In A Pickle

Nope. This post isn't about any tough or awkward situation I've gotten myself into. Nope, I'm talking actual pickles here. 

I have always loved pickles. I mean, really. What's there not to love?  Tasty. Crunchy. Practically calorie-fee. And I'm not the only one here in Drosche Land with an affinity for the briney treat. Amy and Stella are both pickly addicts as well, especially Stella. It's a win-win. Until this past week that is. Until Amy read the back of a jar of pickles at the grocery store.  Turns out there's a lot of not-good-for-you ingredients on that list. A list that should really be relatively short. Cucumber and the ingredients for the brine. That's it. Well, turns out there are quite a few things, depending on brand of course, that are not exactly natural. So she turned to the all natural ones. But then the price on those is ridiculous. I mean we are just talking about pickles here. Not exactly a delicacy. 

So, in keeping with our new lifestyle of eating all natural, mostly organic, artificial and preservative ree, Amy took to Pinterest in search of a homemade pickle recipe. She found one for some made in the fridge, without having to be heated. This was right up our alley because we've tried pickles in the past and it was not a pleasant experience. Think soggy, chewy, bitter logs. Yep. That's what we got. So we decided to give this recipe a try. 

Super easy to make. Cucumbers, vinegar, garlic, sugar (but we used honey because we are trying to cut back on refined sugar), peppercorns, salt, and dill. See, not too many ingredients and, most importantly, they are all totally pronounceable. You're supposed to refigerate them overnight for best results. We were able to wait a few hours. Then we tried them. Then we finished the jar and I went back to the grocery store in search of more pickling cucumbers. They were that good. 

Stella and I ate a jar and a half. Just by ourselves. That's my girl!   So, our pickling adventure turned out to be a success. Amy even posted about it on Facebook and people went to town talking about it so Amy then posted the recipe. I did my job and posted a picture to Instagram!  #pickle 

So, one more thing to add to our list of homemade and healthy. And delicious of course. I'm very blessed to have such a wonderful wife who kills it in the kitchen and therefore helps us to eat healthy and deliciously. 

I'm starving for them now but it's late and the fridge is downstairs. Bummer. Guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow for a snack!  Maybe. 

All is well, pickling, in Drosche Land.

Super

So last night was the big game you know the one. 

Yeah, I'm not really a sports person. Shocker, I know. But Amy and the boys love sports, especially Amy and Braeden. So while the game was on I busied myself doing other things. Dishes, laundry, packing lunches, lesson planning, etc. I also proclaimed myself to be the official social media spokesperson for the family, checking Twitter and Facebook during the game to update and inform everyone of the goings on. You know, everyone has their gift. 

I'm really into the Super Bowl for the commercials and the food. Amy likes to say that I'm an advertiser's dream. Visual, short attention span, easily persuaded, want the newest/latest/greatest. Can't argue there. So they sweetly called me into the room whenever the commercial breaks came, ensuring that I wouldn't miss any of the good ones. 

Budweiser and Dove Men Care made me tear up, not going to lie. Lindsay Lohan was funny in a self-mocking way.  There were many other good ones but everyone seems to be focusing on the melancholy and sad ones, in particular the Nationwide spot. I actually missed this one somehow but have seen it since. Regardless of your feelings about the commercial itself, everyone is talking about Nationwide so it would seem as though it were a few million dollars well spent. 

Then there's the halftime show, another of my favorites. Katy Perry. Lenny Kravitz. Missy Elliot. It was good. The boys now want a giant animatronic lion to ride, and loved the fact that there were people inside the legs moving it. I myself would like a fun shark costume to dance around in, but who doesn't really?  I also want to jam to some old school Missy Elliot so I'll have to dig around in my CDs when I get the chance.  Yes CDs. From back in the day when all off our music wasn't stored in The Cloud. Crazy. I thought the halftime show was awesome and Katy Perry killed it. Well done. 

Last but not least, the food. We eat pretty healthy here in Drosche Land as you know and stick to all natural and/or organic for just about everything. But some occasions, such as last night, call for some good old fashioned junk food. Chips and dip. Pizza rolls (holla). Taquitos. Jalapeño poppers (Jackson has now become a fan and the spicy food lover in me is proud). Yum. It's nice to splurge every once in a while. All things in moderation right?  But now I'm hungry and it's far too late for a snack. 

Oh. And the Seahawks and Patriots played a football game. Apparently it was a good one. The Patriots won. There was a fight. Thus concludes my knowledge and interest in the game itself. 

Regardless of our differing opinions on sports, commercials, music, and food, the Super Bowl provided us with a fun even to gather together as a family and hang out. Isn't that part of the fun of the big day too?  Memories. Good time. How did you spend it?  Glued to the TV for the game?  The commercials?  Hovering around the snack table?  Whatever you did, I hope you had as much fun as we did here in Drosche Land.  Things settle down here sports wise for a while, thank goodness. That is of course, until I lose them all again in about a month to March Madness. Oh well, at least there will be good food again!

All is well, super in fact, in Drosche Land. 

5 for Friday

Yes.  I know it's Sunday.  But Friday was busy, as always, and then there was the situation with Lucy.  Then yesterday was Lucy's post.  That brings me to today.  I really want to do these 5 for Friday posts.  They're fun.  Hopefully I'll get one done on a Friday.  Maybe.  One day.  Until then it's Sunday and here's a look back at last week!

