WURSTFEST 2009

Here in little German-land (New Braunfels), we have a small celebration we call WURSTFEST (pronounced Vurstfest). Wurst means sausage in German, so it is a celebration for sausage...for TEN DAYS. Yep, the 10 day salute to sausage came to an end this past weekend. Hoo boy.

We had a friend of ours come to town with her son Friday, October 30, when Wurstfest opened. The boys LOVED the fun house!Not one to pass up on ANY of the "scary" rides, Travis was all over the Orbiter. Luckily, I opted out this year! Whew!I did get on the ferris wheel with Tyler - here's an aerial shot of the Wursthalle and surrounding town. Yes, Wurstfest is IN town...literally in the middle of everything! In fact, my little preschool is about a block away from this!Of course, Wurstfest is all about the food - Travis had a turkey leg...the entire thing. Such a carnivore.Tyler opted for sausage on a stick (complete with a roll on the bottom to catch the "drippings").Of course, no Wurstfest event is complete without the polka music. Yep, 10 days of polka polka polka, and not just that, but it was in THREE tents. I'm telling you, this party is HUGE! You should come and join us next year! OY! OY! OY!

Teacher's Pet

Tyler has turned into a school- machine. He spends most of his waking hours, asking me how to spell something or telling me the letters he hears in words. It is all very fascinating to observe, to see how in-tune with language the kid really is.

One of the things we do in our pre-k classes at school is "morning message". This is a time where we, as a class, write a short message about our day that we can read and re-read several times to see that words on a page have meaning and do not change. Tyler is fascinated with "morning message" time, and for his birthday, he was given a HUGE floor pad of paper. That could only be used for one thing: MORNING MESSAGE! Good morning. Today is Monday. Nathalie Frieha played with her dollhouse yesterday...

Yep, he's definitely a chip off the old block!

Here's Why Gardening Is Not A Part Time Sport...

I pulled up most of my garden a few weeks ago. The beans were dead, the tomatoes were all but destroyed, and nothing else seemed to be producing. I did leave my cucumbers in place, as they had a few little cukes growing. And, I left my bell pepper, although they seem to be at the end of their line now. The grape vine is still there, of course, and the broccoli has started up again. And, I left my okra. There were still blossoms on it.

The thing of it is, though, when you decide to leave some plants, you really need to check on them from time to time. Or, you'll end up with Texas-Sized Okra, such as this: That is a REGULAR fork there, my friends. The okra are as big as it is! I imagine these are tough enough to use as baseball bats, but for now, they make for good blog-fodder.

6pm.com Deals This Week!

Just got an email about the fantastic deals at 6pm.com this week! Check them out!

"6pm.com has lined up a FANTASTIC selection of deals to kick off your holiday shopping before the madness begins! As you know, 6pm.com is the sister site of Zappos.com – so when Zappos needs to make room for new inventory – they move product over to 6pm.com and price it to move quickly! And 6pm.com always offers up to 75% of MSRP!" (from Deidre Cary, kelandpartners.com)

Tues 11/10/09

Christian Audigier – All Bags 65% off Today Only!
Heelys - $29.95 All Styles Today Only!
Muk Luks - $9.95 All Styles Today Only!
Two Lips – 60% off All Styles Today Only!

Wed 11/11/09

Harley-Davidson - $19.95 All Styles Today Only!
Patagonia Apparel – All Styles 60% off Today Only!
Lole Apparel – All Styles $16.95 Today Only!
Dakine Bags - 60% off Today Only!
Exchange by Charles David – Select Styles $7.95 Today Only!
(here is the link to the selected styles)
http://www.6pm.com/search/brand/1004/page/1


Thurs 11/12/09

Vans Footwear – All Styles $29.95 or Less Today Only!
Ros Hommerson Footwear – All Styles $12.95 Today Only!
Ben Sherman Apparel – 60% off All Styles Today Only!
Volcom Apparel –All Styles 70 % off Today Only!

Snapshot Sunday

Good times at our alma mater's 100th homecoming yesterday...as a few future alumni stopped for a pose...

So Studious!

Train table is gone. And, in its place we have a DESK. It is apparently a hit...

Promises, Promises

I know, I'm a total slacker on the pictures! I promise, they are coming - hopefully this weekend!

I'm still without a car today, but I'm looking at it as a good thing. I'm able to slow down a bit today. I hung out in my jammies until after 8 while a friend took Travis to school. I'm washing some clothes this morning, and in a little bit, Tyler and I are going to load up my bike and bike trailer with him and some goodies to take up to Travis' school for a PTA luncheon today. We'll stay at the school and help with the luncheon, then we'll stay a bit longer to help with an ice cream party in the afternoon. We'll pedal home about the time Travis gets off the bus. Sounds like a GREAT day to me!

The weather is beautiful here today - woke up to 50-degree morning with the sun peeking through a light fog. I couldn't ask for more. Except maybe another cup of coffee with a splash of hazelnut syrup, please!

TGIF!

FYI: Cinnamon Chips

Re: See recipe below

Cinnamon chips are like chocolate chips, only made with cinnamon, not chocolate. You find them in the baking goods section of your store. They are easier to find this time of year, when people are really baking, but you might want to call your local grocer to see if they have them, and if not, if they can get them for you.

And yes, I'd even go as far as to substitute skim for the whole milk in the muffin recipe. I just don't buy whole milk.