Honey Harvest 2011

We finally got to taste the fruit of our labor for this year. We harvested honey this weekend!
Here are a three videos documenting the process. This is the last big bee event of the year. You might say it was bitter sweet since our friends and partners are moving away next week.

You might notice that our bee wardrobe has been significantly upgraded. This is complements of our neighbors who are looking out for us in their absence.

Here is our preparation for the harvest. It includes installing the bee escape (device used to move bees out of the honey super), and generally checking on things.


Here is the main harvest stuff. It includes robbing the comb, decapping, and extracting.


Here is the final installment. It includes reconfiguring the hive, straining the honey, and letting the bees clean things up for us. The bees seemed to like this part best.

Highlights for October

Lauren the lady bug two years ago.

(October 2009)
Look at me now! (Same costume...) (October 2011)

Andrew got more teeth!


Lauren and Mommy had a slumber party in the sleep lab at Memorial Hermann. They did a sleep study for Lauren, it was quite an ordeal. She had over 20 wires attached all over her head and monitoring all sorts of things. We have decided Daddy should come up with a wireless system for this type of thing! Lauren got about 4 hours of sleep. Mommy got about 30 minutes of sleep. She was a trooper so we celebrated with waffles the next morning!

Andrew was our little bumble bee this year. He won a ribbon at the neighborhood trick or treat street party. He was pretty stinkin' cute!

Andrew and Lauren both still love school. Lauren has learned her colors and how to count to 3. We had her public school evaluation for the Preschool Pprogram for Children with Disabilities (PPCD) and she did fantastic. She will go to Glenloch Elementary two days a week starting in January.

Andrew loved his first trip to the zoo! The gorillas were his favorite! Lauren enjoyed watching the elephants get a bath and brush their teeth!

Lauren and Andrew are the same size now, so people think they are twins!

Look out Michael Jordan... Andrew Trott is in the house! We had fun playing basketball at the YMCA for a friend's birthday party.

Lauren, Andrew and Daddy got to sit in a firetruck at a neighborhood night out. The kids also enjoyed a small ferris wheel. Andrew was shaking the cage for more so the operator let him go around several times before he had to get out! He was very pleased.

Potty Training is not going very well. Lauren will sit on the potty for a good 15 minutes reading books, however no luck going potty. But as you can see we can put pull-ups on our feet!

We have had a great fall so far. The heat wave is gone, and we are having the longest run of good health we have had all year. Good times for the Trott Tribe!

September in a nutshell...

Lauren and Andrew doing a duet on the piano.

Andrew on the first day of school.

Lauren reading a big book in the reading center.


Lauren building with blocks.

Lauren playing jingle bells in music class.

Lauren "Picasso" Trott is painting in the background.

Playing in a tunnel.

September Highlights...

- My sweet brother and sister-in-love gave Aaron and I a weekend away in the Hill Country. They watched Lauren and Andrew all weekend. We went to the same Bed and Breakfast we went to on our honeymoon. It was awesome. We caught up on lots of rest and had such a refreshing time!

-Andrew got a haircut!

-The kids started school and mom started work (just one day a week).

We have had a good September to spite a stomach bug and Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease both kids caught. We are looking forward to fall and cooler weather!!!

Checkin' on the Bees

This weekend, we had some good friends come into town. In addition to good conversation and good coffee, we had a good time checking on the bees. Here are a few pics of what we found when we checked on them.

Another busy day at the bee hive.

They have made some progress with honey in the past few weeks. The rain we had last weekend likely provided a little bit of nectar for them.

Here's the other side of that frame. Not much, but it's a start.

Here's a close-up of the capped honey.

Here's a look as we're putting it back in. The bees were calm today!

Here's a frame without full foundation... They essentially need to make all the comb from scratch instead of using the template we provide. Notice that there a little starter strip at the top, but rest of the comb is all them.

Here's a vew of the honey super (behind) and the top brood hive body (foreground). Notice the honey in the two frames that are closest to the camera. :)

Andrew's First birthday

Andrew turned one! He had a "Tiger Party". AS you can tell he enjoyed his cupcake and wanted more! He is officially walking and running. He has no fear. He loves sticks and rocks and all things "boy". He says "dadda", "mama", "lala" ( lauren), "milk", night night, bye-bye, and all done. His favorite thing to do right now is mow the carpet with his new bubble lawn mower and engineer a way to open the child proof locks with Gran-D's walking cane..... he keeps us on our toes, but his laugh is worth every minute of it!!!

Tiger Boy Turns One!

On June 16th our tiger boy turned 1! We celebrated at the pool with friends and fun jungle cupcakes! As you can see A enjoyed every last crumb! He continues to amaze us with his adventurous spirit and contagious laugh! We can't wait to see all that God has in store for this little guy!

Visit to Granny O and Big Grandaddy's House

Lauren and Andrew had a blast visiting their great-grandparents! Lauren played dress up with Granny O and Andrew explored and tried to climb into everything. We all enjoyed Granny O's yummy cooking!!