Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for December, 2011

2011 Year in Review

Posted in Uncategorized on December 30, 2011| Leave a Comment »

What a wonderful year 2011 has been.  I can’t wait to see what 2012 has to offer.

January: My birthday weekend was spent at the lake scrapbooking. A Scentsy kicked my husband’s butt. We learned Tails doesn’t like to be dressed up in clothes. 

February: In the middle of the month we had a crazy day of 60 degree weather so all our vehicles and tractors got washed.  The end of the month we went to Las Vegas for a weeks long vacation and business meetings. We walked the strip many times and visited the Hoover Dam.

March: For Christmas Mildred and I bought our gma a night out on the town. Or at the winery for a Murder Mystery dinner.  We had so much fun.  A new John Deere tractor made it’s home here on our farm. I got to use my Christmas gift for the first time…a potting station!

April: TNT and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. We burned the trash/tree pit out back and I got some pretty cool pictures.  I joined a photo group and we meet one a month.

May: My favorite time of the year…SPRING except this spring wasn’t that great since our neighbor had piled cow manure right across the road from our house.  You wouldn’t believe the flies we had until November. It was horrible. My husband ALMOST made it to the race track this year. Memorial weekend brought another “iincident” that had me falling & scratching my leg and still fighting the infection that I got from it. That little scratch has been a huge pain.

June: Was a very very busy month. We brought home Miss Molly Sue. I made my photo business FB official. The end of the month it was a girls weekend with Mildred, our Mom, my Mother-in-law and I went to North Platte, NE to see Blake Shelton and some other guys. 

July: I took the first full week of July off from work to help with wheat harvest. I got to go visit my gma as well which is always nice. Molly found her nemisis…a bowling ball. Some friends from Colorado came to the lake and we took Molly there for the first time.

August: I received a HUGE honor and was asked by Kat to be her featured blogger for August. Oh gosh was I tickled pink. Kat also got me to do the Daily Glimpses for a whole week.  I thought it was going to be a lot of work, but I actually enjoyed it. Mildred and I went to The Band Perry and Craig Morgan concert.

September: I got to talk to my awesome photographer friend The Cotton Wife, Jennifer Warthan. She spoke to my photo group. She did such a great job and the gals in my group still talk about some of Jennifer’s tips. We spent the Labor Day Weekend down at the lake with Mildred joining us.  We had a Booce ball tourney which us awesome sisters won. WhooooHoooo!  lol  On Labor Day Mildred and I went to the area where we grew up and fished in my Grandma pasture at the creek. It was a wonderful day. I swore I’d glance over and there gma would be sitting in her old fishing hat crouched down holding her bamboo pole. Two ladies from my photo group and I joined forces and became the official photographers for a local car show. It was so much fun!

October: As always October brings fall. 😦 Fall harvest kicked into full swing and I had to drive tractor/grain cart. Then there was wheat drilling. And my photo business kept me busy busy busy.  I had 4 sessions in 2 weeks. But I loved it.

November: On the 2nd our family got even bigger when my cousin gave birth to Miss Averlee.  Mildred and I went to a college vball game and saw a major roommate fail. We celebrated Christmas and Thanksgiving with my Mom & Step-dad. Mildred got some hunting clothes.

December: I went to visit my grandma and bought a Santa hat for Tails & Molly.

 I grew up as a person and forgave two people who I’ve had grudges against for many years. And as always Christmas was wonderful.  Good family and good food!!

Thank you all for putting up with me for another year.  Love to you all!

Read Full Post »

Christmas

Posted in Family, Me on December 29, 2011| 3 Comments »

As always Christmas was way too good this year.  Christmas Eve Day I finished painting my Dad’s bedroom for him. The previous owners had a hunter green on the ceiling and then stripes on the walls. After 3 coats on everything I finally finished and headed home around 3.  (Mildred and my step-dad were at the KC Chiefs/Oakland Raiders football game on Saturday and had a BLAST!)

