Our new Christmas Ornament

A couple of days before Christmas my almost three year old came out to the kitchen saying "Brudder binky in Christian Tree, Momma". (He call the Christmas Tree a "Christian Tree" - love it!) At first I thought he had taken it from his brother and threw it in the tree, but he was acting too proud for that to be the case. "Come here, see" he said as he turned and ran back into the living room. This is what I found when I got there...

It was just too cute not to share. We decided to leave it there because *K* (10 1/2 months old) doesn't really use it anymore, other then as a toy. So it is now officially part of the Christmas decorations. A first Christmas Ornament - so to speak.
I've been so blessed! My boys both gave up their pacifiers around 10 mths old. They just seemed to be done all of the sudden. No warning, no fussing, nothing -  just done. One of my worst fears, when I decided to start letting them suck on a "binky", was that it would be SO hard to break them of it once they started. Thank you, God - for giving me such easy going boys!

4 Years Ago Today

Granola Recipe

Granola with Coconut, Dates, Raisins and Chocolate Chips
2 cups rolled oats1/2 cup ground flaxseed1/2 cup wheat germ1/2 cup shredded coconutPinch of salt1 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla1/2 cup honey
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped dried dates
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine oats, flaxseed, wheat germ, salt, cinnamon, and coconut. Melt butter in a separate bowl and add vanilla. Add honey to the oat combination and stir until evenly coated. Stir in butter until oat mixture is evenly coated. Spread on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake for 25 minutes and stir every 5 minutes. Let it cool completely before stirring in dates, raisins, and the chocolate chips. Enjoy with milk for breakfast or alone as a snack.


4 Years Ago Today

Kamsnaps is having a Giveaway!!!!

My favorite place to get snaps from - okay I must admit, it's the ONLY place I get snaps from - KAMsnaps is having a giveaway!!!


Snap Pliers Giveway Celebrating 2600 Facebook Fans

It is time to celebrate 2600 Facebook likes!

This giveaway is open to residents anywhere. The winners will each receive a coupon code to apply towards our KAM pliers for plastic snaps here. (Shipping fees may apply if your order subtotal does not reach the free shipping minimum.) The giveaway ends on Jan 5, 2012, and the winners will have 48 hours to claim their prize.

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These are the snaps I used when making cloth diapers. I have also added them to tote bags, clothing and a lot of things around the house to make life easier.

I love them and have never had any problems with them. In addition I love the sevice I get when ordering from KAMsnaps.com.

Lazy Saturday...

   I woke up to *Z* yelling "Momma!... Momma!... It 'nowing out there!!!! He was so excited to see the snow.

 We have just a dusting but that is enough to put us in the Christmas Spirit. We put the tree up last night but didn't start decorating until this morning. Got the lights and a few (and I mean very few) decorations on it. I can't seem to find most of my ornaments. This is really bothering me because I know I have lots of decorations and I have always put them in one closet at the end of the season, but they are not in there this year.

   I'd like to just sit here in my comfy chair with my cup of coffee all day but I have to get ready to go to a Christmas Party....

This has to be some kind of record...

An overnight low of 42.4°F. Yesterday's high was 50.8°F, and I see it is already 51°F today at 11:18 a.m. I'm not complaining one bit, I don't even miss the snow. But I sure am glad Santa's Reindeer can fly because it would be hard to pull a sleigh through mud.


4 Years Ago Today

Wordless Wednessday

Four years ago today - much different then today. We have no snow.

YAY!!!

YAY!!! The first egg that we've gotten in a couple of months.

Taco Bake

I was looking around on Pinterest yesterday, looking for something different to make for dinner, and this is what I found.



