9! We were looking forward to getting her out on the dance floor, since she loves to dance. But, thankfully, they had a lot of photographers. And it seemed like they took a lot of pictures of Darcy (they even took one of her sleeping in my lap). So hopefully when the wedding pictures come out, we'll have some!

So no pics this time. And no exciting news really. We're taking it easy until everyone gets over whatever they have. But can I just say, God really knows what he's doing... we've been sick a lot this year, but he keeps one of us adults healthy no matter what contagious funk the other has, and that makes it so much easier with Darcy!

Oh, Glorious Rain!

2009-04-17T12:19:00.000-07:00

Thank you God, for sending us the rain! (And the mud, too!)

Fun at the Frio

2009-04-10T16:29:00.000-07:00

We went on an Easter egg hunt at the HEB Camp with the Divide School on Thursday. So of course we had to visit the cold Frio River before we left! Darcy's first river experience was pretty good, she didn't fall and we managed to stay in the shallow areas that are only 3-4 inches deep. Too bad we didn't bring swim suits, it was HOT that day! All that chocolate Easter candy was useless!

Boots, Boots, and more Boots

2009-04-05T09:44:00.000-07:00

Well, we are finally all well! And I finally am figuring out our video camera. Here are some pictures I took on it. Don't ask me how to get video off it yet, I'm still working on that part. As you can see, Darcy has acquired a fascination with boots. Mine, Doug's, hers, she doesn't care. She loves to put "big" boots on and walk around the house until she falls.

We were recently in Bellville with the Pfeffers for a wedding shower and their wildflowers are already blooming, even the bluebonnets! So we frollicked out in the field with the dogs for a bit. Here is Darcy with Grandpa and Brusky.

And, again, Darcy in her boots this time. We were actually headed to town and actually had a dress on and looked like a girl... and couldn't get her out of the rubber boots. So we wore them to town. Although we did switch them out for different shoes while she was asleep in the car.

And this picture is just for Auntie Hilary. We are still enjoying the car with the breeze in our hair. She's getting better at moving it around and also uses it to hold all the rocks she picks up while she's not taking a drive.

Somehow April has suddenly filled up very fast. We'll be doing more traveling this month than we usually do all year. Doug, of course, is complaining, but he'll survive. And since the DVD player on our laptop went out, we had to order a portable DVD player for Darcy. Because a movie is a MUST on a long road trip. So for those of you who may have a young family, or are going to start one soon, pay the little bit of extra money for the DVD in the family car. It's worth it!! Until next time, hope you enjoy the pictures...

Yucky Flu!

2009-03-14T14:56:00.000-07:00

So I finally got Doug better from being sick the whole month of February from one sickness or another, only to come down with the flu last weekend. And I still haven't come back from it yet. Luckily, no one else got it from me and my mom was able to come down for the week and take care of Darcy, since I couldn't get out of bed. So no pictures this time, I'm heading back to the couch as soon as I'm done here. I think next year we'll all get a flu shot...

February Fun

2009-02-20T09:31:00.000-08:00

Finally we have some pictures. This first one was taken about a month ago when Darcy's friend Addison came over to see Deer.

And these three are from a recent sheep-feeding excursion. Darcy sure likes their "earrings" but good thing that this one doesn't mind her petting and pulling.

And yes, I know Darcy has on a boys' shirt, but she has on pink pants, so I figured that would make up for it.

Doug has contracted Bronchitis now so we are on house arrest, or at least he is, until he gets better. Apparently pneumonia is next if he doesn't get rid of this, so we are holding him here for a while. He's on the mend and we haven't killed each other yet, so things are good. Hopefully things will be back to normal on Monday.

That's all we know for now. Until later...

