Whoa... It's been a YEAR!

Well, I've just started another page on our blog to chronicle our journey of building a house.  Check it out!  (At the top of the page, click 'Our Barndominium)  AND I realized that it's been almost a YEAR since I posted on here?!?  My how time flies!

So I'm now on my 7th 'Fix' from Stitch Fix and still really loving it!  Never heard of Stitch Fix?  Or ready to give it a try?  Here's a referral link where you can get started!  Click HERE to find out what all the fuss is about!

7th Stitch Fix

Soooo....   What have we been doing all of this time, you ask?  Well, a lot.  We've had more birthdays, celebrated Christmas, played basketball, raised show animals, showed show animals....

Darcy showing one of her goats.

More birthdays, birthed more babies here on the ranch.....

Stopped to smell the flowers...

MADE BUTTER FROM RAW MILK!....

And we are currently enjoying spring and all that goes with it.  Green grass, fresh produce, and spring rains!

Birthday and Holiday Fun

While we haven't taken any huge trips, or really had much on the schedule (besides work) this summer, we've kept busy!  Darcy's 7th birthday has come and gone...

And July 4th brought a trip to Bellville to meet Miss Greta and play with fireworks!

 

 

 

 
 


Dax LOVED the fireworks!  I think we have a future pyro on our hands.  I guess like father/like son! 

 

Winter Update

My, where has the time gone?? 2013 has come and gone.  Christmas, New Years, my birthday, all gone.  So what has been going on in Mountain Home?  A LOT.  School, family gatherings, stock showing (for the first time), work, work, and more work.  And throw a gaggle of animals and some freezing weather in there too. 

Darcy showed goats in her 1st Stock Show this year!  She did really well in the ring and we were really proud of the way she handled herself and her goats!

 

 

And the weather this year!  Geez!  We've had more delayed-start school days in the past two months than Darcy has seen in her school career combined!  Even missed a day, so looks like we'll be going to school on Good Friday.  We're just not used to such things, here in the Texas Hill Country.  So I thought this was fitting for our February.

 

 

 

 

Well, I say all the time I'm going to try to be better about posting, but this time I mean it.  Look for more posts from me in the coming months.  I plan on starting to post not only family updates, but product reviews and interesting tidbits from my entrepreneurial endeavors.  Cheers for now!



Bubblegum Bess

The Divide School put on a Christmas play this year that was a little out of the ordinary. Although we did get to hear the Christmas story straight from the Bible, we had to endure a 'bad gal' that wanted to stop Christmas first!  Darcy had a part in the play as Rosie the Reindeer, the trusty sidekick to the hero of the play who ultimately talked Bubblegum Bess into NOT ruining Christmas!  She had a costume change and two fairly long lines to say.  And she did great!   Everyone was so impressed that she knew her line and cue and spoke so clear and loud.  I just responded that she's always that loud!  But from the shy kid who wouldn't talk to anyone when she started school two years ago, to this loud, dramatic diva she is now is a drastic change!  Here she is saying her first line:

 

 

 

And of course they had a grande finale!

Needless to say, we were both proud and glad... that the play was over.  We've heard the CD with the play's music on it one too many times!!

More... What We've Been Up To

So after those triplets were born, we had, ohhh, about 20 + more babies within about 2 weeks.

 

And then, one evening, we went down to check on the babies and baby mommas, and found a momma that didn't make it.  Her babies were a few days old, and now they have a new momma...

We named them Lucy and Ethel.  Lucy is a bit pushier than Ethel, of course.  But what a pair they make.  They've actually been good bottle babies and have kept each other company.  Which has given our dog Brusky a break from his usual role of babysitter-to-the-bottle-babies.  Darcy's having a blast with them and Dax just tries to run them over in his Little Tykes car.  Ahh, the differences between girls and boys...

We have a busy weekend ahead, so I'm off to get ready!

Yay For School!

Darcy's first day of Kindergarten was a success!

 

 

 

 

New backpack, lunch box, and shoes, and she was ready to go! (I was ready for her to go too!)

Toothless in Mountain Home

Darcy lost her first tooth a little before her 5th birthday in June.  I had prepared her for the fact that it was going to come out, but it was still a shock and surprise when it actually happened.  It took her a few minutes to get over it.  Ironically enough, when she lost her second tooth, we were at the same place as when she lost the first one.  The second one seemed to be hanging on by threads and she wouldn't wriggle it or pull it for a few days.  She finally got it out when she was at my office with me.  It must be a good luck place, so now, when we have a tooth that just won't come out, we're heading there!

School Field Trips

Looking back to May, Darcy's school went on a field trip to it's neighbor the YO Ranch.  And while the giraffes didn't get close to the bus this year (they usually come up for oatmeal cookies), they now have some Dama Gazelles that we were able to hand feed!  Darcy enjoyed it, and especially enjoyed the swimming after the tour!

Darcy the Diva

So enough about the little redhead in the family, let's get back to the diva in the family.  Darcy is still herself, and gets a little sassy every once in a while (at least once a day).  I know my friend Emily will be proud a nightgown like this resides in my house.  (But no I didn't buy it, it was a gift from friends.)  She's so excited when she gets to sleep in this!

(Sorry about the blurry picture, more technical difficulties on my part)

Halloween

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?

The Kids

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

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

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!

School Days

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!

Zoo Day

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...

More posts to come soon, I hope.

Easter 2011

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!

'Making Change'

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!

He's Here!

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!