Check this out!!

One of my friends, Kate, has recently started a photography business. It's called The Rancher's Wife's Photography. Visit her blog/website here; just click on the link. She had a baby recently, so she has sweet baby pics, pics of her other two boys, and life on the ranch. I only wish I had the talent some of my friends have with photography!!

I have joined a blog called Friends Photo Challenge. It's just a place for us to post a photo of a chosen theme...the theme seems to change about every 15 days. Here are my two posts...
In the Air
New Life

Annisia's first time skiing!!

We headed off to Red Lodge the morning of the day after Christmas. We got there just in time to set Annisia up with a one hour individual ski lesson. She was SO excited! We got her outfitted and met up with Patrick. She didn't even look back! Patrick talked to her about some things then off she scooted on her skis, onto the magic carpet with her instructor, and next thing you know, Annisia, 3 1/2, is skiing! In that one hour, Patrick taught her to go and stop, basically. Usually they teach the children "french fries" for "go" (skis are parallel like french fries) and "pizza pie" for "stop" (skis turn in at the toes to make a wedge, hence, pizza). Well, that didn't work well for her for some unknown reason, so he taught her "red light" and "green light". Either way, she had a good time. After her lesson, we took her up Miami Beach ski lift and struggled our way down. More about that another time...





While Annisia had her lesson, Michael, Jonathan and I did a little skiing. We were headed up Miami Beach lift and saw Santa! He hadn't gone back to the North Pole yet! So, Jonathan skied off the lift (like a pro!) , skied right up to Santa and said, "Thank you for the toy pistol. It's just what I wanted!" It was SO cute!



Here's a pic of the little man and I on another lift. This boy of mine amazes me. He is so great on his skis. He just schusses everywhere, no fear. Well, let me rephrase that. He has a healthy respect for the mountain. He knows to traverse the slope so he's in control. But, Michael will take him on black diamond slopes and he doesn't blink. Pretty cool. Soon these kids of mine will be leaving me on the bunny slopes to ski black diamonds all day with Dad. {sniff, sniff...}

A little snow, a lot of cold...

December brought some snow and some pretty cold weather. Nothing we couldn't handle, of course! Not here in the foothills, where my husband says the Native Americans used to winter. Presumably because it didn't get too cold here and they could still hunt buffalo? Really, just guessing...it sounds good, doesn't it?!

The kids like to help. Really. So Michael went out to bring some firewood up to the house. We got a cord from some kid trying to make money. Then a couple more cords from Bret, Michael's brother. Good pine from him. Anyhoo!! Here's the kids helping...

Annisia waiting for her next piece to put in the sled.

Then, and here's why the kids like to help Daddy, a ride on the sled with the firewood!

Aaagh! Crash! I'm stuck! Daddy, I'm stuck!

Then, Jonathan's school had their Christmas program. They were assigned parts for the program...Jonathan was Joseph. "My name is Joseph. I love Jesus too. He is the Saviour for me and for you." It was very cute. Like I said about the previous program, he hardly participated in any of the rest of the program! But he sure makes a cute Joseph!

Kayla and Annisia cuddling Christmas morning.

And Annisia modeling her Mary (as in Joseph and Mary) headband I found on eBay. I just thought it was a cute princess crown thingy (and was another item the guy had in his store when I was bidding on a pile of kids tools for the kids to split), but the kids were a little fixated on Joseph and Mary, a fitting fixation what with Christmas and all!

November happenings...

Hmmm...what did we do in November? This catching up bit is tough. My brain is taxed...

We have some strange characters show up at our home some days...This one is called Blue Beetle. And all he did was cover his face with a Cinderella skirt and drone, "I am Blue Beetle."

At Jonathan's school, the children take turns with Show and Share. On that day, their mommy brings the snack. Several years ago, about 11-12, Michael bought Kayla a cool elephant mask. It is made of that cool craft foam stuff and has a string you pull to make the trunk swing up. (I should note here that he bought himself a horse head with a string to open the jaw! Very funny, especially when you hear him whinny!). Well, Kayla has grown up, moved on, moved out, moved back, and the mask was in a box of stuff she was giving to the kids. This is what Jonathan chose to take to Show and Share.

I brought zucchini bread, per Jonathan's request. Yes, I know, weird. But that's what he wants every time. He doesn't even ask for something like chocolate chip cookies! But this day, we were there for snack and show and share. Do you know how many of the kids took one bite and tossed the rest of their WARM zucchini bread?! Aaaahhh! Guess what I do now? I throw in a handful of mini chocolate chips, just enough to fool the little kiddos into thinking they are getting chocolate!! Mwaahhaahha!

