That's Dillon

Love this kid. Love this picture.

It's my new desktop image!!

Little Hottie

The Bhut Joloki - the world's hottest pepper:

Pretty isn't it?

OK, this one is probably a habanero. The Bhut is a Ghost Pepper. I planted one last year and got a few peppers off it. This year I've planted more.

These little guys look so cute and innocent. You'd never guess they'll grow up to be so hot that even Danny Bills can't eat one without getting sick.

These guys will probably make really yummy pepper jelly.

I'm keeping some of the plants and giving some to Greg.

That gives me a double chance that there will be survivors among the sprouts.

This heat chart shows that the Jolokia is over 1 million Scoville points.

That's 10 times as hot as the habanero.

I'll let you know how things turn out - I'm sure we will survive.

Video of the snow - proof it happened

Snow In Texas

Start of the snow day - not too thick..Beezer loved throwing snowballs...at me. Thank goodness the glass door was shut.

Poor Boo was afraid to go out to pee - I had to walk him out and wait while he relieved himself.

Front Yard Snow...Back Yard Snow...Snow got heavier, then lighter, then heavier, then lighter etc all day. Next morning - no snow, lots of sun. Strange weather in Texas.

KK Cooks!! (Happy Birthday Charlie and Xavier)

KK took over the kitchen one Monday between his mom and dad's birthdays.

He made chocolate pudding, brownies with oreo cookies in them, cupcakes, and frosting.

Then frosted the cupcakes and decorated them and finally frosted the brownies.

What a fun day.

Of course I think KK's favorite part of cooking was the "taste testing". After all, a cook has to be sure he's making tasty food, right?

When it came to filling the cupcake cups I was pretty sure he'd make a giant mess or the cupcakes would end up really uneven, but nope - he did great. He used a cookie scoop to fill the cups and cleaned up his drips.

Maybe KK have found his future as a chef? You never know.

And he even did the dishes after he was done cooking. What more could I ask?

The most fun part for me was seeing how excited he was to deliver his desserts - along with a gift for Mom. All the way in the car he kept holding his hands together near his chin and saying "Momma is going to be sooo happy!"

He was really happy to have the chance to give his family a treat.

Just Like Old Timesf

In days gone by, we had a full house most evenings when Amanda's friends visited. It was great to see them again - not kids any more but all grown up and most of them married. Those guys are all so tall, or are the girls just very short?

Helping Plant and Orchard

Dillon spent a day helping Greg and his friend Jeremy plant fruit trees in the back yard. We now have dozens of new trees our there now and they all needed to be watered in. Jeremy taught Dillon how to water the new trees and then they left for the day.

Dillon took his job seriously. He worked without getting tired, came in muddy and happy, and then headed back out for more work.

Charlee helped out watering - she was great. Those trees were well cared for

Dillon followed Jeremy's methods for a while but found it silly to stand there and hold the hose when he could figure out a better way.

Dillon came up with the idea of building a well around the tree and laying down the hose then he'd move to the next tree to get it ready. Smart kid!!

The nursery we bought the trees from told us to water them in and then leave them alone - not to overdo the water. We got them planted, and watered in, and then mother nature stepped in and it has been raining ever since. I hope those new little roots haven't drowned! We need a week of no-rain for our little fruit trees so we can have apples, peaches, pears, plums, figs, pomegranates, kumquats, lemons, tangerines, apricots and olives in a few years. I can't wait to see the "fruits" of Greg's and Dillon's work. And I can't wait for Dillon to come back and see what he helped plant.

A Visit to the Snake Farm

Danny, and his cute funky hat, took the wheel and we headed out to the Snake Farm

This is the way to travel with kids!! Bathroom right in the vehicle and room to move around.

KK and Charlee are giving Papa advice while he pumps gas

This snake is eating chicken legs - yuck

KK couldn't wait to go touch the animals

Molly had no problem getting right in there with the piggie

Dillon and Hyenas - they laugh the same sometimes. Except Dillon is way cuter

This goose attacked KK - bad goose! Very very bad goose!!

Dillon got to enjoy some of his Dad's popularity with the animals.

Sharing the experience with Papa is one of the very best parts of any outing.

I wonder what charlie sat in?

Amanda and Molly laughing at Dillon and the goat

Tyson, like me, was not so sure about being surrounded by animals with feet and teeth

charlee loved it, no fear here.

Charlee wasn't scared of anything! She wanted to go swimming with the gators.

Anderson looked just about the right size for a meal for the giant boas

Molly and Tyson hung out most of the visit.

Dillon was braver than me - I did NOT go into the petting zoo.

Petting zoos scare me, always have.

KK tells the chickens what's up

Travis and the Llama: a love story - at least for the Llama

Travis's Llama - this animal loved Travis. It followed him around the whole time he was in the petting zoo. Even after Travis was out of food - the Llama stuck close to him.

You can see here, it is sad to see Travis leave.

She does have lovely eyes, doesn't she......

PANCHO'S: It's a Family Tradition

Panchos is a family tradition that dates back to when John was little.

The entire family loved to go there to eat, and the prices were amazing.

Kids ate free and the buffet was so cheap for adults we could feed the family for a few dollars and go home full.

It's a tradition the kids have never forgotten so when Amanda and her family visited we drove to San Antonio for lunch. Usually Travis does not enjoy Panchos, and Xavier stays away.

In fact he promised to pray for Travis, who couldn't get out of the trip.

Turned out that Amanda had an upset tummy after dinner but Travis had a good time.

Can't remember what she tried but she was brave to try new things -

guess it didn't turn out to be a favorite.

How can you not love a face like that - wait, where's his face??

The trip was fun and filling. Amanda has had her Pancho's fix for a while but I'm sure we'll be headed back to San Antonio next time she visits.