The Winters Adventure

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T06:58:00.000-06:00

Kindergarten Christmas Program

2011-12-09T09:20:00.000-06:00

Last night was Gage's Christmas Program. I was quit suprised of the amount of people in the audience. Turned out very cute and here is Gage's clip. This group consists of Pre-K thru 1st Grade.

Labette County Fair

2011-12-08T17:19:00.000-06:00

Better late than never, right? Well these pictures were taken at the Labette County Fair when Gage entered into the peewee bucket calf division. (He's by the girl in the orange)

We drove over to watch some of his little friends show their calves and he ended up showing one also. He ~~got to choose which color and he chose the purple ribbon since purple means your the winner~~ won the purple ribbon!

In the peewee division you get to borrow a friends calf and have them help you in the arena while showing the calf.

This is Shanler helping Gage. See him, yea the tiny kid on the other side of the calf. You can see the very top of his head and his legs. Their bucket calf wasn't so little!

Sorry I was too busy helping him get into the arena and didn't have time to use my camera so a friend emailed them to me the other day.

Neewollah

2011-11-02T17:49:00.002-05:00

Gage and I got up early Saturday morning and headed out to Neewollah. We were sitting in our chairs at 9 a.m.

Every year it is a race to get the best seats. It's also a race I haven't won yet. We have yet to have the perfect seat. We waited patiently and made some new friends that travel from Arkansas every year to watch the parade.

The parade started on time at 11 a.m. As always, starting with the colors and loud sirens.

The fire dog actually did a pretty good little performance right in front of us finishing up with ringing the bell before he sat back down on the front bumper to continue riding in the parade.

Gage is always waving at people. He is the most sociable ~~kid~~ person I know. I'm not sure where he gets it. During the parade he told me his arm hurt from waving. I told him he didn't have to wave since he didn't know any of them. He said "But their nice people and their waving at me so I have to wave back mom."

Below is my youngest sister Quin. She is in the band but chose to do the flag core the day of the parade for the Sedan High School.

Gage and I had a great day. The parade lasted 2 hours though!

Happy Halloween

2011-11-01T07:00:00.001-05:00

Hope everyone had a great Halloween. Pretty sure my little Gangster did.

Not What I Had Planned

2011-10-25T17:45:00.000-05:00

This is definitely not what I had planned to do today.

I had a desk of work. I had a four day work week this week.

He had a four day school week. He had swimming lessons tonight.

Instead, he has an ear infection. ~~He's~~ We've been up since 11:30 p.m. last night. Currently he has a fever. One that didn't appear until after we returned home from the doctors office for a couple hours.

He will miss swimming lessons tonight. He does have Scooby Doo on the DVR and an ice pack though. That would be equivalent to me and my Pepsi.

I sure hope he gets better soon or he will miss his first kindergarten field trip to the pumpkin patch that is happening in 2 days!

September Camping

2011-10-17T20:52:00.000-05:00

This post is late coming but better late than never, right? We went camping in September and had a great weekend with friends and our little family.

We went on nature walks, roasted marshmallow's

went on scooter rides

stroller rides

had Popsicle treats

had dirty kids

took our kids swimming ~~to clean off~~ for fun

And ate very well.

All in all, had a great time and can't wait to do it again. That is if you ask Gage and I.

My husband may tell you different...so don't ask him.

Kindergarten Update

2011-10-12T08:58:00.000-05:00

I find it easiest to communicate with Gage's teacher by email. This morning I had emailed her with a question and after answering me she added this:

I have a very cute Gage story...he may have told you about it already. Yesterday we were talking about Mary Had a Little Lamb, so I asked the kids where their lamb would follow them and asked them to draw a picture. I walked around and visited with each of them, when I got to Gage I was astonished to see a drawing of the Eiffel Tower and he informed me that his lamb would follow him to Paris...so would his teacher!! :) I just thought it was great that he knew about the Eiffel Tower & Paris!!

He is really loving Kindergarten and his teacher. The school's Chili Supper is this weekend and he has been sending his own piggy bank money so his teacher will win the crown. I don't know if she will win or not but he is going to be disappointed if she doesn't.

Four wheeling Fun

2011-09-09T20:26:00.013-05:00

This is one pass time that Gage loves to do.

Ride

and Ride some more.

I've caught him trying to do tricks here lately and have had to put a stop to it. He rides around the pasture, through our yard and circles the front ~~eye score~~ pond.

Oh, and yes this is his attire every time he rides. It would also be his attire everyday if only he could get away with it. W&W Backhoe and Trenching Shirt, Jeans, cowboy boots and of coarse his helmet.

First Day of Kindergarten

2011-09-08T07:16:00.003-05:00

First Day of Kindergarten and I have a poser?!

When we went in for his first day he found his name on his desk.

Then he went down to the gym with the other students while the parents went and waited patiently outside for the balloon release.

The balloons are handed out to the participating parents and as the principle, Ms. Green, talks to the students and parents she asks for the parents to release the balloons which symbolizes releasing our children to the teachers for the school year.

Mrs. Green speaking through the pda welcoming the students for another exciting year of school.

The parents released the balloons and all eyes were on the sky for quit some time watching them go up up and away.

Then the students were off to their fist day of activies. No crying, no whinning, just a slight wave and off he went.

So far so good this year. Its been one week now and he is enjoying it every day. I hope the rest of the year goes as smoothly as the past week.

New way to post

2011-08-26T14:56:00.000-05:00

Just figured out how to post on my blog from my phone.
Gage wanted to make a funny face.

Art Work

2011-08-18T06:22:00.000-05:00

Gage went in the home office the other day and drew me a picture of a derby car. He has been drawing a lot of derby cars lately so I thought I'd share one of them with you.

He will be starting Kindergarten August 31 and we are all getting pretty excited. He has been practicing on his writing skills, playing a computer game for school (kindergarten jump start) and doing school workbooks through out the summer and especially this last month. I think he is ready to begin this journey. I'm just not sure if I am. My baby, my one and only is going to be a full time student now!

A Learning Curve

2011-08-04T18:13:00.001-05:00

The beauty of painting a derby car. It used to be brushing the paint and lettering it. Then it turned to Allen spraying it and myself lettering it. Now its vinyl lettering and applying the paint with a paint gun. My how times have changed. Allen let Gage have a painting session last Thursday evening with his Oswego derby car.

Allen explained everything from pouring, stirring and mixing paint and thinner with the paint to the proper way to hold the gun and how to apply just the right amount of pressure. I'm sure glad I could care less about learning how to paint with the gun. Gage listened to it all, not me I said forget it, I'll take pictures. Too bad my pictures turned out grainy and crappy.

Anyways, Gage was so excited to get to paint.

Not what a typical 5 year old thinks of painting I'm sure.

Allen did participate in the 100th Labette County Fair Demolition Derby. He broke his steering right off the bat in his heat but was able to pull off a win. In the finals his carburetor continued to malfunction the ENTIRE derby. After putting up with it though and fighting his car all night he did pull off a 3rd place finish overall. Not too shabby.

