BIRTHDAY BOY!

Our little toot is ONE! What a fast year it has been. He started his party in a bit of a grumpy mood, but grew cheerier as it went on. Isn't he a neat eater for a baby? Thank you to everyone who sent him presents! He loves all of his new toys.

Best Birthday Present!

I have always wanted silhouettes of my kids and this year, Mitch very kindly obliged me. They turned out wonderfully and I know they will always be family treasures (at least to me).

Any Potter Fans Out There?

Deathly Hallows is officially my favorite Harry Potter book, now. So many poignant moments/revelations. Harry, Ron, and Hermione venturing outside the confines of Hogwarts , finally able to use what they'd learned the past six years was refreshing. And they MAKE MISTAKES... they are still kids, after all.

Some touching parts to me were:

~ the fate of Dobby and its effect on Harry
~ finally learning why Petunia was so bitter toward her sister/Harry
~ when Harry, Ron, and Hermione (or was it just Harry?) discovered the mural on Luna's ceiling. My heart ached for her.
~ don't know why, but Kreacher becoming "good" really satisfied me
~ Snape

Anyway, I just read that JK Rowling is working on a detective novel at her old haunts in Edinburgh (though I'm sure it's just not the same- from struggling single mom to billionaire). I'll read it- I prefer that genre and I think she is a good writer. I'd be interested in the differences between her writing style for "children" vs. that for adults.

Any thoughts... Sil? Kim?

~NEW PERSIMMON HILL UPDATE~

This weekend was chipper-shredder weekend! The picture below is some of the cedar that was condemned to mulch. And Mitch got through it all! The homesite is cleared, ready for various contractors to visit for estimates.


We (well, Mitch and his friend Bill) figured out how the house will sit on the hill, and it was done so that NO (desirable) trees will have to be cut down (especially the persimmons! what would become of the name if they had to go?).

We've gotten materials bids from two places, though comparing the totals is like comparing apples and oranges since they don't contain exactly the same materials. I have found out that windows are incredibly expensive. Who knew?

Like I said, I guess next up is getting the concrete guy, electric co., septic co., etc. out there.

On the homefront, I just need to finish in the bathroom, then do the boys' room and the master bedroom. I am valiantly attempting to keep the rest of the house clean. I think it's going well, but I want to get this house up for sale SOON because all of this horrible real estate talk is starting to get to me. Luckily, Austin and San Antonio are still hot markets, so we have some breathing room.

More later!

Been Awhile!

Hi, Dear Blog Readers,

It has been almost 2 weeks since I last wrote because I have been having trouble with my camera. I'm sure I was missed dreadfully! Since then, most notably, I turned 33. Yippee.

Anyway, I am just going to post some random pictures I have taken in the past 11 or so days.


The boys have been banned from video games due to fighting, so, Horrors! they had to break out the Monopoly.

Pete loves to bang on the piano.

Pete eating corn on the cob and... glue.

Christine's birthday cupcakes ready for us to decorate!

Some of the finished cupcakes.



Pete's new shoes for nursery school!

Persimmon Hill Update... No Pics :^(

Well, since this blog was set up for chronicling our Persimmon Hill progress, I have been terribly lax in providing news on that front. So here is what's been going on:

Mitch has continued to cut cedar on the property, and has even devised a way to take Pete out there so I can have more free time to devote to the house. He has hung Pete's swing from a big cedar tree and charged Andrew with swinging and entertaining him. A great help!

So now, he is ready to tackle some of the huge brush piles he has made. We briefly considered buying a used chipper shredder from craig's list, but we finally decided to rent one instead. He hopes to get out there this weekend with a friend and gobble those up while reserving the big cedar logs for various projects.

I am slowly, I mean slowly working my way through the house, mercilessly flinging old school papers, plastic toys, outgrown clothes, etc. into a big plastic bag to be sorted and disposed of. The kitchen, dining room, and living room are done, yet not done. What I mean is that each day before I work on the particular room that is my current project, I make sure the kitchen, dining room, and living room are immaculate. Then and only then can I work on the new room. That is why progress is so slow, but I think my strategy is effective because the rooms I have totally finished cleaning are tending not to get out of hand again. I am currently on Christine's room. Who thought so much junk could be collected by a little girl in a 12x12 room?

Today was my target date for putting the house on the market. The best laid plans blah blah blah.

Mitch has gotten a materials bid from one supplier and I think we are going to another this evening to detail what we want so that they can bid. I am learning that I am going to have to make compromises in some areas, and honestly, it doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would, considering I have had my "dream home" pictured in my head for most of my adult life.

Well, I think that brings us up to today. Though frustratingly slow, I think we are steadily building upon each accomplishment toward each little goal.

Christine Turns 7!

The last introduction! This is my girl, Christine, who recently turned 7. And she is a girly-girl- she loves Hello Kitty, Polly Pocket, fairies, princesses, fairy-princesses, you get the idea ;^) She asked for a pedicure (of all things ) for her birthday. Should I be worried?

Early Birthday!

Don't these new pillows make a big difference on my couch? Thanks to my mother-in-law, Martha, for making these for my birthday (though it is next week- I couldn't wait). The rug in the top picture is also a birthday gift of sorts... I am using birthday money from my mom and grandmother to purchase it... it's from Pottery Barn and I just love it. It's a huge fuzz producer, though.

