Let's see if my luck holds out

While I am having some luck with the pictures this morning, I wanted to try and add this one that for some reason never quite got there either. Here's the picture of Seth that should go with the post about the kids loving to jump on the inner tube.

Second try with the picture

Well here's my second or third attempt to add Seth's picture. Hopefully this one will go through. Crossing my fingers.

Kids and Black Cows, Part 4

Not to be outdone by his older siblings, Seth has joined the rest in their obsession to lead the calves on every part of the yard and driveways of this farm. This evening he and Jenna, were leading the 'little calves' Barbie (technically Jenna's but easier to lead, so Seth had her) and Little Bit (she's a little more spirited, so Jenna was leading her) They think that we should take the whole works to the fair on Saturday, we will have to see what Daddy thinks, when they tell him. Seth really doesn't do too bad, when you factor in that he is 3 and half (2/3's if you want to get technical) of course good ol' Barbie is the calmest calf I have ever been around. When we are done leading her, you walk her to the barn, take off her halter and she walks to the gate of her pen and waits for you to let her in. If all the show cales were that easy, even wimpy Mom could even take charge of this project! ;)
Thought that I would show ALL my cattle showmen...........
From Tulip~
KH

18 Years Ago Today....

Does this 'young buck and his bride' even look remotely familiar to anyone? Yeah well good bad or otherwise, that was us 18 years ago. Today is our anniversary, I have already gotten my present, although I haven't told David yet. After living with him for this long I have learned that a little finesse in mentioning upcoming events is a must and that timing is everything. I guess I am feeling sort of nostalgic today, so I have been thinking of a 'History of Us' blog today. So here goes:
When I was a Senior in HS I started dating David. We did all the traditional things that childhood sweethearts do. We went to the Prom and all of that. I went away to college and spent a LONG semester away from my sweetie, complete with BIG phone bills and tearful goodbyes. Well with much love and feeling the need to be closer to home I transferred to the local community college, to be closer to my sweetie and to plan our wedding. We got engaged at Christmas in 1989 and married in July of 1990. I was 19, the same age as my parents when they got married, and David was such a 'mature' (sarcasm again, sorry) 24.
We sat up housekeeping in a mobile home that was/is on his/our family farm. I finished college, worked a few years and after four years of marriage, we welcomed the first of four kiddos. Cody Garrett was born on LABOR DAY (oh so appropriate!!) Sept 5th, 1994, Samuel Earl came along, four years, one month and one day later. If you're doing the math, Oct 6th, 1998. Our trailer that was such cozy quarters for newly weds, was suddenly busting at the seams. At the same time, David's parents were in the process of becoming 'empty nesters' as his sister Dawn had moved into her first home and his little sister, Beth, was in college. So we had the 'grand shuffle.' We traded houses with David's parents when Sam was about one month old. So we now live in the house that David did the majority of his 'growing up' in. Well, in perfect timing or whatever you want to call it, I have several names, but looking back perfect timing, is the right one, Jenna Claire, arrived right on schedule, four years and not quite a month after Sam. Those keeping track will note, Nov. 1st, 2002. Then we decided to mix things up a bit and Seth William, made his appearance, Nov 2nd, 2004, two years and one day after his older sister. Yes he broke the cycle and rounded out our set of kiddos.
Our hands are full and hearts are blessed with this houseful of 'family' and we have a deep friendship and appreciation for each other that I think we could have never foreseen 18 years ago. We are never him or me, unless it's I love him, or he loves me, we are just us and we.
I started this blog thinking that I wanted to give this great history of us, our lives, our town, 'Tulip' etc etc but I think I will stop after covering the most important part. Back to my gift, that I mentioned at the beginning of the blog. I am beside myself excited, for longtime readers (two months or whatever its been that I been blogging) I mentioned that we were going to get the opportunity to be a featured diarist in Farm and Ranch Living. They called this morning and we are on for August, so THAT is what I am considering to be the biggest gift today, the chance to share what we love about each other and our lives with the readers of that great magazine. When I get an opportunity, I will add their website to my list of favorites. We are supposed to be in the Dec 2008/Jan 2009 issue. This is the same company that publishes, Taste of Home, Country Woman, Birds and Blooms and many other magazines. So I guess watch for more details.
Happy Anniversary to us,
From Tulip~
KH

