Unforeseen Dangers

They are everywhere when you are on the floor trying to get a cute picture of Charles.

Eggplant Bonanza

photo by: hholliman
What would the yield be if we were watering this part of the garden?

Monday Morning - Feels Like Fall

photo by: hholliman

California Dreaming - 1990

photo by: hholliman

1990 was a good year! This vintner should charge for photo opportunities. Grapes seem to have grown. Not the thumbnail, though. Wine there was good stuff, (Clos Pegas) as I remember. - J

Mark gets the finger

I thought everything was bigger in Texas?

Baxter the dog

Baxter is getting to be really BIG these days!

A view of the new member of our family

Could this be Ollie?

Home Alone

It was supposed to be a "bad" night... Dianne went out to dinner with a friend. And I was home alone with both boys, who were going to be sleeping in the same room for the first time. Charles went to sleep right on schedule, and as you can see, Thomas fell asleep about 45 minutes before the bell. Piece of cake! :)

What's In A Family Name?

I'm not sure if this will work,

http://www.rockdalereporter.com/news1.asp

But that is the latest news in Rockdale! Yes, just a few miles from the homestead, nefarious activities were ongoing. Distant relatives, but the Doss name has now been tainted. So where do you get those seeds? Does it look like Basil?

HollimanNet

So I finally figured out how to upload a photo to this thing...I think.

Technology Comes to the Ranch

For the IT professional turned rancher there is this handy little gadget.

A first for Thomas

Thomas joined us for dinner tonight for the first
time in a high chair!

The Pepsi Syndrom

Very early this morning, the unthinkable happened. My very large glass of Coke toppled over right on to my laptop filling the unit to the brim. I quickly pulled the power chord and yanked the battery, but it was too late. Coke was pouring out of the bottom, and was pooled around the keys.

I dismantled the notebook as much as I could, and left it out overnight. This morning, I plugged it in and turned it on - nothing.



But this afternoon, after pricing out new units and deciding that I did not need a notebook... I plugged the unit in again and it turned on!



A little finagling of the hard drive, and it even booted.



And so far (only time will tell) it seems to be working perfectly. The keys are stiff - and will probably start sticking in the next couple of days. But I have already bid on a replacement on eBay so that should be easy enough to repair.

Moral of the story - don't drink and click!

Ducks and Frogs

First there were ducks for Charles, and now
there are frogs for Thomas...



And Thomas seems very please about
his new friends!

MooHaHa

Thomas' Humidifier

Harvey: remember these? The design has become more kid friendly, but it's still the same old humidifier.

On the other hand...

When we returned home, Rosie reported that Thomas had only had about 20 minutes of sleep.... to quote a famous todler: "uh oh." SO I think it was finally around 3:30 or 4:00 this morning that Thomas quit screaming. Needless to say no one (except Charles oddly enough) got any sleep last night. And now that I think about it, I kind of wish Charles had not either. Cause now he is going to be rested and refreshed and we're going to be dead on our feet...

WooHoo!

It was a nice treat to be able to get out of the house for a couple of hours tonight. With Rosie at home with the boys, Dianne and I were able to go have dinner with Michelle and Mark. Can't tell you how nice it was... and a special "thank you" to Nancy for treating us to a wonderful dinner... we truly appreciate it!

What's this? Could it be a....

duck?


Duck.


Duck.


DUCK!!!


Thanks Mrs. Morgan!

Under the weather

Poor Thomas kept Dianne up all night with a stuffy nose and a cough. :(

Charles' Cake

2 Sticks Oleo (Margarine) or Butter, or one each
1/2 C. Crisco (or half of one of their "sticks")
3 C. Sugar
5 Large Eggs
3 C. Flour
1 C. Evaporated Milk (from the can)
2 t. Vanilla
1/4 t. Salt (or more if you read the recipe wrong)

Combine all shortening, sugar, salt until creamy. Beat in 1 egg at a time. Add flour and milk alternately, ending with flour. Fold in vanilla. Pour into greased and floured "tube" pan or Angel Food cake pan. Place into "COLD" oven, and turn to 325. (Don't pre-heat!). Cook for 1 hour and 50-55 minutes. Invert. Cool. Slice a piece for Charles, then slice another piece for Charles. This is from Aunt Ruth's New Salem Homemaker's Club's cookbook. "Cold Oven" Cake.

Still lovin' the cake!

A Little Thursday Morning Fun

Charles gets a little pre- pre-school fun outside this morning.

Wizbang: U.N. Upset That Iraq's WMD Equipment Was Destroyed

Here's an AP article I bet you did not see today...

Report cards are in!

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First Day of School

Charles woke up this morning in his usual good mood, which was unexpected since he did not sleep so well last night.	Of course, Thomas was also in good mood this morning after a little breakfast and a change of clothes in spite of his sleepless night.
So at 8:55am we loaded up the boys and their lunches and headed off to Zion Preschool.	Charles was not sure about the whole thing. But a quick scan of the room revealed ducks...
and trucks. We did not stick around for a long goodbye, so we can only image how he reacted when he realized we were no longer there. And we're counting the minutes until 2pm.

The Holliman Reunion Weekend

It was a busy Rockdale weekend as Hollimans, Lowthers and a Phillips came to the 75th Annual Holliman-Tuma Reunion, always the Sunday before Labor Day. The weather was nice all weekend, unusually so for early September, so there was a lot of outside time for the boys. They were a delight. Michelle and Mark made the day trek, and Jennifer (Auntie Jen) and Lulu had special time with the children. Charles says "dog" quite clearly, and shared his Cheerios readily. Just couldn't quite catch her. (A good thing.) And we have a new delicacy - "Charles' Cake", a great pound cake that his Nana will always have to bake for him. (And everyone else.) The Cooking School was a success. The Rummikube games continued, and if we ever can remember who was who, we may have to proceed. We really don't think it was Dianne playing in that lucky spot and the Rules Committee may have to intervene. Papa had the longest naps of the weekend, too.

Firefighters Battle Blaze in Northern Calif.

Tuesday, September 07, 2004

GEYSERVILLE, Calif. — Firefighters hoped moist air would help them get the upper hand on a fire that has burned more than 12,000 acres of land in California's wine country.

No School Today

Charles is still running a fever, so he'll be missing school again tomorrow. Well, I don't know if he'll be missing it... but we did manage to get outside for a little while today and play around.



Thomas on the other hand had a good day at school. His teacher said that he was a very sweet baby and very well behaved.