If I were a rich man...

When I was growing up my dad kept a huge water bottle in his closet that he would empty the change in his pockets to at the end of each day. Then at the beginning of December, we'd pour it out on the floor, count it up, and then divide the money between the kids. We used that money to buy each other Christmas presents with. It was always so exciting and there was always way more money in there than we thought there'd be. Well, not to long ago my dad gave us a water bottle just like he had along with some change to get us started. We've been filling it for about 8 or 9 months and tonight we decided we'd count our spoils so far...

It was a math lesson, history lesson, and bonding time all in one. We even found a penny from 1824! My dad must have slipped that in there.

We first divided each coin by it's type and then by dollar increments. We started with the smaller coins first and ended with the quarters just because we knew that would be the most exciting pile to count.

As you can see above the bottle is barely full of coins at all and yet the grand total was(drum roll please): $148.20

We were so excited and as we counted we all came up with what we would use the money for once the entire bottle was full - years from now. We're pretty sure we want it to be a trip of some sort and it seems that if you fill the whole bottle you've gotta have roughly between two and three thousand dollars - maybe more! It's a really easy way to save - I empty out my wallet of coins whenever there are some in there and any coin we find around the house, on the street, or in our pockets goes right in. Of course it's not a get rich quick kinda thing but I it'll do for now...

We also had a lot of fun with these photos...disregard my boys fingernails in these photos. Needless to say they got a trimming after this photo was taken!

So, thanks Grandpa - for all that you do. We love you!

p.s. Here's that penny - it's 184 years old!:

Snips & Snails & Puppy-dog tails

I have to admit, I honestly love having boys. Growing up with four brothers I always wanted to be a boy. I got over that but I didn't get over my love of playing outside in the dirt. I'm a lucky woman.

A snake

And then there were two snakes.

And a lizard. All in all, I'd say it was a pretty good afternoon.

And to finish it all off, is anything better than cookies?

Not a word was uttered.Are children born with a dessert sensor? How come they never say, "What's that? I don't like it." when we're dishing up ice cream or cake? How come it doesn't take 17 times of trying it for them to like it?
Maybe it's because this guy is one heck of a cookie maker.


C'mon down third son!

Moms are the best.

My mom just got back from a trip to visit her mom and sisters in Boise and this is what she brought me. I have a mini collection of old cameras - both still and motion ones and now I have this to add to it. I LOVE it. It's Bell & Howell's 1939 model and that's the original case in the background. Isn't it great?We met her at a really fun place that is exactly in between the two of us. A HUGE store with everything you could ever dream of for your yard - like statues, bird baths, fountains, planters, etc. It's huge - probably four acres of the coolest stuff. I should have gotten more pictures but this'll have to do...Afterwards we went to the little town right by it - thinking there would be a place for lunch but all we found was the DQ. While there I saw a poster that said that everyday they give away $500.00 to one winner for good pictures of people eating treats there. Well we had treats, boys, and a camera so I was game. Sadly though, when I got home I read online and found out that that poster was from last summer so no money honey. By the way, why are DQ's only in small towns?I can't wait until I have a third to add to this bunch! (Only four weeks!)

Wee-haw!

I know it's "Yee-haw" but that's the way Andrew says it. Because this past week was Elijah's spring break Mike took Thursday and Friday off and we drove down to Houston to go to the Rodeo. I didn't realize it before but this Rodeo & Livestock Show is the largest in the world. Now, when I say we went to the Rodeo I mean we went and walked around - looking at the animals, eating, and riding a couple rides. We didn't actually pay for any of the events. Already the rodeo is mucho dinero - here's how much:

Parking - $12
Entrance - $7/adult $4/child = $22 for us
Lunch - $36! (We got three turkey legs, a corn dog, and 4 sodas)
Hats for the boys(paid for by G'pa Dave) - $20/hat = $40
Fair rides - $10 (Boys rode on little kiddie ride and Eli & Dad rode a ride together)

Total = $120 but who's counting?....well, we are.