Kids and Black Cows, Part 3

Cody is showing a 'little' (lots of sarcasm intended, read on) steer this year. He had the champion 4H Crossbred steer (Angus/Gelbvieh cross, we got from Bill Harris) at Sturgeon, (where this picture was taken) ended up 3rd overall. And got 3rd in his Super heavy weight class at Centralia. We got in line to weigh his steer and it was funny how several people who had seen him Friday night came over to see what he weighed. Poor little thing only weighs 1495 POUNDS!!!! We have had several little things that have been problems in breaking calves this summer. Although the kids took a calf a piece to the fairs, they have THREE calves a piece that we've been working with. One of the mishaps has been that Cody got his big toe stepped on by his heifer and ended with the toenail ripped off, a laceration and crushed bone in the toe. I couldn't think of any 'good way' to blog about it, so I thought that I would throw it in as an aside in this one. We kidded him last night and said be glad it wasn't BUBBA (this steers' name) or you might not have had a toe left. He's just a monster, almost as big as one of our bulls. If we can get it done, Cody has another Steer that was too 'green' to go to the shows this weekend, but we're hoping to take him to Audrain or Monroe County fairs, after the guys have worked more with him. Sam has had bad luck as well. He's got a beautiful red steer (crossbred Red Angus and Gelbvieh) but the darn thing figured out he can get away and even David and Jason have trouble keeping ahold of him, so he's probably out. Sam also has an older heifer, Daisy, that he showed as a Sr. Heifer Calf last summer, but she's big and pregnant and grumpy and goes where she darn well pleases, doesn't get away, because she doesn't really run, she just walks wherever she wants, so she's probably out as well. It's been one of 'those' years, like throwing gas on a fire, the more we work with them, it seems, the worse they get. But the kids love the shows, so we keep plugging along. Maybe next year will be better, crops and cows both!

Kids and Black Cows, Part 2

Sam had mixed results for the first two shows. At Sturgeon, Friday night, he competed against an older heifer and the judge never asked the calves birthdates and he lost out. Then Saturday night he had the Champion Angus Heifer at Centralia, so go figure who knows. Anyway I always try to find good pictures, but it seems that pictures of kids showing cattle you either end up with the kids backside, or the cows, sorry! Sometimes you end up with both, oh well. The above picture was when Sam was in the show ring competing for Supreme Female, which was won by a Centralia girl, Tara Fountain, you can see the 'best side' of her Charolais heifer there in the edge of the picture. He was thrilled also though with his 'trophy' which was a mesh tote bag that holds all the sprays and 'goops' that they put on the calves, in fact the kids already have it full of their 'show stuff' ready for the next show, this coming Saturday at Audrain County, in Mexico, MO.

Kids and Black Cows, part 1

This is a picture that I took Saturday night at Centralia Fairs' Cattle Show. Jenna, with the black calf, braids and hot pink shirt, is talking to the judge, Charlie Gerloff (Angus breeder from Bland, MO who we've gotten to know through the years from showing at the State Fair) The Open Bottle Calf class is always a popular event and as Charlie said it was the best reason to be there, to see these little kids who aren't even old enough to be in 4H out there, I think there were about 8 exhibitors in the class, ranging from 6 yrs to almost 4 yrs old. Jenna had a pretty good weekend at Sturgeon she won the Open Bottle calf class and was thrilled to come home with her grooming brush/trophy. Saturday night thanks to Papa Charlie's donation, all the exhibitors won a new rope halter, which Jenna picked out purple, so Barbie now has two halters to choose from, pink or purple. If Jenna stays this enthusiastic about showing cattle, she'll give her brothers a run for their money.

Finally made the 'Drink'

Well, after not getting a chance to try the new drink recipe that I was talking about, Sunday evening I finally had the chance. I will say that the first review was only kind of so-so.
I get a magazine called everyday food. When I subscribed, I didn't realize that it was a 'Martha Stewart' magazine. So her version of everyday food and mine are a little different, but I have tried probably a recipe an issue, and we have liked some, others sort of whatever. (The Hawaiian Pound Cake was one)
Watermelon Lemonade
2 Lemons, quartered
1 C fresh mint leaves
1/2 C packed light brown sugar
1/2 medium seedless watermelon (about 9 pounds)
1 C vodka (optional) *yeah whatever!*
Squeeze lemons into large pitcher (I used gallon, but I think it would fit into a 1/2 gallon) add the the squeezed lemons, mint and sugar. Mash with a wooden spoon until mint it bruised and sugar is dissolved. In blender puree watermelon in batches until smooth, pour through a fine sieve into pitcher. (You should have about 8 cups of juice) Stir to combine. Refridgerate, covered up to three days. And vodka if using, serve over ice.

