HALLOWEEN TREAT

I FOUND THIS COOL TREAT TO MAKE FOR HALLOWEEN AND THOUGHT I'D SHARE. IT'S SUPER EASY AND SUPER YUMMY. JUST A FEW INGREDIENTS.


MY FAVORITE VANILLA ICE CREAM. CHIPS AHOY COOKIES, AND SPRINKLES!

JUST PUT 1/4 CUP ICE CREAM A TOP A COOKIE, I THOUGH IT WAS A LITTLE MUCH, BUT HEY, STILL GOOD. PUT ANOTHER COOKIE ON TOP. SQUEEZE LIGHTLY, THEN ROLL EDGES INTO HALLOWEEN SPRINKLES. WA LA!

THEN PUT THEM INTO THE FREEZER FOR ABOUT HALF HOUR, THEN ENJOY! WE DID.

EASY FOR KIDS TO MAKE, SETS UP QUICK, AND FESTIVE. AND JUST IN CASE YALL THINK I WAS SO CRAFTY TO THINK THIS YUMMY ONE UP, THE RECIPE IS ON THE PACKAGE OF HALLOWEEN CHIPS AHOY COOKIES. :)

HMMMM.....I BET YOU COULD DO THIS WHEN THE CHRISTMAS ONES COME OUT TOO! :)

Oh boy...

I know this photo is horrible, but was a must post. If you look carefully you'll see Brandon, riding Conner's john deer gator, yes people....that is a motorized four wheeler....FOR KIDS.... Brandon definately exceeds both the height and weight requierments, but those weren't stopping him tonight! I caught this photo from inside, undercover. He probably thought no one would see him cause it was dark, but secrets out...some kids just never grow up. They just wait till their kids go to bed and their wives are occupied.... then they re-live all their childhood dreams.

CANNING

I know some of these pictures are not very clear and bright, but Presley was such a big helper while I was doing my caning this year I couldn't not post them. I usually do a lot of canning, but this was just a busy time for me this year and I just got done what I could. I had to do Raspberry jam because it's our favorite. I spent most of my time eating the raspberries while I picked, but eventually after a few trips to brenda's raspberry patch and several sweat hours, my berries were picked and ready to go.

I had the rare opportunity this year to try white raspberries, yep white. I had never heard of such a thing, but they are to die for. They were so good we just kept eating them, they are sweeter than reds. I planned on making a jar of just white jam, but I'm afraid more ended up in our bellies than planned and we didn't have enough, so we just mixed them in.


Taylor was such a good helper at picking them, wish i would have had my camera on me. She was picking for quite some time and I had the bucket by me, so i said, " Taylor you need the bucket for all those berries yet?" She replied, " Oh Mom, these raspberries are just so good I can't stop shoving them in my mouth!" So cute. Picking and eating.


Now that both older kids are in school Presley is my daytime helper, and she just looooved making jam with me. She is quite the crack up, always making us laugh.




The jam was a success, oh so yummy.
My next canning project was grape juice. This can be tricky process, a messy one, but We love it, so we can it. Wash, steam, extract, bottle.




That about sums it up! I made 30 jars this year, and it is so good. There is nothing like homemade grape juice. I remember as a kid sitting next to the fence at the bottom of our driveway eating grapes off the overgrown vines from our neighbors yard. mmmm.


I learned a new trick this year while doing grape juice. Instead of adding sugar when you mix it up right before you drink it, I sprinkled sugar over the grapes while they steamed. I think this worked so well. The juice is already sweetned when bottled.

School Days

I now have TWO big school kids... wow, That makes me feel old. Conner and Taylor both started school this year, and they both enjoy it. They both get to ride the bus to school...Yeah for me!!!!. But then I have to go pick Taylor up, half day kindergarten. Wish they did all day, would be much nicer on the gas bill. Oh well, next year.



Conner is enjoying school so far,


and Taylor always wants to know why she can't stay and eat lunch and ride the bus home....I just tell her, so do I.


It's funny how some kids really like school and others really struggle. I don't remember what my feelings were back when I was that age. I do remember walking to school though, A long way. Seems like we would have to get up so early so we could get to walking. Walking home wasn't that bad cause we could take our time, walk slow, but I remember some mornings hearing that bell ring and I was still a good ways away and I'd have to run. I do remember the smell though, cool air, and wet grass. Don't know why I always remember that, but I do.