Last Sunday was Dr. Seuss' birthday.  But you just can't celebrate that man in one day, especially when it falls on a weekend.  So this past week I broke from the reading curriculum and did a week-long author study on Dr. Seuss.  The first day we learned about him and what got him started with The Cat in the Hat.  It wouldn't be a celebration, or day in my classroom, without a fun themed hat right?  Of course I shamelessly wore mine around school all day and to carline at the end of the day.  You can't teach 1st Grade and not celebrate Dr. Seuss!

This also happened on Monday.  It's a green tea cupcake with ginger frosting.  Yes, you read that right and yes, it was amazing.  It came from Gigi's Cupcakes.  We have a little good behavior deal going with the boys.  After a certain number of good days they get a reward.  Jackson's is always frozen yogurt from Menchi's.  Braeden's is cupcakes.  Monday marked his completion of his days.  I'm glad I remembered to take a picture of this because it wasn't there for long.  Mmmmmm.

Tuesday was Mardi Gras!  Our time in New Orleans is still a highlight in life for Amy and I so every year this makes us smile.  I also celebrate in the classroom with my students.  Again, another fun headpiece.  We don't go all out but we do talk about what it means, tie it in to Lent, eat king cake, and I throw beads at them.  All in all, it's a great time!

I promise this is the last selfie for this post.  Guess last week was full of them (Amy rolls her eyes at this point).  It's Lent again.  This year I again chose to give up sweets.  Before the day was out I had been offered chocolate-covered strawberries and cookies by students.  But I stayed strong.  40 days is a long time and I'm missing sweets something fierce.  But Amy and I are in it together.  Accountability partners you might say.  She took an extra step and gave up flour in addition to sugar.  Yikes!  She's stronger than I am definitely.  My sweet tooth is aching.

Friday brought an end to our Dr. Seuss studies.  Of course, as with any Dr. Seuss unit, we enjoyed green eggs and ham.  It was a hoot watching my students crack their eggs.  It's amazing what mental suggestion a little green food coloring can make.  Some kids just can't get past it to realize that it is just eggs!  HA!  We didn't get to make our oobleck, but I'll squeeze it in next week.  Another fun favorite.

So, there you have it.  My 5 for last week.  Even if it's Sunday!  Hope your week was awesome!

All is well, Friday or Sunday, in Drosche Land.

Top 20 Photos of 2013: 6

Here I am.

Right on time.  Day 6, post 6.  Yea me!

So, in keeping with my aforementioned monthly theme, here is Picture #6.

#6: June

Again, June was an easy month.  Stella's 1st birthday.  How could I not have chosen a picture of her for June.  Her first year had flown by and had been quite eventful as we traveled down the food allergy roller coaster.  But on this day it was all about celebrating the amazing gift she has been to us.

There you have it, 6 down and 14 to go.  2013 was full of a lot of good times.  Stay tuned for #7, I already have it in mind!

All is well, picture perfect, in Drosche Land.

The Diagnosis - Part 2

Ok, so this post took a little longer in coming than I had originally intended.  But last week was VBS and time just got away from me.  Anywho, here we are.

Amy finally got ahold of the doctor's office and we received the remaining pathology results we had been waiting on.  Turns out her mast cells were high, but not terribly.  They were in the limits of an allergic reaction.  So, her doctor is thinking it is not Mastocytosis.  This is great news.  However, we still have a long road ahead of us filled with learning.

As I'd mentioned before she has now been diagnosed with an allergy to soy as well as the milk protein.  We also suspect that she may have an intolerance to gluten as well.  Ugh.  We've been monitoring her rash/hives, demeanor, and tummy issues (diaper fillings).  We're not totally sure, but have a strong suspicion.  So here we sit on the precipice of raising a child with allergies.  Now I know that her allergies are minor in comparison to others' but it is still a lot for us to handle having never experienced it before firsthand.  We are learning to research and read labels to ensure that she is not getting dairy or soy.  We are also thinking and praying about the gluten, trying to decide if we cut that out as well.  That is a huge undertaking so we are being sure to make as educated decision as possible.  I'll update on it more.

In the meantime Amy, my heroine, spent the better part of last week on the phone arguing/pleading/discussing/talking with insurance regarding the special formula that the doctor prescribed for Stella.  I'll keep it short, but suffice it to say it has been a difficult and frustrating journey and the insurance company was not much help at all.  Luckily, late yesterday afternoon we received word that it was taken care of and we would be receiving our first shipment of formula next week.  I have to give total credit to Amy for this all as she single-handedly took care of this last week.  It was rough, but she was awesome.  

So, that's that.  Things seem to be settling down a bit on this adventure as we learn how to live with a child with allergies and work around conventional thinking when it comes to eating and meals.  It's been very interesting and eye-opening though.  We are all eating healthier as a result too, so that's a plus.

Thanks for all of your thoughts, prayers, and kind words along the way as we have dealt with this.  It's been a long couple of months, but I think HE has finally brought us through it to the other side and we can now begin to breath again.  Thank you.  

All is well, learning, in Drosche Land.    

