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Showing posts from December, 2010

Good-bye 2010!

Good-bye 2010! It was a rough year for old men - we'll miss you all... .

Working hard in the middle of the Pacific

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Cute cousins :)

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Ready to ski!

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A rock star in the making?

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Looks like Santa was here!

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Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone! .

Guess who?

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Guess who comes tonight? Looks like he's been hitting the egg nog pretty hard already... .

Ladybugs in my shower

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Every once in a while, I find a ladybug or two in my shower. We get no other bugs in the house other than an occasional spider or fly. They only show up in the master bedroom shower. They don't stay long. How do they get there? Where do they come from? It's a mystery. .

Erin's floor

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Steve, here is what Erin's floor looks like now with the carpet replaced. .

Eclipse

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Did you watch the eclipse last night? It was amazing! Erin, Jordyn, Kathryn and I watched from about 12:40 am until about 2:30 am when it clouded up and we couldn't see anymore. It was really beautiful. We saw tons of stars. Were able to pick out several constellations. And, we saw 5-6 shooting stars. Here is one of Kathryn's photos: Here is one of mine: .

Winter Showcase

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Travis with Santa too

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Totally Twisted

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Ice Licker

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Cool picture from last year. Has a little "Christmas Story" feel to it... .

Business Fair

Erin was the top entrepreneur for her class in the 5th grade business fair today. Second out of the whole 5th grade. Congratulations Erin!! Will add pictures if I get some... .

The naughtiest of all...

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Erin and Santa

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I see two naughty and no nice in this picture!! .

Angels?

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Well, at least they look the part... .

NaNa's Meatballs

I don't know where NaNa originally found this recipe but I now consider it hers. Hope you don't mind if I post this NaNa! I had several requests for it after preparing it yesterday evening. NaNa's Meatballs 2 cups BBQ sauce (note 1) 1 cup bourbon (note 2) 1 cup prepared mustard (note 3) 1 cup honey 1 teaspoon onion powder 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (note 4) 3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice (note 4) 1/8 teaspoon Worchestershire sauce 32 ounce bag Italian style meatballs, thawed (note 5) Mix all except the meatballs. Bring to a boil. Add the meatballs and reduce heat to simmer about 25 minutes. note 1: NaNa uses Cattleman's. I used KC Masterpiece Original - which is what I happened to have on hand. note 2: NaNa uses Jack Daniels. I used Evan Williams - which is what I happened to have on hand. note 3: NaNa uses Dijon. I used French's yellow - which is what I happened to have on hand. (Noticing a trend here yet??) note 4: Didn't h...

Chemistry never tasted so good

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Here is 1/2 of the periodic table in brownies... .

With the fam

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Kathy, Gordon, Aunt Martha & Uncle Pete: Two hot chicks: .

Death of a gingerbread house

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Talented Uncle Bobby

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Did you know that Uncle Bobby can juggle? He's really good too! .

Thank-you Fire Department

Our smoke detectors went off at 3:15 this morning. They are super-loud and of course woke me up instantly. I got up to see what the problem was, cursing them all the while as I thought it was a battery issue and Steve had just replaced them. When I stepped out of my room, I smelled a burning smell (smelled like burnt toast or popcorn) coming from upstairs. Yikes! I ran up stairs, woke the kids, and told them to downstairs. Kathryn and I searched all over and could not find the problem. We checked the attic and all the electronics. We walked through the whole house. We checked everything in the kitchen. We checked the heat lamps on the back porch. We checked the heat lamps in the garage. We could not find anything suspicious. I was still hesitant to send the kids back upstairs to bed not knowing what caused the problem. So, I then called the non-emergency number and asked if they could have someone from the fire department come help me check. The truck came out without its...

Cool site

Portable North Pole is a really cool site where you can create a video message from Santa for someone special. Try it!! .

Travis and Freckles

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Cub Scout float

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Here is a quick picture of the Cub Scout float for the Christmas parade. Recognize Kathy's grinch and Nikki? .

Fabulous rolls

This is a super-simple, amazingly delicious recipe for rolls. Making them in the cast iron skillet keeps them warm all through the meal (if they last that long) as well. Click on this link... Buttered Rosemary Rolls Note: If you don't have sea salt, use Kosher salt. .

At the Children's Museum

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Standing inside a giant bubble. Pin portrait. Doing a little construction work. Decorating gingerbread houses. .

Cool kitchen gadgets

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Check out these cool gasket things. Bought them at a kitchen store a while back. They are the diameter of a rolling pin and different thicknesses so you can roll out dough to the exact thickness you need. .

Working hard?

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Kathryn and friends working hard in their child development class. Yes, that is shaving cream. .

Erin at the Christmas parade

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Cub Cadet

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Since the chickens are occupying the garage until January, wanted something to protect the Cub Cadet. Check out the new cover ordered from Cabelas. .

Help!

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Someone please tell me what this is!! Toothless underwear Ninja? I don't know... .

Grandy's Never Fail (Christmas) Cookies

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This is Grandy's recipe for rolled and decorated Christmas cookies. For those of you who don't know, Grandy was my grandmother, Daisy Bowen. 3 cups flour 1 teaspoon cream of tartar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons sugar 1 cup butter (2 sticks) 3 eggs, slightly beaten 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract Evaporated (Pet) milk and egg yolk Sift together dry ingredients. Cut in butter as for pastry. Add eggs and flavorings. Blend thoroughly. Chill dough. Roll out dough (about 1/8" thick) and cut out as desired with cookie cutters. Place on greased cookie sheet. (Here, I prefer to line my sheet with parchment paper rather than greasing. MUCH easier clean up!!) Brush lightly with an egg yolk mixed with evaporated milk. (There were never any measurements for this. I use 2-3 times more evaporated milk than egg yolk.) Decorate as desired with colored sugar, etc. Bake at 375 degrees for 6-8 minutes. (Do NOT over bake! J...

Wild Turkeys!

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Check out the massive number of wild turkeys at Chuck's feeder. Crazy! .

12 Days of Whataburger

For all you Whataburger fans - go to their website and sign up for the 12 Days of Whataburger. They send you 12 different email offers with coupons for free stuff through Christmas. Yesterday was a free taquito. Tomorrow is free onion rings. Yum!!! The site is http://12days.whataburger.com/ .

William's first deer!!!

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Isn't it beautiful! Congratulations William! .