~Major Catch-up~

I am such a bad blogger... :-) Here is a catch-up in pictures.

Addi- Decorating valentine brownies for everyone.

Chocolate brownie face- she helped make them.
Stirred the mix and tried putting the mix in the hearts.

After playing in the snow from Blizzard 2011.

Addi & Daddy made cookies.

I think this was their favorite part- eating the dough. LOL!!

24.5 Inches of snow!!! Craziness.

This is how deep it was in the front yard.

We had to bring baby along to play in the snow.

Here is daddy trying to plow his way to the cows. This was the first day, while it was still snowing. He had to plow a spot for the cows to eat and a trail to water.

Even the tractor kept getting stuck!

Spring has been teasing us. We have had 70 degree weather for the last week and now the temp is dropping and it's raining. I really have spring fever now.

We start having baby calves this week. I will try to post about it. I think calving may be hectic. Everyone is looking like they will drop calves about the same time. We have 20 heifers at our house and 5 look really close! I hope they are good mamas or we will be pulling our hair out. Addi's heifer will have a calf this year too- she is excited about her baby! :-)

Other than staying busy, we are doing good. Addi is talking all of the time and telling us her opinion about everything. Potty training is going great. She wears panties all of the time, except night time. I'm thinking she may be close to not having them them too- she is dry most mornings when she wakes up. Speech is going great- she says more words everyday. She is just growing way too fast!!! She will be 3 next month! Where has the last 3 years gone? She wants a strawberry shortcake party this year. So- I'm going to try to be crafty this year and make some stuff. Ohh- I will try to have a party planning post soon.

I think we have decided to plan a Disney World vacation for next January/February. Then next year she will have a minnie mouse party or a disney themed birthday party. So- if you have any disney suggestions- please let me know. We want to stay on the disney property and use their train system. I'm even thinking we will drive down and sight-see along the way.

That's enough of a catch-up for now- I will try to get more posts going this month!

Have a great week! Wish us luck with calving!!

What we've been doing....

The Zoo: Memorial day weekend, we went to the Tulsa Zoo. It was ok- most of the animal's were inside. I think the local safari would have been more enjoyable for her. However, she did like petting & brushing the goats.

This photo sounded like a good idea- possible christmas card worthy... but it doesn't look as nice as I anticipated. ha! Maybe riding the turtle wasn't a good idea after all!!! :-)

The Corn Maze: A couple weeks ago we drove & drove & drove into the middle of nowhere Missouri with our church youth group to visit this huge maze. There was tons to do! Addi's favorite was playing in the corn. We rode the cow train and hay ride. I can't wait until next year. It was a fun tradition to begin.

In the corn maze.

There was a bridge in the middle of the maze, so you could see all around. This was our photo from the top.

Her first swing set: I went to a local factory/warehouse and attended a sale over the weekend. The had tons, as they were making room to do something else with the building. There were several "prototypes" already assembled -- which is what I wanted! Obviously- my patience paid off and now there is this giant thing in our yard- which she LOVES!!! AND the hubs was over the moon that he only had to re-attach 2 sections & the slide (instead of weeks of labor & anger putting a kit together)!! ha.

Carving Pumpkins: We finished our last pumpkin last night. Another fun family tradition!

In other news: Addi began speech therapy and I'm excited to see improvements in her speech! Even after 2 sessions. She is going to be bat girl for halloween and will try to post pictures next week!!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe

Here is the recipe, since it was requested on Facebook! :-)

4 eggs
1 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. oil
1/4 c. applesauce
16oz pumpkin
1 c. whole wheat flour
2 c. unbleached all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 c milk
8 oz chocolate chips (more if desired)

Combine eggs through pumpkin in a bowl and mix well. In a seperate bowl, combine flour through cinnamon. Add dry mix to pumpkin mix, alternating with milk. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake 15-17 minutes at 350 degrees.

Public Restroom Help!

We are getting serious about using the potty! This weekend was the first time that I've had to take Addi into a public restroom to use the bathroom. Let me just say I was not prepared!!! I feel like I need to carry a totally different bag for this!!! I want lysol wipes, germ-x (lots of it), more cleaning supplies!!!

Do you have any advice as to how I should change what I carry in a bag or other tips for taking my munchkin into germ land?

Thanks!!