Vacation Bible School

2011-07-26T07:00:00.003-05:00

Gage attended the First Baptist Church's VBS last week and really enjoyed it. He was very insistent that he attend every night that way he could be entered for a prize. He went Tuesday thru Friday evening every night from 6-8:15p.m. On Friday evening I went and attended the program night with him. They took each class individually to the front and one child from each class was awarded a prize for memorizing the most verses. Much to my surprise Gage won. The prize was a huge assortment of beach toys. (Right up our alley)

I would ask him every night what he learned or did and he wouldn't tell me much. Then Friday standing there he re sited what he learned. Who is this kid up there standing in front of everyone in church, resiting his verses he had learned? I would have believed he was there only playing but he actually absorbed what was being taught!

He came home with new sand toys, a t-shirt, large sand bucket, toy dirt bike, hot wheels car, sunglasses and other misc. stuff. No wonder kids love VBS.

Camping

2011-07-24T11:29:00.001-05:00

We purchased a new camper a couple weeks ago and pulled it out to Big Hill Lake for our first camping trip Thursday evening. 104 degrees and camping for fun isn't really the greatest idea. Especially when the beach says to swim at your own risk. I took a kiddie pool and sprinkler to let Gage play in since we weren't going to be visiting the lake water (Blue Green Algae has been detected in the lake but not to where they have to shut it down so its swim at your own risk).

The pool wasn't as big as I remember. Maybe because the last time Gage used it he was a baby. Now he can barely sit in it at 5 years old.

It was just Gage and I Thursday night and by noon Friday we were bored.

The pool was a flop, we did a couple puzzles, read books, watched a movie, ate breakfast, and went for 2 walks. Starting the day off at 7 am was too early. We came home and ate lunch with Allen, swam in our clean Algae free pool and then Gage finished his last night at VBS.

When we returned to the camper we ate supper and watched our rented movies before calling it a night.

Home by 9 am Saturday morning. Quick camping trip but we now can say we have learned how to:

level trailer, hook water and electricity up, dump grey and black tanks and all the fun stuff in between. We are now ready to go camping and have a great list of what is needed and not needed.

Playing Dress Up

2011-07-23T11:29:00.000-05:00

Gages friend Shanler come over the other day to play for a while. Gage absolutely loves Shanler and will play whatever she wants to play. Today it was dress up. Fortunately, we have a boy version of that. Gage has cowboy, Spiderman, Superman, policeman and fireman outfits.

This time they picked the policeman and fireman. He likes to pretend to put out fires and write tickets.

I got out real walkie talkies and they ran around the yard talking about fires and who was hurt.

Its so cute to see them in action. I took advantage of the pretend play and got a couple cute pictures.

Summer Time Fun

2011-07-12T20:39:00.011-05:00

Seems like we've been doing a lot of swimming this summer. Gage is getting better and better every time we get in the water.

Mr & Mrs Trevor Willems

2011-07-08T15:55:00.007-05:00

A couple weeks ago several of our family members traveled to Sedona AZ to attend the wedding of Trevor & Amy Willems. The weather was great, wedding looked awesome and couldn't ask for anything nicer. It was an outside wedding at a church camp that had neat primitive buildings and cabins. Both wedding parties actually stayed on the camp grounds and used the facilities. Gage was asked to be the ring bearer and no way would he let Amy & Trevor down. This was his 3rd time so he thought he knew exactly what to do. By Saturday afternoon he was a little upset that his mom wouldn't let him run freely with "the guys".
If you didn't know this already he does not like to have his picture taken. You may think he's photogenic but I guarantee you he is one of the worlds worst about photo's!
We had a nice trip and enjoyed swimming, a wedding, swimming and a plane ride. If you ask Gage he will tell you it can't get any better than that!

Fourth of July Review

2011-07-07T20:23:00.000-05:00

Wow! It's been a while since I last blogged.

Our fourth of July was great! We went and watched Cars 2 Friday night and purchased Gage some fire crackers, Saturday we went with Allen to fix a water leak and enjoyed an evening with friends, Sunday was a great day at the lake and Monday was another trip to a friends house for fourth of July celebrations. Sounds like a lot to do but we actually took it pretty easy and enjoyed our three day weekend.

Gage was able to light fireworks this year and there were no tragedies. He wasn't much into the step n smash fire crackers. After 3 days of booms and bangs I was ready for the weekend to be over. He wanted to go buy more fireworks but we stuck to our guns and didn't make a second trip.

The pictures will tell the rest.

Aunt Kelli's Wedding

2011-05-13T18:33:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we were privileged to attend and be a part of Aunt Kelli's wedding. Everything was beautiful. The rehearsal went well with a lovely evening and Saturday the day of the wedding went all as planned I do believe. I carried my camera with me Friday night and then Saturday morning but after that I was a little busy keeping track of Gage and also being a part of the wedding party. Wedding went great, my toast I was nervous about I think went well and then Gage was able to bust some moves on the dance floor. My pictures don't do justice of how crazy busy it really was.

Anyways, Congratulations Aunt Kelli and Uncle Austin!

Hey Mr. Caterpillar

2011-04-28T19:33:00.000-05:00

I remember when I was a kid I used to love to play with insects and frogs. Oh, and trying to catch fire flies! I can't wait for fire fly season! Here are a couple pictures of a caterpillar Gage found the other day in our yard. He had a lot of fun messing with him and he begged to keep him but we didn't.

Good Morning Birthday Boy

2011-04-13T17:19:00.000-05:00

This morning I treated Gage to breakfast at the store. He loves going there but in the morning we don't have time. Today we got around a little earlier so he could go eat a chocolate cupcake and have a Diet Pepsi.

It's his Birthday so he can eat bad things today, right?

Happy Birthday!

2011-04-12T14:03:00.014-05:00

So this post was written yesterday but blogger just decided to let me load all my pictures, sorry for the delay!5 Years ago I was happy, scared, excited and maybe a little nervous!

5 years ago I had my hospital bags packed and was working my last day for a couple weeks.

5 years ago, where has the time gone? I can't believe Gage is actually turning 5 tomorrow!

I seriously can't remember life without him. This past month I just keep asking myself the same question, What did we do before we had him? We had to have been bored!

We had his party this past Sunday. He was like every other child, too excited to wait around to open all these presents that were coming in the door. We did get to sing Happy Birthday to him and pass some cake out before we gathered in the living room for the opening of presents. He received several fun gifts that he has been playing with. Allen and I did give him a rather large gift. A four wheeler that hasn't been left alone since. He had opened a gift that was a helmet and goggles and had them on when Allen said that someone else just pulled up in the drive. He ran over with his gear on so we didnt' get to see his initial reaction. All his pictures show him with his helmet on and we can't see his face in.

Springfield Mo Demolition Derby

2011-03-20T20:27:00.001-05:00

Gage and I are proud of Allen for winning the Mad Dog Derby over in Springfield MO last night. We had a great time for our first derby of the year. He won his heat, first place in the feature and the Mad Dog of the evening. As you can tell, he worked hard for the win!

Sunday at the Park

2011-03-08T20:53:00.000-06:00

Gage and I needed to run to Parsons last Sunday to run a couple erans. Even though it was pretty cold we went and enjoyed our time there. Its always nice to get out and enjoy the almost, spring weather.