Week Update

2009-02-07T14:14:00.001-08:00

Well, folks, we have all been sick at the Pfeffer house this last week. It started with Doug and Darcy having the same fever in the same night. Well, Doug had not been feeling well all weekend last weekend, and then on Sunday night they both had the fever. So we loaded up and made the trek into town on Monday morning. Lo and behold, Doug had something unidentifiable, but very contagious and similar to strep. Darcy had a sinus infection. Along about Wednesday, what do you know but I started to feel puny. Thursday morning saw another trip to the doctor for me, and I had caught what Doug had. Luckily Darcy did not get it and just stuck with her sinus infection. We are all on medication and glad to be doing better now, though. But let me just tell you, it is not a fun week with everyone in the house ALL day sick. No pics from this week, believe me, you don't want to see the snot that flew around here.

On another note, I did finish the book I spoke of last blog, Rhett Butler's People. It is a tale that starts with Rhett as a child and follows him through past the days of Gone With The Wind. I'll say that I did enjoy this book as a follow up, or alternative, to GWTW, and it gave an interesting perspective of the Civil War, as well as Rhett's part in Scarlett's story. I don't know how many of you saw the A & E special Scarlett that followed her through the years after GWTW ended, but I enjoyed this version of those years a lot more. It seemed to fit in more with the story than the TV show did. While I did enjoy the book, I almost put it down at a few points with the intention of not finishing it. I usually like my books to be Disney-esque.... give me a clean story with little heartache, and a happy ending. This book had many characters die and a lot of heartache in it, although I know that's how those times tended to be and it did represent that very well. So, all in all, I would recommed this book to the GWTW lover, or those who don't have the heart to sit through that long novel, but still want to read the story. It's very well written and entertaining.

I promise I will have some pics up next time. Maybe I can come up with something cute for Darcy to do...

Until next time...

Book Report

2009-01-15T18:01:00.000-08:00

I thought I would take a moment and take a page from my friend, Emily's book, and do a little book report on a recent read. I recently read a book that she has probably read herself, and maybe even done a 'book report' on it. It was:

"Darcy's Story: Pride & Prejudice told from a whole new perspective" by Janet Aylmer.

Let me preface by saying that I read P & P right before reading this book, as I had not read it in a few years, and thought I might need a refresher. Well, I think that was a mistake. While I enjoyed the different viewpoint the story was told from, I found myself skipping over those quotes and conversations that are found in both books, because I had just read them. I did like that the author stuck to Austin's style of writing. And it did fill in some gaps in Darcy's life that you don't see or hear of in the original. But I must say, I was a little disappointed overall. I don't know if I had too high of expectations for this book, or if it just followed too closely to the original that I had just read. I guess I thought that this book would reveal more than it did of the 'rest of the story' so to speak. I think that I will need to move on to the sequels of the original that have been written to get that.

So overall, I think I will give this book a B. But my view may be a little prejudiced...

If anyone can give me some suggestions as to which sequels to P & P are good, I would appreciate it, since that will be my new endeavor. For my next book review, we'll visit another book written in another perspective of the classic "Gone With the Wind." We'll see how it goes.

Until later...

Christmas 2008

2009-01-02T15:26:00.000-08:00

So here are some Christmas pictures from our family. We went to have Christmas with the Pfeffer side on the 20th and these pictures are from there. We also had Christmas at our house, and Christmas with the Cradduck side the weekend after Christmas. We took video with our new camera, but no pictures at the latter two. I thought I could snap pictures from the video after I had taken it, but am not completely savvy with the new camera. So I haven't figured out how to do that, or get anything off the camera. Maybe I need to work on that.

Here is Darcy in her fancy Christmas outfit (looks out of place with no camo, doesn't it?).

Umm, we had to tuck the shirt in after this pic, because apparently we (meaning Darcy) can't go very long without flashing everyone in the room.

Darcy really enjoyed opening all of her gifts this year... and a few of other folks presents too. She got so many toys, we are rationing them to one new one to every three or four days. Christmas seems to last a little longer this way.

