So today is Wednesday, half the work week is over, hooray! At work I have started on my project that is now part of my job every year and it consists of looking at an Excel spreadsheet most of the day and it makes my eyes burn at night, but I will survive. I keep telling the county that they have caused me to need glasses and they should pay for my lasik eye surgery - ha ha.
Well, for those of you who don't know, my husband, Dan, is onto to his next big venture - cattle. He has bought 2 Lowline cattle from Minnesota (and one is pregnant). These special little cows do not come cheap, but he is planning on doing some breeding with another guy out here that has some half breed lowlines and hoping to either butcher them and make some money off the meat (it is supposed to be really lean and tasty, but it is expensive) or just sell the offspring for a pretty penny to other farmers who have lowlines. Anyway, I cannot take the farmer out of my husband and he needs a hobby other than his work, so more power to him. He is leaving tomorrow to go and pick-up these cows and bring them Colorado. We have to pick them up before the one has the calf. Reading the weather reports today, his drive is going to be a bumpy one - a huge storm is rumbling through the Midwest starting tomorrow through Friday night.
So Katelynn and I will be hanging out this weekend just the 2 of us, which this week seems to be the exact way that she wants it. She still is insisting that I am "daddy" and wants nothing to do with anyone else and does not want me farther than 2 inches from her. Hopefully this is a phase for only a short period of time. I did feel a little bad for Dan tonight, he knew he was going to be gone starting tomorrow and tried his best to play and hang out with her and help with her bath and she was just not having any of it. He has now asked me to work on the "mommy thing" this weekend, so upon his return I am "mommy" and he is "daddy" - "The way it should be". I just laughed to myself. (I have been trying to establish this all along). Well, I hope everyone continues to have a great week!
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
What a weekend
It was a busy week to go along with a busy weekend. On Tuesday night I went to our HOA meeting from 7pm - 9:30pm, the good news out of that meeting is we are finally going to buy a decent playground for the kids and are hopeful to also build a pavilion with picnic tables and someplace to sit. Wednesday night was of course "Lost", sorry I just can't miss that show, I've been watching since day 1. Thursday night after work I went to the hospital to see my friend, Brooke's new baby boy! Jake Darren Gunn - 8lbs. 11oz, (yes she grows some big babies in that belly), he is a little sweetheart and his big brother is liking him very much so far, he came into the hospital room and walked up to Jake and said "I Love You baby Jake" (does it get anymore sweet than that?!) Friday night Katelynn & I did some grocery shopping in the big town of Johnstown. Saturday morning Katelynn & I were cleaning and cooking and getting toys ready, we were hosting the monthly play date party for February. Katelynn got in a good nap before everyone came to play and was pretty good for the 1st hour, but then she had had enough - you people and babies are invading my basement and playing with all of my toys, if I whine enough to my mommy maybe she will make them leave? No, the whining didn't work and this was her first big experience on learning to share her own toys. (She sure has fun playing with everyone else's!) Later Saturday afternoon we got an invite to go out for supper with some friends and took them up on the offer, we hadn't seen Jeff & Raina and Brandon for awhile. Katelynn did really good at the restaraunt considering that we were there for a little over an hour. After supper the clan went over to Petco to look at all the animals. Katelynn decided she like all the ferrets that bite and beat on each other, Dan & I both said "No Way"! She did also like the cats and was a little interested in the fish and birds, they even had little Nemo fish in there - they were so cute! Sunday (today) was a little more low key, we just hung around and did some laundry. Dan & I attempted to read the Sunday paper as Katelynn mission was to destroy it, I did get to the Target ad before she did, whew. I had a baby shower to go to this afternoon, so it was Katelynn and Daddy for the afternoon, (which meant extra cleaning for me when I got home). The baby shower went good and I stopped by Target and picked up a roll of film I had developed. We finished Katelynn laundry and she had a bath and Dan cooked supper. Katelynn's new words this weekend are "See ya" and "Jeez".
Hope everyone had a good weekend!
Hope everyone had a good weekend!
Valentine's Day Pictures
Here are a couple of pictures from Valentine's Day. Katelynn & I made baskets for the other kids at her daycare, I made the mistake of starting out with the suckers to put in the baskets first, that was a big, no go, she was going to eat that sucker, not give it away, so I ended up doing most of them myself. Dan bought me a dozen roses and Katelynn got 2 roses, since this was her 2nd Valentine's Day, what a sweet guy! We also bought her the chicken dance elmo and boy did her eyes light up! Elmo, Elmo, she took him into our bedroom closet so she could have him all to herself.
Monday, February 19, 2007
President's Day
Ah, the joy of being a government employee! We get today off, paid. Thank you. This is actually great for me after having company, I can get my house back in order, do some laundry and spend some time with Katelynn.