Good Dog Hot Dogs

So, to be honest, I'm not a huge hot dog fan. I mean, they're alright.  Every now and then but they're not something I'd eat frequently.  It's something I have to be in the mood for. However, not everyone in my family shares my sentiments.

Amy loves hot dogs, as do Stella and Jackson.  Braeden sides with me a bit and would prefer a hamburger over a hot dog any day.  However, since I chose the last food truck, Monster PBJ, this time Amy got to choose.  She was stoked about Good Dog from the get-go when we began tracking down local food trucks so I knew that she would choose it.

Despite not being my first choice, I was pretty excited too.  Some of the offerings sounded great.  So last Friday we headed out for our usual Friday routine - a morning at the Zoo and lunch at a food truck.  

From the smell when I got in line I knew that I would be enjoying lunch.  This isn't your average supermarket variety of hot dog (sorry Oscar Mayer) or even one you'd get at a sports venue.  Nope, as the advertisements promise they're gourmet.  

Their standard dog is 85% beef and 15% pork but 100% beef and tofu options are available.  I thought about the tofu dog given our June vegetarian kick, but decided to splurge and went with the standard.  My choice was the Sloppy Slaw Dog.  I liked the name.  I liked the description even more.  Apple-horseradish slaw with Swiss cheese and whole-grain mustard?  Um yes please!  It was awesome.  The slaw was crisp, flavorful, and amazing.  I love the pairing of the apples and the horseradish.  Their 85/15 dog is handmade for them and you can tell it is fresh.  Another awesome part of the food is their bun!  Top loading (not your typical bun) locally fresh made!  Yum!  

Amy got the Guac-A-Dog which is pretty self explanatory.  She loves avocados so this jumped out at her.  She didn't get the jalapeños though, to avoid some heat.  Hers looked amazing and I think I will have to try it next time, complete with jalapeños because I love them!

So, in short, this was another epic success in our Food Truck Summer.  We were super pleased and even though the kids opted out of this stop (they wanted McDonald's) a great time was had by all.  It's fun to support local businesses and who doesn't enjoy food that is cooked fresh for you.  Throw in a fun park picnic and we have a recipe for a fun family outing.  

The next stop?  Hmmmm, there are a few contenders but I'll keep it mum for now.  If you're here in Houston I highly suggest you track down Good Dog Hot Dog.  It'll be the best dog you've had!  Trust me!

All is well, and hungry, in Drosche Land.

Our dogs, lovingly packed together.  Mine's on top!

A close-up of mine because yum!

Monster PBJ

You know I love me some food.  Sure, I mentioned yesterday that Amy and I are going vegetarian (mostly) for June and we will likely be incorporating it into our lives in some fashion after that due to the fact that we have loved it so much and Stella's milk and soy allergies.  But that doesn't mean we can't have our splurges!

Lately, as within the last year, Amy and I have become slightly obsessed with food trucks.  Now, granted this isn't a new trend, but it's new to us.  Houston has thousands of great restaurants but who knew we also had a tremendous amount of delicious food trucks?  Who knew food trucks could be so awesome?  Well, we didn't know these things until recently.  

We haven't been to a ton, yet.  Our location out in the suburbs, along with the fact that we don't eat out a lot has kept us from building up our food truck repertoire.  However, we (Amy's great idea) have decided that this summer we would track down and try one food truck a week.  We missed the Food Truck Fest in May, so this is our compromise!

This past week I made the choice as to where we would visit and I chose Monster PBJ.  After reading great reviews on Facebook/blogs/online I knew I wanted to try it.  I love me some peanut butter so this sounded great.  We looked up their location, they seem to stay in the Museum District a lot, and we made the plans for a fun day.  The Zoo in the morning followed by a trip to Monster PBJ and then Hermann Park for a picnic with said sandwiches.  Sweet!

First of all, this is about as simple and basic as food gets.  They have a fun way to order as you mark your choices on a brown paper bag.  You choose your size, then your bread (white, wheat, gluten-free wheat (great for Stella!), nut butter (peanut, cashew, almond), fruit (apple jam, blueberry jam, strawberry jam, sliced apples, sliced bananas, sliced strawberries), sweetener (agave, honey, Nutella), crust (yes or no), grilled (yes or no), and even how you want it cut!  Turn in your bag and in a few minutes you're good to go.

I chose wheat with cashew butter and blueberry jam, kept the crust, grilled, and triangles (the only way to eat a PBJ).  OMG!  Awesome.  I have to agree with the reviews I've read that grilling is highly recommended.  Trust me.  I've never had cashew butter before so I had no clue to what I was missing out on.  Luckily Amy chose almond butter because that was my second choice, also delicious.  The boys weren't impressed (but they can be picky) which surprised me because they are peanut butter fans.  But it was lunch and they were tired from the Zoo so who knows?

I'll admit that it was the best PBJ I have ever had.  It's a good thing that they aren't too close to our house as I don't know if I could resist the temptation to visit regularly.  But I will definitely revisit.  Their prices are great and it is a lot of fun.  Who knew that a simple, plain old PBJ could be so gourmet and fun?  

