I'm baaaaaa aaaack.

Wow. I had no idea it had been so long since I'd even looked at the blog, much less posted anything to it. But, I am suddenly motivated to get back to it, because I love making note of what my family is up to! Now if I can figure out how to get the pictures from the iphone to the computer without crashing it everytime.

In the meantime, The latest on us is that the kids and I (Darla) have moved into a lovely family owned cabin in Pinetop, Arizona while Casey is finishing his assignment in Del Rio. Frankly, Del Rio was not treating us so well, so we opted to go where the temperatures are cool, the scenery is breath-taking, and the spirit could heal. So here we are.

Birthday Bike

Ethan is now 5 years old. He got a spiderman bike and had a spiderman birthday party.

Lemon merengue pie! I'm so domestic!

I baked my first lemon merengue pie and was awfully proud of it. My crust technique can obviously use some work, but it tasted yummy! Caitlyn requested another one for her birthday (so I made 2 this time, and they were much prettier)

Then yesterday, I made my first cheesecake that didn't start in a box. We sampled it this morning and it was also scrumptious.

Now, where's that Pilates video????

babies, babies, everywhere!

What was it the neighbor said when he stopped by? "You must be feeling very motherly!" I GUESS! On April 14, 5 baby Rhode Island Red Chicks arrived to the delight of our children. They are Fluffy (Ethan's), Ginger (Ali's), Kyzl (Caitlyn's), Nora (Casey's) and Popcorn (mine and Sophia's technically, but Caitlyn's friend CHrista has adopted and named) They were originally housed inside a filing cabinet drawer in the garage. Now they hang out in a huge dog kennel until the coop is finished in the backyard. We'll be in for it if any of them are not the laying type!

Then, for Caitlyn's birthday, and after years of her begging and pleading, we gave in and got her a Yorkie puppy for her birthday. She named him Xanthos, which is actually a Greek city, but she liked the way it sounded. He's adorable and we have all fallen in love with him.





Then of course there is our sweet baby Sophia who has discovered her thumb!! She's such a great baby, and at the risk of jinxing it, has been sleeping between 7 and 10 hours at night for a couple of weeks now.

Future Hall of Famer

 

Ethan's first time up to bat!

Caitlyn

 

Hard to believe she's still just 13! What a beauty!

Ethan and Ali

 

I Love This Picture!

Happy Easter

I had too many good pictures to post separately so enjoy the new slideshow.

The kids have enjoyed 3 separate Easter egg hunts, two parties, and lots of fun. They even got to try their hands at fishing from the golf course pond. Hope everyone has had a wonderful Easter.

Oh - Ethan finished his first book in the series of Readers. We celebrated with cake and an official ceremony. The cake looked prettier than it tasted! I should have watched the YouTube video about "folding in" whipped egg white BEFORE I made it. That was a triple layer cake! Yah, I know, you all have to look closely at the picture again.

Sophia weighed in at 11 lbs. 8 ozs. at her 2 month well-baby! We love our sweet tempered little munchkin!

Creme Brulee

I made some. It was easy! Thanks Nancy (mom) for the cool kitchen torch. I've had so much fun trying new recipes lately. There are so many yummy ways to serve a chicken, for example!

Sophia is growing like a weed, and I need to post new pics soon!

My birthday

I forgot to mention in my last post that Casey's birthday gift for me this year was a cookbook stand (I LOVE) and have wanted for ages, and a Le Crueset dutch oven which I used for the beef bourgignon. Good stuff! If only I didn't have to add that extra year to the tally.

Eating Right

In recent months, the Ratliff family has been making a valient effort to be more healthy - in particular, in the food we eat. Casey has spearheaded this effort and admittedly with much resistance on the part of his wife and teenage daughter who, let's face it, Really like spaghettios and toaster strudel! However, he did not throw up his hands and say forget it; he kept pushing and we have gradually gotten used to the idea.
The hardest part for me is not buying the cheapest brand at the grocery store, but choosing the organic version which is always WAY more expensive, and reading the labels for the least processed, nitrite free, high fructose corn syrup free versions of everything, the grass-fed meat, the fresh veggie and fruits, etc. You ever notice the cheap processed food is much more affordable. No wonder America struggles with weight gain! Anyway - we are working at it, and I am on board. (We do have occassional treats and hot chocolate in the mornings - made from the finest ingredients and sugar substitutes of course!)
Last night, I made beef bourgignon from scratch, and it was amazing. We have fresh bread several times a week, etc. The most exciting thing is, I haven't had a soft drink since Jan 31, and have almost completely eliminated the fast food stops!!! Here's to a healthier life!