Well, it looks like Jonathan and Annisia had some days outside. Annisia is into being a baby lately, so Jonathan is carrying her across the lawn here. Silly kids!

One thing we do most Novembers is go to my parents for Thanksgiving. It's about the only time I see the rest of my family. Aaron, my nephew, developed a soft spot for Annisia, ear tugging and all! They cuddled on the couch with all the rest of the hubbub going on around them.

Jonathan is really into showing his muscles. Is that a normal 5 year old boy thing, or am I talking too much after my boot camp class?! Anyways, here he's showing Uncle Duane his big muscles, and Aunt Vicky is probably egging him on to pop his uncle!

See the raised eyebrows on Duane? I think Jonathan challenged him and Duane is confirming! It's fun to see how comfortable my children are around their uncles and aunties they rarely see. Click on the pic below to make it bigger then look at the expression on Jonathan's face...

Then a grin for Uncle Paul too!

Grandpa O got some cuddle time (and ear tugging time!) with Annisia. We really have to break that habit of her toying with our ears...

Aunty Janice and Uncle Paul brought their dog, Tiny, with them. He's a nervous little poodle, especially around children. He'd bark and the kids would get scared and scream, then run away. Tiny would chase them making them scream more...what chaos! Neither party seemed to learn how to just chill around each other. So Janice brought out the treats and let the kids feed him treats. He LOVES to play ball, so then they got to throw the little ball for him too. That made everyone a little calmer with each other...good for Mommy's blood pressure too!!

Uncle Alan lives just over a block, so we always find our way over there. Jonathan really enjoyed riding Cassie's scooter. Now he wants one...I wonder how many years we can hold out on that?!

The kids share a bed at Mom and Dad's. So, up we go, we say our prayers, we sit with them for a little bit, and then it's time for them to just go to sleep. So I went downstairs and did some more visiting. Here's where we found Annisia...sound asleep at the top of the stairs, with all the pound puppies Mom and Dad have lining the steps in a sort of fence or something! I laughed out loud. She cracks me up!

Happy Birthday, Kayla! and Happy Halloween!

Kayla turned 25 October 09. The kids were so excited to give her her present...a new iPod Touch!
Jonathan was enjoying wearing his Bob the Builder costume...He likes to dress up for the morning, then is good about changing for school.

Halloween party at Jonathan's school
Here's the pumpkin cake I made. I'll put the recipe at the bottom of the post...

The kids had a costume parade. Sorry for the weird facial blurring of Jonathan's school mate. She's too adorable in her peacock costume, isn't she?! But I don't have her parent's permission to post pics of her, so you can't know who she is...

Then they had their program, during which Jonathan stood and watched the rest of the kids sing along with their teacher, deigning only to participate in the one song he had a semi-solo. So funny! This was the first program he has been in as he didn't attend pre-school. So, here he comes home from school singing these cute songs, finger plays and other motions and all; has them completely memorized. Then on the day of the program...nothing, nada, nichts...
It was still cute. What a funny kiddo!

Then they pinned the nose on the pumpkin, squirted out the candle in the pumpkin's mouth, and fished for bats. What a fun party!

Giant Jack-O’-Lantern Cake

4 cups all purpose flour (try ½ whole wheat flour)

1-cup sugar (try ½ cup honey)

4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 3 tsp ground cinnamon,

¾ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground cloves, and

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

3 tsp baking soda

1 ½ tsp baking powder

6 large eggs

1 1/3 cup salad oil (I substitute applesauce in equal amounts)

4 tsp vanilla extract

1 30-oz can pumpkin pie mix (not solid pack pumpkin)

2 cups chopped walnuts, opt.

2 16 oz containers cream cheese frosting

green, yellow and red food colorings

1/3 unpeeled banana

1 cherry fruit roll

EARLY IN DAY, OR DAY AHEAD:

Preheat oven to 325°. Grease and flour 10-inch Bundt pan.

In large bowl, stir 2 cups flour

½ cup sugar,(or ¼ cup honey, ¼ cup sugar)

2 tsp spice (2 ¼ tsp if self-made mix)

1 ½ tsp baking soda, and

¾ tsp baking powder.

