Tomatoes and Turkeys

I figured we're probably way past due for an update on the farm, so here's a quick one today.  We spent the week with just Ruby this week because Pla Shee went to camp and Kai stayed with his MeMe.  It was VERY different, but fun to spend some quality time with our little 9 month old alone.  She was my helper today as we picked tomatoes and took care of baby turkeys.

As I probably mentioned before, this was a CRAZY year for us trying to adjust to having three kiddos, a farm, and full-time jobs.  Needless to say, the garden was pretty much an utter failure.  This was actually the first year that we didn't start our own seeds.  :(  But all was not lost.  We bought about 20 tomato transplants from a local farmers market in the spring and planted them in the backyard along the fence.  The wood posts and netting that you see in the picture is our marginal attempt to keep stray chickens, turkeys, and guineas from eating the tomatoes. 

We've had amazing luck this year with Porters--they're very prolific and we literally pick a bowl's worth of tomatoes just about every evening.

Here's my helper demonstrating that tomatoes make good teethers.

We've also had really good luck with our turkeys, and just had another five hatch the other day.  We had to move the "teenagers" to a new pen across the yard to make room for the new babies.

The sheep, goats, and donkeys are managing so far this summer, but we're bracing ourselves for what will inevitably be a very hot July and August.  That said, the Mitschke clan is headed down to the beach at Rockport this afternoon for some fun in the sun!

9 months old...already?!!

I am blown away that Ruby is already 9 months old!  She is such a joy, and we enjoy her smile and giggles so much.  What a blessing she is to our family.  It is so crazy to me how quickly my little ones are growing up.  It seems like just the other day that Kai was 9 months old.  One thing is for sure...we were definitely blessed with two of the happiest babies ever.  As evidence, here is Ruby this morning and, just for fun,  a pic of Kai when he was 9 months old.  LOVE them!
 

 

Homestead Heritage and other fun

I know I've posted several times in the past about Homestead Heritage in Elm Mott, TX.  We just love to visit, especially for lunch.  Before the kids were around, Aaron and I took a few classes there--organic gardening, how to spin wool into yarn, making goat cheese, beekeeping, etc.  We headed down to Elm Mott for lunch and homeade ice cream on Saturday (it was fabulous, as usual), and wandered around the grounds a bit.

Sunday afternoon some of our Karen friends came over to the house for a visit.  Kai was especially happy, because his friend Jasmila came too.  Here are some pics of the gang hanging out in Ruby's room.

Jasmila doing some shopping.

Kai cooking.

Ruby and Pla Shee hamming it up for the camera.

Silly face time.

Kai asking what we'd like him to cook.

Coloring and enjoying "Spider Man Juice."

Dinosaurs

 Kai is REALLY into dinosaurs right now, so a couple of weekends ago we headed to Glen Rose for lunch and a stop at Dinosaur World.  The great news is that since he's still only 2, he doesn't yet realize that Dinosaur World is actually more than a few dinosaur statues sitting in a parking lot.  Yep, we're too cheap to pay the $13 admission charge, and honestly, it was getting close to naptime for the kiddos.  But, as you can see from the pic, both Ruby and Kai were satisfied with the experience.

Just for fun, here's Kai on the same dinosaur in Glen Rose in May 2010.