This Is How Gage rolls...For Now

2011-03-06T20:47:00.000-06:00

Gage loves his Ranger.

He received it for his 2nd Christmas when he was 2 1/2 years old. It has been the best investment we have made yet for him.

He rides it whenever possible. The problem is within the past year, he has really started out growing it. Not size wise but power wise.

He still fits in it just fine but things he wants to do with it, it's just not capable of doing. Regardless, he still drives it around all the time and doesn't complain.

I think I'm the one complaining now days since it gets stuck nearly every time I turn around.

One of his favorite things to do though is haul wood from the stack to the fire pit. It's a never ending job, to a 4 year old I guess.

Hot Wheels

2011-02-25T15:58:00.000-06:00

We have so many trick tracks and hot wheel tracks to play with I put them in this tub

I will admit that I have fun designing the trick tracks

You can take all the individual tricks and set them up different ways

Between each trick track there is flat tracks that will take the car to the next trick

The track works when a hot wheel car hits the blue trigger

When the car hits the blue trigger then this car goes up, over and around

I will tell you though, it takes a long time to set it all up

and only a few minutes for my little man to tell me he's done playing with it.

Sick

2011-02-24T13:09:00.000-06:00

At 5 am, I woke up to "Mom my belly doesn't feel so good" and seconds later I was helping Gage run for the bathroom.

His babysitter told me the other day she sent two other children home with the flu. So, it's not a complete shock. When I called the school the nurse said, "Oh he has it too?"

Guess you know where I'll be all day today.

Correction

2011-02-23T09:43:00.000-06:00

I stand corrected. The puppies name is Mud Bud! I've been saying it wrong and Gage told me this morning that Mud Bud did not like being called Mud Pud.

Friends

2011-02-22T20:58:00.001-06:00

Gage has lots of friends. He has friends that are young, friends that are old, friends that are real and now one that is not!

Meet Max. Max was given to Gage as a Christmas present this past year and hasn't slept a single night without snuggling with Gage.

Now, meet Gage's newest friend... Mud Pud the puppy. Mud Pud found Gage at school the other day and came home with him. He gets stepped on some times, he eats Gage's snacks right out of his hand and today he snuck down to the babysitters .

What? You don't see him? All you see is Max?! Hummm, well, I only see Max as well.

This is all new to us too. We haven't had an imaginary friend until now. We have asked Gage a lot of questions and he always answers them. Mud Pud is brown. He also has brown eyes and sometimes has muddy feet. He likes to lick the toothpaste out of the sink and chase balls.

So, for now we play and sleep with Mud Pud.

Our Sunday Fun

2011-02-21T19:40:00.001-06:00

Sunday we woke up to boardism. There wasn't much that needed done~~(laundry, invoices to send, dishes to put up, my vehicle to vacuum and hand wash~~) so, who doesn't like to get away and play every now and then?

Gage standing afterwards in front of "Snake Bite"

We headed down to Tulsa to attend the Darryl Starbird Rod and Custom Show. They had hundreds of cars in the car show and to top it all off, bmx and skateboarder stuntmen, dirt bike stuntmen and monster trucks!

Oh yea, Gage was so excited! We arrived around noon and looked at the cars and exhibitors items till around 3 and then sat and watched the shows.

I had wanted to take Gage to Kansas City a couple weekends ago to see Monster Jam and it didn't work out. Allen and I don't always see eye to eye when it comes to what he thinks we should do for fun and what I think. A part of me doesn't care that Gage may or may not remember what we did but he gets to experience it. Allen's thought is wait till he is old enough to remember. Anyways I'm off subject...

It worked out Sunday that he got to see monster trucks. The thing is though, he watches and keeps up with Monster Jam to know that there wasn't any big names in attendance. He kept asking where's Blue Lightning, where's Monster Mutt, where's Grave Digger, where's Captain's Curse and on and on. Big Foot was there but he hasn't done much for several years so he isn't on TV much.

When we got home Gage was exhausted! He kept trying to fall asleep on the way home so much that Allen actually pulled over on a gravel road, he got Gage out of his car seat, and they made 4 running laps around the truck so Gage would wake up. Allen explained to Gage that this is what he does when he gets really tired. It's true, I've been with him when he has had to do this.

If you ever have a chance to attend the Darryl Starbird show, it was well worth the money.

The "sign" I get all the time when trying to take a cute picture

2011 Blizzard

2011-02-02T17:52:00.000-06:00

What is better than getting in the hot tub when it's 7 degrees outside, your stranded at home and have nothing better to do then your house chores.

Gage, Allen and I got in the hot tub. I've always wanted to get in while it was snowing. Blizzard really wasn't my idea but it worked. Let's just say we didn't stay long. The water felt great but the wind, snow and steam only made for frozen hair and cold ears and noses.

We can now say: Been there done that.

Below is the inside/outside temperature gauge. (Sorry for the poor quality, forgot my good camera at work)

Yes that says 57 degrees inside temperature. I keep my house cool during the day but when we are home you better believe it's taken off the energy saving mode!

And yes, it says 7 degrees for the outside! The outside temperature this morning was below zero when we woke up. And tonight the forecast is predicting I think a -11 degrees plus wind chill. That -11 isn't even the wind chill temperature. I can't say I can ever remember temperatures like this here in Kansas, since I've been old enough to care that is.

Gage has been pretty disappointed with this snow fall. I've only taken him out a few times and it's just too cold for playing in the snow.

We rode out in the backhoe this afternoon with Allen to break ice and check the cows. Our poor pregnant cows. By my calculations they are due any day. To top that, one of them looked like they had a little mucas showing so that means we will be having a calf pretty soon. I am scared to think that poor calf is going to freeze to death. We will have to keep a close eye on her.

Growing up

2011-01-31T19:08:00.000-06:00

Peeling potatoes. Who knew that was fun? I thought Gage might be getting to the age to help out peeling potatoes. And he is, he loved it.

The only problem was it took him FOREVER!

But that's okay. I have learned patience. I enjoyed seeing him be so excited since he was getting to help out in the kitchen other than stirring.

Just another Friday

2011-01-30T14:06:00.000-06:00

Friday evening I ran home from work, grabbed Gage from daycare, took him to get a hair cut and we were on our way home when I remembered I hadn't checked the cows yet. We stopped by the farm and counted and checked our girls. While we were there Gage wanted to run around a bit looking for baby deer. So while he was throwing out gang signs and looking for baby deer I grabbed the camera.

N is Nest and for Nice Job!

2011-01-27T19:01:00.001-06:00

Gage has been working for a very long time on writing his name. He was so proud to show us his paper yesterday. He wrote his name on the back and the teacher wrote back "Nice Job"

Brewster

2011-01-18T20:27:00.000-06:00

We had a kitten show up last week. We aren't sure exactly how it got here. Allen and I have never been cat people but had been talking about getting an outside cat about the past year to help out with the mouse population out in the barn. Just so happens that this kitten lives in the barn and doesn't like coming out once we placed it there.

