It's been awhile...

There has been so much going on around the homestead with clan Daniel, summer has hit us full force. I had left off with an update of Bub and my week at RA camp. While we were at RA camp the Mrs. and sissy were at GA camp. Fortunately they are both at the same place. The reports are that all had a wonderful time. Sissy and a friend from school/church at camp. They are wearing shirts that have a school tie in. The girls have stuff like school spirit day where all wear shirts with school motto's/mascot etc. on them. Boys don't do this sort of thing. Funny the differences.
The girls do a lot of the same things that the boys did and above the Mrs. shows her angling skills. She had every girl at camp kissing their fish before returning them to the water. I guess she is used to kissing strange looking things!

All the girls at camp got a camp shirt (pink camo - see above) and they all wore them on Thursday. Walking into the canteen and seeing them all was quite a site.

Sissy also got the chance to ride the zip line and thoroughly enjoyed it as well.

She also agreed that the scariest part was the climb up.

It is safe to say that both Mother and Daughter had a fun-filled week and really enjoyed their camping experience.

My beautiful girl!

Now on to this weekend. Here you see the kids spent their Saturday at the Lakeview camp swimming, playing in the pool, playing in the lake, even enjoying a great fireworks show. The Mrs. had the chance to go to a women's quarterly dinner and preparing for VBS (which began tonight). What did I get to do you ask? How did I spend my Saturday? I had great fun. I started working on the truck at 6:30 AM and finished up at 9:30 PM. What a day! And it always happens when you least expect it. New brake pads, 2 new rotors, 2 new calipers, re-pack the bearings. Fun stuff! Well, at least I saved a bunch of cash. Turning wrenches is just not my favorite thing in the world.

These are Bubs and Sissy's 2 steers. They are in 4-H this year and will be showing steers. I forget what they named them, I think T-Bone and Rib-Eye are good names, but I did not get a say.

This is what is fast becoming my favorite pastime. I love messing with the horses. Never have enough time though.

Here I am trying to catch Trigger so I can put some medicine on him. He and the Mrs. have the same problem...allergies (you were thinking me right?).

vacation????

What a wonderful week we had at R/A camp. This will probably be a multi-posting on the blog to cover all of the exciting things that happened over the course of 5 days. The Mrs. was at GA camp with the middle-child/oldest daughter (sissy), and she can report later as to the happenings on that side of the camp. We left the church at 8:00am Monday morning with 16 boys aged 7 thru 11. A lot of the boys including mine, decided that a new hair-cut was in order. Mohawks were a-plenty at camp. Bub decided his would look better in blond, so with the help of Nannie, he was a star. The girls from the pearl who were there dubbed him Goldie-locks! (A name I think he loved since all the girls paid him lots of attention) A new feature at camp this year was the zip-line. All my boys (except one) gave it a go. Bub went twice! He absolutely loved it! Dad didn't get to try it as too many boys were clamoring to get on, but oh how I wanted to. Bub had to climb up to the top of the tower in the rope ladder. All agreed this was the scariest part.
He fly's thru the air with the greatest of ease.....

Along with the zip line were two rock-climbing walls. Bub had a good time on these as well, making it all the way to the top on one of them.

One of the greatest parts of R/A camp is that Papa comes with us. Papa has been dedicated to R/A camp for the last 4 years, not only to be there for his grandson (and his son-in-law who could absolutely not do it without him) , but he has also touched and influenced the lives of countless boys from the church here at the pearl who love him and look forward to seeing him each year.

R/A camp is a lot of fun. It is also a great time to learn about what our Savior did for us and why we should live our life in service to him. Everyday is filled with Bible study, praise and worship, and spiritual application in our day to day lives. This year 3 boys committed their lives to Christ! Royal Ambassadors teaches boys to live an "on-mission" lifestyle and to pattern our lives after our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We all had a great time and can't wait until next year!

Oh, by the way, this is knucklehead with the broken thumb (baseball not camp) in the nurse's station getting his sore toe looked at. They think he has a corn. The oldest 10 year old in history.

What a weekend! The Mrs. and I went to San Antonio on Wednesday for school board training. We returned home Saturday night to a broken air-conditioner. It was quite warm, to say the least. Today (Sunday) we packed and got ready for summer camp, which we leave for at 7:00am tomorrow. Yes that's right for the next week the Mrs. will be a sponsor for a GA camp and I will be a camp sponsor for an RA camp. First thru sixth grade boys and girls in 30 year old cabins! With bunk beds! We are going to have fun!!!! If we survive!!! Pray for us!

Hello everyone. Spent the evening out on the front porch. If you have the opportunity to get up 30 minutes early in the mornings or can get out in the evenings (we have a 30 minute window here in the "pearl" after the really hot part and before the bugs get to eatin' you) I highly recommend it. It's good for what ails you. The Mrs. and I would just as soon be out there than anywhere else in the house. It's funny because my family were not what you would consider sit outside people. They would sit out quite a bit on weekends in the early spring or fall, but let it get above 85 or below 65 and it's a mad dash for conditioned air. The Mrs. mom and dad were just the opposite. When she and I first started dating, these people were outside all the time. They cooked outside, ate outside, entertained outside, lived a good chunk of their lives outside. I guess this is were the Mrs. and I get it from. It's a good place to slow down and shake the muck of the world off yourself. Go out and enjoy your porch.

