The Life and Times of the Marshall's

Baseball Theme Baby Shower

2015-01-17T16:00:00.000-06:00

It's finally our turn to have a baby shower & we can't believe it! This was such a fun, special day with friends & family. Our hostesses made this such a special day for us. We love y'all!

3D/4D Ultrasound at 29 Weeks of our Baby Boy

2014-12-31T09:09:00.000-06:00

This is the Full 3D/4D Ultrasound of our baby Boy at 29 weeks. It is amazing to the features of his face and see him moving around, his arm almost always around his face.

See a few photos at the end of the video. This was an elective ultrasound preformed by a Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer at La Bella Belly Pregnancy Spa & Ultrasound Center in Rockwall, Texas, USA.

Here is the Shorter Edited Version all 3D/4D and you can see him in motion!

Ice Land Ice Sculptures with Spongebob Squarepants at Moody Gardens

2014-12-26T09:43:00.000-06:00

We have been many years to the Gaylord Texan ICE! in Dallas, This year was the first your that Moody Gardens in Galveston tried to replicate what they are doing in Dallas.

See past years ICE! adventurers here!

Here is a glimpse at Ice Land Ice Sculptures with Spongebob Squarepants at Moody Gardens in Galveston, Texas in December 2014

A skilled team of 31 internationally-acclaimed professional ice carvers from Harbin, China will dive into 900 tons of ice and transform them into majestic marvels featuring holiday scenes with the beloved Bikini Bottom inhabitants from Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants. Chilled and held at a temperature of 9 degrees, you can witness these works of art as Galveston makes its holiday transformation into a Winter Wonder Island in Galveston Island.

Our Christmas Card 2014

2014-12-24T10:01:00.000-06:00

Baby Gender Reveal | BOY or GIRL?

2014-10-04T09:09:00.000-05:00

Are we having a boy or girl?

Old Wives Tales Gender Prediction Tests

2014-09-29T19:07:00.002-05:00

We find out what we are having in one more week! So we thought this would be a fun thing do to. We found so many Old Wives Tales online that predict the baby's gender. Here are a few that we did. Any prediction method that is not backed by scientific evidence is called an old wives' tale. Many people swear these prediction methods worked for their pregnancies. Watch the video to see our results!

The mother's stomach: If a woman carries the baby high in a large and round belly, she is carrying a girl. A protruding belly carried low indicates a boy. This tale is often not true because a woman's body shape and pre-pregnancy health determine how she carries the baby.

The mother's face: An expectant mother whose face grows round will have a girl. Some tales also claim that the mother's nose grows longer or wider during pregnancy when a woman has a girl. A woman whose face narrows during pregnancy will have a boy. Despite the tale, weight gain in the face during pregnancy is usually not related to baby gender.

Baking Soda Test: Using a fresh box of baking soda and ad one or two teaspoons to cup and add enough urine to cover the baking soda. If it fizzles like beer or a carbonated beverage it is likely to be a boy. No fizzle, then a girl it will be.

Acne: Some believe that pregnancy acne means you will have a girl. However, hormones can cause acne during any pregnancy.

Back pain: Back pain may indicate a girl. In reality, back pain can occur during any pregnancy depending on weight gain, baby position, and the condition of your back.

Baby's Heart rate: A girl baby has a fast heart rate, around 170 beats per minute. A boy baby's heart rate is closer to 150 beats per minute. This is an unreliable prediction method because the baby's heart rate will fluctuate throughout the day.

Wedding ring test: Hang your wedding ring from a string and hold it over your belly. If the ring swings in a circle motion, you are having a boy. If the ring swings back and forth, it is a girl.

Key test: Pick up a key. If you grabbed it by the top, you are having a boy. If you picked it up by the bottom, the baby is a girl. Picking the key up in the middle means that you will have twins.

Drano test: The Drano test is a modern old wives' tale. Pour a tablespoon of Drano in a cup and urinate into the cup. If the urine turns blue, the baby is a boy. If the mixture turns green, you will have a girl. Not only is this false, but Drano is dangerous and very bad for the environment, so we did not do this one.

Garlic test: Eat a clove of garlic. If eating the clove makes you exude a strong garlic scent, you will have a boy. If there is little to no odor, you will have a girl. Well we passed on this one..no thank you!

Red Cabbage Test: A baby gender prediction test that involves testing for urine pH using a red cabbage indicator. The science behind this baby gender prediction test is pretty simple. Theoretically, your urine pH (how acidic or basic it is) changes based on whether you're pregnant with a boy or a girl. Red cabbage has pigments in it that are sensitive to pH and turn a different color based on how acidic or basic a solution is. This test says that a pink/red color indicates a boy and a purple color indicates a girl.

Skin: If your skin is dry, you’re said to be having a boy – and if it’s soft, then a girl is on the way.

Wedding Ring Test: Get your wedding ring and attach it with a strand of your hair or some string. Lie down and dangle the ring over your belly. If it starts moving in circles, you are having a boy, or if it moves like a pendulum from side to side, then you are having a girl.