But we figured it was like a mini-vacation and that that was a pretty good price for that. And the day was pretty fun though it felt like a million degrees out - we all got some sun and a little dehydrated. We couldn't afford to buy any more drinks! And as we were driving through traffic both ways - I sat, 8 months pregnant, and wondered what the heck I was thinking. Anyhow, here's some photos of our day:My mom made some super sweet vests for the boys and they loved them. They will be cherished for a long long time.Here's a turkey leg if you've never seen one. They are smoked and pretty darn tasty - though we discovered just one would have been enough for three of us. I always feel like some medieval king when I eat these.Here's the boys on their one ride together. I got a million pictures like this showing their glee - which make me think it was worth every penny.Here's Elijah looking really old to me. This is just after he finished his ride with his dad.Here's my favorite exhibit every year. They have chicken eggs hatching right in front of your eyes. You get to watch the little chicks poke through and eventually start walking, then hopping around. It's super sweet and cute. I think I'll put more photos of all of this stuff on my other blog in the next couple days...Here's a cute photo of a piglet who had just finished eating and was falling asleep while standing up. This is pretty much how we felt by the end of the day.Here's the boys in their full get-up. What cute cowboys!And here's me standing in front of a cow who was going to deliver her calf any minute. That look is supposed to say, "I know how exactly how she's feels".

So wee-haw!

p.s. There are some more pictures on my backyard farming blog - especially of cute animals and such. So, if you are so inclined you can go check it out!

Let it snow...in Texas?

When my cell phone started ringing at 7 this morning I was bummed because I knew I had a few more minutes of sleep that were now destroyed. I could hear it was from Mike so I dragged myself out of bed but still missed the call. When I got to my phone I saw that he had texted me too so I opened up the text and read, "It's snowing!" I immediately threw open the front door - saw the snow and ran to wake the boys. They were up in a flash and we all went outside. It was actually a pretty good snow for a little while there ...
Here's Elijah in his pj's freezing but in awe of the snow. He was sure he'd gotten a "snow day" from school but I had to explain that it had to be a bit worse than that to cancel school. ;)
Here in his warmer clothes but still looking tired with his sleepy eyes.Andrew was all smiles!Though he really wasn't sure about the whole thing...

Informative post on Wild Onions

Last week when our neighbor was mowing his backyard it smelled strongly of onions and so we began to wonder if he didn't have some wild onions in his backyard.
So yesterday when I was out inspecting the yard to make sure their weren't any eggs being layed in weird places I saw that we too have wild onions. I was really excited by this - it hearkened back to my childhood when I dreamed of being a hunter/gatherer and living in the woods - what was that book called?

Anyhow, we pulled them out, took them in, washed them and set to work.





I first minced the bulbs and the stalks about a third up the stem. I sauted this in butter- meanwhile cooking some white rice in another pot.



Once my rice was done I added the softened onion, some butter, and salt to the rice. I fluffed with a fork and took a bite. It was excellent. My kids didn't want any though they seemed excited enough as we gathered and cooked. So I ate the whole thing myself. Ahh...feels good. I have now reached Martha Stewart status.....

Well, that's not the whole story - within about twenty minutes there was some rumbling - a lot of rumbling. And some unmentionable things that go along with indigestion and bloating - I'll spare you the details and let your imaginations do the work. Needless to say, I was sick to my stomach for a good hour.

Wild onions and garlic grow all over the United States in many different varieties and none of these varieties are poisonous. But...they just might give you gas, bloating, and diarrhea. They say to try a little bite of one first and see how your tummy reacts. I did not do this but would whole heartedly recommend it. They also say that eating wild onions will create a natural bug repellent. I would add that some of the side effects of eating wild onions create natural people repellents too. For a good 24 hours...and counting.

As for me and my house...our eating of wild onion days are over. My tummy still rumbles when I look at these pictures.

Or better yet, let them grow and sell them. Marketing it as a quick bowel cleansing program where all of that gross stuff appears in your toilet. I have already tested it on myself and it seems pretty effective...

Corn Doggin' It

Tonight's dinner

Ok, so for a few weeks after Christmas I was inspired to cook and make meals for my family. I would find myself in the kitchen reflecting on the beauty of motherhood and homemaking. I'd think about how happy I am when I'm making a good meal for my family. Well, today I went to the store and got:

corndogs(veggie, at least)
mac'n'cheese
tony's frozen pizza
jose's frozen burritos
minute rice spanish rice flavor

And that is the end of my glorying over motherhood - I just am not feeling it this week. Maybe it's because 99% of my amazing meals were boycotted by my lovely children.