What we have been up to

1) Potty training- is going good. Yesterday I didn't really change very many wet diapers! We are going in the potty when we are bottomless and have started telling us when she needs to go! She even didn't pee while napping and pee-peed in the potty after nap! I have been using pull-ups to keep the messes down in the house, but mom is using panties. I'm pleased with how things are going. I didn't think we would be potty training this early! She cracks us up- she gets excited about peeing in the potty and jumps up ready to flush it- then 2 seconds later- pees again... and the process repeats. Yesterday I had to make the hubby help, after 5 trips to flush in about 5 minutes!

2) Earthquakes- during supper the other night we had an earthquake in NWA! The 2nd one in a month! It was a 2.6 magnitude, 3.1 miles deep, 2 miles Northwest of Cave Springs. So- it was about 15 miles away. I didn't realize that there is a noise associated with earthquakes, but the ones here sound like thunder. We heard thunder, but there was no storm nearby and then I saw on twitter that we had another earthquake! Crazy! Good thing we have earthquake insurance!! ha-ha

3) Hay- We started hay season on Friday. The hubby & my dad cut about 80 acres of hay. We have a 5 day window without rain, hope we make it. There is a slight chance of storms tomorrow and for the next few days. The hay looks good this year, the wind over the weekend helped dry it out. Maybe next weekend, we can cut the rest! I don't want to drag it out for months. The cows will be happy though!

4) Had to sell a bull- I don't understand why we have such issues with our bulls! Our oldest one didn't pass his breeding exam and we had to take him to the sale. Bummer! The hubs took the mean one to the vet and they trimmed his bad foot- now he's limping so bad we're hoping he will breed cows! I wondered if they didn't do it on purpose, since we got the vet we do not like. He doesn't want to mess with the bad boy and tells us we need to get rid of him EVERY time we are there. He is also the vet that told us we needed to sell him b/c of his foot last year and we were able to make him better!

5) Lanscaping- Addi & I planted flowers this weekend. I changed up what I normally do and have tried the red, white & blue theme. We are going to hang a flag on the front porch and now my flowers match. I also sprayed around the trees and fertilized them. My wonderful dad mowed for us on Sat. while hubby was cutting hay. So- I moved stuff around so dad could mow places we normally don't. Now the house looks awesome! I'll try to get some pics up this week.

6) Addi's 1st trip to the dentist- went much better than I anticipated. We went to a pediatric dentist. I wasn't sure about that whole thing- but I LOVE them. All of the employees really went out of their way to make the kids feel comfortable. She let them look in her mouth and ended up giving the dentist a high five!! They took our picture and will mail it to us! I'll post the picture when I get it.

The Great Swimsuit Hunt & Bargains

Well, the time had come for me to buy a swimsuit! YUCK!!! I searched high and low for just the perfect one... to hide all of my flaws. :-) This is what I found. I ordered it from Land's End. It looks nice on- I can't believe that I can say that! The only negative is I have to shorten the straps for some extra bust support and it is an investment/ aka- expensive!

Sorry about the mini picture. :-)

Next- I tried to tackle little girl suits! I swear.... who designs these things. I wouldn't have worn them when I was a teenager! This is the first suit I found for Addi. It's at the Children's Place and was on sale for $10!!!

This is Addi's 2nd suit. It is at JcPenny's and is currently out of stock! I happened to find a 3T at a local store that fit. She needs the straps shortened to, but fits otherwise. Lucky me again- the store was having a doorbuster sale and got it for $8.90! It was originally $19.99!

In other bargain news- I found my 12 yr old nephew jeans at the Children's Place for $4.99!!! Can you believe it!!! They had found them in the back and put a rack of jeans out in various sizes... they were $25 originally! Yeah me!!!

Here is a link to one of my new favorite blogs- A Passion for Savings! Check it out!

http://www.passionforsavings.com/

Now I've Heard Everything....

My entire life during storm season- Meteorologists make excuses for not sending out warnings on storms that cause damage! I have heard reasons from micro bursts, straight line winds, down drafts, ect. But now I've heard them all!

This photo was sent to several news stations yesterday. An entire community saw it (even police officers) and took cover thinking that a tornado was headed towards them. The community was upset that there were no warnings issued for this particular storm. There was damage reported- trees knocked down. I watched one tv station last night and heard this story.

This folks- is most definately not a funnel cloud.... it is a LAND SPOUT!!! A what- a dust devil???? No- similar to a water spout, but on land....

The rotation originated from the ground and extended up to the clouds... YES- that is exactly how it appears in the photo!!! (NOT)... I couldn't help but laugh watching the explanation and graphics on the screen.
If you're interested here is the link to the entire story:
http://4029weather.wordpress.com/2010/05/16/possible-landspout-in-mansfield/