Thou shalt not covet*

*The real title for this post is actually, "Thou shalt not covet other people's lives according to their blog"
My friend, who is sort of new to the blogging arena, has just experienced her first bout of blog induced depression, let's call it BID. I tried to explain what I have learned since my first BID - and since having my own blog for a while - and that is that I kinda know that the life according to blogs isn't a real one - just a peek into the best part of someone's life. I used to be so overwhelmed when I'd read other people's blogs and I'd think, "I'm a loser who has accomplished nothing and has gone nowhere with my life." I don't think that way anymore. I now see their blogs as a way to relax and live their life by proxy. Especially if they live in Hawaii on the beach or if they are an amazing graphic designer who blogs her amazing trips around the world. I no longer want to be living their life but I sure enjoy getting a small idealized window into it. It's like reading a novel or watching a movie. Not only do I get to keep up with them - I also get to be entertained by their stories and their experiences. Without having to pay their bills or face their challenges.
And on my blog I hope to give a glimpse into something of my life that may either be different or may be something we all feel - like BID. Every once in a while someone's blog may get to me if I am feeling especially down - but mostly I am excited if they are doing things because it means for some interesting reads! Like seeing crazy wild animals in a friend's freezing backyard. Or laughing at hilarious pranks people are pulling on their friends and family. Or hearing the cutest things your kids are saying or seeing the horrible messes they are making that you are having to clean up. Or getting good recipe ideas or fun family activity ideas. I love it!

What has been your experience with blog induced depression?

And then there was one...

Elijah holding Scarlett

Just after 5 A.M. on Christmas morning I heard some banging and clucking and general struggling right outside our bedroom window. Not sure if I was dreaming I woke Mike up and said, "I think something is attacking our chickens!" He jumped out of bed and ran outside - with no glasses and saw some sort of commotion over by our house. The top half of the chicken coop door was open and he saw an animal so he ran towards it. He said he made some sort of "ch-ch-ch" noise(?) and the animal ran away with Scarlett in tow. It seems to have been a large raccoon that climbed up and opened the top half and got inside and stole away our cute little hen. We were soo sad. I was outside by this time and Mike got the other hen and put her inside her little house inside the coop and locked it in. We had stopped doing that because we felt the coop was secure enough. Not so, I guess. So we are down to just one. We are planning on getting some full grown hens pretty soon to give Mermaid some company. She seems lonely for sure. So we feel generally bad for her because she's had to watch as her three friends have one by one been picked off. I am afraid we haven't been very good caretakers. We're learning though. The main thing we've learned is that we live in a freaking jungle and there is always some predator ready to come and eat our hens. Day or night. This is the only hen left - Mermaid. It's actually Ursula but Andrew refuses to believe his hen was the first to be eaten(by a hawk) so we have to call this one Mermaid.This is our little gals on their first night home. A lot of times with pets you regret them but with these I just regret that we don't still have all four. Aren't they cute? The only one left is the black one in the background.

Is it zoloft that would help me?

Is everyone as terrified by the tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo as I am? I have had several nightmares about it and read all of the new info on it as it comes available. It probably has a lot to do with being pregnant. I get pretty anxious when I'm pregnant. But here's the story as I've most recently read it:

Three boys are at the zoo - two brothers with their friend. They are at the tiger exhibit and apparently they were probably taunting it. (Not that out of the ordinary for teenage boys.) Well the tiger had had enough and jumped up and over it's 12.5 foot enclosure - which is four feet lower than the minimum standard. One of the brothers was immediately attacked while the friend and other brother tried to distract the tiger by yelling and things to get it to stop. The tiger did stop and turned on the friend. Meanwhile the brothers realized their friend was dead and ran 300 yards to a little cafe. Well the tiger wasn't done with them yet and followed the trail of blood to the cafe and continued to maul them. When the police got there the tiger sat on the ground next to one of the brothers and when that boy yelled for help from the police - the tiger went at it again. That is when the police shot the tiger dead.