Little Red Hen

So, as I said before I got four new chickens. I had heard when you get new chickens to keep them isolated for a week or so to watch them and make sure they aren't carrying disease or anything. Well, I only have one coop and didn't want to go to the trouble of making anything else so Saturday when we got home I threw them all in together. Besides a little pecking order stuff going on, everyone seemed A-Okay. Well, this morning I went out to feed them only to discover one of my little red bamtams, "Paprika" laying flat on her back - dead - with her eyes rolled back in her head. The rest of the chickens were kind of hanging out in the other corner and looked at me like, "You finally got here! See what happened?" Well, I was totally caught off gaurd and actually pretty disgusted and so I picked her up with a shovel and put her body into a trash bag.

My next thought was that I would have the first case of avian bird flu in the U.S. and that my entire family was going to die. So I called a vet and here's how my first two calls went:

"Do you guys treat chickens?"

*Pause*"Umm, no. We don't."

"Do you know of any vets that do?"

"Uhhhhhh. Hmmm...no. Well maybe such and such but I really don't have any idea."(Of course sounding a bit disgusted with the whole thing)

So luckily I live in college station which is home to Texas A&M. The "A" standing for agriculture. I was able to find a place on campus that would treat farm animals and said for $15.00 they'd take a look at my dead chicken without running any lab work or anything on it. The scientist on the phone reminded me the cost of that would be worth more than my entire flock. Ya, Ya...so we finally got there.

Oh and before I go on - yesterday Elijah ripped down a board I had nailed into a tree he liked to climb - forming a ladder to make it easier to get to the branch he likes to sit on. Well, within ten minutes of ripping that board out he stepped on one of the huge nails that was being used to hold it onto the tree. So, needless to say - he's real hurt and can't walk today.

So I walk into the place with a 6 year old hanging on my back - remember I am just about 6 months pregnant - and a toddler following behind - and oh yeah - I am carrying a dead chicken in a trash bag. Oh, and it's raining so we made this trek through the rain. It's probably not necessary to tell you I wasn't feeling too happy about the traveling circus I was a part of.

So after about a half hour the guy comes back - and let me say he really was really nice - and tells us the chicken was not sick and probably got it's head stuck under the chicken wire and the trauma made it freak out and it's lung filled up with fluid and it died.

Oh good - we are not going to die. I actually didn't feel too bad for little Paprika. I was just really glad I hadn't infected my other hens and my family with any life threatening illness.

So, in the end...I just lost my fourth chicken in as many months. These things are hard to keep alive around here! As for my other chickens - the other bantam(which is a mini type of chicken) is named Cinnamon and you can see her in the image above. The big black one - that is molting - is named Shera - because she's large and in charge. And the last one you can't see is named Donut and she's our favorite. She sits on our lap and lets us pet her and she's really pretty and when we get a good picture of her I'll post it.

We didn't get around to sending out a card this year - part of that is because between the move and the new computer means we lost a lot of addresses. So we are doing it here on our blog. Most people we would send it to come to this anyhow...

We have had quite the year with many unexpected changes. We were happy to find out last January that we were expecting but sad to learn in April that we had lost the baby. In June Mike was offered a position in a town 2 hours away from Kingwood. We decided to accept which meant we had to get our house ready to sell & have it sold in just a few weeks! It was crazy but with the help of MANY people we were able to pull it off. (Thanks Carlie and David!) We loved our home in Kingwood with all of our friends and family so close. Throughout the process of moving we often thought we were crazy to be leaving! It was hard to but we were excited for the change. We moved at the beginning of August to College Station and found out within a couple weeks that we were expecting again. Poor Mike has had to help out a pregnant sick wife for 8 months of this year!

Elijah started his first grade year at a new school and we love his teacher and couldn't be happier. He's in a Cub Scout program through his school and gets excited at the prospect of shooting guns and arrows. We're not sure if Cub Scouts actually do that but oh well... Andrew is now going on three (January) and is quite the talker. Andrew has a habit of befriending complete strangers just about everywhere we go. He just likes to meet new people and get them on his side. We are having a lot of fun with our adventurous boys and just found out that this next one is a boy as well. We are excited for all of the Scout activities and camping trips we can expect to take part in!