More good news is that I got a bid on some diapers and diaper covers I'm selling on ebay. Yay! (Now if someone will bid on my textbooks).

Wait, there are more! Intro #3

This is our biggest boy, Jay. He is smart, sweet, and sensitive and of course, has been our "guinea pig," being the first-born and all. We just found out he needs braces- oh joy! Just the news we need when facing such a huge life event as building a home. Well, oh well, I know everything will work out fine.

Some Enchanting Spots

I stink at landscape design... in the past seven years at this house, I have planted and pulled up more plants than I care to admit. However, a few spots in my garden have turned out to my liking and I thought I'd share them. Hopefully, when we move to Persimmon Hill, the knowledge I've gained through frustrating trial and error will help me plan flower beds more purposefully to avoid costly mistakes. P.S. I love little surprises like the late-blooming purple iris!

*Introduction #2*

This is Andrew, our second born and our little jokester. He is Pete's best buddy and my #1 babysitter (he gets a dollar an hour which he thinks is a fortune... I hope he doesn't catch on!) He loves running, Spiderman, Calvin & Hobbes, and camping with Dad. His nickname is Downy Duck or simply Ducky and life would sure be dull without him! Love ya, Bubba!

Before and After

Mitch wants to put the house on the market next week, so I have been doing some major spring cleaning... it's funny how we accepted living with slobby cabinets like this (where I would have to put an item in and slam the door really quickly to avoid an avalanche) until the prospect of strangers poking around our home arose. The nice thing is that I am really paring down our stuff- I am giving (and unfortunately throwing) away so much. I feel about10 lbs. lighter! It'll make moving time a breeze (ha!). Well, I need to get back to it... I am about 3% done- goody!

*Introduction #1*

Now's a good time to introduce my little brood. This is Pete who will be 1 on August 23. He is a toot and a half, but we all adore him. Funny story... Pete has been going to the church nursery lately and every week the lovely worker there would tell me that he ate some "Cheerios." "Oh, that's fine," I would tell her since Pete's been eating Cheerios for several months now. Well, yesterday I went to pick him up and she told me the same thing... "He had some Cheerios!" But then I noticed some colorful crumbs around his mouth and it was discovered that this dear lady had been calling Froot Loops "Cheerios," so ol' Pete had been noshing on some mighty sugary stuff! I could just picture him whispering to her, "Don't worry Ms. Wilma, I won't tell!"

P.S. Did you notice...

that Persimmon Hill looks remarkably like our old house? Could it be that we don't like change, either? ~Kerri

Sniff... I will miss the old place

We moved into this house in 2000, on our oldest boy's fourth birthday... he will soon be 11. Our move will be hardest on him. Many tears have already been shed.

Anyway, the first picture is what the house looked like on the day we bought it... what were we thinking?! We had three kids aged four and under! How could we think we could take on such a project?

Well, we just jumped right in, with Mitch doing everything, including building a new garage, putting on a metal roof, and hanging LOTS of drywall (which he just loves). The three things he did not do were refinish the hardwood floors, lay the brick skirting around the house, and pour the new patio. The guy is pretty fearless.

When you have put your heart and sweat into transforming a rundown shack (in which transients had built open fires in the kitchen and the thistles in the front yard were 6+ feet high) into a HOME (yes, finally!), it will be hard to leave. Especially if an investor buys it just to knock it down to build some soulless brick and carpet and vinyl structure. Ugh! I will never be able to drive down my street again! Then again, would I feel worse if someone (gasp!) moved in who makes it look BETTER than we did? I wonder!

Welcome...again!

Hi, everyone! Herding Chickens is now Persimmon Hill. What is Persimmon Hill, you ask? Well, it is the name of what I hope will be my, Mitch's , and the kids' realization of a dream, and this blog will chronicle our newest adventure.

When dating, Mitch and I often talked about having some acreage of our own to grow our own food, have some chickens, maybe a cow or two. A place for our kids to explore and grow. After moving to the Hill Country, and especially since the kids have started school, that dream all but vanished due to the high prices of land and our desire for the kids to attend a particular elementary school. I guess we were resigned to be neighborhood dwellers (though there is nothing wrong with that! I love our neighborhood.).

Anyway, last September, Mitch discovered a 10 acre tract owned by a friend of his who was going to sell... I won't go into details, but since it's been almost a year from then to now as I write this, you can imagine the ups and downs we've been through to procure this land, which we are 98% certain we have (nothing is in writing yet).

Mitch has such an eye for land with potential... he could see the black cherry, large live oak, shin oak, Spanish oak, and of course, persimmon trees that were hidden among the nasty cedar shrubs. He could see fields thick with swaying native grasses that would be possible once the cedars were removed.

Persimmon Hill is (hopefully) going to be our family homestead, named for the very large persimmon trees that grow on the hill that will (hopefully) become our homesite.

As the land is not officially ours, I will not post pictures of it yet. I can say that Mitch has been clearing cedar whenever he gets free time (!) and the transformation is definitely beginning. Below is a rendering of the home we have chosen. I'll write more about that later.

This is an exciting time, though I must stop myself when I start to pray for progress... all of this is in God's hands and we must submit to what he wants, not what we want. Check back for more news on how we are getting along!