Wow, it is truly one of my WORST nightmares come true. We were at the zoo a few weeks ago and looking at the lion exhibit - they were literally only feet away because at the Houston Zoo they are enclosed by plastic(?) walls. The she-lion roared and it was sooooo incredibly loud that you felt it to your core. It's honestly traumatizing to me what happened to those boys.

We didn't get around to sending out a card this year - part of that is because between the move and the new computer means we lost a lot of addresses. So we are doing it here on our blog. Most people we would send it to come to this anyhow...

We have had quite the year with many unexpected changes. We were happy to find out last January that we were expecting but sad to learn in April that we had lost the baby. In June Mike was offered a position in a town 2 hours away from Kingwood. We decided to accept which meant we had to get our house ready to sell & have it sold in just a few weeks! It was crazy but with the help of MANY people we were able to pull it off. (Thanks Carlie and David!) We loved our home in Kingwood with all of our friends and family so close. Throughout the process of moving we often thought we were crazy to be leaving! It was hard to but we were excited for the change. We moved at the beginning of August to College Station and found out within a couple weeks that we were expecting again. Poor Mike has had to help out a pregnant sick wife for 8 months of this year!

Elijah started his first grade year at a new school and we love his teacher and couldn't be happier. He's in a Cub Scout program through his school and gets excited at the prospect of shooting guns and arrows. We're not sure if Cub Scouts actually do that but oh well... Andrew is now going on three (January) and is quite the talker. Andrew has a habit of befriending complete strangers just about everywhere we go. He just likes to meet new people and get them on his side. We are having a lot of fun with our adventurous boys and just found out that this next one is a boy as well. We are excited for all of the Scout activities and camping trips we can expect to take part in!

Mike's new position has him working with a commercial construction company that is building the physics building on the Texas A&M campus. It's a challenging position but he is enjoying it. Megan continues with her photography business but she is always looking for a way to start the next family business with Mike.

Here in College Station we decided to finally try and live in an old house like we had always talked about. But since we knew our stay here would be short we decided not to buy but to rent. In the end, renting an old house has completely cured Megan of her love of old houses and their "character". Maybe someday she will be able to regain it but in the mean time we have all come to really understand the term, "drafty old house".

Even though our house is drafty and old we did go ahead and get those chickens we had been dreaming about too and that part of the dream has been much better than imagined. We love our chickens and can't wait for their eggs coming in January. One of the perks of College Station is that we are living more rurally and have enjoyed Sunday afternoon drives through Texas hill country. It's nice to try some place new but still be within driving distance of family so we can take part in all of the traditions and holidays with them.

Because this year has brought so much change, we feel it has required a lot out of us. We know that everything would have been much more difficult without the support of friends and family but most of all our Savior Jesus Christ. This season has been a wonderful chance to slow down and recognize the miracle of his birth and the gift of his life. We hope that each and every one of you know of God's love for each of his children and his constant support and care for us all.

Wishing you the merriest Christmas!

The Knorpp Family

The BEST soup for those stuffed up days!

Ok, so we had this Tortilla Soup recipe from Martha Stewart the other night and I have to say it is so good. It is the perfect thing to make during the winter with all of the congestion and coughing. Make sure and add all of the jalepeno with the all of seeds - that really gets you cleared out but still isn't too hot(this is relative). And add all of those extras - they make it taste so good. I always use corn chips instead of messing with making corn tortillas crunchy in the oven.

To serve, ladle the hot soup into bowls, and then let everyone pick and choose from among the suggested mix-ins and toppings: toasted corn tortilla strips, lime wedges, shredded Monterey Jack cheese, diced green peppers, sliced scallions, diced avocado, and cilantro sprigs. You can also use leftover or store-bought roasted chicken in this soup; use two quarts homemade or reduced-sodium canned chicken broth instead of the cooking liquid.

Prep: 30 minutes
Total: 30 minutes

Click here for the recipe!

Knorpp Look-alike Meter

Elijah looks way more like his dad - this may just be a weird photo to use of Mike but I still think these are fun!