Okay my version, didn't use the mint leaves as I totally forgot to get any. They might improve it. I wasn't a huge fan of this drink and heck yes we used the vodka! ;) I wish I had chilled the watermelon thoroughly first. I also would do crushed ice or make this a semi frozen type of drink. We put it over ice and it just needed to be colder, if that makes sense. It was okay, I think it might need to be a bit sweeter, I am thinking that white sugar could be an improvement as well. You know what this means, I will have to make it again, soon.
Anyway, I look forward to hearing reviews, comments, suggestions.
Busy week here, wrapping up last minute things before the fairs get going. Will have some pics to post I suppose of kids and black cows (one red one. if we gt him to 'that' stage!) coming soon.
From Tulip~
KH

Teriyaki Chicken Marinade

I forgot to mention one of the other highlights of last night, I tried a new recipe. I am a cook much Kim H and recipes are just suggestions, kind of an outline to go by.............
Of course we have our own beef and pork, but I buy my chicken and the one thing I buy quite a bit of is boneless (skinless) frozen chicken breasts, they are kind of my favorite quick prep meat. so I am always on the look out for different ways to fix them. I subscribe to www.allrecipes.com 'What's for dinner?' emails and a week or so ago there was a recipe for the following marinade:
Easy Grilled Chicken Teriyaki
4 skinless, bonelss chicken breast halves
1 cup teriyaki sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
2 teaspoons sesame oil
They told you to add all ingredients to a gallon ziplock and marinade in the fridge for 24 hours etc etc
MY VERSION:
In large ziplock add as many chicken breasts as I needed, in this case I did 5, as they were apparently some big busted chickens, (they were still frozen) I did the whole bottle of teriyaki sauce, which was 10 oz. I did a whole little bottle of lemon juice, whatever size those are, mine is long since in the trash, a very generous shaking of garlic and herb seasoning and little peanut oil as I didn't find sesame oil when I was at the store in town. All of this happened around 2:30 ish and they were grilled maybe 7 and at that time were about thawed and yes I committed the cardinal sin of leaving them in the bag on the counter. But each time I turned them over I felt them and they hadn't thawed and we all survived. We decided that this particular combination is our new favorite for chicken and well certainly use it again. We grilled them outside, but I believe it would work well on my George Foreman grill which generally gets a workout at this place when it's not weather to grill outside.
We didn't end making the mixed drinks, but those will be test tasted and reviewed soon, stay tuned.
And yes to you all who know it and wonder if I will mention it, today is my birthday, and in rounding by 5's, I could still round down to 35, not up to 40, so figure it out those who might not know how old, I am still 3 months younger than you Kenneth Earl, and 5+ YEARS YOUNGER than my smart a$$ husband. Been a pretty good day. I have been 'enjoying' my gift from my parents for a while now~~~the washing machine! (guess that's a sign of old age, excitement about appliances!) Bob and Gladys' gifts were a Boyd's Bear "Coco Cola" bear and some earrings with pink swarkovski (spelling?) crystals. We shopped the other night for 'Mom's gift' and I came home with some Eastland sandals that I am loving. (of course, like most mom's the kids came home with a haul themselves!!) That's life and that's fine with me, probably the most entertaining gift of shoe shopping with four kids is that David now knows why I swear I need to stop off for a drink after doing that by myself!
We are dropping the kids off this evening at my parents and going to one of our favorite NO KIDS dining options~ HuHot Mongolian Grill tonight. Then tomorrow we are going to my parents for birthday lunch.
I decided that this morning I wasn't cooking or cleaning today, well that didn't last long there's clothes in the washer right now, but sandwiches were lunch and when I get done with this I am going to sew................ working on a quilt top AND (because why would you work on one thing at a time, I know where Cody gets it!) a Christmas tree skirt. So I am off to goof off, have a good rest of the weekend. Next week is full projects to finish and the Centralia Fair. You may not hear from me for several days........
From Tulip~
KH aka the birthday GIRL :)

Seth's Mile Long Sparkler

We were cleaning out the 'stash' of old fireworks, mostly looking for 'punks' and found these old sparklers, that were huge, I bet they were 30 inches long. We figured that they wouldn't even work and lo and behold they did! And they actually lasted a long time as well. Seth was near as wild with his, he mostly just watched it burn and chattered alot about it. (and yes he dresses himself, for those who might be questioning the clothing choice!)