Since finding the kitten we also found a black cat and an orange tom cat. They have a small family now in our barn. The adults I see every couple days, the kitten on the other hand, I see every day. I bought kitten food for it. I know people say not to feed them or they won't be mousers but I think this kitten is a little too young to hunt on its own yet.

While writing this post I asked Gage,

"So what are we going to name this kitten"?

His response was Freddy or Sally.

I said "No"

and he then threw out "Brewster"

so Brewster it is.

You may not know this but everything we have Gage wants to name either Fred, Freddy or Sally. Stuffed animals, dogs, cats, cows and calves.

Hot Tub Fun

2011-01-15T15:16:00.000-06:00

Gage absolutely loves the hot tub.

So being a Saturday where we have no plans, whats better than to do some quality time in the hot tub with him. We made shaved ice sodas, got him several toys, towels and headed out this morning. It was really cold but that didn't stop us!

The hot tub temperature is currently 104 degrees so when he first got in he said he thought he

was on fire.

It didn't take long and he was playing and splashing and telling me how good the water felt. An hour later I finally made him get out. I just wish he wasn't afraid of getting his head under the water. I told him I called about swimming lessons. That was also the end of the conversation about that. He wasn't happy.

Playing in the snow

2011-01-12T20:05:00.000-06:00

Gage was so excited to finally play in the snow. He didn't understand that it doesn't always snow on Christmas. After work we bundled all up and headed out. It was so cold but that didn't' stop him from wanting to play.

Holiday Review

2010-12-30T19:08:00.000-06:00

What a week it's been! The Holidays have came and gone, well almost that is.

Christmas Eve Gage and I headed over to my Aunt Judy's for a Christmas brunch. That is always a enjoyable time. Gage gets to hang out with his second cousin Jack who he doesn't get to see all that much. We enjoyed the morning there and headed home to play with his new toys about 1 pm. Gage was playing and wanted to open a toy that had a ton of parts and I told him no to wait till we were home. The next thing I knew he was saying he was ready to go home and telling people bye.

At this age you never know what they will say or do!

After opening his boxes when we got home we headed for the movies. Last year I wanted to start a tradition of going to the movies on Christmas Eve. Only last year didn't go so smooth. We drove in a blizzard to Pittsburg since Parsons shut down early because of the snow. This year I called ahead of time to double check showing schedules. We went and watched Yogi Bear. It was alright. Gage liked it. Allen liked the popcorn so much he ate the entire large container by himself!

Christmas Day was enjoyable. (Except Allen had a major stomach ache, I think eating all that popcorn had something to do with it!) Gage slept in so I was able to have the camera and camcorder ready for him. He came out and was excited to see Santa drank his milk, ate a cookie and left presents.

Since Christmas morning we have spent a lot of time hanging out with family and figuring out what all we received. I am so thankful for having each other and that we are blessed with a healthy son. Allen and I couldn't ask for anything more.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and has a Happy New Year.

Gage's Christmas Program

2010-12-18T09:08:00.005-06:00

Gage had his first program for school the other day. He practiced really hard for a couple weeks before the program. He was so excited to be on stage in front of an audience. Here is the link to watch the video.

Gage

2010-12-08T07:24:00.000-06:00

Evening Shoot

2010-12-06T07:41:00.001-06:00

I was out trying to take some pictures of Gage and was messing with my camera between the practicing and this is what happens! I guess I wasn't paying as much attention to him as I thought. I normally wouldn't show my son's bottom on the Internet but look at that tan line! It's December!

Goldfish Isn't Feed!

2010-12-05T17:10:00.001-06:00

One evening I was out doing chores. I noticed Gage had his sack open. I then walked closer to find he was sharing his Goldfish crackers with Scooby. I asked what he was doing and here is the look I got.

And all he said is "Nothing Mom!"

He didn't know calves weren't suppose to eat goldfish crackers!

We sold Scooby back in October. This is old but thought it was cute enough to still share it.

Deer Season

2010-12-04T12:00:00.000-06:00

Not that deer season silly, REINDEER! Gage and I had some free time the other evening and made this hat out of construction paper.

Parsons Christmas Parade

2010-12-03T21:15:00.000-06:00

Gage and I headed to the Parsons Christmas parade Thursday evening after work/school.
The weather was perfect, cold but not windy. It really made it feel more like Christmas.

Twin Valley Electric had a float in the parade and Adam Myers was an elf up on the electric pole.

Gage thought it was awesome that he got to be in the parade.

All of us employees thought that our float should win. We thought it looked really good!

And we did! We found out this afternoon that Twin Valley won 1st place! I have to say though the guys did ALL the work.

This picture doesn't do it justice. The house and pole was all lit up and in the dark it looked awesome.

Oh Christmas Tree

2010-12-03T17:30:00.003-06:00

The Friday morning after Thanksgiving at an early 6:30 a.m. I had a little boy at my bedside wondering if it was time to decorate the Christmas Tree. I got up and started cleaning house before dragging out several Rubbermaid containers of Christmas decor.

Gage did not like having to wait for a clean house before messing it all up again! We finally finished cleaning and started dragging the containers in from the shed one by one. He is such a big help. He requested he hang the decorations on the tree so I let him. Oh, see the GMC hat as our tree topper, yeah that was his idea of decorating too! You can see he put them all in one place pretty much. Can you believe that once I re-organized the tree with those same bulbs the tree looks good! It doesn't look like many ornaments when they are all hung in the same spot.
Doesn't matter what the finished product looked like though, he loved every minute of it. This time of year is all about making memories, right?

Cruise 2010

2010-11-27T09:57:00.010-06:00

Allen and I along with two friends went on a eastern Caribbean cruise last week. It was so nice to get away for a few days and just chill. We left at 3 am Monday morning to start our trip.

After we made it onto the ship we headed for our first port of call...Tuesday's day was at Nassau

Nassau is definitely a place we will go back to. It was beautiful and had several activities to do. We rented scooters and did our own playing around in town for a couple hours. Then we went to the straw market where all the deals are. We then had an excursion to go on in the afternoon. It was a guided tour around town and then in a submarine like boat to go to the reefs to see fish. I would have rather snorkeled but this was fun too.

While on this excursion we also on water seen where Tom Cruise, Oprah Winfrey and several other actors have mansions on the water.

After the excursion it was time to get back on the ship after a fun day at port. After dinner Tuesday night we went to the comedy show on the boat and the comedians were really funny.

Wednesday we were at Half Moon Cay when we woke up. It is a Carnival owned island which has sand that feels like moon sand (maybe that's part of the name?!) Allen and Chuck had the deep sea fishing excursion so Trisha and I headed for a day at the beach. The guys had fun, Allen had fun until he became sick with motion sickness. They were in a little fishing boat in the middle of the ocean. They both caught fish Chuck's got off at the boat and Allen actually caught a Blue Marlon (they said that they were rare for where they were fishing) but it flipped up in the air and fought long enough it broke away. Trisha and I enjoyed sunning all day with some strawberry daiquiri's. The water was pretty cool at first but then enjoyable once in. It was a nice day for us to do nothing but get some sun rays. Trisha received a bit too much but I didn't burn at all.Thursday we were at Grand Turk, T.C. and that day I have to say I did not enjoy. The beach was just another beach nothing special, and they had several shops but nothing that caught my attention and that was it. We went to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville to spend the day. They had a water sport called "The Flow Rider". Allen did this where you surf and knee board against a water jet on some mats. I wish I would have done this but I didn't know what it was till Allen started and by then the spots were all sold out. So once again I just laid out in the sun and watched Allen. He actually did rather well. He lasted the longest out of all the people doing it on the surf and knee board! My husband is very good at water sports though what can I say.