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

Knorpp Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Family name origins

Naming the boy...

When looking for a name for my kids I don't necessarily want to find something weird or strange but I'm never that happy to see my name choice in the top ten - Andrew is no. 11. So today I pulled down the top 100 boys names of 2006. Our top name for the boy isn't different at all but luckily it didn't make the top 100. There are some I am still considering that are on here and some that aren't. I'll bold my favs from this list. Without further ado...Here they are:
1 Aiden
2 Jacob
3 Ethan
4 Ryan
5 Matthew
6 Jack
7 Noah
8 Nicholas
9 Joshua
10 Logan
11 Andrew
12 Michael
13 Caden
14 Dylan
15 Tyler
16 Connor
17 Jackson
18 Caleb
19 Jayden
20 Alexander
21 Nathan
22 Brayden
23 Zachary
24 Benjamin*
25 William
26 James*
27 Daniel
28 Gavin
29 Evan
30 Luke
31 Joseph
32 Landon
33 Christopher
34 Mason
35 Cameron
36 Anthony
37 Owen
38 Gabriel
39 Austin
40 Lucas
41 Christian
42 John
43 Sean
44 Elijah
45 David
46 Samuel
47 Carter
48 Hunter
49 Brandon
50 Alex
51 Jordan
52 Liam
53 Thomas
54 Justin
55 Dominic
56 Ian
57 Jake
58 Colin
59 Hayden
60 Jonathan
61 Isaiah
62 Cole
63 Adam
64 Tristan
65 Isaac
66 Max
67 Kyle
68 Aaron
69 Nathaniel
70 Wyatt
71 Robert
72 Chase
73 Riley
74 Carson
75 Brady
76 Jason
77 Parker
78 Charlie
79 Devin
80 Cooper
81 Blake
82 Eric
83 Xavier
84 Sebastian
85 Brian
86 Henry
87 Seth
88 Steven
89 Brody
90 Bryce
91 Will
92 Brendan
93 Patrick
94 Sam
95 Julian
96 Drew
97 Miles
98 Kevin
99 Peyton
100 Ben

blurb

Okay, so I've wanted to figure out a way to print out my blog so it can actually be saved as a sort of family history project but didn't know an easy way to do it. Not so anymore - Tyan told me that blurb will get all the posts and their pictures for you and make them into a book. I looked into it and an hour later I am editing my blog book! It's perfect and easy to use/change/customize. Check it out!

scary cat

I got so many responses to my other cat video that I had to post one of my favorite cat videos of all time.  We should probably feel sorry for this cat but instead mike and i almost cry every time we watch this...boy, doesn't it just make you yearn for a kitty?

Boy's Life

It's another man child!

Kathy's kitty forward

One of my weaknesses is funny cat videos...I've watched them all on youtube but hadn't seen this one yet:

p.s.  Our dog Jenny is going to a new home on Friday...

Orange you glad it's just a carrot?

So, I am feeling less than refined by having this picture on here....so I am now removing it. It had it's day in the blog spotlight and now it is time to retire it.

Ok, this is so funny that I wanted to forward it but was too embarrassed to do so. I am stealing this from a friend's blog - this carrot came from her parent's garden.

A Speech with Lessons for Us All

I have read so much about Mitt Romney running for president. It is of obvious interest to me because I am a Mormon. This post is not meant to endorse Mitt Romney - I don't feel comfortable getting political. It is more because I take deep offense that someone would be disqualified in so many Americans minds not because of his abilities to lead but because of his faith - a faith that I share. It is a hard to thing to hear - it is nothing more than prejudice. I know that it means that those people would dismiss me just as they do him. What a strange feeling. Mitt Romney may not ever be our president but he gave a speech that each of us needs to listen to - to be reminded of the true strength of this nation. I too must remember we must put down our differences and not become a people divided but a people fighting together for the great cause of liberty!