Our weekend with Dan's parents went really good. They arrived on Thursday around 4pm and we just pretty much hung out and let Katelynn get to know them a little more, she put on quite the show for them though, talking and dancing and playing, she even picked up "grandma & grandpa" into her vocabulary the first night they were here (can't ask for more than that). Friday, Dan & I both worked and they babysat Katelynn for the day and all went well. Friday night we played with all of Katelynn's toys downstairs and she was showing them that she could count to 5 and what an animal she is in her ball pit! Saturday, Dan & his dad took off to pick up some cabinets that a home owner was getting rid of for fee and they are pretty nice cabinets, too nice to just throw away. Dan's mom, Katelynn, and I went to the outlet mall and then to the Loveland mall and had lunch, then we met a couple of my friends and their kiddies and went to this place called "Bounce", it was a great time, they kids loved it. It's an inflatable playground and has 7 of the big blow-up bounce things that you see at the fair, Katelynn wore me & herself out crawling in and out and sliding down all of these. The boys were pretty tired that night after they got back from driving around and Dan showing Doug houses that he had worked on, we ordered some pizza and both guys fell asleep, Jeannie and I watched a movie. Sunday morning we had breakfast and visited and they left around noon. It was a great visit!
Our weekend with Dan's parents went really good. They arrived on Thursday around 4pm and we just pretty much hung out and let Katelynn get to know them a little more, she put on quite the show for them though, talking and dancing and playing, she even picked up "grandma & grandpa" into her vocabulary the first night they were here (can't ask for more than that). Friday, Dan & I both worked and they babysat Katelynn for the day and all went well. Friday night we played with all of Katelynn's toys downstairs and she was showing them that she could count to 5 and what an animal she is in her ball pit! Saturday, Dan & his dad took off to pick up some cabinets that a home owner was getting rid of for fee and they are pretty nice cabinets, too nice to just throw away. Dan's mom, Katelynn, and I went to the outlet mall and then to the Loveland mall and had lunch, then we met a couple of my friends and their kiddies and went to this place called "Bounce", it was a great time, they kids loved it. It's an inflatable playground and has 7 of the big blow-up bounce things that you see at the fair, Katelynn wore me & herself out crawling in and out and sliding down all of these. The boys were pretty tired that night after they got back from driving around and Dan showing Doug houses that he had worked on, we ordered some pizza and both guys fell asleep, Jeannie and I watched a movie. Sunday morning we had breakfast and visited and they left around noon. It was a great visit!
Landon Update
Here are some pictures that my brother, Jeff, just emailed out. Landon is now pitching for his baseball team, he does a really great job too! We got to go to one of his games last summer and see him play.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Just Another Day in Paradise
So this week has been exciting, fun, and tiring. A couple of Dan's buddies, Darin & Bruce from B&D Lowlines, drove out to Colorado to sell a some of their cattle to one of Dan's contractor's and stayed with us for a few days. Monday night we ate, visited, and played some darts. The guys' went to work with Dan on Tuesday because he is swamped, busy right now and then they took us out to eat on Tuesday night to Texas Roadhouse. It was a good time and Katelynn actually was a little angel at supper, but she was sure tired and ready for bed when we got home. The guys' played some more darts and visited and watched a movie that night. They were all up bright and early Wednesday morning and made the 14 hour drive back home with an empty trailer!
We are now gearing up for our next round of company, Dan's parents and his niece Cassie (we haven't heard yet if Dan's sister-in-law Susan is joining them or not yet). They are driving out here next week for a long weekend - we are very excited for them to hang out and we can show off all that Katelynn has learned and can do.
Miss Katelynn is now hitting the "terrible two" stage according to the daycare lady. This morning when I dropped her off at daycare, her little buddy Marshall was there and she was trying to get by him in a doorway and pretty much tried to shove him out of the way and then continued to try and take every toy that he wanted to play with. Great, my kid is now the big bully - she probably has Marshall by about 5 lbs. and quite a few inches too. Also, now that she knows what she wants and can say it clear as a bell, she will tell you. We walked in the door tonight and didn't even have her shoes and coat off and she was already trying to run to the fridge - "milk, milk, milk" and so we gave her some milk. "Nana, Nana, Nana" okay we cut up a banana (I swear if I don't have bananas in the house it would be a day in hell). After she ate her banana, "pickle, pickle, pickle" - jeez kid - that's the supper you want - a banana, milk and some pickles - tonight it was obviously a free for all and it was only 5:30pm! The rest of the night went smoother and she pretty much looked through books and had us read a few to her and off to night-night she went. Now at bedtime she says "blankie, milk, night-night" and you better be ready!
The saga of owning your own business continues. Are there any good employees out there? If you are one, would you like to come work for us? Dan is in high swing again and has numerous projects going up and contractors calling and giving a couple day notice of when they want him to start their job and here we are again - no employees. One of our guys got a new job selling cars at BMW, which is really good for him, no big deal. Our other employee has stopped showing up for work since last Friday and hasn't called or even picked up his paycheck from last week - what the heck?! He hasn't answered Dan's phone calls either. So alas, we are on the hunt for a new employee, one we pray has a driver's license and wants to learn the trade and stay long-term - anyone out there ?
The last bit of news for today - we have turned in all of our paperwork to our Tax preparation lady and our anxiously (well at least biting our nails and keeping our fingers crossed) awaiting our outcome for the year. I pray to the lord she won't come back with the number she did last year, we about keeled over.