Head on over to their website to check it out for yourself and maybe track them down for a bite to eat.  I noticed that they do cater private events/parties.  I pointed this out to Amy but she rolled her eyes at me!  :)  Well, writing this has made me hungry so I may have to sneak downstairs to eat a spoonful of peanut butter.  We're currently tracking down this week's food truck, Amy's choice, but I'll leave it a mystery and tell you in a later post.  Do you enjoy food trucks?  If so, what do you love?  If not, get out there and eat!

All is well, hungry for PBJ, in Drosche Land.

Make your order!

Tell me that doesn't look awesome!  YUM!

Stella playing while we wait for our order!

The boys!

The Diagnosis - Part 1

So you've noticed by now the "Part 1" in the title of this post, if not look up a bit.  There it is.

I'll begin by saying that we don't have all of our answers just yet.  The pathology reports that will tell us the number of mast cells present will not be finished until the end of this week.  So hopefully by Friday we will have that news and a clearer, more conclusive picture of what is going on.  Until then we do know some things, not everything, but some things.

1 - It is an allergic reaction.

2 - Our GI doctor is proceeding with the diagnosis of Allergic Colitis.  

3 - The allergic reaction is most likely to soy.  Not totally surprising given the fact that 40% of people with a milk/dairy allergy also have an allergy to soy.  Stella falls into that statistic.

4 - Removing soy from her diet, along with the inclusion of a hypoallergenic (and expensive) toddler formula will get rid of the symptoms and colitis.  

That's about it.  We have always suspected that it was some kind of allergy-related issue, now we have some proof.  Colitis is not fun, but as far as colitis goes, allergic colitis is one of the lesser forms, mainly because it is reversible once the allergens are removed.  Soy.  Crap.  She's been on soy milk for months (since we learned of the milk protein allergy) and recently (yesterday) developed a love of tofu.  Oh well.  Just something else she can't have.

Excluding a whole other food source from her diet is not something we were looking forward to, but is a relatively easy fix.  However, in our brief research, we have found that soy is present in a lot more than you think.  The animal crackers we just bought for her to snack on because they don't have milk?  Yep, soy.  Crisco and vegetable oil, used instead of butter?  Yep, soy.  Fast foods (not that we eat a lot of it)?  Yep, soy.  So, the task ahead of us isn't an easy one.  Luckily we have been more adept at reading labels and enjoy researching so the learning curve shouldn't be too severe.

On a related note, and one I'd been meaning to blog about, we have decided to go (mostly) vegetarian for the month of June.  I have always wanted to but Amy has been a holdout until recently.  So far it has been great and we have been enjoying lots of new meatless meals.  I say mostly because we do allow meat on one day a week, sort of like a "cheat" day on a diet; just to ease in.  The boys haven't been as big of fans as Amy and I but we have tried our best to expose them to new foods while still making things available to them, like meats, so they can be happy.  Stella, though, has thoroughly enjoyed it.  She loved fruits and veggies so this was right up her alley.  Now, it looks like we may be eating like this a lot more often once June has passed.  Eating healthy isn't so bad and it's a helluva lot easier when you are also eating that way to ensure a family member's allergies are taken into consideration.  So future for that looks bright.

The one catch to today's news is that it isn't final.  Mastocytosis isn't totally ruled out yet.  That will be made more clear, hopefully, with the remaining pathology reports later this week.  Also, since it is such a rare disease and one that is very individual, there aren't super clear lines as to what numbers and levels should be in patients.  So, the reports may lead to more questions and/or tests rather than answers.  Hopefully not, but we will see.  

For now I remain positive.  We have answers, they may not be clear, but we have them.  HE has at least given us some peace of mind while we wait for the other results.  Thanks again for the continued thoughts and prayers while we brave yet another fun medical adventure.  Keep them coming and I will, of course, update once we know more.

All is well, with a few answers, in Drosche Land.         

That Darn Cat, uh, Dog!

This post has nothing to do with the Disney movie.  In fact, I'm not sure I've seen it, or at least I haven't in years.  But its name lends for a clever post title!  On with the post!

So you know we've been keeping the dogs outside during the day lately.  All was going fine.  They stayed out most days unless it was rainy or cold.  We had very little problems with it.  The amount of dog hair we were encountering inside was diminishing.  The dogs were getting exercise (we told ourselves), and all was going well.  Until yesterday that is. 

See, Rex likes to dig.  We've had minor problems with this in the past but have managed to fill in the holes.  It was one of the concerns we had when we decided to keep them outside.  But it seemed to be going well, he seemed to be stopping.  There were no new holes.  Life was good.  Argh.  Yesterday that dog dug next to and under one of the new, smaller raised beds we made.  Said bed (ha that rhymes) is collapsing and is now filled with the displaced dirt.  Argh.  The liner we put down to prevent weeds is also torn and wonky.  Argh.  Needless to say the dog (I'm too mad to speak his name) will no longer be left outside during the day.  Nope.  Nada.  Never again.  My biggest fear is that, once we get everything planted, he will dig and eat it all up.  Then I'll really be angry with the dog.  

So, now what?  He's back to being an inside dog during the day.  We have to decide if he will get to stay out or if he has to be kenneled.  We'll make a decision on Monday.  For now though repairing the damage is on my to-do list for this weekend.  It won't be too hard.  Plus, we intend to get the carrots planted this weekend anyway.  But still, it's the principle of the thing.

That dog.  Argh.