Idyllic afternoon

The other afternoon the boys and I decided to explore the abandoned house across the street. It had always intrigued me and so we finally got the guts to go snoop around.After peeking in all the windows we found a beautiful old tree in the backyard that was surrounded with deep ivy. Looking up we realized there was an old swing wrapped around the branch. The branch had actually grown over the chains for the swing. We found the biggest stick we could and finally got it down. After checking to see if it could hold weight we all took turns swinging.

It was so idyllic to swing under that tree - the weather was perfect and the sun was setting through the trees. Some days are just the best and make up for all the rest that aren't so great.

Go elf yourself!

We got this from Jason and Jodi and loved it so we did it to ourselves - you should too - it was really easy and fun! Click here!

*poor Andrew is a total girl in this...good thing he's too young to care!

p.s. Mike just scrooged himself - thought you should see that too...

Ode to my chickens

I am so glad that my friend Marisa gave me the courage to get some chickens. I couldn't be happier with them - well, maybe when they start laying eggs I will be. Truly, chickens are just as good as it gets when it comes to a backyard pet. They don't need much - they don't smell or make noise. Both of which I was worried about. They are fun to watch and easy to care for. My kids love them - so do I - actually so does Mike which is nice- he doesn't really like Jenny all that much. Their feed is really cheap and easy to give to them. Our fence is only about 4 feet tall and they can't get over it. They love to just run around the yard catching bugs and eating grass. I am a lifelong chicken owner now I believe. I highly recommend it to anyone with even the smallest yard. We are renters so don't let that stop you if you are too! They each cost $1.25 to buy and their feed which will last for months was $15.00. You can find an old dog house or improvise with anything. They really aren't picky. They are pretty cold hardy too. Why not get one? I just found a good article about keeping chickens as pets - check it out!

New feature...

Well - I am adding one of those map things that shows you where your visitors are coming from - and it should either be totally interesting or terrifying and will force me to make my blog private. I saw on a friend's blog that people in southern africa were visiting her blog - that's neat i guess but it would kind of creep me out at the same time....

Crawdad/Crawfish/Crayfish

We went for a walk today since I'm not feeling sick anymore(HOORAY!) and the weather was just right - around 70 degrees and overcast. We went to the stream by our house - which we have done many times - but today we found all sorts of creatures and it was actually pretty exciting for us! I didn't want to lug my huge camera around - I don't have a point and shoot so I had to use my phone - which means the quality is less than great. But oh well...We first found a small dead crawdad and were VERY excited - I used to catch these as a kid! And then Elijah's sharp eyes pointed out this huge one! We were excited and got it out and played with it for a little while. You can see here he's holding a small stick with his pinchers. After we looked a little more Elijah noticed some leeches swimming around - YUCK! So we got one of those on a stick and fed it to our crawdad. Here's another shot of the guy -
All in all a pretty nostalgic experience for me - as kids we used bologna tied to sticks to catch them and it worked pretty well as I recall. We never did anything with them but it was a good time. I still don't think I could eat one though - I've seen where these guys come from and it's not too impressive.

*p.s. I still hate the weather here - even if it gives me nice days. ever the pessimist! sunday is suppossed to be hot and humid - record highs. though they say that all of the time - record highs - how can it be so normal and still a record? if you want to look at someone's life and dream about it - visit patria's blog...

Do they have a patch for me?

Everyone lately has been asking me how i am feeling and i say, "Okay" but here is my real answer. I saw this on Kathy's blog and it so perfectly exhibited my recent pregnant behavior that I just had to steal it...



poor mike.

New Feature!!!

Well, it's exciting to me - being a film major and all I just love to talk movies. I also like to rate what I've been watching but writing a whole review sounds daunting so I've decided to just keep tabs on the right of this blog in the extras column. Feel free to let me know if you disagree with any of my ratings - I'd love to know!

Our new place

Following Stephanie's lead we decided to just go for it and purchase a place more in line with our dreams. We're not too showy so it's just a simple little place we can feel comfortable in - at least for the next few years. Go to this link to check it out!

our new house!