(Too bad the guys head is in most of the way!)

Friday was "Fun Day at Sea". Turned out to be a bit boring. We went to the gym and art auction and walked around the ship. That night they had a different comedy show that we went to. Woke up about 6:30 a.m. Saturday to the noises of workers at Miami working on the ship. We got up and around and got off the ship around 8am

We had all day Saturday to tour around Miami Beach. We had been there but the Chuck and Trisha hadn't so we showed them around for the day. Headed to the airport and flew home.

We returned to a really sick little boy. He got sick Friday night so I had to take him to the doctor Monday. The outcome was strep throat.

All in all I think that everyone should take a cruise. It is for some people and not for others. We enjoyed ours. Chuck & Trisha are ready to go again! Allen and I learned we would rather do a destination based vacation but none the less enjoyed our trip.

My little Spiderman

2010-11-04T07:35:00.000-05:00

Halloween Preschool Party

2010-11-03T12:15:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday Gage's Preschool had their Halloween Party. They started out with normal activities and then we went to party mode. They came to school dressed in costume, Mrs. Ward carved a pumpkin with the students help, played "pin the nose on the pumpkin", went trick or treating around the school and had Halloween snacks. Then when it was time to go I sent them home with a Halloween bag full of goodies.

Dirt Bike Fun

2010-10-18T20:46:00.005-05:00

Allen had a couple derby cars a guy wanted but he wanted them on trade. With the trade came a 50 cc dirt bike. It is an older model so it's a little bit bigger body then what they have now. That just means Gage is still too little to ride on his own so mom and dad get to have fun too!

Frog

2010-10-15T17:24:00.000-05:00

Gap Casting Call

2010-10-14T19:27:00.000-05:00

My sister suggested Gage be enetered into this contest. He was entered Tuesday but the website has hardly worked since. Gage needs your votes to win. If you would like to vote here are the details.

Name:Gage

Category: Boy

Contestant Id: 446045

http://www.gapcastingcall.com/GapCastingCall/EntryDetail.html?id=446045

Frog

2010-10-14T16:14:00.002-05:00

Can you find the frog?

Chili Supper August 23

2010-10-12T07:29:00.000-05:00

As you can see this is the quilt that will be auctioned off at the Chili Supper for Gage's preschool class. I have spent a lot of time & money, along with Gma Hoobler's assistance, in making this quilt go together. The theme this year was "Mound Valley Mustangs at Home on the Range"
Each class has a parent from their classroom make the quilt and then it is auctioned off with all proceeds going 100% to the classroom for their use.

So, if you don't have anything going on Saturday, Oct. 23, please come to the Chili Supper and support Mound Valley Grade School. There are all kinds of baskets, quilts and other items auctioned off plus you can enjoy Chili or Vegetable Soup along with drink & desert.

Hope to see you there!

A Normal Monday

2010-10-11T18:50:00.004-05:00

Nothing too exciting has been happening around the Winters household the past few days. Preschool is well underway and Gage seems to be doing pretty good.
Gage has some preschool work books we picked up at Walmart that he likes to work on. Sometimes this is what he does while I cook supper.

He can sit at the bar and work on his workbooks while I can also oversee what he is doing.

But then sometimes the workbook isn't so fun so we get the craft sack out and he gets creative.

Scooby

2010-10-09T14:48:00.000-05:00

Scooby (even though the calf is a girl) and Gage have been hanging out pretty much every night here lately. The weather has been awesome and Scooby is at a fun stage right now. All she wants to do is suck your fingers or follow you around. Gage has gotten to where he likes to feed her some of the time but has figured out some awesome tricks too! Balancing act

Look, no hands!

Go Away Flies

2010-10-08T11:11:00.003-05:00

Flies, they are every where right now at our house. The baby calves have attracted a billion (my guess would be more) flies at our home. We have been weaning our calves and had them in the corral for several days and the flies also came with them.

When we got outside they are always around. And the cooler weather makes them even slower so they are driving me nuts!

(note fly on ear and hair!)

I sure hope it frost soon for my allergies and for flies! I tried taking some pictures of Gage last night and they wouldn't get off of his head! He didn't think it was too funny though since he thinks they are gross and a bother also.

Day 25 Your day, in great detail

2010-09-25T19:39:00.002-05:00

Today in great detail.

Spent the night last night at Aunt Kelli's.

6:30 a.m. Gage woke up ready to play with his toys we leave at her house. Mom reminds him "the son is not out yet go back to sleep"!

7:00 a.m. Gage woke up ready to play with his toys we leave at her house.

7:30 a.m. Mom turns on Sponge Bob and says be quiet for a few more minutes

7:35 a.m. Gage goes and plays with his toys (Did I mention Gage and I shared a coach to sleep on)

9:00 a.m. We were up and Austin cooked us some yummy pancakes and bacon! Thanks Austin

10:00 a.m. Went to Medicine Shoppe to get my allergy medicine

10:30 a.m. Austin, Kelli, Gage and I are headed to Ottawa for my favorite Primitive Store "Country Living"

11:45 a.m. Arrived in Ottawa and went to several flea markets

1:15 p.m. Headed back for Burlington to pick Allen up from his golf tournament

2:30 p.m. Headed for home

4:30 p.m. Got home, watered the calves we are weaning

4:35 p.m. I went to go get a bale of hay while Gage and Allen stayed home to work on his McCune derby car.

5:00 p.m. Back home and bottle feeding baby calf

5:15 p.m. Headed in to clean the house

7:30 p.m. Needing a break from cleaning the house. Ordered "Casey's" pizza and sat down to update blog.

You are now caught up on my day. I plan on finishing the night by picking up pizza at 8 and relaxing. My son has a pile of books he has brought me to read so we may finish the night reading books.

Mystery

2010-09-24T13:22:00.005-05:00

Yesterday evening we had a "surprise"! This surprise showed up in our pasture. Our cows didn't have it and we contacted the guy who owns land next to ours and all his cows and calves are accounted for. So who does this calf belong to?

I'm pretty sure it's Gage's baby now. Last night it was all we could do to get him in the house away from it. Then he snuck out the back door and was headed for the barn in the pitch black when Allen came in wondering where Gage was. Gage had told me he was going to go tell daddy something and he snuck out to the barn just to make sure the calf was going to bed.

When we were out there he also talked to the calf and I overheard him saying "It's okay, come to mama baby calf". Too cute!

This morning it was rise and shine no complaining since Gage got to go feed.