I've never had a dog that digs before.  I don't even know how to combat the issue.  Any good tips or tricks?  He can be out if we are home or outside.  Just not for extended times.  My guess is he gets distressed or bored and is looking for something to occupy his nervous energy.  So apparently he decided to be an amateur archaeologist.  Argh.

Anywho, I'm over it now.  Just had to vent.  The next step in what I am now referring to as "Project Bountiful Harvest".  Meanwhile everything is coming along nicely and growing like crazy inside.  Exciting prospects here on the Drosche Farm!

All is well, holey, in Drosche Land.  

Super

So, this past Sunday was Superbowl Sunday.  It should have also been a Sunday Snapshot. An easy one in fact since Stella turned 8 months old on that day.  However, obviously, a photo shoot did not happen.  Why you ask?  Good question dear readers.

See, Sunday was our very first Superbowl Party.  You might remember that when Amy was the Director we hosted the yearly Christmas party for her staff?  Well, with the job change we knew that would not be happening.  We were looking for something else to host.  Now, we don't want to host everything.  Just something every now and then.  It's fun.  Plus it gives you a reason to clean your house.  Win-win right?  Right.

So we decided to host a Superbowl Party for Amy's faculty.  Woo hoo!  Only we'd never hosted a Superbowl Party before.  Nor had we ever attended one.  Usually we just hang out at home and Amy and the boys watch the game while I do something, anything, else. Well, this year we were breaking out of our comfort zone.  Time to have some people over.  It had been too long.  So we planned.  And we cleaned.  And we shopped. And we cleaned some more.  We didn't go all out, kept it simple.  Just hamburgers and hot dogs.  Chips and dips.  BYO snack/drink/whatever.  You know the drill.

Well, the day came and we were ready.  Cleaned house?  Check!  Food?  Check?  Tidied backyard with raised beds (yes, that's plural but it's also a post for another time)?  Check.  Adult beverages?  Check (Abita in honor of the host city and our time spent there).  People arrived.  They brought yummies.  Things were going well.  I headed out to start the grill.  I prepped the burgers and the hot dogs.  I headed back out to start the food.  No flames.  What?!  Yep, you guessed it.  One of those things that apparently happens to everyone at some point in their life.  We were out of Propane.  Crap!  So, rather than head out to the store at the last minute with everyone else trying in vain to quickly scrape together a Superbowl shindig, we opted to cook them inside.  Thank goodness for an electric skillet!  Funny.  We laughed.  What more can you do?  

So I fired up the skillet and began to cook.  Then the house got a bit smoky.  You know how it does when you're cooking hamburgers inside (or maybe you don't, trust me on this one though).  Well, multiply that times 20 (the number of hamburgers we were cooking) and you get what looks like a hazy nightclub and smells like a (delicious) diner.  Nice.  So, the windows and doors were opened to get a cross-breeze going and air out the house.  Luckily the weather wasn't too chilly as we are having unseasonably warm weather for this time of year.  Again, we laughed and moved on.  

Long post short, the hamburgers were great, the company was fun, and all of the other food was delicious.  The game?  Well, you know me.  It had entertaining parts (judging by the guests' reactions).  The commercials and halftime show were good, that I can vouch for!  :)  Stella charmed everyone and the boys enjoyed themselves with some other kids who came over.  Our guests left and cleanup was quick (as in we rinsed and stacked everything in/near the sink to deal with later).  Then the fun really started.  Braeden complained that his "brain was hurting".  Crap!  So we looked deep into his glassy eyes and took his temperature.  Crap!  Fever.  Oh well.  

So Amy stayed home with him yesterday and her Mommy instinct proved correct as she took him to the doctor to find out that he had the flu.  Yep dear readers, we've been infected here in Drosche Land.  Luckily the doctor thinks we caught it early and the Tamiflu is hard at work with his friends Gatorade and Ibuprofen.  I stayed home with Patient Zero today and will be home again tomorrow as the fever doesn't seem to want to leave any time soon.  So, win-win, you'll probably hear from me again tomorrow since I've washed every dish we own and laundered every stitch of clothing that's dirty.  

We can't complain though since it has been quite a while since any of us have been this sick and he only seems to be experiencing a fever and fatigue from this flu, nothing messy if you catch my drift.  We're hoping that Jackson and Stella remain healthy so this doesn't run rampant through the family for the next week or so.  As a precaution I took them into school this morning to limit their exposure to Patient Zero.  Sorry, I've been watching a lot of The Walking Dead (addictive!).  Tomorrow we will probably do the same.  Luckily Amy and I seem to have avoided it as well.  Prayers continue for such a case as we lovingly keep our distance from the infected!

So, to recap.  A great party.  Check your propane before hosting a party.  Open your windows if cooking inside.  The Ravens won (you thought I didn't know!).  And the flu has reached us!  That about catches us up for now!  See you tomorrow!

All is well, super in fact, in Drosche Land.  

Farm Livin' Is the Life for Me!

Green Acres?  The classic show from the 60's?  Come on, someone has to have seen it.  I loved that show when I was a kid.  In the 80s that is, when it was in reruns on Nick At Nite.  I'm not that old.  If you have no clue what I'm talking about, look it up somewhere.  I wonder if Netflix has it?  I doubt it.  Hulu?  Hmmmm.  But I digress.