Constant Craving...

This pregnancy has been different than all of the rest - I guess each is unique. A few yers ago I decided "cravings "were bunk and were just regular cravings that I let loose when pregnant to the point of complete chaos. That seemed to slightly curb my habits when I was pregnant with Andrew, but this time around that discovery was too buried in my past or something because I have an UNCONTROLLABLE NEED for tabasco sauce. And at first glance - hey what's the harm in that -but the crappy thing about Tabasco is that it needs to be eaten with totally unhealthy foods. Usually creamy ones to control the heat. So I eat it on bagels with cream cheese, tortillas with melted cheese, pizza, eggs,...actually - just about anything. I can't seem to stop it so my next quest is to find something that meets that craving but could be considered healthy. The ultimate craving is actually for wing sauce. But eating wings would be like a death sentence for sickness. Anyone got any creative ideas on how to get that tasty vinegarry pepper flavor without all the fat and calories?

And - what were your unhealthy cravings and how did you control them?

College Station Ink

Every night before we go to bed we go in and make sure our kids covers are still on and what not. Last night we went in and saw that the noise we heard the boys making after we put them in bed included Elijah giving himself some tattoos with a permanent marker. So today I asked him to pose for me to show them off...
I don't know what most of them mean - I guess he doesn't know what most tattoos mean - thankfully. That makes it seem like he sees a lot of tattoos. I don't think he does...hmmm....These are my particular favorite designs - the gun and the skull. What a sweet, peace-loving child... but I do love Elijah's skulls.

Come on Down Thanksgiving!

Well here's this year's costumes... Elijah is Harry Potter and Andrew is Superman. We went to the ward trunk or treat. That's no wig on Elijah - we sprayed his hair - and that boy has a LOT of hair. I think it's approaching the time when he needs to get a short hair cut. You can see how dark the water in the tub was when we were washing it out!

A little help from my friends...

Well we went to the vet today and it was a totally stressful thing. The appointment was at 5:00 PM but I just couldn't wait and went at 4:20 PM. We had Jenny and the boys and between my dog and my kids it seems more like my kids had the behavior issues. The vet assured me that with a little work the aggression would go away and by the end I began to see a faint glimmer of hope. Though I am so tired it's hard to keep a hold of that. So all I can say is that I am going to try.

"Dan in Real Life"

If you're heading to the movies any time soon you need to go see this movie. It is really good and EVERY review would tell you so. We went last weekend and REALLY enjoyed it - in fact we liked it so much we want to see it again! You can see the trailer from it on the side here - it is EXCELLENT!