Day 24 Whatever tickles your fancy

2010-09-24T07:49:00.001-05:00

The other evening Maddie (Mickey & Miranda's daughter) came over to play with Gage. Since Maddie has grown, Gage and her play pretty well. She likes doing whatever Gage is doing and just tries to keep up with him. She is always content. The only time she gets upset is when she has to leave. Gage was watching a movie when she showed up so he told her she could sit with him and they shared some beef jerky. They lasted long enough for a cute picture and off to toys they went.

Day 23 A youtube video

2010-09-23T16:44:00.000-05:00

I hardly use youtube. I wouldn't know what to link you to. I tried putting a youtube video on here the other day and for 2 days it downloaded. I'm not going to try again, that's for sure!

Day 22 A Website

2010-09-23T12:14:00.002-05:00

I just can't get caught up on this blogging adventure!

A website. Since Chelse introduced me to google reader I just get all my blog updates through there. So I don't actually visit many websites. Oh, did I mention I don't have facebook. If I had facebook I'd put that but since my hubby and I don't agree on what facebook is used for, I can't. I had it for a couple weeks and liked seeing all the post everyone else put out there. Oh well, a happy marriage consists of some gives and some takes.

Back to the reason I'm here. I do visit one. www.kellicarnahanphotography.com I always need to see what my sister has been up to!

Day 21 A Recipe

2010-09-22T14:34:00.001-05:00

Chicken & Biscuits

This is an easy recipe and its pretty fast. It's also great to use your left over chicken with. Sometimes I will cook a chicken and separate it into several quart size freezer bags and make several different meals which works out great when your in a hurry after work.

2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 16 oz. bag of frozen vegetables or you can use a can of veg-all

1 can refrigerated biscuits

1/4 cup milk

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine chicken, soup, vegetables and milk. Heat until bubbly and hot. Pour hot mixture into an ungreased 2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top, then sprinkle shredded cheese on top. Arrange biscuits over chicken mixture. Spray a little bit of butter on top of biscuits.

3. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve.

Day 20 A hobby of yours

2010-09-21T12:03:00.000-05:00

This is the same answer as yesterday. I don't have a hobby. I've made a couple scrapbooks, I have a blog that I don't tend to daily, I've made a couple quilts but hobbies...not so much.

I guess I could say that I like bargains. I do use coupons, shop craigslist and ebay and hardly ever pay full price. I have known some (let me clear my throat, yea you know who you are) who often walk away when I'm negotiating a price on an item. I'm not afraidto Jew. There is nothing wrong with trying to get something for the best price possible. And you thought only men do this. Oh no, if you need to buy something and need help, just call me I'll do the talking for you even. I do love doing that! I see my sister and husband walking away right now! They always thank me later though!

Day 19 A talent of yours

2010-09-21T07:49:00.001-05:00

This is hard. I am not talented. I can't think of one thing that I could actually say I'm "Talented" at. Some people are talented at dancing, some at photography, some at singing, some are cooks. I don't dance, I take normal pictures and I still have good and bad days cooking.

I'm starting to think I lead a boring life after this 30 day blogging challenge. There have been several days I don't have much to write about.

Day 16 A song that makes you cry

2010-09-20T21:12:00.000-05:00

I like the song Angel by Sarah Mclahlan for a sad song.

So for 2 days i've been trying to upload a youtube video of Angel but hasn't worked. Sorry you'll have to google it if you don't know the song.

Day 18 What ever tickles your fancy

2010-09-20T18:31:00.001-05:00

I have volunteered to make the Pre-K Quilt for the annual chili supper for the Mound Valley Grade School. There was 14 kids in the class. I designed the layout and came up with the theme. I went and purchased all the material Wed. afternoon for a 20 block quilt. I had an email Friday afternoon that 2 more children would be starting class on Monday. Problem is I left 1 block open for an extra kid. I headed over to grandma's Saturday for her expertise and tools for cutting the material. I get back to work today and now a total of 17 kids.

I think I will have grey hair before I'm done with this. I plan on getting into the classroom Wed. to get what I need and hopefully have this finished in the next couple weeks.

Day 17 An art piece

2010-09-20T11:15:00.001-05:00

This one is easy. My son's! Now that he is in preschool he brings home some sort of art everyday. I love opening his backpack seeing crafts and asking what they learned about. I will try to show pictures in a future blog post.

Day 15 A fanfic

2010-09-17T18:03:00.002-05:00

Fanfic? What is fanfic? Here is the definition I found: Fanfic

Well, with that settled. I'm going to say I follow the Pioneer Woman. She makes me laugh and also gives me good ideas for recipes.

Day 13 & 14

2010-09-17T18:01:00.002-05:00

I decided to put these two days together.

Day 13
Fictional book

Day 14
Non-fictional book

I'm am still embarrassed to say "I don't read for fun, only for my son"!

Day 12 Whatever tickles your fancy

2010-09-16T19:54:00.002-05:00

Signs, we see signs everyday. I'm not sure what they mean but he makes signs all the time. He doesn't like the camera. If I tell him though that he I'll take pictures of his signs I get cooperation.

See the skill this takes, look at the tongue!

These are a couple pictures we were taking the other night. Allen always has me take pictures of his derby car and trophy's. Then I always like to get the 2 of them in the picture also. Notice the 2/peace sign i'm getting.

This derby car won all these trophy's alone! Great job daddy!

Day 11 A photo taken of you recently

2010-09-16T19:45:00.004-05:00

The other night we were out taking pictures of derby cars and their trophys. I told Allen to take a quick picture of Gage and I. Didn't have any idea I would need it 2 days later. It's not the best photo but it'll work.

On another note I had quit postng because I didn't think anyone was reading my blog. Then today I had 2 people tell me that I was stuck on day 9!

Day 10 A Photo of you taken over 10 years ago

2010-09-16T16:50:00.000-05:00

This photo was taken 9 years ago. Close enough, right?! I remember this day like yesterday. Kid free, young, full of energy and 21 years old. Man how time flies and your life changes.

Day 9 A Photo You Took

2010-09-09T07:22:00.000-05:00

I love this picture. This was 2 years ago. I love the colors, the fun he had with Papa Steve and the chip in Gage's mouth.

Day 8 A Photo That Makes You Angry/Sad

2010-09-08T07:17:00.000-05:00

1. We miss Racey. We still talk about Racey daily.2. This picture was taken almost 3 years ago! Holy Cow Batman time flies! I'm sad my baby is growing up sooooo fast!

Day 7 A Photo That Makes You Happy

2010-09-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago we went to Grand Lake. Gage had been wanting to drive the boat by himself. We've let him do it before when sitting on our laps but this was his first time completely by himself. Look how excited he is. It makes me happy when I see joy from him.

I'm not a person to cry, but looking at pictures or watching video's showing Gage growing up will bring tears to my eyes! This is one of them. He was able to accelerate and steer all by himself!

Day 6 Whatever Tickles Your Fancy

2010-09-06T09:58:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday my baby started Preschool. He is now a Mound Valley Mustang. Gage started the Mound Valley Preschool that is held in the grade school.

His first day he got up early and was so excited to start. He ate his cereal and we headed out the door. I dropped him off in the classroom and he looked back and said "bye" while running off to play. That was it no "Don't leave me mama" no nothing. Just "bye!" I guess that is good that I have raised a child that isn't shy and is outgoing. Before I left he had already introduced himself to Ms. Ward and several children.