Mike's new position has him working with a commercial construction company that is building the physics building on the Texas A&M campus. It's a challenging position but he is enjoying it. Megan continues with her photography business but she is always looking for a way to start the next family business with Mike.

Here in College Station we decided to finally try and live in an old house like we had always talked about. But since we knew our stay here would be short we decided not to buy but to rent. In the end, renting an old house has completely cured Megan of her love of old houses and their "character". Maybe someday she will be able to regain it but in the mean time we have all come to really understand the term, "drafty old house".

Even though our house is drafty and old we did go ahead and get those chickens we had been dreaming about too and that part of the dream has been much better than imagined. We love our chickens and can't wait for their eggs coming in January. One of the perks of College Station is that we are living more rurally and have enjoyed Sunday afternoon drives through Texas hill country. It's nice to try some place new but still be within driving distance of family so we can take part in all of the traditions and holidays with them.

Because this year has brought so much change, we feel it has required a lot out of us. We know that everything would have been much more difficult without the support of friends and family but most of all our Savior Jesus Christ. This season has been a wonderful chance to slow down and recognize the miracle of his birth and the gift of his life. We hope that each and every one of you know of God's love for each of his children and his constant support and care for us all.

Wishing you the merriest Christmas!

The Knorpp Family

Ode to my chickens

I am so glad that my friend Marisa gave me the courage to get some chickens. I couldn't be happier with them - well, maybe when they start laying eggs I will be. Truly, chickens are just as good as it gets when it comes to a backyard pet. They don't need much - they don't smell or make noise. Both of which I was worried about. They are fun to watch and easy to care for. My kids love them - so do I - actually so does Mike which is nice- he doesn't really like Jenny all that much. Their feed is really cheap and easy to give to them. Our fence is only about 4 feet tall and they can't get over it. They love to just run around the yard catching bugs and eating grass. I am a lifelong chicken owner now I believe. I highly recommend it to anyone with even the smallest yard. We are renters so don't let that stop you if you are too! They each cost $1.25 to buy and their feed which will last for months was $15.00. You can find an old dog house or improvise with anything. They really aren't picky. They are pretty cold hardy too. Why not get one? I just found a good article about keeping chickens as pets - check it out!

Bigger in Texas

We woke the boys up one night when Mike brought home a big beetle - a rhinoceros beetle he found at the gas station. Spencer was over & we loved seeing it because it brought back memories of bug hunting with my Dad as kids. It really is a magnificent beetle.
Here you can see it's size. It was a little uncomfortable when it climbed on you because it has hooks that it would actually sink into you skin! Elijah's always game for things like this... But Andrew isn't so sure!

I really need to do a shout out to Spencer because he helped us out immensely with the move. We REALLY could not have done it without him. So thanks big brother. I love you!

Elijah's 6th Birthday

I forgot that I had some photos from before the move to post about. The day we moved up here we also had Elijah's birthday party. His b-day was thursday and then the party was saturday. It was crazy but all of that stress has been forgotten. But if you wonder if the day you're moving if you should have a party - you shouldn't.
We have a tradition that on the day of your birthday you can have any sugary cereal that you choose - Elijah chose Lucky charms.
Andrew isn't much of a sweets fan - the cereal seems a little much for him. He didn't even finish it.
Dad had frosted flakes.
Elijah got a new bike & helmet from his mom & pop.
Andrew always has something to say about everything - wonder where he got that trait?
Elijah also got a watch.
Here you can see our house with the sign in the yard.
Andrew always requests that I take a picture of him being "scary". Here it is folks.
Elijah is a hugger - Dad was just running to the hardware store for the last few things for the house.
Next tradition - dance to "Birthday" by The Beatles.
Now it's Saturday - We borrowed the tables and chairs from the church - i think i'll do that every year!
We made spaceships out of paper bowls and plates - they actually fly really well!
I love her welcome sign over the door - only a girl would think of welcoming guests to the spaceship. This is moon cake. Here I requested Elijah show me how old he is now. There you go! For party favors they also got glow necklaces - ordered from Oriental Trading - here they are in our black light room.