We are somewhat back to normal now. I have put up a lot of Darcy's old toys since we had an increase in numbers to save room. And I used her Christmas gift cards to get supplies for potty training, which hopefully will start next week. So I'm sure I'll have lots to say on that subject soon. Hope you all had a good Christmas and New Year's. Thanks for reading.

"Before Christmas" Update

2008-12-31T16:57:00.000-08:00

Well, first for a regular update on us. Because apparently I'm not gifted enough to get all the photos downloaded into one blog for regular and Christmas. So Christmas pictures will follow in another blog, maybe tomorrow... I've about had enough for today.

We have had a pretty good end of the year. Here are a few pictures to show you what we've been up to. Here's Darcy with Deer (yes, that's his name... Deer). My, how he's grown since the last pics I put up of him. He's now taller than Darcy and got an attitude of his own. He's very tame with us and Darcy, but I know as he gets older, we won't be able to take shots like this anymore.

And this picture of Doug was taken the week of Christmas. We came home the Sunday before Christmas and found that this little guy had just been born and his momma had kicked him off and left him, well, pretty much for dead that night. Luckily they were right here at the house so we went and got him, brought him into the house, warmed him up, and fed him some Enfamil (for lack of anything else proper) to keep him alive till morning. I got him some proper lamb replacement milk the next day and we had him about two days. Then Doug took him outside to play for a little while, and Momma came running up to him, licked him and then took him a little ways away and let him nurse. Now. For those of you who don't know much about livestock, this is practically unheard of. Usually once a momma kicks a baby off, that's it. But this little guy has been out there with his momma and twin brother for a week now and doing just fine. We were very happy it turned out this way as the poop and pee in the house was starting to get on my nerves. But the little guy didn't even way 2 pounds and it was freezing every night, so there was no way we could leave him outside without his mother caring for him. Unfortunately we did not take any pictures with him and Darcy because we weren't sure he was going to even make it (usually when mom leaves them, there is something wrong with them, but we think he was just so puny and weak she didn't think he was worth it). Although the two of them did have fun running around the house together for a few days.

So, that's a wrap up of our before Christmas happenings. Hopefully I'll be able to get this old computer to download more pictures later and get some up from Christmas. Until then, hold your breath...

Ahh... December

2008-12-07T12:43:00.000-08:00

Well, sorry folks, no pictures this time. I actually haven't taken any pictures in a while, at least not of people. We have however gotten some good video of Darcy dancing and doing other funny stuff we can use as bribe material when she's older. I would post it, but I'm not that advanced on working the camera yet. I still don't know how to get it off the camera. So maybe one of these days I'll get to learning that.

We had a good Thanksgiving around here. We went to San Saba for Thursday, and then had another Thanksgiving here on Saturday with Doug's family. So it was kind of uneventful and laid back, with plenty of food... just the way I like it.

I am very content since I have ALL of my Christmas shopping done and everything is wrapped and under the tree. And as I say that, there is one person I haven't got anything for yet... Darcy. For shame to forget about that! We're going to make a stop by Toys R Us for a better selection when we're going through San Antonio in a few weeks, so don't get on to us yet!

In other news, nothing is going on around here, we are just bidding time til Christmas, trying to keep Darcy in line, and vaguely researching vehicles as we might be in the market for one very soon. And now I'll have to excuse myself, we let the Deer into the backyard to act as "lawnmower" and he has taken to pulling stuff off the back porch and making a ruckus. So I'm off to shoo him off the porch and give him a stearn talking to.

Update on Us

2008-11-01T07:29:00.000-07:00

Well, folks, I know it's been a LONG time since I updated. But for not really having much going on, we sure have been busy the last month. So let me start with the important stuff. Darcy has gotten rid of her hives through an abundance of allergy medicine. We still don't know what caused them, and probably never will. She is off all but one dose of medicine so we are happy about that. Otherwise, Darcy is doing well. She's driving us crazy getting into everything (apparently she has Doug's mischievous streak too) and starting to talk understably. Here are a few pictures we have taken since the last time. Tractor & swimming pool = fun times.

