Tag Archives: Family

Third day of school

August 21, 2012FamilyFamilywarren

The first day of school was last Friday. It’s been so nuts around here that I haven’t had time to even think about it and here it is day 3! My babies are growing up! I am sure I am not the only one to feel this but it seems like this summer has flown by faster than any other.

Isaac is playing middle school soccer and I am one of the coaches for the team. We are running around 6 days a week with practice right now. Abigail is about to start soccer and her singing in the Appalachian Children’s Chorus. So, what does that all have to do anything? I don’t know what I am trying to say other than holy cow, school is here already! Next thing it will be Christmas!

Anyhow, the kids got off to a good start for school this year. I am so proud to see them growing up so well and they are becoming interested in interesting things. Some folks have a tough time seeing their kids grow up but I couldn’t be happier to see them develop. Of course, some times I wish it would slow down some, but I do not want time to stop. There is way too much yet to see!

Honey Harvest 2012

August 15, 2012Bees, Family, FoodBees, Family, Food, Honeybeeswarren

We are like the Olympics here Among the Hills (.com!). With much pomp and circumstance, we harvested the honey so laboriously produced by my bees. I use both my English and my French when I work the bees and I always win gold…liquid gold! Emily’s Dad helped me harvest about half of the frames of honey and then I got the other half on Sunday morning. Usually pulling the honey off of the hives is a hot, hard, stressful job. Beesuits are made of heavy cotton and we usually seem to time the harvest for the hottest day in August. The bees are rarely happy about having their stash removed and honey is heavy. This year was a little different…it wasn’t hot. Not very hot anyhow. Honestly, it really is hot and hard work but this year was probably the best and easiest honey-pull I have ever done!

Some of the honey harvest, waiting to be extracted

Click above for videos of how we remove the cappings from the honey.

Sunday afternoon Emily’s grandparents helped Emily, Abigail and me extract 2/3 of the honey. Extracting honey involves a good bit of work and it is quite sticky but the benefits are awesome! This year’s honey tastes better than any honey I have ever harvested!

I am not sure what nectar sources the bees found out at the property (I can call it a farm now…we did agriculture out there!), but besides the awesome taste, most of the honey is as black as coffee. We actually got two different colors of honey but the dark sort of intrigues me. It’s unlike any honey we have ever gotten!

Anyhow, we took a bunch of pics and a few videos of the extraction process. It’s hard to get pics of that part of the process when we pull the honey from the hives. As you might guess, my mind is focused on other things. You will have to imagine that part. Anyhow, aside from being exhausted, it is fantastic to spend time with family, working together. For me, that is the real gold medal for me!

The bottomless pit

July 14, 2012Family, FoodFamily, Foodwarren

As many families do, we ate breakfast for supper the other night. We had a bunch of biscuits, eggs and sausage. It is not uncommon for us to eat that sort of thing, especially when we are going to be busy. It’s fast and sooooo good. Anyhow, we made a mess of biscuits. I mean, we made a bunch of good-sized biscuits because we like to eat the left-overs the next day for breakfast.

So, I will come back to that in a minute. But have you met my son, Isaac? Isaac is going on 13 and most certainly in the transition from boy to young man. It takes a tremendous amount of sleep and food to fuel such a transition apparently. We have noticed that Isaac tends to graze all day long and still sit down and eat a full meal by adult standards. In fact, he may eat a full meal by a giant’s standard. He almost always eats more than I do and I am not a bean pole. I suppose I was like that around his age too but I certainly do not remember it being so.

Anyhow, back to the biscuits…we started with 15 nice sized biscuits. Emily and I had each had 2 and Abigail had 1. As we cleared the table, we noticed the number remaining in the basket…now if your math is up to snuff, you will quickly calculate that Isaac ate 7 biscuits along with his two eggs and 4 pieces of sausage. Seven biscuits! I think the only reason he stopped at 7 was that Abigail fussed at him, complaining that she would have none to eat for breakfast the next day!

Well, I am glad that we are in a position to feed the boy what he need to fuel his growth into young-manhood. I only hope that the store and our garden can keep up with the demand!

EDIT: Emily just informed me that she only had 1 biscuit so Isaac actually had 8 biscuits!

Home alone

June 26, 2012FamilyFamilywarren

So last week we were on the beach for a week in Topsail Island, NC. We headed home on Saturday morning and it took us 8 or so hours to get home. I drove 7.5 of those hours because I knew Emily would be exhausted. You see, we got home on Saturday afternoon so Emily could pack to head out on her trip to Orlando for a week long conference on Sunday afternoon.

The kids and I are still alive, so Emily, if you are reading us, we are still here and above ground. We have made out pretty well actually. Emily’s grandparents and parents have taken pity on me and have helped to feed us and make sure our hind-ends are where they need to be when they need to be.

