Another Day; Another Dollar

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!

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!

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.

Dan's Buddies

Here are a couple pictures from when Dan's friends were here. Dan, Bruce, Darin.

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!

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.

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!

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 !

The New Me

Notice that I did not say "The New Improved Me". After probably 3 years of being in denial I finally made the journey to the eye doctor. It first hit me a couple of years ago when my license expired and I had to stick my forehead on the little thing at the DMV and read the signs, "man that was strange they were a little blurry, don't remember that last time I took this test." I called my brother later that week and told him that and he said it was just beginning and that he had trouble clearly seeing them at his last test too. I just let it slide, whatever. Lately though I have noticed that reading big signs far away I have to decipher some of the words to know what the entire phrase is on the sign - not so good. So to the doctor I went.

First - the Dr. couldn't believe that I had never had an eye exam. What the hell for, I could see just fine?

Second - I questioned everything he was going to do with these high tech machines, these are my eyes and my only eyes your dealing with, (especially after the phone call with my brother where he said they were going to poke my eye with needles).

Third - The infamous letter find! So now they have made it where you can't even cheat on these tests because they are on the computer and once you read one they jumble up the letters - damn. So I am taking the test and keep telling the doc, I just don't like to fail, I don't want to fail. So I start reading a line and tell him, "okay, the first one is "S" then next one I can't really read, the next one is a "C" or a "G" - and so on. After I can look with both eyes I see that my multiple choice didn't even work - it was an "O" - shit! I Failed.

So all in all I failed my damn eye exam and broke down and bought the glasses and wear them when I am driving or walking around or in a meeting when I need to see stuff on a board far away, sitting at my computer or just doing things around the house I don't need them, so I don't wear them. Katelynn of course picked up the word "glasses" in one day and has been pretty good about not trying to rip them off my face. At work a couple people have told me I now look "smart" (what did I look like before?) and that I look like a librarian (great, I know that was the image I was shooting for). So hear you go - there are 2 pics of me and my glasses.

Sparkling White Sangria

Here is a white wine recipe that we tried out on Christmas Day. It was very easy to make and it must have been good because we drank it all! Enjoy.

1 cup Karo light Corn Syrup
1 orange, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
1 lime, sliced
1/2 cup orange flavored liqueur (I didn't have this so I used some Peach tree Schnapps)
1 bottle dry white wine
1 bottle (12 oz) club soda or seltzer, chilled
additional fresh fruit (optional)

1. In large pitcher (and they do mean large) combine corn syrup, orange, lemon, and lime slices and liqueur. Let stand 20 to 30 min., stirring occasionally.
2. Stir in wine and lemon juice. Refrigerate.
3. Just before serving, add soda and ice cubes.
If desired, garnish with additional fruit.

Belated Birthday Present

So all who know my brother well, know that he waits until the last possible minute to do things, or after in this case. Here is a picture of Katelynn and me holding her Purple Care Bear that Jeff bought her for her birthday (in September). (I do have to tell you that it did come before X-mas, but this is when we took the picture). The Care Bear smells like lavender (or the contents of Jeff's kitchen since this is where it presumably lived for a couple of months before shipping) and came with a little Care Bear movie on DVD. He also sent her a Vikings blanket that we now keep in the car for her.

So yes, Uncle Jeff did come through only a little late.

Our next question to him is "Christmas in July?" ha ha -

Valentine's Present Idea

Here is a website where you star in a romance novel and with whom ever else you want. Check out their website, pretty interesting.

http://www.bookbyyou.com

Enjoy!

From Miss Katelynn

I am turning into a big girl now! I am 16 months old. I can run around the house and chase the meow's and I like to tease my parents by running up to them and then running away really fast. I am talking and copying everything they say, my new words today were - Monkey, crazy, cake!, and excuse ( for excuse me). I am also polite and say my please and thank you's. I also said my first 2 word sentence today - pretty Dada, (I was putting a beaded necklace on him to make him beautiful, like me!) I now am learning to eat with a fork, but still need some help from my mommy. I get to use my own plate when we eat meals, (mommy likes this because it doesn't make such a mess of my high chair) and I know how to ask for milk, juice or water, whatever my preference is at the time. My favorite thing right now is "Elmo" I just can't get enough of him, see the picture of me in my Elmo sweater, I saw it at Kohl's and wasn't leaving the store without it. I also have Elmo shoes and my mommy said she would get me a little Elmo video to watch soon. I now have longer hair and am sporting little barrett's and a pony tail on the top of my head, I sit very still and say "pretty, pretty" every morning while mommy brushes my hair and puts the pony tail in. I like it because it keeps the hair out of my eyes. I hope you like my new pictures! (P.S. my mommy is sporting something new on her face to, she said she would show every later, watch for a future post and picture).

Love and Miss you all - Love, Katelynn Rose

Toddler's and Airplanes

Toddler's Temper Ousts Family From Plane


AirTran Airways on Tuesday defended its decision to remove a Massachusetts couple from a flight after their crying 3-year-old daughter refused to take her seat before takeoff.
AirTran officials said they followed Federal Aviation Administration rules that children age 2 and above must have their own seat and be wearing a seat belt upon takeoff.
"The flight was already delayed 15 minutes and in fairness to the other 112 passengers on the plane, the crew made an operational decision to remove the family," AirTran spokeswoman Judy Graham-Weaver said.
Julie and Gerry Kulesza, who were headed home to Boston on Jan. 14 from Fort Myers, said they just needed a little more time to calm their daughter, Elly.
"We weren't given an opportunity to hold her, console her or anything," Julie Kulesza said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
The Kuleszas said they told a flight attendant they had paid for their daughter's seat, but asked whether she could sit in her mother's lap. The request was denied.
She was removed because "she was climbing under the seat and hitting the parents and wouldn't get in her seat" during boarding, Graham-Weaver said.
The Orlando-based carrier reimbursed the family $595.80, the cost of the three tickets, and the Kuleszas flew home the next day.
They also were offered three roundtrip tickets anywhere the airline flies, Graham-Weaver said.
The father said his family would never fly AirTran again.

Playdate Pictures

Here are a couple of pictures that were taken on Saturday at one of our monthly playdates. Me and a bunch of friends that had kids roughly at the same time all take turns hosting a playdate our house with goodies to eat and let the kids enjoy playing amongst each other. This is great for us moms to get to talk about the kids and life in general and just enjoy every ones company.