Taco Bake from 2 Maids a Milking

Taco Bake

1 lb. hamburger
1 pkg. taco seasoning
8 oz. sour cream
1 pkg. crescent rolls (8)
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes (optional)
1 c. shredded cheese
Dorito chips

1. Brown hamburger and drain.
2. Add taco seasoning, tomato sauce, tiny bit of water, and diced tomatoes. Simmer...

3. In 9x13 dish, press out crescent rolls and roll them to form crust.

4. Layer hamburger mixture, sour cream and then cheese.

5. Crush about 3/4 of a bag of Doritos and put them on top. Bake at 350 for 30 min.

Enjoy!!!

New buck on the farm

Since the coyotes (or something) decided that our other buck (Biscuit) would make a better dinner for them then a pet for us we have been looking for a new buck to breed the does.

This is Billy, how original huh? He came with that name, but it may change. The day we went to get him it was raining so I decided I'd just take the van.That way he'd be inside instead of in an open crate in the back of the truck, and risk making him sick. I recruited my friend *D* to go with me in case I needed help, I wasn't sure how friendly he was going to be. As it turned out he is very gentle and loaded very easy. I tied him in the back between the back seat and the back doors and he laid and road home very quiet. In fact he was so comfy back there that once we got home I had to do a little convincing to get him out of the van. Little did he know he had two does standing at the gate anxiously awaiting for his arrival.... I had noticed the day before that the LaMancha and Toggenburg were both in heat.

As goats do when bringing a new one into the herd they had to start shoving each other around and head butting one another.... somewhere in the process of all this the LaMancha, Pipsqueak, got her horn hooked in the stock panel and couldn't get it out. *D* and I were trying to get Pipsqueak's head turned just right to get the horn unstuck, but were not having much luck. I went inside the barn to call all the other in, thinking if they weren't running around us we could put more focus on the job at hand. No sooner did I get the other goats secured inside the barn when I heard Pipsqueak holler and *D* yelled for me to come out. I couldn't imagine what happened. When I got to the front door of the barn *D* was saying "she just ripped her horn off"! All I could envision was blood everywhere so I headed for the house to get the blood stop powder and all of the sudden *Z* started screaming and crying, he had witnessed the whole thing and with all the commotion was scared and confused. When I got back from the house I found *D* standing in front of the barn, with the shell of Pipsqueak's horn in her hand, trying to console *Z*. He wanted no part of her as long as she had that horn in her hand.

When I got back to Pipsqueak she wasn't bleeding nearly as bad as I had envisioned she would be - thankfully! I dumped some blood stop powder on her head, separated her from the rest of the herd and kept checking on her the rest of the day to make sure she was okay.

She seems to be doing okay, but I can tell that stub is really sensitive. This has deffinetly knocked her down a few rungs in the pecking order, as she will be avoiding all the other goats until this heals up, because she doesn't want them butting her (I can't blame her).

What we got when...

I was looking for something yummy to make today when I found a brownie mix in the cupboard, but *Z* was insisting we make cookies. I knew there had to be a way to combined the two so we worked our magic and this is what we came up with.

What do you get when a Brownie and a Chocolate Chip Cookie have babies???

Chocolate Chip Brownie Cookies - of course.

What we used:
1 - box of fudge brownie mix (19.8 oz)
1 cup flour
1 large egg
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips - we used the minis
3/4 cup confectioners sugar

This is what we did:In a mixing bowl, combine brownie mix, flour, egg, water, oil, and chocolate chips; mix well.

Place confectioners' sugar in a shallow dish. * Drop dough by tablespoonfuls into sugar; roll to coat (the dough will be quite sticky but it'll be okay).

Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks.

*Note to self - put confectioner's sugar in a bowl big enough to hold the amount of cookies for one tray (mine hold 8 cookies per tray) it will make life easier. You wont have to stop and wash the sugar off your hands to drop more dough balls in, or get dough and sugar on you scoop.

Enjoy with a nice cold glass of milk!!!!

Another cloth diaper giveaway....
Green Baby Guide is hosting Charlie Banana Diaper giveaway.
http://greenbabyguide.com/2011/11/30/charlie-banana-diaper-giveaway/comment-page-3/#comment-14120

Go check it out and enter to win if interested.