Did I say Extremely quiet

Sophia Grace is here!

Our new bundle of joy arrived on Monday, February 1, 2010. She weighed in at 8 lbs, 1.2 ozs. and was 20 1/2 inches long.



Quick birth story - I was scheduled for induction on the 1st because we live almost 3 hours from the hospital and I was having my 4th. Didn't want a roadside delivery! Casey's mom Nancy was due on the 31st to help us with the other monkeys, so after 2 weeks of false labor we were happy to make it to that point! I was supposed to call at 0430 to confirm they had space, but got a call at midnight that a bed was available and to come on in. At 1:30, I was checked and already at 4 centimeters so she was on her way anyway. They monitored my contractions for about 2 hours, and then started pit to help me get into a pattern, which I immediately did. Another hour later, doc broke my water, still at 4. I got an epi at 6ish, which didn't start working till 6:30 or so. Sophia was born in one contraction (2 little pushes) at 7:39 am. They logged my active labor at 2:39. I'm thinking "thank goodness I didn't have to drive to San Antonio in labor!" She came into the world screaming, but has been an extremely quiet baby from that point on.

Her siblings all love her dearly. My biggest job so far is protecting Sophia from the "lovin" of her 2 year old big sister!




More to follow.

Update and hopefully we're back in business

It's been a crazy last 6 months or so - and I sadly neglected our blog but for anyone still interested, I intend to get my act together and keep it updated again. So
quick recap -
Darla's now 31 weeks prego. Baby Sophia is doing well (most definitely a girl)- and may be a "big" baby they tell me. Yikes. The pregnancy has not been particularly fun - more sickness, and probably experienced every one of those discomforts of pregnancy you read about with this one. I've also had to travel 2 1/2 hours 2-3 times a month to San Antonio for OB care with that number increasing now towards the end, so We'll be happy when she's here and healthy. I did have some fun at Halloween and turned my belly into a ball. It was a big hit.

Casey is always busy. He bought a Cherokee 140 this summer and has been instructing his first student pilot in it. He's like a little boy with a new toy.

Caitlyn is an 8th grader and involved in choir and academic meets (UIL. It got crazy so she has temporarily left the swim team till next spring. She's almost as tall as me (mom) (her only goal in life right now seems to be overtaking me) but is not quite there. That does not stop her from regular invasions of my closet! Lately it's "You can't fit into it anyway right now". gee, thanks for the reminder.

Ethan is always our sweet little boy. HE's so smart and fun. He's into legos and transformers and for some reason is hooked on Bionicles although his only exposure was a McDonald's happy meal toy. He's great at looking after his little sister most of the time and I love having him home with me. He's very excited about his new little sister on the way and is learning to read so he can read books to her.

Alisea is our little spitfire. She's got more energy than the rest of us put together and keeps me going all day long. She potty trained herself, picks out her own clothes, etc. and is very independent. She too is excited about baby "totilla". We laugh because she still pronounces Caitlyn like chicken so we'll have chicken and tortilla.

We did lots of camping this summer and I'll put much of it in the slide show.

Just in case anyone still looks at this thing

I know it's been forever. I intend to do a long catch up summer post, and get back into the swing of things soon - I promise. In the mean time, here's a tasty tid-bit to tide you over. For those who already know - well - the catch up's coming.

OKAY..... The Ratliff family is adding one more little person to the mix on or around Feb. 08, 2009. Yup, Darla is having a baby. It's quite crazy really, but a happy thing nonetheless. I really can't figure what God had in mind, but it would seem any fertility issues I had in my twenties have done an about face and I have now become fertile myrtle. Here, in writing is my proclamation that there will be NO MORE after this one. We do have a built in baby-sitter, at least for a few more years.

For any of you wondering if we planned this, the answer is Kinda but not really. Since we do know how babies are made, we can't say we were "preventing", but that litle window of opportunity was awfully small, so I am tinking God wanted to send this litte one our way pretty bad. And I think Santa may have had something to do with it.

Early ultrasound indicates probably a boy - I don't really like the name Casey's getting set in his head, so if you have some good ones, throw em my way while I can still change his mind. The kids are all excited. Ali likes to blow on my stomach and points to the general area when I ask her where the baby is. Ethan wants to share his room with the baby. He may have to. And Caitlyn, while wishing for another sister, is excited too. I wonder if she'll want to cut the cord again?

Okay then. Till next time.

RODEO

I almost forgot to mention that we took the whole fam to the Rodeo - Bull-riding this weekend too. I'd never actually been to the bull riding and no rodeos since my Safford days. It was super fun - at least it was once the sun dropped behind the bleachers - No cover for us in the cheap seats! I loved getting decked out in my wranglers and boots - Casey didn't have any - but he does now. hmmmmm. Now we'll have to go dancing so can wear em.