So, we may not be living on a farm per say, but I'm one pair of overalls and a pitchfork away from it.  See, remember the last post about the raised bed?  Well, it's still sitting.  Lying in wait.  Last weekend we had the cousins over since Amanda and her family are getting ready to move.  Packing with 3 kids? not fun.  So Amy and I invited them for a sleepover so they could pack.  Turns out 6 kids in Home Depot is a ton of fun.  You get a lot of stares and quizzical looks.  The funniest thing was the fact that they all could have been our children.  The hilarity of that fact was brief though as I realized how old it made me feel.  Anywho, where was I?  Oh yeah, last weekend.

So we used the 5 older kids as slave labor volunteers to help in our backyard makeover.  Stella enjoyed sitting outside with us all and watching.  The kids helped to sand and paint a picnic bench we have from Granny and it turned out great as you can see below.  I don't remember the name of the color, the kids picked it out, but I'm in love and am referring to it as Smurf Blue.

After that we all planted the seeds we had purchased at Home Depot (I knew that previous tangent started with an actual purpose).  We may, and by may I mean truly did, have over bought seems and  underestimated the amount of space we have.  But we got them all started anyway.  Except for the carrots.  Turns out you can't start them in a separate place, they have to go directly into the ground lest you get crooked roots and thus, crooked carrots.  Who knew?  You learn something new every day!

So, in our dining room, in little starter pots we have a variety of seedlings that have already begun to sprout.  Corn (yes corn, we're stoked about it), flowers, green beans, jalapenos, rosemary, onions, watermelon, tomatoes, and a few others I can't quite remember at the moment.  See what I mean?  We may have too many seedlings and not enough space.  But we'll deal with that when we get to it in a few weeks when it's time to transfer.  We have plans, and bricks, to put in a few more smaller beds.  Until then they'll just hang out in the dining room.  It should make for an interesting Superbowl party this weekend that we're hosting!  But that's a topic for another post.

See, I told you  we're practically farmers here.  Impressed aren't you.  In just a few short months we hope to be enjoying a fruitful bounty (that's farmer talk for crap-load of veggies)!  We're excited and the boys have loved checking on the seeds' progress every day.  It's cute and I think it will be a great learning experience.  Probably not just for them, but Amy and I as well!

So, there you have it.  Farm life.  Right here in Drosche Land.  Next step?  A goat.  I've always wanted one.  Maybe not such a great idea with our crops though.  Darn!  Chickens?  Eh, 2 dogs and 3 kids is probably enough!

All is well, planting and sowing, in Drosche Land.

Beginning the work on the bench

A group effort

The finished product!

I used some of the blue paint to paint our stone path

They're beginning to sprout!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey Day!

I know, it was yesterday.  But I was too busy relaxing and stuffing my face to wish you dear readers a Happy Thanksgiving.  I have so much to be thankful for and I often forget that.  I hope you enjoyed or are enjoying your break and focusing on your blessings!  I'll try to touch on the Thanksgiving Break thus far before Stella wakes from her nap.  Hopefully that's a while longer.  Little Miss needs her some nap!  :)

The week began with Amy and I heading to a teacher's conference in Austin.  We left the boys with Amy's Mom, the dogs with my Mom, and took Stella with us.  The original plan was to leave all 3 kids but after Stella's ridiculously long sickness, it was easier to keep her with us so we could stay on top of it.  As it turned out, Amy was able to get a room to herself and I joined her.  Overall the conference was great.  Until I sprained my ankle!  See, I don't get injured often.  I don't know what happened and I wish it were a great story.  However, truth be told, I was getting up and stepped funny.  I nearly fell into a coworker and a chair.  Classy.  Even better was the fact that I nearly passed out and, according to Amy and coworkers, probably went into shock.  Judging by the color of my face, I'd have to agree.  My ankle swelled up nice and big.  Since I couldn't walk, I spent the rest of the day in a wheelchair.  Nice, just my luck.  However, by that night and the next day I was able to hobble around quite nicely.  It's better now, still pretty swollen and very tender.  But I can walk normally for the most part, stairs are still slow-going!  Want to see a picture?  Because you know I took one!

OUCH!

I must say though how grateful I am to Amy.  We were going to split Stella duty at the conference, but my little stumbling block (literally) changed that.  She really stepped up to take care of both of us and I owe her majorly!

Once we were back home we began to clean and launder from the trip while prepping for Thanksgiving.  Amy made the most amazing homemade cornbread & chorizo dressing!  I mean, seriously!  Ridiculously delicious!  We started the day off at the Thanksgiving Day parade here, a tradition Amy, Amanda, and her Mom started last year while Adam and I were in Vegas.  The kids had a blast!  Their favorite part: the horses.  More precisely the horses, ahem, using the restroom in front of us!  This was the highlight of last year's parade and this year the horses didn't fail them!  Ahhhh, the joys of kids.  Stella did great and enjoyed herself as the other kids did as well.  Still too young to try food, she napped (thankfully) during the meal and drank her first Thanksgiving dinner!  

I then went out with Amy's Mom for some early Black Friday deals while Amy took the kids home to sleep.  I love this, so much fun.  Next year we'll have to figure out a plan for the kids so Amy can join us!  I love a good deal, plus all the excitement!  Today we shopped some more and she is out right now with the kids, the cousins, Amanda, and her Mom at the movies.  I stayed with Stella this time and am currently speed-blogging my way through her nap time.