I also remember how I thought school would never end. And for my little ones, it's only just begun.

Grandpa's Ponytail

While we were down at Grandpa's visiting, Presley received some very special treatment from grandpa. Grandpa's famous pony tail :) I remember these when I was a little girl. I would sit at the bottom of the stairs, my Dad a few steps up, and I would receive my "PONYTAIL" I remember these for a few reasons, one because they hurt like crazy to get. Dad always had to slick the hair back real good, I'm assuming that's because he didn't want to have to redo it later from it falling out. Two, it was always fun to know that Dad wasn't afraid to tackle the girls hair, I think he actually liked doing it, And three, our eyes hurt like crazy afterwards, we use to laugh saying we had instant "china" eyes.


Presley was eager to climb up to get her hair done, she even retrieved the brush and spray. I thought after a few pulls she would be done, but the little one just sat through the whole process, which can take a few minutes due to the amount of slicking, she was so good, didn't even cry. She even left it in all day, and of course it did not fall out :)




We love grandpa. The pony tails are something I will always remember from my childhood, and now Presley has proof she participated in this fine art as well.

Where is a Rainbow?

I saw a rainbow once,
Drifting in the sky.
My science teacher told me
It was only in my eye.

It made the Heavens sparkle,
A simply wondrous sight.
My science teacher said
It was just a trick of light.

He said rainbows were refractions,
Just the bending of the light.
That they didn't speak of hope or joy,
Of good or bad, or wrong or right.

He said life is made of molecules,
Exact and perfectly precise.
And rainbows don't have meaning,
Beyond equations quite concise.

I'd like to meet my science teacher
Once before I'm done.
I'd like to teach him something
I learned when I was young.

You can see a rainbow many ways,
And if you're very smart,
You won't see them with your eyes,
You'll see them with your heart.


Joe Wayman

FRED'S STORY

This is Fred. Fred has a story, a long one, but a must tell, long story. I encourage you to read it, and I encourage you to get tissue because every time I tell it, tears come.

We live in the country, real country. We have lots of trees, which in natural bring lots of birds. Most of the time they don't bother me, except when they fly into my windows and I have to clean them up off the yard, but this year we have had soooo many birds. The problem I face is the amount of baby birds that fall from the giant trees. I have a cat, who views this as an easy lunch, and I also have two dogs, which are for some reason very territorial against the birds, even the babies. So I have spent many a day’s cleaning up dead birds. We have many kinds of birds, but they all keep to the same areas of the yard according to species. In the back corner of my yard live the black birds. They are the annoying ones. Every time I go out they dip at me and scream at me and I can't even mow the lawn or sit in that corner of the yard without being attacked. Many baby birds fall out of these trees. We found one, one day and rescued it before it became lunch, I couldn't very well let it sit on the ground and be eaten while my kids played in the yard, so we scooped it up, ugly looking and all, found its nest and put it back. Next day we found it out again, I repeated the same process, next day same thing. I could tell the little guy was not going to make it, it was just brand new, hungry, and I assumed the reason it kept ending up on the ground was because the mother was kicking it out, after I put it back; I did use gloves. This sort of irked me, but sure enough one morning our little guy was on the ground again and had not survived another fall. Kids were sad.

Well, the other side of my yard, yes it's big, I have these really tall trees. We have another species there. Well one day, while playing with the kids I saw my dog attacking something, actually Taylor did and she rushed to rescue it. After coming back from the point of attack, she was holding a cute, tiny little bird. You'll now know him as Fred. We tried to look for Fred's nest, but the branches are so far up, I could see nothing. I knew if she put Fred down, he would be instant play toy for three animals, so for a while she just carried him around. Taylor insisted she be his mother because he no longer had one, and she made him a home. The kids found a box and made a nest in it out of branches grass and leaves. Here she placed Fred. I didn't know what to do with Fred; I certainly didn't want to see him lying on my back porch the next morning, so we put him in his new nest and put him up on top the bunny cage. Fred could not fly, so I knew he would be safe.