Darcy's first scraped knee came when we were out feeding cows and she stumbled over some rocks. She took it pretty well, didn't even cry.

In other news, I took a management deer this year that was supposed to be an 8 pointer. He turned out to have a few extra kickers coming off at the base of his antlers. He was a lot bigger than we originally thought and ended up scoring 138, for those of you that that will mean something to.

Halloween has come and gone. Darcy didn't dress up. Well, we did put her in camo because we spent the evening at the Divide School's Wild Game Dinner fundraiser. It's the little school out here in the middle of nowhere, where she will go to school some day. They did have a Fall Festival for the kids with games and candy, but it was a little above Darcy, so we did not partake.

Doug has been taking care of Darcy quite a bit in the past few weeks while I worked in town some. I don't think she misses me at all. He keeps her a lot more entertained than I do I guess, but he does go through a lot more sets of clothes in a day than I do. Here's one for example.

Allergies Suck

2008-09-20T08:21:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like Darcy has inherited her father's allergies. We have been battling hives and congestion for about a week and a half now. We don't know what is causing them; something in the air, as told to us by our healthcare professional. So now we are waiting to see the allergy doctor that we know on a semi-first name basis since Doug is there at least once a month and I send them a check once a month. Hopefully we will be getting in quick. Because of the hives, I am not posting any pictures since I know no one would want to see Darcy all blotchy.

Other than that, we are just gearing up for deer season. Darcy and I run the trailcams every couple of days, hoping to get some good pics of big deer. More often than not, it's coons or every doe on the property. Every other day, we just sit here and play all day. Oh the excitement.

So folks, we hope you all are doing well, and will keep an update on the hive situation. Until next time...

Labor Day Fun

2008-09-02T16:04:00.000-07:00

Well folks, here are some new pictures. Here is Darcy with the fawn we so aptly named Deer. He was eating a bit of corn while Darcy was playing in his bowl. She then dumped it out in her lap and whopped him on the head with it. He didn't flinch, he's a good Deer.

Darcy was entertaining this day, her friend Addison (Darcy's ONLY girl friend) and her parents came over to see Deer. I think Darcy is petting Addison in this picture (with Addison's mom Gayle). Apparently anything with hair needs petting, so watch out ladies, if you don't shave those legs at this house, they're gonna get petted!

In other unrelated news, Darcy picked up a cold or something of that nature and kindly passed it along to Doug and I. What a week we had last week with all 3 of us sick. But I guess we better get used to it. I'm sure it won't be the last time she spreads her germs to us, even though it was the first.

We are gearing up for deer season in this neck of the woods, so we are starting to get a little more busy. Maybe we will get some good camo/hunting pics this fall! I won't post anything too squeamish though (did I spell that right? it looks funny...).

Anyways, that's about all I have this time. We are waiting to hear of a few babies being born, some in the hospital at this very moment, so we are waiting for the phones to ring. Other than that, just the normal for out here.... Until next time.

Family Pictures

2008-08-16T12:51:00.000-07:00

Hello all. I know it has been a while, but frankly, again, we have not had anything exciting happening. Although today we found out our family photos that we had taken back at the end of June, when Darcy was 1 year old, are finally ready for viewing. Below is the link. You can open an album and over to the right, "View as a slideshow" to see them close up. There are some funny ones in there.

http://www.shutterfly.com/pro/RLarranaga/DEANNA

We hope that you enjoy the pictures as much as we did. Darcy, thankfully, is a natural at posing and getting her picture taken. At least someone in the family is. I think it was harder on Doug and I than on her.

Anyways, that's all for now, until next time.... (I promise I'll have some pictures then!)

Remembering My Childhood

2008-07-20T09:06:00.000-07:00

Emily, I am posting this just for you. I seem to remember a post of yours about those Jellies shoes that we used to wear back in the day. Well here is the modern, miniature version. And you and Hils should be very proud, I got pink!