Tomorrow we head out to East Texas for Thanksgiving with my family.  Another, longer, car trip with the kids and we will test out the effectiveness of loading movies onto the iPad!  Thanks Apple , iTunes, and iCloud for making life so much easier!  Sunday we come home and begin to prep for heading back to school.  Not much "resting" this break, but it has still been a lot of fun.  Hopefully next week brings us back to normal and our usual routine now that everyone finally is healthy again.  I think we've had enough illness and excitement for a while!

So, that was our Thanksgiving break thus far in a nutshell.  I could go on for longer about the food, but just thinking about it makes me hungry.  Maybe I'll grab some leftovers before Stella wakes?  How was yours?  Full of family, fun, great food, good deals?  I hope it was a blessed time for you, regardless of your plans.  Below are some more Thanksgiving pictures!  Enjoy the rest of your break!

Amy, her Mom, the kids, and their cousins at the parade!

Stella at her first Thanksgiving Day parade!

Amy and I at the parade.  Love this picture!  Love me some Instagram!

All is well, thankful and blessed, in Drosche Land.  

Sunday Snapshot - Instant

Ok so the above picture is a preview of Stella's Halloween costume. I just couldn't resist. I was going to save a picture of her in it for next week's post or a Halloween post, but come on, can you blame me?

Anywho. Things have been busy around here, especially on the weekends. Sports will do that to a family I guess. Thus I've not been as diligent about Sunday Snapshot posts as I'd like to be. But that doesn't mean I'm not taking pictures, not by any means. It just means that actual, planned photo shoots are few and far between. But, thanks to my iPhone and its awesome camera, I'm always ready to snap something.





As you know, in addition to taking pictures, I love me some social media. Hobby/addiction, it's a fine line really. Throw pictures into the mix and you've got Instagram. Not only can I share pictures, but I can crop, add filters and effects. Combine it with other iPhone photo editing apps and the possibilities are endless.





One little Instagram/photography hobby I have is the Photo-A-Day fun from Chantelle over at fatmumslim.com. I'm kind of addicted to it, but not crazy or anything. It's fun. Sometimes I try to be all serious about a prompt, other times I just take a picture of something. I may miss a day here and there, but I try to get it all in each month. But not all of my Instagram shots are part of the challenge, not by any means.





Basically my Instagram pictures fall into 4 categories really: Amy and the Kids, Food, Random, and Artsy. About half are for the challenge and half are just because. Right now I have 620 photos, and yes I checked. Because why not right? It's a fun and easy way to enjoy photography and document life. Maybe one day the kids will look back in wonder at it all, in awe of my photo skills. That or they'll just marvel at what a nut job their Dad is. Either way they'll have something to enjoy right?





So, given the lack of photoshoots recently and my love of taking pictures, I thought I'd share some of my recent Instagram favorites and sing my praises of this fun social network. I'd link up to my account here if I weren't on the iPad and/or I had the energy to figure it out. Plus, I think it might be on the sidebar somewhere? Search me if you want to and follow along for the fun! I could post many more pictures here, 615 actually, and go on but I'll spare you. I think I've gotten my point across. Plus it's late, I'm craving Halloween candy, and I few I've begun to ramble! 😁

Oh and yes, the first picture is Stella in her Halloween costume. I was going to save it for next Sunday's post or a Halloween post but I couldn't resist. I mean, how cute is she?

All is well, picture perfect, in Drosche Land.

Milestones

So today was another big day for Stella. As you'll recall from a few posts back, she's eating solid food now! Well, we started her with dinner since that's the easiest and it means she sleep through the night.

I'll take a quick aside here to state just how great it is that she sleeps through the night! Amazing really. I mean Braeden was over a year old when he consistently slept through the night. If memory serves me right it was around Jack's birth. I mean with a new baby coming, he had to sleep through the night sooner or later right? I thought he'd never do it. Jack was slightly easier but nothing compared to the experience we've had with Stella. Anywho, back on track.

So she was eating dinner and loving it. The girl loves her some food! However, we thought a daily meal of solid food would replace a bottle. Well, we were partially right. While we were able to get rid of a bottle and get her to sleep through the night, she just made up for the lost bottle by upping her intake on the other bottles. She's up to nearly 30-35 oz of formula a day now. That's almost a Sam's-sized container a week folks! We're talking some crazy consumption going on here readers! So we decided to have her eat breakfast at school. Maybe an additional meal would help bring down the liquids? We wanted to wait until closer to December but hey, no time like the present right?

So today was her first breakfast at school and her first time with blueberries. Suffice it to say that both went over like gangbusters! I told you, the girl loves her food! So we will see how this new development plays out and what it means for her bottle situation. Regardless though, Amy and I are so happy to have a healthy eater. We attribute the fact that she has really not ever been sick (save for the ambulance/hospital incident) to her love of food. A well-fed, chunky baby is a healthy baby!