Morning Sickness: Did you experience morning sickness in early pregnancy? If you did, then you’re said to be carrying a girl, but if you didn’t have morning sickness, then it’s a boy.

Chinese Lunar Calendar: Legend says that the gender chart is more than 700 years old and was discovered in a royal tomb. It predicts your baby's sex based on your Chinese lunar age at the time you got pregnant and the Chinese lunar month in which you conceived.

Mayan Calendar: Mayan's use numbers to determine the sex of your baby. They take the mothers age at conception and the year of conception and add them together.
odd numbers are believed to be masculine and even numbers are believed to be feminine - See more at: http://apps.hiddeninfluences.com/pregnancy-predict.php#sthash.co6H0HRg.dpuf
If the result is a even number then mom is having a girl. It the result is an odd number then a boy is on the way. Odd numbers are belived to be masculine and even numbers are believed to be feminine.

Lefty or Righty:When you sleep, do you sleep on your left? Because if you do, then it’s a boy for you! On your right, a girl is in sight.

Sweet or Salty? Are you craving sweet foods like juice, fruits and chocolate? if so, old wives say that you could be having a girl. But if you’re craving sour or salty foods, then you could be having a boy. It’s also said that if you are having a boy, you will crave protein like meat and dairy.

There are so many more Old Wives' Tales . But, it is Fun to take a Guess! After all, you have a 50% chance of getting it right!

12 Week Ultrasound & Heartbeat

2014-09-11T18:28:00.000-05:00

Making Homemade "Tabasco" Hot Sauce

2014-09-07T08:59:00.002-05:00

Time to make some homemade salt-brine fermented hot sauce (like TABASCO®). We just finished picking all of the vine-ripened pepper out of our organically grown backyard vegetable garden. This will take some time to ferment, which will add a more complex flavor to the sauce versus just cooking up a quick batch of hot sauce.

We are using a blend of pepper from the garden including Tabasco, Poblano, Jalapeno, Serrano, Habanero, and threw in a few vine-ripe Banana, and Bell peppers to the mix. (All ripe, bright red in color!)

This is the First Step of making hot sauce; making the Pepper Mash. See how to make the mash in this short video below. I am going to let the mash ferment for at least month and then we will add the vinegar, press out the juice, & bottle. But it's just a little more complex than that...stay tuned!

Here is the FINAL Step to finishing & bottling your homemade hot sauce...

Tabasco Pepper in the Garden

Tabasco Peppers all picked!

Poblano, Jalapeno, Habanero, Serrano, and more

The Pepper Mash - time to let it ferment!

Fermented hot sauce is done! From garden seed to bottle #GrowYourOwn #fermented #peppers #homemade #betterthantabasco #gardening

A photo posted by Brandon Marshall (@chef_brandon_) on Dec 12, 2014 at 6:08pm PST

We're Expecting a Baby!

2014-09-02T17:49:00.000-05:00

We recently found out we are expecting our first child in March 2015, and couldn't be more thrilled! We have waited for this day and it has finally come. We had a great time announcing our pregnancy to family with some unique ideas inspired by Etsy and Pinterest. Can't wait to see what this pregnancy unfolds and for the upcoming arrival of baby Marshall.

City Chicken Chased by Coop Mates Wanting to get Her Tasty Snake!

2014-07-26T08:20:00.003-05:00

One of our city chickens, Lucy, who caught a fairly long garter snake in the backyard this evening. The Barred Rock hen can’t quite get the wriggling reptile under control before her coop mates notice she has a special treat. And the chase is on!

Caring for Chickens in the Extreme Summer Heat

2014-07-12T13:56:00.002-05:00

So, I was surprised to learn how many people here locally lost chickens last summer after attending these chicken groups/meetings locally in the Fall. I think many worry more about Caring for Chicken in the Winter, and don't think as much about the summer. We have been very successfully keeping our hens happy and healthy through the extreme summer temperatures in North Texas. Learn some best practices to keep your chickens happy & healthy through the high temperatures through the summer in Texas, or any place that reaches in the 90's and see 100°F plus days. Keep in mind many breads were bread in cooler climates and regions. For example, many birds are named from the area in which they were originally developed...New Hampshire Red, Rhode Island, Plymouth Rock, Delaware, Orpington from UK, Australorp, from Australia, and so many more! Nope, don't see any bread for the Texas heat!

Installing Replacement Windows

2014-01-05T16:50:00.000-06:00

So, we replacement almost all the windows in our house a few years back. Now we have decided to replace our windows in the Garage. Not sure why we have windows there, but they are in horrible shape! really simple to do, especially if you can reuse your existing molding and trim work; (we had to replace everything!)

BEFORE

AFTER

INSIDE GARAGE

To see more detailed information on the process of doing all of this....watch the video!

Merry Christmas 2013

2013-12-25T23:59:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas!

Stationery Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Caring for our Chickens in the Winter

2013-11-17T09:00:00.000-06:00

See how we Care for our Chickens in the Winter, in a somewhat moderate climate in Dallas, Texas. But this can be adapted to most area on the country.