This is one of our favorite summertime recipe's. I thought we would add it here so you can try it at home. We have a good friend (K) who tries to take credit for this recipe but she totally stole it from us! This is chicken breast that we marinade in Bacardi Margarita mix (frozen) with fresh squeezed lime and fresh cilantro. We did not have long to marinade this (usually overnight) so we stabbed it w/ a fork and added salt to make a make-shift brine and it worked well after about an hour.
Here are the other players; chopped onion, Monterrey jack cheese, fresh cilantro, avocado, and fresh lime.

Black beans as well.

Grill the chicken. The Mrs. always grills chicken, me beef. It works better for us.

Fry corn tortillas in vegetable oil. Not crisp , just dip in and then back out.

Ready for the cutting.

Cut the chicken.

The finished product. Place some cheese on the tortillas, then chicken, avocado, beans, onions, cilantro, and then squeeze a lime wedge over the top. A little kosher salt and your ready to start eating. Enjoy!

Just wanted to include some pics of the homestead. We love this time of year. Everything is green and growing and it hasn't gotten unbearably hot...yet.
God has so blessed this family it is just amazing. The crazy part is that we forget so often just what the Lord has done and is doing in our lives.

It's as if something awful has to happen to make us realize just how blessed our lives are.

Thank you God so much for loving me!

Saturday at the "Pearl"

And this is how it ends, sitting on the porch (still my favorite place in the world) . I wish I could figure out how to reconfigure the pics, but such is life when you are a computer idiot.
The girls were having a high old time riding the saw horses. Saddled up and ready to go!
That is when they weren't being swung and sprayed by big brother. A blessing and a curse all rolled up in one.
They couldn't ask for a better bubba though.
After working on the chicken coup all day, at least it worked, they are actually using it.
working...
still working...
and just for grins, here are the pies the mom cooked last night (and sold today for the fundraiser...made about 45 bucks)

hope all have a wonderful Sunday.

Whichever Way the Wind Blows

Verdict: Guilty
Sentence: Life
It was a sad day last week for “the crazy chicken lady”. The crime had been discovered, but the criminal was still at large. There was a trail of feathers…until he was found…there was blood on his paws…feathers stuck in his teeth…my precious Yorkshire Terrier, Bo had committed the senseless slaughter of one of my beloved Rhode Island Reds!
The trial was held immediately and all the facts were weighed. (We must not forget the most important fact of the pecking order around here: chickens=eggs and Bo=poop, nuf said!) With that the verdict was in and the jury, me, determined his sentence for the crime of First Degree Chicken Slaughter would be: Life Indoors! So, like a scene from a jail house movie, he was washed, shaved practically bald and smacked with delousing powder.
Now, living indoors does not sound bad for most of us that enjoy air conditioning and cushy furniture, but Bo loves the outdoors. I would say he loves the fresh air but that is hard to say because he normally can’t smell anything through the skunk cologne he chooses to wear. Since his bath he now smells better and my four year old, Faith thinks he looks much better especially in her dress-up clothes! That’s right along with his sentence imprisoned behind these walls Bo will serve his time dressed in a pink tutu, emasculating isn’t it and yet still I smile!
Well, I guess this will be Bo’s life from now on and unless he can manage to start shooting out some eggs he has just been taken down a notch or two.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with the column "Whichever Way the Wind Blows" it is an article that is published in the small town newspaper where we live written by the Mrs. The Mrs. was asked by some faithful readers to publish it here on the clan Daniel blog. So, here is the latest way the wind is blowin' in the pearl!

No special reason for this pick. Just wanted everyone to see what happens when you are convicted of killing chickens. Bo now resides primarily indoors with his own personal guard (sister). Today, he is dressed as a cheerleader. Bet he wishes he'd have left that chicken alone.

I was thinking (actually I was griping) today about how much work needs to be done around here and how I have no time to get any of it done. Every Saturday I get up, have coffee on the front porch (my absolute favorite place in the world) with the Mrs. , then begin whatever project must absolutely be done that day and cannot be put off one more weekend. It seems that whatever project I feel I can accomplish in a single day actually takes 3 days to do and then it turns out nothing like I expected it to. I do realize (and you will to) that I am an unbelievably flawed creature who God is still working on. I am extremely grateful to God's (and the Mrs.) patience with me. I have to continually remind myself that God has truly blessed this family in so many ways and daily shows himself to me in a new way. It is very hard to stop worrying what "the Joneses" are up to and learn to be content with our blessings. We have a beautiful home, the 3 greatest kids anyone could ever ask for, a job that provides all 5 of us with all we need and a good deal of what we want, and the best bunch of friends and family anyone could ever ask for. God is good...all the time.

Well, I guess I will get back up now, head to the barn that God has provided, and finish that chicken coup that I thought I was finished with that none of the chickens will use. Thanks Mimi & Papa for the phone call, it was just what I needed just when I needed it.

Friday night in the "Pearl"Mom making pie's to sale for the G/A fundraiser tomorrow
More pies!


Now that's a fire!

Sister & Jake

Our newest family member Sam!

The Herd! Lucy, Sam, Ethyl

The best things in life...girls, and chickens, and gardens!

another pickin'

not a fan of the mater!

Huge mater fan!

MMMM.... Maters!

The girls love to run in the garden. (I have no idea why)

Hello all,

Wanted to give you an idea on how clan Daniel spends a Friday night. I look at all of these pics and think how productive we must seem to you all. Yea right! This time of year it seems that we stay perpetually behind. I am still trying to get the hang of this blogging thing so if this seems weird please forgive me.The garden is starting to produce to a point that we are picking daily.The girls and the animals are all doing fine. E is at Nannie's. We have a new goat. His name is Sam. We were given him by some friends at church. Mom and Dad are as busy as usual.