I sort of like having some alone time for a day or two but it would be quite a shock for much longer than that. The cats just aren’t that great at conversation although our orange beast (#1) is a great cuddler. Too bad it’s like a thousand degrees. Anyhow, I have been working on some projects and staying up too late but I am ready for Emily to get back home. You see, she needs to pack again because we are headed to PA on Friday, the day after she returns. The kids will probably need to get a bath or something too once she gets home. I guess there are probably lots of things that I have forgotten. Warren Home Alone is just about as dangerous as Macaulay Culkin!

Putting on shoes again

June 22, 2012Awesome, FamilyFamilywarren

It’s been a great week at the beach. When I got here on Saturday afternoon, I took my lace-up shoes off and have not had them on my feet since. It’s a pretty cool metaphor for the beach now that I think of it. When we are at the beach, there are really no rules and nothing tying us down. If we want to eat Oreos for breakfast, we do. If we want to read books all day and doze in and out under the tent on the beach, we do. Shoes are so constraining and sometimes life feels that way too. The beach is just the opposite of all that! I want to marry the beach.

Ok, so that won’t work and I really don’t like sand in every nook and cranny I carry around on my unshod feet. But I do love being here. Our family loves to read and we have vary varied tastes. We decided to take a picture of the books that we read this week at the beach. Some we read more than once. It was a great bit of fun and they will smell like suntan lotion for months so we will have great reminders of our time here.

We spent a lot of time together as a family just enjoying each other and we talked about a little bit of everything. We didn’t turn on the tv or do anything touristy (there isn’t anything of that sort at Topsail…which is why we love it here). We just sat and bared our soles (well, souls, and that might be a stretch but I am trying to work with the shoe metaphor here…gimme a break). I love my little family and it is so nice to be reminded of just how much on these trips. There are no appointments to make and no chores to do. It’s wonderful!

So, tonight as I pack my bags and try to find my socks and shoes, I am a little sad. Soon we will be back to the grind doing what we always do. I think of these getaways as almost sacred and everyone knows you aren’t supposed to wear shoes on sacred ground!

An oldie but a goodie

June 21, 2012FamilyFamilywarren

Today Emily turns 40. I remember when my Mom turned 40. I can remember that. How can it be possible that Emily is 40?! I am not saying anything bad…afterall, I am 40 also. But still, it is hard to believe all of the years we have spent together…wonderful years!

06_17_2012 200 — My lovely bride…more beautiful than ever at 40!

Emily declared that she did not want a big party for her 40th birthday, but rather, she wanted to spend it at the beach. As you know, we are at the beach and it has been an absolutely wonderful time! I think she is right, when you get to be this old, the heat feels pretty good and there are plenty of restaurants that offer early bird specials!

Shell with a heart shaped mark — I found this shell with a heart…it was a sign!

Oh, just kidding! I love Emily and am so pleased that I get to share her 40th birthday with her and the kids! I look forward to the next 40+ years together as well! Happy birthday wife! Wait, let me type in caps so she can hear…HAPPY BIRTHDAY WIFE!

I’m in a NC state of mind

June 17, 2012Adventure, Awesome, FamilyAdventure, Awesome, Familywarren

My old pal Billy Joel finds himself in a NY state of mind but I have to tell you, I couldn’t be happier to be in a NC state of mind! We made it to the beach at Topsail Island yesterday and it couldn’t have come soon enough. There has been much chaos in my world lately so this trip is a long desired, much needed get away.

We made it to NC — The distance from the border to the beach is far too far!

The beach...At last! — The beach…At last!

After staying up pretty late reading last night, the kids brought me breakfast in bed this morning…at 6am. It was a great start to a great father’s day celebration. We ate and pretty quickly headed for the beach before it was warm enough for sane people to be in the water. The kids, not being sane of course, jumped right in and didn’t seem the least bit effected by the cold. I stayed under the tent some but mostly played in the surf with the kids. We laid around here and there all afternoon and went out to a really nice meal (before the crowds! I guess we got the early bird specials…oh crap, 40 has changed me!) and then took a walk on the beach. It never did get too warm today by beach standards but any day at the beach beats a great day anywhere else!

I was stupid last weekend and got a sunburn on my back (don’t ask….I told you it was stupid). Of course, here at the beach, we always wear rash guard shirts so we are protected. When I had my shirt off on the porch, my peeling lizard skin grossed Abigail out tremendously. I love grossing her out…and trading jabs with Isaac. He is growing into a great middle school kid. He just doesn’t seem to understand that Abigail will not respond like his buddies do. They are used to trading insults back and forth and trying to out-do each other with “your momma” jokes. Abigail has no tolerance for that! Anyhow, I had a great time messing with the kids and doing my fatherly duty to give them material for therapy when they get older! I love the beach where the rules are few and the junk food is plentiful!