Darcy's Birthday

2008-07-10T12:29:00.000-07:00

Finally, a week later, we get internet service back, and here are a few pictures from Darcy's birthday. She got lots of good stuff, as you can see, and it seemed like she had a pretty good time (i.e. she didn't scream or cry).

Darcy's Birthday

2008-07-04T11:25:00.000-07:00

Well, sorry for the lack of posting. The month of June, while busy, was mostly uneventful. Not much to report on. We did have Darcy's birthday party on Saturday, the 28th. She had a blast and got lots of good presents. But as soon as I got ready to download pictures, our internet went out and has not been fixed. And now, because of the holiday weekend, probably won't get fixed until next week. So I'm writing this from someone else's computer. As soon as we get up and running, I will add some pictures. Meanwhile, those of you that are on MySpace, I did get pictures uploaded there before our only source to the outside world went kaput. So for now, until next week perhaps, I'll say goodbye!

Family Fun

2008-06-01T18:07:00.000-07:00

Well, my parents and brother came in on Saturday for the day. We had hamburgers, and a little outside fun with Darcy and her swimming pool. Not to mention her new running buddy, Abby, my parents' newest addition to their family (she's a bassett hound if you can't tell by the ears). They picked her up Sat. morning and brought her to see us. After they left, Darcy was looking around the house for her. I'm sure the two of them will be the source of much laughter in the future. See the pictures below, they actually did very well together. No one bit anyone, or pulled tails too hard, so all was well.

At last

2008-05-27T08:53:00.000-07:00

After some requests, here are recent pictures of Darcy. I will try to be better in the future of posting new pics!

Here she is last week, after falling asleep against her will in a very odd position... don't worry, after taking the picture, I moved her.

And here we are hammimg up later that week, since a lot of days we get bored easily.

And last, here we are yesterday, having our first baby pool experience. After putting her in, letting her sit for a while, taking her out and drying her off, she decided that she wanted back in to have some real fun. That's when the splashing began. Enjoy!

Coming Soon...

2008-05-26T15:11:00.000-07:00

Coming soon... I hope to get some more recent pics of Darcy up in the next few days. It has been a little busy around here this weekend, and I'm behind on more than just posting pictures. Doug worked what little rear end I had left off yesterday, and I'm still recovering. Man, it's getting hot out there. You can tell summer is really here when you're out working in the sun from 9 til 6. At least I didn't get sunburned. Thanks to three applications of sunscreen.

Until later, we remain...

Reunions

2008-04-25T12:24:00.000-07:00

Oi! Class Reunions. Do you think someone invented those to remind themselves how old they were getting? I think I can safely say that I will not be attending this high school reunion. Hilary, Emily, please let those folks know that I didn't care enough about any of them to join them. I keep up with those from that time in my life that are important to me. If I wanted to see and talk to all those folks, I would have kept up with them too. Although it would be slightly interesting to see which people are losers and unemployed now. I assume that is the main attraction to reunions. To rub it in others' faces how successful or otherwise improved you are since high school and to make fun of those that were high and mighty then, but not so much now.

And on to other things... since that topic has already bored me... I am happy to say that after 2 and a half weeks of quesitonable poopy, Darcy has seemed to return to normal. Just a few days short of visiting a specialist if the problem didn't go away too. So we are relieved for that.

We have an exciting weekend planned of taking the dogs to the vet for their rattlesnake vaccine and going to a gun show. Plus the usual: mowing, checking cows, sheep, and giving the donkey a shot in the ass (no pun intended). Ha. Hope you all have as good a weekend as possible.

Tagged

2008-04-15T06:55:00.000-07:00

Well, I figured I would take the time to do this since I never have the time to do them usually. I get a lot of them from friends on MySpace, and never have time to post back. But, I have a sleeping, sick baby so I have a bit of free time today. Poor Darcy, along with allergy issues, she has some sort of stomach bug (we're waiting to hear exactly what). So she isn't feeling so hot. But we have been lucky, this is the first time she's been sick. I know that my answers are not as interesting as some of y'alls, but it's what I've got.