For supper TNT and I had our traditional meal of crab legs and steaks. It was so good. Afterwards we went downstairs to open gifts. Notice how full Molly & Tails’ stockings are. Spoiled? I think so.

I came downstairs to find TNT had actually wrapped my gifts this year.  He ran out of paper on one of them though. lol He even used bows.

Tails loved his toys.

And even fell asleep with the hamster.

Miss Molly got so many gifts she didn’t know what to play with. She’d have one in her mouth then see another one. Until she saw Tails’ toys then she wanted all of his. This is the only a little blurry photo I got of her with her toys. She was SO excited.

Tails is so pretty.

I’ll do a post on all the cool things we received for Christmas next week. I’ve been in a “I don’t want to blog” mood these past few week.

Read Full Post »

Razor + Dog = Funny Story

Posted in Animals, Farming on December 21, 2011| 2 Comments »

So TNT decided to buy a Polaris Razor “for the farm.” Or at least that’s what he told me he was buying it for. But once I saw it I knew it was more for play than for work.  You should have heard him trying to convince me it was just what we needed “for farm work!”  {eye roll}  A few weeks ago when I went to visit my gma I got home that Sunday afternoon and my yard that still had a good foot of snow had tire tracks everywhere. Then I see the shop door go up and out comes this NOT A FARM VEHICLE 2 seater 4 wheeler.  My husband pulls up on the driveway and just smiles at me.

When he was trying to convince me that this was a good investment he told me there was a box on the back to haul things in. Not as big as Big Red’s but still good sized. Does this look good sized to you?

Now to the funny story. I usually get home around 5:30 every night from work and it’s already getting dark so instead of taking Molly out for a bike ride I just drive the Razor around the farm for about 15 minutes or until her tongue is hanging down to the ground. Last night she wasn’t getting tired so we drive the 1/4 mile to the road I usually ride my bike on to let her run.  We went 1/2 mile out and back. On the way back a bird flew across the road and she took off after it. Well the ditches are full of snow so she thought she could run right over the top of the snow. Let’s just say that didn’t happen.  Her first jump down she went in the snow and rolled about three time.  After that she’d try to jump across the ditch. I about wrecked laughing at her.  Where is my video camera when I need it?

Read Full Post »

Friday Five

Posted in Family, Friday Five on December 16, 2011| 3 Comments »

Today is my beautiful mother’s 52nd birthday.  So to celebrate I thought I’d share things that I love about my mom.

1. She raised Mildred and I on her own after her & my dad divorced and did a damn good job of it!

This would be my MIL and my mother seeing who has the biggest boobies? sigh)

2. She stared cancer in the face and beat it down!

3. Twenty Two years after she graduated high school she went back to college and earned her bachelor’s degree. If it hadn’t been for her I probably wouldn’t be a college grad either. 

(Notice how lovely my hair looks? Well I decided to blow dry it so Mildred could straighten it. Well it backfired cause it was misting outside when we started family pictures and this was the result! Not cute!)

4. She picked a husband who loves not only her but Mildred and I.  He loves us like his own and we are so thankful she chose him!

(All of our family minus TNT are KU fans so we had to do a house divided picture. The first one TNT mooned us.  I so had an itching to post it, but thought I better keep it PG-13)

5. Plain and simple she’s the best mom!!!  Love you!!!

For more Friday Fives go visit Kat @ Living Like the Kings.

Read Full Post »

Gifts for my Photo Group

Posted in Friends on December 13, 2011| 1 Comment »

I wanted to make a little something for the guys and gals in my photo group so I found these super cute ornaments on etsy.  I bought a couple of them and realized just how easy they would be to make.  Granted mine are not nearly as perfect as the one on etsy, but I think it adds character to it.

Looking at that pic I realized just how crooked that top stitch is. oh well. Lots of character on that one! lol

The boys get the blue one. I made 8 in all and I think they are cute!

