Quality Time

Quality time included feeding cows (missing the cracks), finishing the gator, and dancing with a feather duster (Tana's new tool)!!!

Tana help sort cows this weekend and took all the notes too!

She just couldn't figure out why these two heifers wouldn't let her pet them.

The new light on the gator.

Check out critters and family for more!

Falling in the Cracks

As you all know, we are dry...but while feeding on Saturday evening, Ryan was watching the feed come out of the cake feeder...and says, "the feed is falling in the cracks and disappearing". WOW, I never thought of that, but now I wonder just how much feed we've lost in the cracks. We did get a small sprinkler at our house last night, but it's going to take a flood to fill the cracks!

Check out the food page to hear about a creamy mexican chicken pasta casserole!

Have a great week.

Family Time

Family time is important to me. Being about to sit at the table and eat a home-cooked meal and talk about our day or what's coming up. Being about to sit in the living room talking about the cows and playing together without having to have the tv on. I prefer a regular schedule of events and not driving 50 miles a day to and from this and that, instead, coming straight come and doing chores, enjoying the outdoors, watching the kids ride their bicycles, play with the dogs and shoot at birds. As important as it is to me...there will be less and less family time in the near future and I don't like that. So my way of coping is buying a new crock pot and planning meals so that we can still have a home cooked meal after a late night of practices and games.

Check out the food page to hear about what we had for dinner last night...sitting around the table together!!!

The Wood Stack

Each year we spend the summer and fall gathering wood for the winter. We heat our home with a wood-burning stove, so this is very important to us! This year we were fortunate enough to have imported wood from my parents. They cut all of this wood! What great parents! While we still need more, it's a great start and calms the nerves. This is our main wood stack...with a metal framed stack just outside the back door. I'll keep you all informed of how the winter goes. We're not sure if it will be mild and a drought still or a wet and nasty one. One thing for sure, we spend every spring, summer and fall working on projects to make the following winter easier. A first for this year...we'll be calving out 10 head this fall, so we are preparing for that as well!

Check out a few of the other pages too!

Vacuum Sealer and more

I love all sorts of gadgets, especially when related to cooking, we just don't have much room. But I have created space under the bed in a basket for the vacuum sealer my mom gave me. It's too neat, I've done corn on the cob, meat, sausage, and can't wait for more opportunities! This should truly extend the life of products in the freezer and what a great way to divide up large packages of raw meat for portion or recipe size packets. I even sliced a large roast into two portions and froze! Ryan keeps rolling his eyes, but I get excited even about the small things! Check out the food page for a creamy chicken pasta bake!

Heels in the Pasture

The other day I had a 50 minute break in the evening before returning to work for a meeting...so I decided to go home, see Ryan and Tana, fix them something to eat, the usual thing. Instead the owners of a cow and calf that were discovered in our pasture that morning came to claim her. The drove to their place for a truck and trailer and Ryan attempted to pen them with the gator...well there was a reason that cow was out. She was crazy!!!! With a full audience Ryan ropes the back leg of the cow...I'm about a quarter mile away and see him running behind her. A quick trip in the feed truck across the pasture and Tana and I come to his rescue, tying the cow to the ball. Her owners drove through the pasture and we successfully loaded her into the trailer. In the meantime the calf crawled through the fence and was trotting down the county road. The whole time I was still in my dress clothes and heels. That was a first for me, loading a cow in the pasture in heels! (We never saw the calf again so hopefully they caught it too!)

Eating out with Kids

We have on and off battled meal time with both kids, but most recently Tana. She is given a plate with a variety of foods on it and what she eats is what she gets. Except we must have a healthy snack before bed or she won't sleep through the night. We have recently enforced this concept even more and I had to stick with it last night while eating out. Tana was given a crayon and piece of paper to write on then I took out a coin purse and a dollars worth of change and a few pens. This kept her busy for a while. She ate a few bites of my salad, then actually ate my dinner with me.

Tana is not the usual child, she does not eat nuggets, pieces, fast food and only an occasional french fry. So even on the go, it's difficult to find something for her to eat and usually it all the healthier options. This pasta dish included chicken, sauce, lots of noodles and chopped peppers and onions. And Tana loves flavor. While last night was a great experience and I was super proud of her....I can only admit it might have been a once in a lifetime occurrence and all in all eating out with young children is no fun! But yet without them Ryan and I just sit and stare at each other. Just joking!!

Been a While

It has been a while and I apologize. Some on purpose and some not, we have literally been off the map for a few days between work, family and travel. Some things that I have learned:

- Family is the best and while there are occasional health issues they are all doing well, I have a ton of family still around to enjoy!
- You can't beat a good old fashion shrimp boil...more on the food page.
- The smile on a child's face after shooting his first rabbit is priceless...more on the family page.
- Old things are still neat...more on from the road!!!!
- You can survive many many hours travelling in a vehicle with the whole family even if it seems miserable at the time.
- I have fallen in love with my automatic timer and am thankful it works so well, might keep me from having to move the one sprinkler a million times around the yard.
- The small, and I mean small showers we have received has provided enough for a slight green tint on the land.
- We have the best group of dogs ever...see the critters page!

More later, have many many things to share but this is it for now!!!! It's Monday, have a great week.

Go Away

Haha, you thought I really meant it. Thanks to some fantastic friends this cute little fella sits by our front door. If I ever owned my own store or office, he would be my open and closed sign. One side says WELCOME and the other says GO AWAY. Isn't that what we really mean anyway!

Check out the family page to hear about the weekend!