In small bowl, mix 3 eggs,

2/3 cup oil (or applesauce), and

2 tsp vanilla.

Stir egg mixture, 1 ½ cups pumpkin pie mix, and 1-cup walnuts (opt.) into flour mixture. Spread batter in pan.

Bake cake 50 min. Cool in pan 10 min; remove from pan; cool completely. Repeat for second cake.

Spoon 1/3 cup frosting into cup; tint green for stem. In bowl, tint remaining frosting orange for pumpkin.

Cut ½ inch thick slice across bottom (not fluted side) of each cake to make it flat. Use cut-off cake another day.

Place 1 cake, fluted-side down, on plate; spread cut side with ¾ cup orange frosting. Top with second cake fluted-side up. Fill in hole with foil covered cardboard round as base for stem. Frost cakes with remaining orange frosting.

Place banana on cake for stem; frost with green frosting.

From fruit roll, cut out jack-o’-lantern’s eyes, nose, and mouth; attach.

Makes 30 servings. Each serving: About 365 calories, 19g fat, 40 mg cholesterol, 210 mg sodium (if made with oil and sugar)

Morning Glories...

I bought a sweet little tin pot one day at the grocery store. It had a packet of morning glory seeds and some soil in it. So I planted them, then realized they'd need something to climb. So I transplanted them into a larger pot and stuck a tomato cage in the pot. Success!

Peek a boo!! I really like this pic with the blurry leaves...

There are sweet peas planted in the pot too. I honestly don't know if they grew or not...









This pot of morning glories flourished in the sunroom of our lovely home. Really, very little care was required. (Luckily, because I am not a good tender...fertilizer? who me? watering? oh, yeah. Forgot to do that today...) Needless to say, I may never be the owner of any orchids!

Back to the past...October 2009

0So this particular October Sunday, we went to gospel meeting. On the way home, the snow started, the roads were icy, we took a dicey curve, then got home safely. When we arrived at home, the kids piled out of the car and were so excited about the snow. So, while Michael brought up some firewood (good thing he did), the kids played a little. All they did was put gloves on and I don't even remember them putting on their boots. The best fun they had was throwing snowballs at the back door. See Jonathan's impish grin?!

And then Annisia was cold. See how I am? I had to get a photo of her before letting her in...

Never fear! 10 minutes later, she was fine, warmed up, in her PJs and smiling for mommy!

And, here's my favorite pic of the heavy snowfall that ensued...

A couple mornings later, I enjoyed making Eggs in the Hole. I did hearts for everyone.

The kids were skeptical...until I laid a bit of jelly on their toast piece...

...then they dove in! They like it when they can dip their egg.

Eggs in the Hole

Take a piece of bread, any kind will do. With a cookie cutter, cut a hole in the center of the bread. Heat some butter or oil in a skillet, then place the bread in the skillet. After 1 minute, crack an egg into the hole. Hence, "egg in the hole!!" Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook for another minute. Flip the bread and egg over and cook on the second side until the egg is the desired doneness. We like some amount of runny in the center into which we can dip our cut out piece.

Parentheses Winter

We interrupt this attempt at chronicling our little family's lives, good times and funny sayings to report on the recent snowstorm. It is May 6, 2010. It started snowing yesterday late afternoon and stopped sometime today. It has been blowing a good portion of that time too. Maybe I ought to mention again, WE HAVE HAD A PATHETIC WINTER HERE. We got our first snowstorm here in October. October 5, to be exact. It dumped a pile of wet, heavy snow. Trees all through town were cracking and branches falling. Our plum trees hung to the ground, until Jonathan went out and knocked the snow off of them...good boy! Anyhoo! We have discovered this year that April Showers Bring May...Icicles?!

The icicles, which were blown in under the eaves because of a wicked north wind all day.

This appears to be the end of what I am calling our Parentheses Winter ( ) October~May...with nothing in between worth mentioning. So, here are some pics to show off a little actual moisture we are receiving. Now we may not need to just light ourselves on fire and get it over with, to quote my bro-in-law!

My poor south facing flower bed. Under all that snow lies lots of columbine, some tulips, day lilies, fire lilies, asters...They are all hearty plants, so I think they'll be fine.

The kids enjoyed playing outside for awhile...almost an hour. The picture of Annisia up to her waist in the snow?? Not really. She was having fun falling down. You can see in the last photo that the snow is up to Jonathan's knees. They were soaking wet when they came in. Lots of fun!!!