Jenny Jenny Jenny

Well, if you've been reading this blog for a while you've probably heard of our dog Jenny. We are so divided in our feelings toward Jenny and I'm about to tell you a little bit of why. That was poor grammar but oh well. We got Jenny when she was a year and a half old. She was found as a puppy wandering the streets and given to any organization that provides foster homes for dogs until they find a permanent home. We were not the first family to give her a try. She had gone to two separate owners and had been brought back for reasons unknown to me. We got Jenny last summer so we have now had her just over a year.
Dog ownership is a confusing thing with some friends telling you that you should cherish your dog as a child while others encourage you to get rid of that thing as quickly as you can. And there are all of these things you are supposed to do to help your dog be a good dog - socialization in the first 16 weeks at the top of that list. Well, Jenny didn't get socialized in ANY good way. As far as I can tell she had a pretty rough life for the first few months. Which according to some dog sites - is everything. So Jenny is a "sweet" dog to us. She is not real friendly but she does lick us all the time - which I have just read isn't her being friendly - it's her showing her submissiveness. Usually that would be a good thing but Jenny is a scared dog. She is almost always sulking around with her tail between her legs - going from person to person licking them. She is rarely fun - in fact the longer we've had her the less fun she is...she just wants to retreat and be alone a lot of the time. And now when it comes to walks - she is a pain. If we meet or see no one then it's okay - but if we see another human being or dog - randomly Jenny goes nuts - like I want to kill you nuts. And I guess that has to do with her fear. She is terrified that they are all out to get her. The other day Andrew accidentally let her out and she ran out to an old woman who was walking past the house and starting into her - with raised hair, teeth bared, ready to kill. The woman was defending herself with an umbrella! How shameful you feel when you have to rescue other people from your totally terrifying dog! But then people come over and she is totally fine...what gives? I guess she feels safe in our home. She is chasing and barking at people more and more and we are getting worried that someone is going to get hurt. Tonight we decided to go for a walk through a lovely park but wouldn't you know it that a bunch of friendly dogs ran up to meet jenny - who was on a leash - and she went nuts and started a dog fight! Oh boy, the joys of dog ownership. We look with such envy at people with dogs that run around happily, tongues wagging, glad to meet anyone they come across.
So now here we are - I guess we could keep her under lock and key and make sure there is NO WAY she can get out - difficult with young kids - we could muzzle her for walks - and pay a bunch of money to a dog behaviorist. But why? Why put her through that as well as us? Part of me thinks Jenny is just an aggressive dog with ghosts creating such intense fear that she is past help. At least from us. You can't just give one of these dogs away to someone else and let it get EVEN worse. I always thought owning a problem dog would be less complicated than this...but maybe it never is. But more and more we are thinking the risk of keeping Jenny here on earth is not worth it. She'll be happier there and then we are sure that no one will ever get harmed by her.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
I am not saying we'll take your advice but I just wanted to write it all down and think about it...

Family of Five

Every once in a while - like today - I get a comment from this person...but I have no idea who you are...identify yourself please!

FAMILY OF FIVE WHO ARE YOU?

new big news...

Well, if you hadn't heard yet we are expecting once again. We found out just a couple days before our due date(September 18th) for the miscarried baby. I am really glad we had that to be happy about that day. Our new due date is May 15th, 2008. That makes me just about 11 weeks now. I have been sick but not as bad as I have been in the past. But that also means I'm nice and chubby. Our last appointment we got to have an ultrasound and see the little bean moving around - turning it's head from side to side and wiggling it's arms and legs. It had a good strong heart beat - 164...I'll keep my eye on that to see if it doesn't go down...meaning a boy perhaps. Did the heart rate predict the sex of your child? And of course I'll post when we have the real ultrasound!

We're happy and excited!!!

cookies and milk

Andrew and I took a break from our day and spent some time with paul newman's version of oreos...

Have you seen this chick?

This hen has been missing all day - the others were hiding like they were scared and so I am led to believe they watched their fellow hen meet her end....but I am still hoping to find her pecking around somewhere...we'll see.

**UPDATE** Today at 2:30 in the afternoon I was looking out the back window when I realized an eagle was sitting on top of my favorite hen and killing her. I ran outside and tried to get the dog to get her but she flew away with Krystal. I was sooo sad that I sobbed! So the two hens that are left are back inside the house this afternoon until Mike can come home and put the top part of the door on. From now on the chickens will be staying in their hen house. So sad. I now know where her sister hen went yesterday.

Sweet spirit

Me to Andrew: "Am I a pretty mommy?"

Andrew: "Nooo....."

Me: "Am I an ugly mommy?"

Andrew: "Nooo...."

Me: "Am I a cute mommy?"

Andrew: *pause* "You're a nice mommy!"


I guess that's what I get for fishing for compliments from a toddler.

The hens have left the building...

So we got to week 5 and the gals were ready to go out - thankfully - those are some smelly little birds! So we made some rough plans, bought the materials, and made a little coup. We also were able to get a dog house from Anna (thanks!) which we put up on stilts so they can feel safer up off the ground.This is what they were in when we had them inside....Our rough plans...Do we really know what we're doing?Sort of...Good job Mike! I'm so proud.You can see here that the top door is not added yet - so we are always collecting escaped chickens and helping them get back in their new home. At night to keep them safe from raccoons and other predators we put them in the hen house and lock it's little door.