Ok, well, here goes...

4 Jobs I have had in my life:
1. Receptionist at car dealership
2. Technical Writer at Engineering Consultant Firm
3. Wildlife Biologist
4. Equipment Operator

4 Movies I’ve Watched More Than Once:
1. Pride & Prejudice
2. Harry Potter Series
3. Robin Hood (the Disney version)
4. Shrek Series

4 Places I’ve Lived:
1. Corsicana, Texas
2. College Station, Texas
3. San Antonio, Texas
4. Mountain Home, Texas

4 TV Shows I Watch/Watched:
(these are all past tense, since we don't have tv now)
1. Friends
2. Will & Grace
3. Sex & The City
4. I can't remember another one

4 Places I have Been:
1. Hot Springs, AR
2. Taos, NM
3. Angelfire, NM
4.Big Bend, TX

4 People who email me regularly:
1. Nathan
2. My Parents
3. Missie
4. Doug

4 of my favorite foods:
1. ice cream
2. pizza
3. quesadillas
4. fried steak

4 Places I Would Like to Visit:
1. Ireland
2. Colorado
3. Yellowstone
4. London

Things I am Looking Forward to in the Coming Year:
1. Darcy walking!
2. closing on property that we will eventually build on
3. watching some of our friends start their families
4. spending quality time with family and friends

4 Friends who I’m Tagging:
Emily and Hils are the only folks that probably look at this, and they've already been hit, so there's no one else!

Taxes

2008-04-07T13:42:00.000-07:00

Ah, tax season. it comes every year as everything is greening up and blooming, only to put you in a bad mood. Although, I have to say, this year, it's not so bad. I got my stuff in two months early, just to have my CPA wait until April 4 to send it back completed. Talk about sweating it. That did call for a few stearn emails, as I like to have things taken care of early. And what about those rebates we'll be getting later in the year? Isn't it nice that the government is paying us for a change?

But I have to be pessimistic for just a moment, as I heard something that kind of disturbs me. All of the great democracies in the history of this world failed and fell when the people of those democracies realized one thing. That being that they could grant themselves gifts of money from the governments funds or treasury. The people eventually got so greedy that they ran the government into the ground financially, then everything else went to pieces with it. So while these rebate checks will be nice, let's put it into perspective and hopefully this won't become an annual event.

Because I would really hate to move to Mexico.

What you've been waiting for...

2008-03-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is, what you've all been waiting for. Darcy in a dress! It doesn't happen very often, so we took plenty of pictures. We figured Easter was a good occasion to start off the dress wearing.

In other news, we have progressed already from crawling to standing and are starting to take steps along things as we're holding on. So it won't be long...

Other than that, it's the same old here. I am currently trying to get my garden going and a few flowers planted. Next I'll have to get everything out of the greenhouse. And Doug works, works, works. Hope all is well with everyone. Until next time...

The Little Stinker

2008-03-17T15:55:00.000-07:00

Well, the little stinker is crawling. And into EVERYTHING. Nothing is safe anymore. We just thought we had the house baby proof, but now we are getting shown all the things we missed. We are looking forward to Darcy's first Easter, Lord help us, we bought her a dress! It's not pink though. I was awfully tempted to get some camo easter eggs I saw at the store, but knew she's too little to look for them this year. Maybe next year. But I think it'll still be fun.

Other than baby news, we don't have anything new going on around here. Just working and trying to keep all of our critters fed. (is critters spelled right?)

And now I'll try to include a photo, hopefully it comes out.

Nothing

2008-02-23T19:14:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a while since my last entry. But just nothing interesting has happened since then. I stay here with Darcy. We go to town one day a week. And that's about it. No school, interesting trips to look forward to, or neat concerts to go to in Mountain Home.