PARTY PARTY

Don't even remember where I left off, but in a nutshell. Caitlyn turned 13 on the 22nd. Her b-day party was right after Ethan's with water fun and pizza being the theme.

Casey's BIG dining out was on the 26th. It was a huge success, after five months of planning and condiderable stressing. The Chief of Staff, General Schwartz, seemed impressed, as he should have. It was amazing how he and his team of voluntolds transformed the Del Rio civic center into a beautiful banquet hall. The standard Dining Out protocol and meal made for a great evening. I'll post pictures when I get them uploaded.

May 2nd Darla's much smaller branch activity went off well - and was followed by yet another celebration BBQ by the folks who had made it through the dining out in one piece. Casey mastered the art of making sushi - and I even tried some with raw tuna in it and it wasn't bad. Still like the veggie ones better though. We joined our neighbors across the street for a poolside steak party the following night. I think that pretty much has us up to date.

April

I didn't even realize it had been a whole month. Where does the time go? Mainly - I figured it wasn't much fun to read stuff without any pictures to look at but I finally found the usb cord for my camera!!

April is a busy month for the Ratliff clan. Casey's mom and Denny came out for a long weekend and Easter. We always enjoy when they visit. Got to spend a night in a fancy hotel on the Riverwalk in San Antonio, which we've wanted to do at least once before we leave here, so that's done! After a quick stop at the Alamo, we headed to Del Rio. We enjoyed a night at the local theater for a Hispanic comedy show. Good stuff. Then the base had some fun Easter activities planned for the kids. It's always fun to watch the kids plow down the field for the thousands of Easter eggs scattered all over - this time, the golf course. The pond was open for kids to fish, and there were activities for all.>

Easter Sunday meant more food - a buffet at the base club and a rack of lamb for dinner - our first attemt at lamb - not too bad, if I do say so myself. the weekend didn't do much for the waistline!

Monday was Ethan's birthday. We took a trip to SA to return Grams and Gramps and then visited Chuck-E-Cheeses for lunch. The gods were with me, as Ali fell asleep just as we arrived - I tucked her in her stroller and got to play with Ethan for a bit, and eat my sandwich. She woke up just before we left, rode a couple of motion toys and we were off.

We celebrated Ethan's 4th birthday the following Sat. in a combined party with his buddy. We had a carnival complete with bouncy castle,snow cones, pinata, games, cotton candy, prizes and more. It was a great time. My friend made the cake for this one, and as an awesome touch, made "popcorn" cupcakes that were so awesome.

I'll do more on the month later - kid meltdown in progress.

Answered Prayers

Brief recap; My (Darla's) dad has a rare form of cancer that he's been battling for 6 ish years now. This cancer grows in his abdomen, randomly and as they get large, do damage to his insides. He's had surgery to remove the masses and this has been successful in keeping him with us. Recently, they came back, much more quickly than before, and his doctors in California (he was on his mission) said they could not operate because of the location of the largest one and that he wasn't expected to live more than a year. I won't go into details except to say that he returned to AZ, his docs there weren't ready to throw in the towell just yet, operated on him this morning, and got the big bugger out that was going to kill him. I don't know what all else this entailed yet, but I'm so so so so so happy and thankful that we've been given more time with him!!! He will have to deal with the recovery, again, but he is such a strong man and I know he'll be alright!! I have some pictures of him from his visit last week, but my darn computer won't accept the card they're on so I am still figuring that one out. He and Fran spent a week here in Del Rio and we loved it!

Alisea's big bed

We moved Alisea into her "big girl" bed a few days ago. I know it's a bit early (20 months) but we want to use her room as the "guest" room so we got her a daybed with the pop up trundle which makes into a king size bed. She's actually doing quite well, I say that, and she's in her crib tonight (It's temporarily still up as a "threat") which worked till tonight. SHe was being mischevious and kept sneaking out tonight. It was actually very funny, but I had to be "mean mommy" and put her in the crib after the 3rd time. She looks so tiny on the bed, and I can't help feeling sad that she's getting to be such a big girl already.

On another note: Caitlyn got the part of Rooster in Annie. I remember so well the need to cast girls in the boy roles. She's taken to singing in the shower, and I can hear her trying to sound more "manly". Too cute.

we've been telling Ethan he can only turn four next month if he stays in his bed with the lights off (he's taken to getting up in the middle of the night and coming into our room) and drink his milk. It's funny how he stopped instantly. I guess he really wants to be a big boy. Are we bad????