Take care for now and all you Minnesotans stay warm and come get some of this damn snow!
We are now gearing up for our next round of company, Dan's parents and his niece Cassie (we haven't heard yet if Dan's sister-in-law Susan is joining them or not yet). They are driving out here next week for a long weekend - we are very excited for them to hang out and we can show off all that Katelynn has learned and can do.
Miss Katelynn is now hitting the "terrible two" stage according to the daycare lady. This morning when I dropped her off at daycare, her little buddy Marshall was there and she was trying to get by him in a doorway and pretty much tried to shove him out of the way and then continued to try and take every toy that he wanted to play with. Great, my kid is now the big bully - she probably has Marshall by about 5 lbs. and quite a few inches too. Also, now that she knows what she wants and can say it clear as a bell, she will tell you. We walked in the door tonight and didn't even have her shoes and coat off and she was already trying to run to the fridge - "milk, milk, milk" and so we gave her some milk. "Nana, Nana, Nana" okay we cut up a banana (I swear if I don't have bananas in the house it would be a day in hell). After she ate her banana, "pickle, pickle, pickle" - jeez kid - that's the supper you want - a banana, milk and some pickles - tonight it was obviously a free for all and it was only 5:30pm! The rest of the night went smoother and she pretty much looked through books and had us read a few to her and off to night-night she went. Now at bedtime she says "blankie, milk, night-night" and you better be ready!
The saga of owning your own business continues. Are there any good employees out there? If you are one, would you like to come work for us? Dan is in high swing again and has numerous projects going up and contractors calling and giving a couple day notice of when they want him to start their job and here we are again - no employees. One of our guys got a new job selling cars at BMW, which is really good for him, no big deal. Our other employee has stopped showing up for work since last Friday and hasn't called or even picked up his paycheck from last week - what the heck?! He hasn't answered Dan's phone calls either. So alas, we are on the hunt for a new employee, one we pray has a driver's license and wants to learn the trade and stay long-term - anyone out there ?
The last bit of news for today - we have turned in all of our paperwork to our Tax preparation lady and our anxiously (well at least biting our nails and keeping our fingers crossed) awaiting our outcome for the year. I pray to the lord she won't come back with the number she did last year, we about keeled over.
Take care for now and all you Minnesotans stay warm and come get some of this damn snow!
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Banana Caramel Pie
Here is a new recipe that I tried out. Pretty easy to make.
Ingredients:
1 refrigerated pie crust (from 15-ounce package) softened as directed on package
24 caramel candies, unwrapped
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of milk, divided
1/2 cup chopped pecans, divided
2 medium bananas
1 package (5.1 ounces) vanilla instant pudding and pie filling
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 container (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Gently unfold crust onto lightly floured mat, roll to an 11 1/2 inch circle. Place crust in pie dish pressing into bottom and up the sides. Prick bottom and sides of crust. Bake 10-12 min. or until light golden brown. Cool Completely.
2. Place caramels and 2 tablespoons of milk in a microwavable dish, microwave, covered on High 1 1/2 to 2 min. or until caramels are melted and smooth, stirring after 30-second intervals. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the caramel mixture. Pour remaining caramel mixture even over crust. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the pecans. Sprinkle remaining pecans over the caramel mixture. Slice 1 1/2 bananas; arrange banana slices over caramel mixture. (Refrigerate remaining half of banana in its peel for garnish).
3. Combine remaining milk, pudding mix, and lemon juice and whisk until smooth. Fold in half of the whipping topping; spread evenly over bananas. Pipe remaining whipped topping around the edge of the pie. Refrigerate at least 4 hours. Just before serving, slice reserved banana half. Microwave reserved caramel mixture on High 5-10 seconds Garnish pie with caramel mixture, reserved pecans and banana slices.
Enjoy !
Ingredients:
1 refrigerated pie crust (from 15-ounce package) softened as directed on package
24 caramel candies, unwrapped
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of milk, divided
1/2 cup chopped pecans, divided
2 medium bananas
1 package (5.1 ounces) vanilla instant pudding and pie filling
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 container (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Gently unfold crust onto lightly floured mat, roll to an 11 1/2 inch circle. Place crust in pie dish pressing into bottom and up the sides. Prick bottom and sides of crust. Bake 10-12 min. or until light golden brown. Cool Completely.
2. Place caramels and 2 tablespoons of milk in a microwavable dish, microwave, covered on High 1 1/2 to 2 min. or until caramels are melted and smooth, stirring after 30-second intervals. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the caramel mixture. Pour remaining caramel mixture even over crust. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the pecans. Sprinkle remaining pecans over the caramel mixture. Slice 1 1/2 bananas; arrange banana slices over caramel mixture. (Refrigerate remaining half of banana in its peel for garnish).
3. Combine remaining milk, pudding mix, and lemon juice and whisk until smooth. Fold in half of the whipping topping; spread evenly over bananas. Pipe remaining whipped topping around the edge of the pie. Refrigerate at least 4 hours. Just before serving, slice reserved banana half. Microwave reserved caramel mixture on High 5-10 seconds Garnish pie with caramel mixture, reserved pecans and banana slices.
Enjoy !
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