1. Feed Scratch & Protein & Grains
2. Red 175 watt Heat Lamp when Below Freezing
3. Use Thermostatically Controlled Outlet
4. Keep fresh Water, Heated if necessary
5. Plenty of Bedding in house
6. No drafts - Windproof your chicken run
7. Monitor temperature - Wireless Thermometer 8. Raise Winter/Cold Hardy Breeds

Harvesting French Musquée de Provence Pumpkins

2013-09-18T20:55:00.000-05:00

We are starting to get our first harvest of our heirloom French, Musquée de Provence Pumpkins. Many of them still growing on the 10 foot vines. Check it out!

Cowboy Vegetable Garden Stir-Fry in the Texas Bird Bath Wok

2013-09-01T10:20:00.001-05:00

So we found some very cool Grills at Gecko Hardware here in East Dallas. Been looking at them a while, but decided to get the smaller Texas Birth Bath, made here locally in Fort Worth, Texas by Circle J Fabrication. Plenty big enough for us to use on a daily basis. Check it out!!!

Building an IKEA Bookcase

2013-07-28T10:47:00.000-05:00

We needed to expand our bookshelves.....Check out this time-lapse video...

Building our Chicken Coop

2013-07-22T20:46:00.004-05:00

We have decided to raise Chickens!

Why Not? What could be better than fresh eggs, from free-range chickens eating bugs and good food & treats we provide. Unlike the eggs in the store's chickens that were feed antibiotics, force feed in small area never to move. And what does those "Cage-Free" eggs really mean? They don't state free-range now do they.

Why raise Chickens?

Backyard eggs contain:

1/3 the Cholesterol of store bought eggs
2/3 more vitamin A
1/4 less saturated fat
2 times the amount of Omega 3 fatty acids
3 times the amount of Vitamin E
7 times more Beta Carotene

Chemical free pest and Weed control

Chickens will gobble up those pesky garden bugs
They'll even go after crickets and grass hoppers
Chickens would love to help pull up all your Weeds!
Chickens will devour the fallen fruit from your messing fruit trees

Chickens make the world's best fertilizer

Chicken manure has great levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
Chicken manure is more economically valuable and safer than synthetic fertilizers

Check out our chicken coop!

Afternoon Sun setting on the Chicken Coop

Inside the House

Video of baby chicks right after we got them; only 6-weeks old

Kakai Hulless Pumpkin Harvest

2013-06-27T17:31:00.000-05:00

Our Kakai Hulless Pumpkins are ready to harvest.

Harvesting Our Shallots, Potatoes, & Leeks in the Garden

2013-06-08T17:28:00.000-05:00

Harvesting our Organic Heirloom Garlic

2013-05-27T17:17:00.000-05:00

Try to Catch a Live Rat in the Grill

2013-05-26T09:56:00.003-05:00

We Stained our New Cedar Fence

2013-04-21T20:48:00.001-05:00

So we have decided to go ahead and stain our new fence. We waited about a month for the wood to dry out, as it will shrink as it does. We have two estimates for a company to do it for us, but ultimately we did it ourselves and SAVED tons of money! We then did research on the different stains that are available and keeping costs in mind. We ultimately went with the stain where we also purchased our fence supplies from. It had good review and was also made locally.

BEFORE

Applying the Stain...

FINISHED!

We Built a Cedar Privacy Fence!

2013-04-06T21:14:00.000-05:00

So after many years of hating our old chain link fence, we are going to build us a Western Red Wood Cedar Privacy Fence! Check out the journey in the video or scroll through our photos of the massive undertaking; huge project! And we SAVED a ton of money by doing it ourselves too!!!

The backyard after we bought the house; notice you cannot see the chain link fence with all the brush around it. We slowly cleaned it out over the years, but unable to get all of it with the chain link fence there.

The OLD fence is GONE!!

The SUPPLIES have arrived!

Time to set 45 post in CEMENT!

CEMENT! Time to mix by hand!

After digging the holes, mixing the cement, and setting the posts; they are all FINALLY in!

700+ Cedar Pickets!

3,000+ Duo-Fast Nails!

The pickets are slowly going up....

Time for the top layer of pickets (board on board)

WE ARE DONE!! ...and the dogs can run free again!

FYI: Much more work than the pictures can portray!

Build a Garden Potting Work Table for FREE out of Old Wood Pallets!

2013-01-04T22:39:00.002-06:00

We built a FREE Gardening Work Table out of old wood pallets. Meredith found this idea on Pinterest. Looked easy enough. So we went on a scavenger hunt for wood pallets around the city and found a few place that were giving them away on Craigslist. PERFECT Free will work! Check out the video below to see more details of the project.

Free old wood pallets & crates!

We now time to break the pallets apart...no easy feat. Ended up cutting out the nails, as they would not come out at all!

Slowly put it together piece by piece.

Then found some stain that only cost us $3.....

Finally finished!