When I picked him up he was so excited and had stories already.

Day 5 Favorite Quote

2010-09-05T16:56:00.000-05:00

"Winning isn't everything but wanting to is..." Max Steingart

Day 4 Favorite Book

2010-09-04T14:00:00.001-05:00

Favorite Book

Now that is hard. I don't read. I haven't read a book for over 12 years! Sad I know. Do children's books count? I guess going way back my favorite book would be a serious of books. The babysitter's club. I think I read these in about 4th -6th grade.

Day 3 Your Favorite Television Program

2010-09-03T08:00:00.003-05:00

Friday Night Lights

I don't like football normally but love this show. I guess the football is minimal compared to the drama in the show.

I've been watching this show since the beginning. I'm not sure how many years ago it started but its been a couple years. I was very disappointed when Dish Network quit carrying it. Then I seen where this show was coming back. I think I missed a season but now it's just a season behind. I actually looked into switching to DirecTV but this change would take away our locals. Locals vs. Friday Night Lights, I know my vote but my husband didn't agree.

My favorite used to be ER until it came to an end. I find though that I like intense hour long shows over the come and go 30 min. shows that last a year or two.

What is your favorite?

Day 2 Favorite Movie

2010-09-02T18:10:00.000-05:00

All time favorite movie is "Hope Floats". I could watch this movie over and over and not get tired of it. Anyone that knows me knows I LOVE THIS MOVIE! I am a Sandra Bullock fan. I would put several of her movies on my most watched lists. I don't get to watch many movies. And if it is a recent movie, forget it. Who has time to set down and watch a movie?

Join in on the fun and find the list of the 30 day challenge here.

I'm Back!

2010-09-02T11:59:00.003-05:00

So, since you don't know what I did this summer because i've been a very bad blogger I'm going to try to do a blog challenge. Chelse and some of her friends have started and I thought it sounded like fun.That's right it will be 30 days of me posting atleast something. I'm a day late but here it goes...

Day 1-Favorite song

I love music. Do I know who sings songs and what they are called? NO! My sister does though. She knows or atleast used to know anything and everything about music and musicians. I love oldies, country, rock, band etc. I love music, i'm just not music educated I guess you could say. One song that comes to mind is "You Belong With Me" by Taylor Swift. There are several songs I love but this came to mind first.

Thomas the Train

2010-06-10T21:00:00.000-05:00

Gage & Jack

Last weekend Gage and I drove up to my cousin's house and spent the night so we could get up bright and early saturday morning to go and see Thomas!

Thomas the Train was in Baldwin City, KS for a day full of fun and adventure. We all got up early saturday morning and drove from Osawatomie to Baldwin City. The activities that were there were great. They had an air up bounce slide and bounce castle, trains, trains and more trains to play with in the imagination tent, a tent with "Thomas" stuff for sale, a petting zoo, tattoo booth, bubble blowing area and a story time tent.Showing their tattoo's and you can't see either of them. ha ha

Our tickets were for the 9:45 a.m. train ride so we did a lot of the activities before the train and then again after the train ride. We all had a really good time and while we were there the weather was perfect. As we were getting ready to leave it started getting hot so we left about the perfect time.

I would recommend this outing for anybody who has children who enjoy watching "Thomas the Train". It was well worth the drive!

Build A Bear

2010-06-08T21:18:00.000-05:00

Saturday was our last day in Arizona. Gage had received a Build A Bear gift card from the Willems so we took it with us to do. Gage nor I had ever been to Build A Bear so this was a first for the both of us.

First, Gage picked out a leopard, Stuffed it, Bathed it, named it and outfitted it.

Meet Freddie. Freddie has done a lot in the past week. Flew, dinner, and slept in bed everynight tucked under the covers just pefectly. I'm not sure how we survived all this time without Freddie.

Childrens Museum

2010-06-07T21:00:00.001-05:00

Friday morning we went downtown to the Phoenix Children's Museum. That was a lot of fun and very educational. The place was in an old restored school. Everything in the museum was built out of donated and recycled materials. Gage really enjoyed the time spent here. There were kids running everywhere.

The tree house as I will call it was a playground full of tunnels, stairs, ladders, slides, bathtubs, lookouts and everything else. The only problem was the parents about hurt themselves trying to keep up in these cramped spaces crawling with their toddlers.

Gage went into the arts & crafts area and made a frog with construction paper and a paper plate. They had a castle that kids could paint but we skipped the pink paint area.

They had foam noodles to run through and then in the center there was a rock the kids could paint with water. There were books you could read and a bug velcro belt that the velcroed bugs would fly off of once the kids wheeled the but to the top.

Then there was the grocery store. That was where we spent a bunch of our time. Kids purchased groceries, kids checked you out with your groceries and then kids took your bag to the back sorted and restocked the shelves.

The last big stop was the race track. They had cars made out of old roller skate wheels and a long curvy track that kids raced their cars on.

Arizona Trip - Thursday

2010-06-06T21:09:00.001-05:00

Sometimes you just can't take the country out of my boy. The sprinklers were on and he had a blast running through them. He doesn't know that in the city you don't go out in your front yard in your underwear! It didn't bother him. He had a blast. Congratulations Darci! Your family is so proud of you! Way to go!!

My grandparents had this money gift made. Isn't that cool! A local florist made it for them.

Gage and Trevor goofing off before the graduation ceremony.
I think the number this year was 714 graduates! There was more in her graduating class than the town we live in!

Arizona Trip - Wednesday Evening

2010-06-02T20:42:00.002-05:00

Gage at the Tulsa International Airport

Last Wednesday Gage and I headed to sunny Phoenix Arizona for our cousin Darci's High School Graduation. The last time we visited out there was for her brother Trevor's graduation and it rained I think everyday including graduation day. Did I mention Gilbert High School's ceremony is held outside! Thank goodness the weather cooperated this time around and we enjoyed the sunny days and the dry graduation ceremony.

Day 1 we just flew out and surprised Trevor when we showed up at his work. Then we headed back to their place to head to bed. We finally laid down around 10 pm which would be midnight our time!

Happy Birthday!

2010-04-13T15:40:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday Gage!

Watch out!

2010-03-28T21:07:00.001-05:00

Rally Girl

2010-03-26T20:50:00.003-05:00

Rally has went from looking like a puppy to looking like a poodle. She has changed so much over the the last few weeks.

She has started going to the back door to go to the bathroom (our biggest accomplishment!)

She has started teething

She has her routine down

She sleeps all night

She has had her first grooming experience

Are you noticing how having a baby is much like having a puppy?!

She likes riding in the feed truck and we can't keep her off the go car

What Not To Do!

2010-02-25T09:10:00.003-06:00

Don't park your vehicle near derby arena entrance or exit!
This is what happened to somebody's car while they were watching a derby at Springfield, MO. I guess they were too lazy to park in the designated parking lot that had 100's of spaces to park in!

Rallie or Rally

2010-02-24T06:58:00.000-06:00

I decided to having a dog one more time. It took some thinking or maybe I should say a lot of thinking and we finally did it. Friday, February 12, I drove down to Nixa Mo and purchased who I hope to present as our life long family pet, Rally. Hopefully she will work out better than Sadie did.