Read Full Post »

They will kill me in my sleep

Posted in Animals, Family, Traveling on December 12, 2011| 2 Comments »

Over the weekend I traveled to my Grandma’s house in Central Kansas.  I left Friday after I got off work at 3:30 and pulled into town around 6:30. I did a little shopping at the mall and got my wedding rings cleaned then headed to her house.

On Saturday my Grandma and I hit Hobby Lobby, Office Max, Peel’s, Dollar Tree, stopped for lunch at Applebee’s with TNT’s cousin.  After that Grandma was tired of walking so I took her home and my aunt arrived. We visited for a little while then I headed back to Hobby Lobby ( I rushed the first time so gma didn’t have to wait so long), Target, Big Lots! Then I walked into my favorite store, Kohl’s.  However, I turned around and walked out when I saw the check out line went almost all the way to the back of the store. No thank you. I love that store, but not enough to stand in line THAT long.

My grandma loves to read and she’s actually the person who got me into reading. When I worked at a front desk in a hotel I needed something to kill time once I finished my daily chores.  Grandma sent me home “The Children in the Attic”  by VC Andrews. I was hooked and now I read about a book a week ranging from romance, thriller, comedy, murder mystery to my favorite romance mystery. When I got back to her house after shopping her and I went downstairs to organize her books.  She wanted all the authors together so we did that then we found a series of 7 books with the first one being published 3 years before my birth. It was fun to look inside the cover and see how many people had read the book including my mom.  The first book is about 3 sisters who are traveling by covered wagon West when the father falls ill and dies. The series continues in their lives as well as their children. I’m excited to dive in.

The real reason for this post is at Dollar Tree they had a Santa hat for pets for $1. You know EVERYTHING IS A DOLLAR! I couldn’t pass it up.

Seriously mom? 

I’m so ashamed.

I kill you when you sleep! I promise!!

This is crap mom!

I hope my friends don’t see!

Read Full Post »

Friday Five

Posted in Friday Five on December 9, 2011| 5 Comments »

 

Last night as Molly woke me up at 10:30 to go outside and then I laid in bed for the next 4 hours wide awake I got to thinking about things. Am I the only one who remembers things that I did weird when I was a kid that I still do today?

For instance:

1.  I never let any part of my body lay over the edge of the bed. Sometimes I’ll wake up and realize my arm is over the edge and it’s like full on fighting for my life to get my arm back under the covers.

2. I always get a weird feeling when I walk through the house at night. I just know a serial killer is waiting in the shadows to jump me. So I run back to the bedroom where there is no place to escape. Of course serial killers can’t find you under the covers. Everyone knows that!

3. Even today I like to rub kitten paws under my nose. Not to smell, but because their paws are so soft. My mom even got a pic of me when I was little with a kitten. (OH gosh pomp pomps on my shoe laces and ringed socks. I blame it all on my mother!) 

4. Growing up mom use to get so mad at me cause when I’d drink from her pop I’d chew on the straw. I still do it today. Pop just doesn’t taste the same if its not coming out of a chewed up straw! 😉  Oh and I have to have the straw at the side of my mouth. I can’t put it in my mouth straight on. No clue why either!

5. Even though I’m almost 32 years old I still have to call my mommie. She just makes everything better! 🙂

For more Friday Fives visit Kat @ Living Like the Kings.

Read Full Post »

Doggy Treats

Posted in Animals on December 8, 2011| Leave a Comment »

I’ve been a busy Betty Homemaker these last few weeks. I found a recipe for homemade doggy treats and Molly LOVES them.  I decided to sell them this Christmas. The other night I made 10 dozen small bones, 4 dozen medium and 2 dozen large ones. They are super easy to make and are done in about an hour start to finish.

ingredients:

Whole Wheat Flour (I bought the white whole wheat flour by mistake). Non-Fat Dry Milk, Crisco or Lard ( I use both), brown sugar (just a tablespoon) and I add peanut butter for my own little twist.  The dog bone cookie cutters I bought at Bass Pro Shop for $7.