For the next few days the kids played with Fred. They would lock the dogs up and put him on the grass and try to teach him how to fly, so priceless. Fred spent the majority of his time riding around on Taylor’s finger. He just sat there, held on tight, and chirped at her. I knew we had to find Fred's mom or he would not survive, so I had Brandon climb up the tree with a ladder and check it out. Of course he found nests, but so many, and we couldn't be sure which one was his. I knew Fred had to eat. I told the kids to go find him a worm, and after searching diligently they brought me a big fat one. Conner reminded us that baby birds usually eat from their mothers’ mouth after she chews up the food for them, nice. I was very firm on the fact that I was NOT going to do this, so Taylor insisted she break up the worm into tiny pieces and try to feed him. Fred would not eat. We tried several times and then some more the next day. He finally took a small bite, but nothing to sustain himself I'm sure. Poor Fred, I feared the worst for him and I knew this one would be hard because he was Taylor's little finger buddy. Of all the birds, he has been the only one to sit on our fingers and talk to us.

After sitting in the yard debating what we should do, Brandon brought to my attention a very small yellow bird that kept flying over us, but then flying away. After I thought about it, I thought, could it be? Could this be his mother? I mean it is so noisy in my yard I can't tell who the birds are talking to, but there was only one way to tell. The kids put the animals in the house and we placed Fred at the bottom of a small lone tree and then huddled on the swing to watch. At first the Yellow bird would fly to the tree then fly away immediately, but I had hopes because this lone tree never housed any birds, it was too small, and too low to the ground. Fred slept for a while and the bird repeated this same process only each time staying a little longer. We kept absolutely still because each time we moved the bird would fly away. Soon Fred began to cry, and then so did I because with each cry the yellow bird came closer and closer until finally it landed on the ground next to Fred. Immediately Fred became ballistic and the yellow bird was consoling him. Fred found his mom. Then we watched her fly back to the trees and return with food for Fred. He ate for a while.

Now this story doesn't end here, and the next half is what truly got me thinking. Being a bird and being on the ground is a dangerous thing, and after I saw the mother fly away I thought, “stupid mother, can't just leave him there." She would fly around him then come back, then fly up in the air then circle back, soon she discovered he could not fly, which I am now convinced that is what she was trying to get him to do, follow her. As we continued to watch, the mother would fly away then come back and land on an object. Then she'd talk. Then Fred would hop over to where his mother was. Then she would fly away again and then come back landing somewhere different, not too far from the last place. Then Fred would hop some more. I thought, “This is cute, but dumb. Where is she taking him?" They continued this ritual all the way back to one of those tall trees in the back yard. Fred then parked it at the base of the tree. The mother kept trying to get him to fly, but Fred could not fly. It brought tears to my eyes to see this mother watching her baby from a distance, and then coming back for him and helping him home.

At this point I knew we could not just let Fred sit on the ground at the bottom of the tree. So we put him in his box and lodged the box in the tree just below the other nests, hoping when his mother heard his cries she would take care of him there. After the kids went out to check on him the next morning, Fred was still in his box. A couple days went by and we kept an eye on Fred, but tried to leave him alone. One day we came out to check on Fred and he was not in his box. Upon searching for some time we could not find Fred. A day went by, then one afternoon while out in the grass pile, Brandon found Fred, alone, alive, and hiding in some weeds. Poor Fred is trying so hard to fly, but just can't. We put Fred back in the box. I just could not bear to leave him down for free food. Several more days went by and sometimes when we would find Fred had fallen out of the box, we would also find his mother nearby, watching him. I just hoped she would keep watching him.

One morning Fred was not in the box and nowhere to be found. We looked everywhere. Most of the baby birds had been flying for some time now, and they all look so alike, it was so hard to tell. But we believe Fred finally flew away. His mother was no longer flying around the ground watching him, and so far we have had no surprises on our porch. The kids were sad at first, but little Taylor was so excited after I told her I thought he finally learned to fly. She said, “So now he can be with his mommy in the trees!" Yes, I am convinced Fred is with his mommy in the trees.

It was sweet to see a mother watch her baby, come for her baby, feed him, and help him hop home. Regardless of the fact that Fred could not fly, his mother was still there. She still took him home. So why was the other bird left to die each time he fell out of the nest? And why was he being kicked out of the nest? I don't know. I have thought a lot about Fred, and his mom. No matter what species you are, being a mother is a special job. If one of my babies fell from the tree, I would watch them, I wouldn't stop looking until I found them, I would comfort and feed them, and if they could not fly I would help them hop home. We love Fred, we are grateful for the lessons he taught us and the experiences he gave us, and we always look for his wings among the trees.