So far we are doing pretty well together. She has had house training accidents but those are going to happen. She doesn't jump and knock Gage to the ground and they play good together.

It has been a little emotional and stressful training a puppy and keeping your husband and son happy at the same time.

Well, here she is...

Rallie or Rally the Standard Poodle

RIB-EYE STEAK WITH WHISKEY CREAM SAUCE

2010-02-04T11:00:00.001-06:00

My sister bought me this cookbook for Christmas. It's The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond. It is an awesome book! If you are looking for a unique gift for somebody this is the gift for a person who likes the country and cooking. She has some really neat pictures of her family and her life plus takes pictures step by step of what the recipe is that she is making. You can also find her at http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/

The next new recipe was rib-eye steak with whiskey cream sauce. This wasn't the plan as I was going to try a different recipe but I guess I wasn't paying enough attention and pulled out the wrong steak so I went with the steak that was thawed.

I had to call a neighbor to see if she had any whiskey I could borrow. She did, so I traded a dozen eggs for a 1/4 cup whiskey.

1-10 Allen rated it an 8. I think the rating would have been higher if he would have ate when supper was hot & ready and not 30 minutes later.

Where has MY kitchen gone to?

2010-02-03T11:00:00.000-06:00

What a mess! I don't think I'm in my kitchen!!
This can't be my kitchen...nope...no way!

Cheesy Ham & Broccoli Soup

2010-02-03T08:55:00.003-06:00

I am starting a week or so of trying new recipes. I will try to take pictures and let you know what turned out good and what not to waste your time on.

This was the first for us to try. The instant reaction from my husband was "Yuck! I don't like broccoli." I told him that he needed to try it anyway. Ends up he liked it! I asked him to judge it 1-10 and he gave it a 7! Pretty good for someone that doesn't like broccoli. I thought it was delicious. I did use the recipe like it said except for I didn't have potatoes in a can so i boiled 4 medium sized eggs. This was a good way for me to use my left over ham from a previous meal.

Motherly Love

2010-02-03T08:48:00.003-06:00

This past weekend our heifers have started having their baby's! Saturday we found that a bull calf was born at our farm and Sunday a heifer calf was born at our house! Only 19 more to go! Both mommy's are taking good care of their calves and baby's are doing good too. Here are a couple pictures of them.

Lost Little Piggies

2010-01-22T21:37:00.002-06:00

The other night, or should I say morning, Gage came in our room around 2 or 3 am and was crying. Here is my conversation:

Me: What's wronge Gage?
Gage: The piggies flew out?
Me: What?!
Gage: The piggies flew out of Brownie (our old feed truck) when we hit that bump?
Me:Piggies? What are you talking about?!?!?!
Gage: THE PIGGIES! There was a Daddy, Mommy and a baby. When you hit the bump they flew out the back! We need to go get them, get dressed mommy so we can go get them. They might get cold tonight.
Me: Gage, I think your having a dream. We don't have pigs. Lets put you back to bed and we will talk about it in the morning.
Gage: Okay, but will we find the piggies?
Me: We will talk about it in the morning.
Gage:What is a dream?
Me: Good night!

Morning came and the first thing out of his mouth was "Can we go look for the piggies?"
I was hoping he would have forgotten all about them.
I tried explaining what a dream was but to a 3 1/2 year old it just wasn't working. You forget as an adult that when your dreaming it feels so real. Heck, even now somedays I wake up wondering, for a moment, did that really happen??

Complaints

2010-01-06T09:26:00.005-06:00

So with this weather we have been having I am tired.

Tired of putting on 5 layers of clothes.
Tired of having goosebumps.
Tired of hearing my son ask if he can go play outside.
Tired of hauling water to the chicken coop just for it to freeze up an hour later.

I know enough complaining. Good thing I don't live up north! I don't think I could handle that.

Speaking of Chicken coop. I have felt sorry for my chickens since their in molt. Last night I bared the cold and searched in the dark for the heat lamp they used when they were chicks and rigged it up out in their coop. I hung the lamp to keep them a little warmer. Not sure how much it will help but hopefully they are smart enough to go under it for warmth. You would think they would freeze to death with only 1/2 the amount of chicken feathers on them but they don't. Their a lot more tough than I am! I think I'll go home tonight and start making them sweaters...

Snow Day

2010-01-02T16:07:00.001-06:00

Sporting his mom's sweet scarf! No! I'm not cold! Nope not me!
When will it be my turn?!
Dalton & Gage sledding

Sunday morning Allen, Gage and I went rabbitt hunting. After no success we headed back to town to try out sledding. The days before it was just too cold and had been really windy. Don't get me wrong Sunday was still REALLY cold but not as much wind. We hooked the sled behind the Ranger and pulled Gage around and around and around. After a while we went over to the McNickle's house and they came with us to play in the snow. Dalton had received a snowboard for Christmas so they played on that too. Gage actually could do a little snowboarding to my surprise. I may be raising an Olympic snowboarder from Kansas...okay maybe not. Anyways had a great day playing in the snow and hope to have more days like that before spring. If it's going to be cold we might as well have snow for the fun right!I don't think the kid would have ever went in if we wouldn't of made him!

Christmas Update

2009-12-31T18:00:00.001-06:00

What a wonderful Christmas we had!

In recap:
Christmas Eve around 5:30 p.m. I found out that the Parsons Movie Theatre wasn't having a 7:00 p.m. showing of Alvin & the Chipmunks so we drove in the sleet/ice to Pittsburg to follow through with a promise that we made to Gage that for Christmas Eve we would go to the movies. When we left the movies it had began snowing and we drove home in a blizzard! I wasn't scared since Allen went with me. And those of you who have road with my husband know when Allen is driving...you just close your eyes and pray, even when the weather is clear!.We got home around 11:00 p.m. that night and put our cookies out for Santa and headed to bed.

Christmas day this year was a little different than the past. Usually we get up and do our Christmas then go to my G&G Hoobler's but they had went to Arizona to be with my Aunt and her family this year since they were unable to come to Kansas.

Christmas Day Gage woke up and ran not to the Christmas tree to look to see if Santa had came but to the front living room to look out the window to see if it had snowed. He came running to our bedroom about 7:15 a.m. saying "Mama wake up it's winter time"! Once entering our bedroom he ran to the window to open the blinds to prove to us it was a white Christmas.
After looking at the snow we went to the Christmas tree to find that Santa had left him a Wii, Cars Race O' Rama Wii game. In his stocking he had left hot wheels an extra Wii remote and some transformer underwear.

Aunt Kelli braved the 4" of snow and 5-6' tall drifts and drove down to enjoy Christmas morning with us. When she arrived we ate homemade cinnamon rolls and opened presents.

The rest of the day was pretty lazy and relaxing. We were to have Christmas at my father's house but that was postponed until Saturday due to the weather. We played, ate, napped and was merry!

Saturday we went to Papa Steve's and enjoyed the company of famiy. Gage enjoyed playing with all his cousin's and I enjoyed talking to my sister and step-sisters.