Well friends, a book is calling my name so I will wrap this up. Just know that my mental health is quickly returning to “normal” and that I am in a NC state of mind!

Brother

June 7, 2012Family, ThoughtsFamily, Thoughtswarren

I have a brother…which of course means I am a brother. My brother and I are long time best of friends…as long as he has been alive anyhow. We have fought like wild animals of course (sorry brother…I really do hate how awful I was to you sometimes!), but we also were about as close as can be growing up. I think I “had his back” a few times too.

We have “got all growed up” and moved apart which makes it harder to be as close as we were but when we do get together, it’s like we were never apart. Oh yeah, he has a backhoe…that makes it easier. He has a firetruck too. It’s not hard to go back to being kids with toys like that!

Anyhow, my brother had a birthday a few days ago and I plum forgot to call him. We don’t send cards in our house as I would rather express my sentiments in a conversation rather than with an overpriced card that someone else wrote. You would think that the ease of calling the day of the special event would be easy…no need to plan ahead to account for the postal service, etc. Still, I forgot.

In addition to not sending cards, we also have a tradition of singing “Happy Birthday” in a manner we call “Loud and Proud”. If you have ever heard the camp song that includes the line, “a little bit louder and a whole lot worse”, you get the idea of how it progresses. So, we called my brother and left him a message with an extra helping of “a whole lot worse”. I hope my brother had a happy birthday and that he will forgive his older brother for nearly forgetting…no age jokes here please…

Deeper than a holler

May 30, 2012Family, Fun, ThoughtsFamily, Fun, Thoughtswarren

The kids are staying with my parents in PA this week. They finished school a week earlier than Emily so it was a perfect opportunity for them to visit up in Yankee-land. So we delivered them over the weekend and spent some time with family. I always think back to my roots when I “go back home”. I live in a city now, albeit a small one. I have lived in a big city and several places in between. Cities can be fun and all but I am and always will be a country boy.

Sitting on the front porch...just catching up

Ok, so when I go back home, I get to pondering. I don’t want to sound all sappy and stuff, but it’s so simple to enjoy the simple things. It’s dark and quiet where I grew up. Most nights you can hear the whippoorwills and see more stars than you can count. Most days there is nothing better than riding around the yard on a lawn tractor doing whatever you feel like and playing in the hose (does anyone else say it like that?) or sitting on the front porch talking and napping. It is pretty hard to beat living like that I think.

Kids on the garden tractor — Abigail isn't heavy enough to keep the seat sensor depressed!

Anyhow dear friends, it occurs to me that some of you may not have ever heard a whippoorwill’s song. It’s simple but sort of an anthem to country living and you simply must hear its call. My mom and I walked around one night until we got pretty close to one singing so I could record it. Have a listen:

Being kid-less this week also makes me remember back to when Emily and I first met and fell in love (we still are of course, but those first years are so special). Anyhow, as much as I love country living, I love Emily deeper than any holler and taller than any pine tree, tall upon the hill…so, since I can’t sing with a durn, let’s all enjoy a little Randy Travis singing my thoughts to Emily

I’ll take…less money

May 17, 2012Family, FunFamily, Fun, Funnywarren

The other day, Emily and I were working around the yard. I was mowing and Emily was planting a ton of new flowers that we got. Well, actually we got them 3 weeks ago but that’s beside the point. Anyhow, as we toiled away, the kids were doing…nothing. I have seen this trend before and am pretty sure I was not able to get away with that when I was a kid. Sure, I had my goof-off times, but I definitely helped out doing work too.

Seeing an opportunity for a lesson in life, I asked both kids to drag themselves away from their books (yeah, I know, I could have worse problems than kids who read) and come outside. We have a number of outdoor chairs that we never use. We never use them in part because we never clean them off. The other part is we hate mosquitoes but that’s not the point of the story. Anyhow, I asked the kids to get soap and a brush and scrub all of the chairs.

They fussed and whined. There were ants and spiders on the chairs…and dirt too! After a bit, I got irritated and grabbed a chair, ants and all, and told the kids to “grow a pair” and just carry the chairs to the driveway. Isaac knew what I said and smirked, but I had to explain that phrase to Abigail. Yeah, I got a lesson too…keep my mouth shut!

Anyhow, they got going and had a lot of fun with it I think. Towards the end, they were negotiating for payment. I didn’t really have payment in mind when this all started. I had to laugh at their conversation though…”We’ll do it for a dollar a chair”, said Isaac. “No, I’d rather do it for 25 cents a chair.” Back and forth they went a few times but they settled in on 5 cents per chair. There are only 6 chairs so they were looking at 30 cents each. Heck, with that sort of deal, I could be persuaded to pay! I gave them each a buck for the humor. Well, 70 cents for the humor and 30 cents for the work!

My Home Among The Hills

Life in WV!