Although we are about to embark on a whole new phase of babyhood. That of crawling. We are ooching (is that a word?) on our butt right now. But she's getting closer and closer as the days go by. Pretty soon I'll have to put her on a leash to keep up with her. Thank goodness we got the house baby-proof earlier this month.

To all, I hope you have a good week, I enjoy reading about your interesting adventures. Send some our way if you can!

Close Call

2008-02-10T08:16:00.000-08:00

First, please see my previous post about fires to view my opinions on that. Then, let me just say again that I very strongly dislike idiots. Friday around noon, an idiot was working on a gate by himself with a welder and a saw. The sparks caused a fire, that before he could do anything since he was by himself, jumped the highway and headed west. This happened 2 miles north where we live. Then the wind changed and it started coming south too. At least 7 fire departments, the forestry service, with helicopters and planes, and two other states forestry dept., Kentucky and Georgia, with dozers battled this fire for 33 hours. Many of those guys only went home a few hours Friday night before getting called back because the fire flared back up. Some stayed the whole time. The fire got within feet of our property. The caliche road that we drive down ended up being the place they used to stop the fire in some places. We were VERY lucky that sparks did not fly over the road and ignite. These guys did a great job keeping it from jumping that road. If it had, it would have taken over several more ranches before it could be stopped. As it was, our neighbor, who we were working for, had at least half of his place burned, some of it so bad it will take years to recover fully. The firefighters saved their house and outbuildings and like I said, did a great job of keeping it from crossing the only road they really had to work off of. We can't thank them enough or appreciate them more. Rough estimates that we're hearing from the fire chief are that it encompassed around 4500 acres.

Folks, lets take a minute and think about this. If there have been fires all around lately, no rain for months, and announcement on all local radio and tv stations saying no outdoor burning or sparks because of the extreme conditions, maybe you should take heed. They are not saying all this to hear their own voices. There are reasons. And if you HAVE to do something outside, have someone as a spotter in case of a fire, with water on hand to deal with something quickly. We have been watching this guy work on this gate and fence for a month now and never have seen anyone with him, or him have any kind of water sprayer with him. At first I admired him for working so hard. Then after about a week, we started to doubt his intelligence and started waiting for something to happen. Our fire chief even said he was just waiting for something to happen with that guy out there by himself.

While they may not be able to do too much to him criminally besides give him a small fine, the neighbors that had their place burned are all lawyers, so maybe we will see some type of punishment or retribution for not using his head.

Again, please use your head! This could have been disastrous if there had been more houses in the area, but we were all very lucky in this case!

Fires in Kerr Co.

2008-01-31T16:06:00.000-08:00

Since this is a place to post your thoughts and comments, I think I will take a minute to say something about the fires that ravaged northwest Kerr Co. today. The large fire that shut down I-10 and burned down a home was about a mile away from where we own property and have our cows. When we first heard of the fire, all I could think of was those poor animals and how we would find them burned to a crisp like the ones that suffered the same fate in the panhandle a few years back. Thankfully, the fire was put out before it reached our property, but continues west even as I type this. Now, I know some fires are truly accidents, sparks from machinery, or freak accidents, but there are a surprising amount of fires that are started by idiots that don't know any better, and some that do. For instance, last weekend a fire was started from some yahoo driving down the highway shooting roman candles out the window of their truck. I'm sorry, but if this fire was started by someone they are just an idiot. And I have little to no tolerance for idiots. They are the ones that give fire a bad name. For those of us who try to use fire in a prescribed manner to help manage habitat these idiots are the bane of our existence. So let me just say once more (and for those that know me, you already know this)...

No tolerance for idiots!... Use a little commen sense out there or stay in the house!

Here I am

2008-01-28T18:33:00.000-08:00

Spurred by friends, I have entered into the blogging world... whatever that may be. May this experience keep me closer to my good friends that live too far away to visit normally.