So now you're thinking to yourself, "Awwww, how sweet. Stella's eating food. I'm so happy Dusty and Amy are getting sleep again, the deserve it. Dusty's pretty awesome too!" Ok, so maybe not that last part (or maybe so?). You might also have out your grammar skills to work noticing that the title of this post is plural. Well, today was another milestone for HRH (our affectionate nickname for Stella (Her Royal Highness)). Turns out she has discovered how to roll over. At school nonetheless. Luckily her teacher was sweet enough to capture it on video nod text it to Amy and I. We have yet to see it at home but you know I'll be looking for it all weekend long. She seems pretty surprised by the fact that it happened but I'm sure it won't be long until it is a regular thing. Crazy. Just another example of how quickly she is growing and changing! Next thing we know she'll be crawling! Yikes! Below you can see her enjoying her blueberries! I can't upload the video from my iPad for some reason, argh! So I'll have to try it later!




All is well, rollin' rollin' rollin', in Drosche Land.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Fair Castle Dr,Cypress,United States

Yum!

October? Really? I feel like I was just saying that about September! Time just seems to be flying by. But I digress.

So Stella is within spitting (up) distance of being 4 months old. Again, time is just seeming to fly by. She's recently reached another milestone in life, eating food! So Amy and I tried a few weeks ago, around 3 months, to get her to eat food. We started off easy with a rice cereal. But she wasn't into it really and couldn't figure out how to eat. She was all, "What's this tongue thing for?" So we gave it a rest. What's the rush anyway.

Well, we tried again this past weekend and were amazed at how quickly things can change. See, Amy's decided to make all of our own baby food this time around so she's been scouring the Internet for recipes and tips/tricks. Not only is it healthier, but, like our cloth diapers, it can save tremendous amount of money! Plus it's super easy. So last Wednesday was Johnny Appleseed's birthday (totally not a random fact it does relate to the story). With apples on both of our brains as we prepared apple-themed activities for our classrooms, Amy decided to make some apple baby food for Stella and try it out (see I told you it was related). Well, suffice it to say Stella was a fan of the apples. She chowed down and suddenly seemed to have an epiphany on how to eat and use her mouth and tongue. Carrots, although not as popular as the apples, also seemed to please her.

Not only has Stella been enjoying her newfound food items, but Amy and I have also reaped the benefits to feeding her solid food - the sleeping! She eats food for dinner and then after a little while follows that with a bottle. Then she sleeps, nearly all night long! She's alternating between sleeping through the night and waking for just one feeding. Needless to say, we are excited about this!

But, as with many things, it's bittersweet. Another reminder of how fast she is growing up, yet it's also a reminder to slow down and enjoy this. Enjoy the messy grins at feeding times. Enjoy the funny looks as she tries a new food. Enjoy the wide-eyed look of excitement as she waves her arms around in eager anticipation of the food (that happens a lot)! So we are, and its a lot of fun!












All is well, hungry, in Drosche Land.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

5

Jackson turns 5 on Tuesday.  5.  Seriously?!

He has been waiting for this day for nearly a year, no joke.  Jack has always been a kid that wants to be older.  He wasn't content to coo, he wanted to talk.  He wasn't content to crawl, he wanted to run.  He wasn't content to play with baby toys, he wanted to play with big kid toys.  You get the picture.  So 5 for him is practically adulthood.  An entire hand.

We celebrated his birthday yesterday and this post was to come last night, but we had his party at Chuck E. Cheese.  Enough said right?  Now you can guess why this wasn't published.  Usually we have the boys' birthday parties at home, with just the family invited.  Until they're 6 that it, that's when they can have a big party with their friends.  But Jack had been looking forward to this birthday for so long we decided to make it a little special.  So we held our family party at the most insane fun place he could think of - Chuck E. Cheese.  Truth be told, I love me some Chuck E. Cheese though so I was pretty happy.  My favorite games are the ones where you insert the token and it drops, pushing others further to the precipice.  You know, the one where the more tokens that get pushed off, the more tickets you get.  Its like a gambling gateway game.  Just one more token and the rest will fall and you'll win big.  Chuck E. Cheese, like a closer, cheaper Vegas!  But I digress.

What we didn't anticipate for the party were the other 6 million people heading out on a Saturday evening in late September to enjoy pizza and games.  But as a parent you take one for the team when it comes to your kids.  Even if that means braving the crowds or pizza-crazed kids, lax parenting, and wide sampling of the population (seriously, you see some interesting people there).  But in the end it was a fun and successful time and the boys and their cousins had a great time.  Stella didn't take to the noise so much, but she tolerated it as best she could.

Jack was on cloud nine the entire night.  The tokens, the orange soda, the pizza, the games, the presents, the cake.  Oh the cake!  This year, in a startling break from tradition he chose to get his cake from Sam's rather than Costco.  Yes, we have memberships to both but that's another post.  Also, instead of the typical cake, he chose a cookie cake.  Jack, always his own person.  However, in case you didn't know already I'll tell you, the cookie cakes from Sam's are incredible.  They're not just a giant cookie.  They're a giant cookie stacked on top of another giant cookie with chocolate frosting sandwiched in between.  Yes, you read that correctly.  I won't say how much I ate, and don't ask the scale, but I highly recommend it.

So, all in all it was a great day.  Jack is still flying high though because he knows he gets to celebrate again on Tuesday so it's like one big party for him these next few days.  Ahhhh to be 5 again.  5, wow.

All is well, partied out, in Drosche Land.