Oscar Stew

Hey, is the stew cold? Sorry about that, it’s been a while since we’ve had a moment to relax. Summer is long gone and there have been lots of changes for us, but we’re still having fun!

So where are these changes we are talking about? Well, to tell the truth, we are homeless. Off the grid. Drifters. Ok, our landlord decided to sell the house we’re in. We are trying to buy our own house (woohoo! & prayers needed) and in the meantime we are moving to the sandy beaches of Utah’s Dixie!

The seasons changed as quickly as our housing situation. The frost rolled in, and the garden wilted. We still had a decent harvest, and we were able to enjoy all the cantelopes and watermelons that Hammy didn’t get to. Mmmm!

Summertime dinner should be enjoyed outside, even if your yard is a steep slope. A couple of rocks to prop up the plate keeps the fixin’s from slidin’…

Are those beans gonna give you some wicked gas Ro-dog? Only time will tell.

While we waited for the butt-blaster Rowan passed the time by dipping rocks in Cheddar’s water and got REALLY in touch with nature.

I’ve got no claws, no fangs, no venom…even Mantis has those…thingees…

Speaking of thingees…the thingee looks like a baby now. 16 weeks, 4 days, 4 hours to go, but who’s counting right?

Boy or girl? Dunno. We had the nurse write the gender in this card just in case we HAD to know.

Either way we’re prepared with some homespun super-sweet gender-neutral jammies.

Brinley was exploding with jealousy at the very thought of not having her own set of custom jammies, so she was on the job immediately.

Careful now, no need for puncture wounds. Yet.

Why do for your kids what they can do themselves? I’m proud to say that Brinley hemmed the pants with little help from me.

Voila! That’s the Fancy Nancy way of saying “Check this out!”

Drew was selected to be the first Top Dog of his class, which gave him the opportunity to make big crafty messes at home to show off at school.

Can anybody guess who the Top Dog is? That kid in the back got it no time. Try not to look so disappointed Scoob. Ok…

Now he’s playing the shy card while his super teacher tells the class about all the super things Drew does and likes.

Let’s zoom in for a closer look.

Yep, that boy sure is busy!

As the temperatures dropped outside, a storm was brewing inside…

Not even five minutes later… How do you spell her name? T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

All that troublemaking came to a grinding halt with a nasty case of the flu. I would’ve rather had the trouble.

Indoor craft season is well underway with preparations for Halloween.

What no instant gratification? Bust out the hair dryer and those paper bag pumpkins will be dry in no time!  

Having your own garden is great. Harvesting food that you have grown yourself is rewarding, and tasty! But unless you’re a farmer with lots of acres, you can’t grow it all. Fortunately we’ve found some local farmers who are willing to share. Orchard is a big word that doesn’t mean a lot to a kid. But the moment we said apple patch, there was no end to the excitement!

All Brinley needed was a little help…

Drew needed a bit more help. Good thing Daddy’s been working out those neck muscles.

Ah, sweet success!

We discovered a new favorite: Liberty apples. Brilliant white on the inside, and tons of flavor and crunch!

Drew & Brinley preferred the sour ones. Big surprise…

All this apple tasting was making Rowan jealous. C’mon Mr. Mom, have a heart!

We all know he’d give the world for his little sis…

What she really wanted was to be free range just like her big bro & sis. Rowan is walking full time now…look at those chubby legs go!

McIntosh, Ginger Gold, Liberty, Crispin, Jonathan, Macoun…the hard part is deciding what to do with all of them. Pie, crisp, cake, fritters, sauce, cider… What a wonderful problem to have!

Low reps, high sets Binnie! You’ll have bulging, veiny biceps in no time. Ewww!

Hey Brinley, here’s a carrot. Let’s go feed the horses! You OK Brinley?

It makes sense she was afraid. These were huge Percheron draft horses. Drew enjoyed feeding them while he chatted about his and their apparent dental challenges.

Have you ever had a cider donut? Delicious! Perfect way to end the evening!

Brinley’s big day arrived. Binnie got to be as big as her brother and went to school. Preschool, that is. Joyschool if you want to be exact. Any way you look at it, it’s still school!

She wasn’t excited at all, nope! Like the thoughtful bro Drew is, he made sure Brinley was prepared for her first day. Can you tell what letter is missing? 

These kids don’t wait around for wind and nylon string to be in abundance. Construction paper, yarn, and an unquenchable desire to run like crazy are the only ingredients required for a successful kite-flying day.

Drew scored an 8.5 for style and a 9.1 for height.

The other kids had to run to get their kites airborne, but Kung-Fu-Rowan mastered the light breezes with a simple flick of the wrist. Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiyah!

If the call to serve comes and the assigned help is not available, never fear! HT Companion V2.3 is a fantastic substitute.

Matchy x 4. Headband, shirt, skirt, and skivvies, all yellow. This is what happens when kids dress themselves. But there’s no denying Brinley does match!

Poor Ro. Smashed up her thumb while spelunking in the kitchen cabinets. There’s a first time for everything, and on that day it was Band-Aids’ turn.

Cantelope has a profound effect on making the owies go away.

No-Bake cookies work well too. So much so that we squeezed in a first haircut and piggie. And you know what they say, “If you give a dog a cookie…”

The great tooth exchange continues, with Drew on the losing end. He pulled this one out all by himself!

He was so shocked that he dropped it. Tip: It’s not easy finding a tooth on bone colored carpet. We did find it…eventually.

Go my favorite sports team go! Free-chicken-sandwich-with-sports-jersey-day at Chick-Fil-A can’t be passed up, even by sports fuddy-duds like us. We dug out Drew’s old soccer jerseys and shook the moths out of a couple Brazilian shirts that Ryan had buried in the basement. Eat mor chikin!

Would whoever these kids’ parents are please get them under control?! I’m trying to enjoy my free meal!

We are criminals. There, I said it. We are “those people” who refuse to by over-priced movie theater snacks, and sneak in our own contraband instead! What kind of street cred do you think you can get with a name like “Binnie Binnie Boo Boo Boo Boo Boo”? She didn’t think so either.

Drew’s got his 3D glasses on so that he could enjoy UP to the fullest. Maybe we should tell him we’re seeing it at the Elvis (read cheap) theater? Nah…