You get it all mixed up. I’m gonna have to say that using lard took me back to growing up.  We use to do all our own beef & pork butchering so my parents & gparents rendered their own lard.  I didn’t know people used anything but lard until we moved to town.  This recipe calls for 6 tablespoons of Crisco or lard. So I use 5 tablespoons of Crisco and 1 of lard. Then I melt some lard and brush it over the top of the biscuits before putting in the oven.

Here’s my medium-sized bones.

Someone stands/lays/annoys me the whole time I’m making doggy treats.

The thing about these doggy treats is you can’t seal them. So if I want to sell them I had to come up with a way to package them. I think I figured out a way.  I use wax paper to wrap around them, but leave the top open. I then place the bones in a nice little Christmas gift bag with tissue paper so the dog has something to open.  These are not an example of the finished packaged product. I just wanted you to see how many I made!

Look who can’t wait to eat one!

Then she runs around with it like a cigar.

Here’s the finished goods. I’d really like to get these moved to make some extra money, but I’m afraid if I advertise I’ll get way too many orders and not be able to finish them. It would be different if I didn’t work full-time, but only doing them in the evening scares me. Plus I went to visit my gma over the weekend. hmmm Maybe TNT would make them. hahahahaha!!!

$12 for a dozen of big bones (4 1/2″)

$10 for a dozen of medium bones (2 1/2″)

$8 for a dozen of small bones. (1 3/4″)

 

Read Full Post »

Playing in the snow

Posted in Farming on December 7, 2011| 1 Comment »

Since TNT bought his skid steer he’s been out moving snow every single night.  He’s already looking to buy me a rocker bucket that I’ll be able to use to pick up tree limbs. Pretty excited about that.  If I don’t have to bend down and pick tree limb by tree limb up I’ll be happy. I’m not talking about small branches, but big ones that take everything I have to get them in the dump truck.

We took the skid steer over to the in-laws on Sunday and they got home in time to play with it too. TNT teaching his dad how to run it.

Hmmmm it’s just like the grasshopper mower, but with foot pedals to move the bucket.

They asked if I wanted to learn how to run it. I do really really badly but not with 3 people standing there watching me.  I can’t wait for this summer when I can clean up the tree row without having to watch for rattle snakes every time I pick up a limb!

Miss Molly always finds goodies at Gma and Pappa’s house. She found this bone in the barn and had to carry it with her everywhere. We were able to “hide” it when she jumped in the pickup and we went home.

The Mother-in-law wants to learn to run it too, but like me will wait until there isn’t people standing around watching.

Read Full Post »

A Real Live Tree

Posted in House on December 6, 2011| Leave a Comment »

TNT broke me down this year and I agreed to bring a real tree into the house.  You know I don’t decorate for Christmas! The deal was I’d decorate the tree if he watered it.  Well guess who’s doing both? You guessed it TNT! Just kidding. The first morning we had it I overfilled the basin since I was running late for work and it was hard to see in the basement that morning.  My excuse anyway. So that’s why my tree skirt is bunched up over in the corner. Man you’d think I’d look at my surroundings before I take a picture.  I do when I’m shooting a session, but not for candid shots.

Yes that’s Harry Potter on the TV.

Molly and Tails stockings are both full while mine and TNT’s are both empty.  I’m going to my gma’s this weekend and I’ll be able to go to an office supply store which TNT loves office supply items in his stocking. I’m not kidding he always ohhs and ahhs over pens.

Our next big project for this man cave will be to tear out that ugly paneling, the carpet, windows, basically gut the whole basement.  Our fireplace where the TV hangs on doesn’t work which is a huge disappointment to me. I love fireplaces. And in our spare time we’ll get all this done!  That’s another reason TNT bought the skid steer that I talked about in yesterday’s post. We have moisture leaking in the basement which means TNT will have to dig out the dirt from the house on the south side.  We’ll probably have to put all new foundation in there. With him doing the dirt moving that would hopefully cut down on some costs.

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »