Rockin Our Style Today

Reese is quite the dresser. 90% of the time she dresses herself. Here she is, yet again, rockin' her own style today.

God's Beautiful Creation

I was doing dishes the other night and this is what I see out my window.

The whole time I was taking pictures this little guy had his eyeball on me. She is are only white face so far. And standing right behind her is her moma.

I just thought the fading away of the sun was beautiful. It just amazes me sometimes what is possible, what beauty there is out there in this messed up world.

The Elusive Feral Donkeys

On one of our lease properties, there is a herd of donkeys. BJ discovered these donkeys after we had leased the property. So we did some checking around to make sure they weren't the previous lessee's. Come to find out, when the man before us leased the property somebody just dumped them out there. Chances are the person couldn't afford to feed them anymore so they released them into the wild. I don't know how many there were to begin with but now there are 4 mommas, 4 babies, and 2 daddies. So they been friendly. I have been trying for weeks to catch them by the road so I could get a picture. They are very skittish. They won't even come to BJ and the feed truck. I drove by the other day and there they were, plain as day right at the fence. Now the only problem is remember very skittish, so the pics aren't real great because they started to bolt as soon as I got out of my car.

Look at that sweet little baby donkey

I'll try to get some better ones beacuse my others won't load to the computer right now. Stupid computer!

Reese's Birthday Party

Reese's birthday party was Saturday. She had cake, ice cream, presents, and big tent my friend Lindsay made her. It is now the designated hideout for any and whatever reason. Reese doesn't quite know how to say she is 3 but she can tell you with her fingers.

 What is this? A flashlight you say.

 New hidey hole

 They all got blown out eventually one candle at a time

Our little friend Mackenzie came and got a little crazy with the sprinkles.

Happy Birthday Reese!

Our little Reese is 3 years old today. On one hand it feels like she was born forever ago, but on the other it seems like only yesterday she was a baby, then a toddler, using sippy cups, etc, etc, etc. I think of all the fun times Riley and Reese have had and I don't know if there are 2 kids any happier with eachother. We love you Reese and cherish every minute. Here are a few highlights of Reese.

 Her famous Popeye face

 The half skunk for Halloween

 Oh, so serious

 Her one year old birthday

Her normal happy self

Tomorrow is her Bday party and I will post more pics. She is growing up so fast. I see alot of BJ in her, so look out everybody it could get scary later on.

Ya I Did!

I made french bread today. I am so physched (don't know if that's spelled right) I can't even begin to explain. For some reason, I can not figure out yeast. I have one recipe for cinnamon rolls that works and that's it. I can't do roll, bread, nothing. So today I braved the yeasty front and gave it another try. I made stew for lunch and thought to myself, "Wouldn't this be good with a hunk of french bread slathered with butter?" So I looked on the world wide web for a fool proof recipe for french bread. I found one on allrecipes.com, here is the link- French Bread One thing I would suggest is to read the reviews. Several people had tweaked the recipe just a little bit and I think they were all good ideas. Mostly just quantities like flour, yeast, some butter and sugar. Anyways, I made it with every single finger crossed and a pray. It turned out wonderful!

Crunchy goodness on the outside, soft and perfect on the inside. This is how good it is, BJ tried a bite of mine then ate another huge slice. I myself ate a huge slice too. Iwas so shocked it turned out so well, I was ecstatic. This may not be a big deal to you bread bakers out there, but to me this is a cooking milestone. Keep warm everybody and have a great day. I just made my week!

Babies Everywhere!

Our heifers have really started dropping the babies. 6 of them were during either the snow, 0 degree weather, or at 2 o clock in the morning. We also had a set of twins! So exciting. I have yet to get a picture of both babies with the mother. I will keep trying but here are a few pics of the babies.

They are the sweetest looking things you have ever seen! We have one that BJ calls "ornery". Everytime anybody goes out there he runs and kicks and bucks around. During the bad weather BJ would try to put him in the barn to stay warm and he would run right back out and stand shivering next to his momma. Right now it's cute, but wait till he's 500 pounds chasing you around like a little dog, that's a different story. Anyways, these little critters are a beautiful example of God's creation and it is neat everyday to see them born and grow and to feel a part of that. 

Playing in the Snow

We have had some snow around here. Not as much as others, but just enough to make it nice and soggy. We told the girls as soon as the 0 degree weather moved out, they could play outside. Well, yesterday it was a whopping 43 degrees, which is like a heatwave compared to Tuesday and Wednesday. So we got out and here are the results.

 BJ getting them ready in their snow gear.

 The dogs were very excited about snow play time too

 The whole time I was trying to take pictures I was dodging random snow balls. The girls would throw them at any stationary object; the house, the dogs, a tree, whatever, and they didn't have very good aim either. Hence, the dodging.

 Stalking her prey.

 "Somebody, anybody, push me."

Our sweet Sissy, loving every minute of the girls. You would never know such a sweet love could come from a dog you found at the Burger King.

Holed up in the house like the pioneers!

Tuesday was quite cold and snowy and windy. We stayed holed up in the house like the pioneers, braving the weather, cooking over a fire, living the good life! Just kidding, BJ braved the weather, me and the kids stayed by the propane heater. And cooking over a fire means I used my gas cooktop to cook meals. I did make BJ some warm treats to brave the day though. This is what BJ dealt with all day.

I don't know if you can tell or not, that is BJ the blob of coverall and coat and hat and gloves walking back form the heifers. You can see the heifers and their snow covered backs eating hay and watching BJ their ever faithful caregiver. The night before he went out ever hour to break ice, the temperature fell that fast and was that cold. Negative 15 people! What is this world coming to?

 Poor old katie. This is our lab Katie. She has old bones, so we felt sorry for her. We let her and our other outside dog Sissy come in. You can see katie was not ashamed at all and found BJ's favorite blanket and made herself at home.

 Here are some little treats I made BJ to warm him up. Homemade doughnut holes.

Homemade chicken and dumplings

I didn't get a picture, but for supper we had sausage biscuits and gravy. The girls had pancakes.

So as you can tell we are not exactly suffering, but we continue to maintain the pioneer spirit!

Stay warm everybody!