Mmmmmm.........mmmmmm............

The beginning of the new school year has given me a sudden desire to become Martha Stewart. And let me tell ya...my family is NOT complaining.

Last week I found a great recipe for homemade GRANOLA BARS. They were a huge hit for breakfast, backpacks, and briefcases. In fact, it was requested that I make them again this week, which I did.

This week, I've decided to make homemade SANDWICH BREAD (and a few rolls to boot). They've been tested and highly approved, and I was asked to "please make it all the time". So I suppose that's something I'll be doing on a regular basis now. Oh my! The house does smell good while it's baking!

Homemade yogurt is a common occurrence around here too. And I guess it's not really a desire to become Martha. It's not like I even watch her show. (although I happened to today, and they were making Goat Cheese...hmmmmmm) Seriously though...I'm starting to think about all the junk in the stuff we get at the store, and I'm kind of not liking it. Besides...it's kind of nice to get a little praise from the family! :)

It seems like I've got a little catching up to do.

I have been the recipient of the ARTE Y PICO Award! The honor was bestowed upon me by Clara of Mimi Kattini! Thank you Clara, and I'm sorry it took me so long to post this. Where did this award first originate you ask? Well, you can read about it here...however, it is in Spanish. These are the rules:

1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award, creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogger community, no matter of language.

2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3) Each award-winner, has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.

4) Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y pico"blog , so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5) To show these rules.


AND, so now the winners are...

Laurie of Blowin Bubble
Boutique
Jennifer of Sweet Sunshine Boutique
Holly of Peyton's Place
Janae of Eldredge Family Blog
Tracy of Creme de la Gems

I just love these little fellas!

In the midst of our chaos, while everything we owned was loaded on a moving truck that was somewhere between I-80 and I-40, we got to take a little trip to Red River, NM. It sure was nice to catch our breaths!

Goodbye WYO

It's time for another chapter in our lives...time to say "goodbye Wyoming" and "hello again Oklahoma".

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. From the time we went "home" for harvest until now, things have been a little crazy. Crazier than usual even. We've always know we wanted our girls to grow up near family. Even though we're far away, we probably spend more time going "home" than the average family who lives near their family. Oklahoma has always had ahold of us.

Chris was offered a position that, not only is a wonderful career opportunity for him, but also takes us close to family. We've taken the long way around, but we're finally going "home".

As I sit under the tree in the backyard, bootlegging internet from the neighbors (thank you neighbors, whoever you are), watching the movers go back and forth loading everything we own onto a Mayflower truck, there's little for me to do but reflect on the last two years we've spent in Wyoming. Some people refer to us as "gypsies". While it's true we've moved quite a bit, we don't regret any of those moves, and we've always believed we were following where we were led. Each new place has given us opportunities and experiences I wouldn't have missed for the world.

So, as excited as I am to begin this new adventure in our lives, right now I'm thinking of the time we spent here, and the things we will most certainly miss...the memories we will carry with us.

The mountains...they give me a high I can't even put into words. They bring tears to my eyes while making me smile with the excitement of just being near them.



The patiently awaited first blooms of spring (although it's really more like summer since spring doesn't actually exist in Wyoming).



The thrills (just do what I do and pretend this is me):



The snow (in Nov-Feb...not so much in April, May, June...):



The wildlife:





The beautiful fall weather:





And one of my very favorite things...going on our Christmas Tree hunt:



We will miss you, Wyoming, but we'd like to think we made the most of what you had to offer.

Not so random thought for the day...

Don't you just hate it when the crawdads eat all your bait!

Wheat Harvest

They say you can never go home again, but I'm not so sure that's the case. To me, "home" will always be "home". Maybe it's because we've moved so many times and lived in so many different places, but it just always feels like we're going home when we go back to the place where I grew up, and where most of my family still lives...Oklahoma.

Every June we spend about 10 days helping with harvest. Over the last 20 years, my city-boy husband has become quite the farmer. He looks forward to it, and I THINK they actually count on him. It's a family event, and although my girls have been many places, and experienced many different things, I think this might just be the most wholesome wonderful thing out of them all.

Every kid should get to experience country life...at least for a moment.

There's nothing like some good old-fashioned dirt-diggin' kind of fun!

Remember "Parachute Men"? They make for some cheap and great entertainment. :)

I love that my kids can get a small taste of how I grew up. I come from a hard-working family with good strong values, and, although there were times during my teenage years that I didn't want any part of it, I'm very proud that those are my roots. I can only hope that I can be the kind of example to my children that I was shown throughout my life...that of my family.

Tornadoes, Mother-In-Laws, sad pet news, and the end of school

I've been a little MIA lately. I'll be back to my regular postings soon, and I'll expand, but all of the above is true. My mother-in-law actually came in the midst of the tornadoes, which, of course, don't happen in Wyoming....or so we were TOLD (WRONG!). One of the ones that hit here was close enough that I could hear it, and so could my kids who were on lock down at their schools. It totaled cars in Paityn's school parking lot, took down fences and garage doors in our neighborhood, and put the football bleachers on top of Cassidy's school. So I guess you could say we were in the thick of things. BUT...we were all okay, and that's what important. My mother-in-law played "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" to get here. After getting as far as Denver,her flight to here was canceled, so she took a shuttle part way, and then some kind strangers that she'd ridden the shuttle with brought her the rest of the way. By then, we'd already lost power...for two days. And then came the snow. She had quite a "vacation", I'm sure.

On a very sad note, Paityn's parakeet, Sky, passed away last Thursday. She's still pretty heartbroken. I got her a new parakeet, whose name is "Cloud", but I'm afraid it's not the same. Time will tell.

And...on a much brighter note (it IS a bright note, right?)...SCHOOL IS OUT, as of today!!! It was time. It's an adjustment for all of us. For me, it's about finding the balance between being a good mom, making sure we all have fun, and still managing my work. I'm sure we'll find it though. :)