Wildflowers

I have a soft spot in my heart for wildflowers! I think it was in the 6th grade that I had to have a wildflower collection for science class. Ever since then, I have always been enamored with any and all kinds of wildflowers.

Since we had a such a fantastic winter, weather wise, for flowers, they are out in full force this year. I have been itching to get to a good area to take some pics. This past weekend afforded me that chance in more than one place.

These were at Bill & Dolores's Friday evening.

Saturday morning, Dad, Josh, & I went to my parent's farm to burn some brush piles. Once we got them started, I headed out in the pasture to see what I could find.

There was a small patch of pale blue bluebonnets. In this picture it looks more white.

There were tons of Red Paintbrush. I was on the lookout for a yellow one, but it remained elusive this year.

Wild Hyacinth

Spiderwort

These are on the land behind my parent's house. Saturday afternoon, we took a little hike to the creek with Rylie to check out the flowers and the dewberry situation for the year (looks promising!).

Rylie checking things out

This ladybug would not hold still for anything!

Buttercup. This is a true buttercup. The pink one's that everyone calls "Buttercup" are actually Showy Primrose.

Poppy - I love these flowers! So delicate and simple.

And the obligatory Texas Bluebonnet picture. Bayla is missing because he had finished rolling around in a huge pile of cow poop. He wasn't allowed anywhere near us!

Good Friday Fish Fry

For the last few (at least 8) years, my family has gotten together with some family friends for a Good Friday Fish Fry. We switch locations every year, so each family gets a chance to host it. This year it was out at Bill & Dolores's in the country.

The day before they had just gotten two 6 week old puppies who were so cute!! We spent a lot of time out at the barn with them.

I sure do miss sweet, snuggly puppies sometimes!

This one I can tell is going to be quite the mess when she gets older!

They had a nice case of puppy narcolepsy!

They fell asleep wherever they were last sitting.

Toes made great chew toys!

They were held a lot that night! And oh my goodness, the crying when we finally had to leave them! I do not miss that horrible crying!

My Shiner Beer advertisement

Dolores and her granddaughter, Jenna

Each year, mom & I make deviled eggs. Ross eats about half of them himself!

More puppy lovin' after dinner

And then we tried to get a pic with the dogs in the bluebonnets.

This is what most of the pics looked like!

Running away!

Lots of hand gnawing!

Finally a good one!

They ended the evening by having an all out fur-pulling, tail-chewing fight.

Moving

I've decided to separate my baking skills from my personal stuff. All my baking from now on will be posted here:

http://nikkidssweets.wordpress.com/


It's a little crude right now while I work on creating a cohesive design, but come check it out!

Happy Easter!

These are the cake bites that I made for Easter. They are Red Velvet with Cream Cheese icing and White Chocolate coating. I decorated them to look like Easter egss.

It was definitely some good practice. Some look a little crazy, but I had a lot of fun doing it!



I put some in an egg carton so that they look a little more like eggs!

Sepia Saturday

This is my Grandpa Jim, my dad's dad.

His real name is Vaclav (Vatz-lov), with Jim being the English translation. He was born in September 1918, making him 91 years young. Yes, he's still alive and kicking. Up until October of 2009, he and my grandma were still living on the farm where he grew up. His parents had moved to the farm when he was only a few months old.

He served in the Army during WWII. I don't know much about his time in the service, at least not off the top of my head. The one thing I do know, is that he was shot in the leg, earning him a Purple Heart.

He has the best sense of humor, even now that he is in the nursing home. He's not happy with where he is, but he's making the best of it. For being 91, he still has his wits about him for the most part. I'm hoping we have quite a few more years left to have him around!

Life is Rough

This was Rylie last weekend. Too tired to even lay her head down!

Strawberry Harvest

I got my first strawberry!! If my dogs hadn't eaten the first plants, I would have had more by now, but I'll take what I can get!

It was so good!! Now I'm waiting on my other vegetables to start producing!