This past weekend me and my mom (who came to visit for a week for Amelia’s birthday), Eric, Sarah, Jason and Amelia went to a ranch owned by one of Sarah’s friends. It was a 1,500 acre ranch about 30 minutes west of here with several houses on the property, surrounded by beautiful vistas, rivers, and even a lake (although I didn’t see it). We stayed at the main house and cooked dinner on Saturday night at sat around enjoying the view, the company, and the millions of stars! I can’t remember the last time I saw that many stars- it was breathtaking. Laila and Jordan (and their son Cole) were so nice and the best hosts.

They even let us bring Reese, who, as you can imagine, absolutely loved running around the open space. On Sunday morning Jordan took Sarah, Jason, Eric, Reese and I to one particularly beautiful vista to shoot clay pidgeons. Reese even came along and was the best ranch dog- she didn’t even flinch when the gun was fired. It was a pretty windy day so it was difficult to hit the target- the only one who did it was Jordan, but he grew up shooting guns so it makes sense he would have better skills than the rest of us! I wasn’t going to try it, but was peer pressured into it a bit, but I was actually able to hit my target- a water bottle that they set up in a tree. After we were done shooting Jordan lead us on a tour around the property in the mules (golf cart like vehicles, but with more power) and then we headed back to the house. After we got showered up the entire clan (sans Reese) drove out to a fall festival and took pictures in the pumpkins and had pumpking ice cream (yum yum yum!)

It was a wonderful weekend, Texas style!

Hello everyone! Well, it seems as though my wreath hasn’t done the trick yet- it is still in the 90’s here! This summer has not been bad at all though, so I’m still feeling pretty lucky.

Things are going good at casa de Falcao. The garden is looking so-so, as the clovers have sprung up again. I’ll probably spend some time working on it this weekend. I would have last weekend, but I ended up taking a quick trip to Saint Louis to visit my parents and the Potter crew. I got in on Friday afternoon and we all went to dinner together. After dinner, I went back to Sammy’s house and hung out with Allison until bed time. We had a great time talking and watching “High School Musical.” After she went to bed, Sam and I decided to have fun and make this recipe . It took a while for the dough to rise, so we had fun just talking and catching up (and watching Grey’s Anatomy- darn you tivo! Why did you have to cut off the end of the show?!).

On Saturday morning we finished the cinnamon rolls (oh my god were they good!) and I helped Allison with a little Lemonade Stand. We only made $1, but that’s ok. The three of us ended up going for a bike ride to work off some off the cinnamon rolls and hit up a few garage sales on the way. Once we were sufficiently huffing and puffing, we hoped in the car and headed over to my parents house. After a short catch-up, Allison, Samantha and I packed a picnic lunch and went to The Daniel Boone House. They were having their “Pioneer Days” so a ton of people were dressed up and there were tents set up showing how people had to live back in the early 1800’s. We learned how to make yarn and create our own dolls out of corn husks. It was really fun to see how hard it was back then. Thank goodness for things like the internet, and running water and electricity, of course!

Saturday night I spent some wonderful one-on-one time with my parents. It hasn’t been just the three of us in I don’t know how long, so it was great to talk and laugh and have their undivided attention.

On Sunday we woke up bright and early and my dad took me to the airport. Like I said, it was a quick visit but very nice. Thanks to Joel’s passes- it was also very economical! Thanks Joel!!! It worked out perfectly!

I love all you skinny minnies out there in Lake St. Louis! Can’t wait to come back!

Well, when I say “crisp” I mean that the first time I go out in the morning I can feel the slightest tinge on my skin that only lasts a second, but I have taken a stand against the 90 degree heat by putting up my fall wreath! I am so excited for the cooler weather to get here and the holidays that come with it!
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Well, I think we have a winner! You know what they say, the third time’s a charm! It only took me all day Sunday and Monday, and then both Tuesday and Wednesday nights to finish it! Here are pictures of the original room, the yellow disaster and the new and wonderfully improved chic green.

Now all I need to do is finish the front yard! I think this will be another labor intensive weekend. In addition to the front yard, Eric and I are going to plant a test vegetable garden in a container that we have. We plan on going to our local nursery and ask lots of questions. Hopefully by this time next year we will be confident enough to have a flourishing veggie garden! There is something so cool about eating stuff you grew yourself. We already grow basil and it is so satisfying to use. One of our daily blog reads is The Simple Dollar (http://www.thesimpledollar.com/)

so we are always looking at ways to live more frugally (yeah, yeah, re-designing the family room for a third time isn’t very frugal, but we are cutting out other things, like eating out 3 times a week or more!). One thing the author suggests is to grow your own veggies- not only is it good for the environment, but the sense of accomplishment is worth it alone! So, wish us luck! We are so domestic. :)