Eagles in the Snow!

A few pictures I took of our winter bald eagle. He or she is never here in the summer but for the last several winters we have had a pair of balds and one that is alone. Often at the same time. In the top picture he is eating something that is under his feet! It was snowing so the pictures aren't the best. 

Eggs!!! And My Ice Cream Recipe!

Papa found 6 lovely chicken eggs in the hen house this morning. With every thing on our plates this fall we didn't have time to figure out how to get a light into our new chicken house, so we ended up having a 'dry spell' of about 2 months without very many eggs at all. (We even BOUGHT eggs from the store for baking!) But about 2 weeks ago Papa got a new extension cord and light bulb and TA DA there was light!! That is the one bad thing about using the green house for the chickens, so far. It's quite a ways from the house and not set up at all for lights and things. The calf, Meatloaf, broke one bulb, and another one just burnt out. We finally got one to stay on and now we are getting eggs!! Worth the hassle for sure. Tomorrow night we are having Mr. & Mrs B over for supper before they drive out of our lives again for another month of traveling and homemade ice cream is on the menu!! BBQ's chicken or a pork roast, baked potatoes, salad, corn and ice cream for dessert! Yummo!! We might even make COOKIES tomorrow and eat the dough raw!! Oh wow. Now I'm drooling!! :)

If you've never had it or made it.. you've got to try it.
Here's what you do!
Ice Cream.

1. Whip 4 fresh farmer eggs till they are a  really light yellow color and foamy. Make sure you scrape the sides and get it all mixed in.
2. Add 1/2 of sugar and 2 tsps of Vanilla, keep whipping till it's all mixed in!!
3. Add about 4 or 5 cups of cream, some people cut it in half with milk, but we like it with just cream!
4. Mix it together until it's all the same color!
5. IF you plan on freezing it after making it you can add about a tablespoon of vodka to keep it from freezing hard as a rock!! If you planning on finishing it off that night don't bother.

Now this is the harder part. We have a ice cream maker that comes with a bowl that you freeze and then you add the mixture to the frozen bowl while the machine turns the bowl and it mixes very nicely into wonderful ice cream.  All I have to do is set the timer and take it out when it's done I've also heard you can put it in the freezer in a shakable container and take it out and shake it at intervals which mixes it and makes ice cream. There is also the old ice and salt hand cranker which I've heard works well but have never seen done (that I recall) or used.

Now if you want to make chocolate ice cream or some other kind, play with it. Last time I made chocolate I just whipped in cocoa powder with the sugar and it was AWESOME!! You need quite a bit of cocoa mixed in. I think I did 1/4 cup and you could have done 1/2 no problem! We've also mixed in ice cream sauces in the last few minutes or candies, cookie dough, chunks of chocolate bars, (be aware. Chocolate chips HURT when you bite into them frozen!!)  mint thin paddies are REALLY good :), strawberry jam works great with some strawberry drink mix (my kids think strawberry ice cream has to be pink) to make a great strawberry. There are lots of combo's to try!! Have fun! Kids love to help you make it, and eat it,  and HEY it's even science :)

An Old Forgotten Post. L's Mess!!

This is L and the amazing mess he made from part of his chocolate from Easter last year. Missed it somehow and just found it again :) I find it amazing that he made this kind of mess because he dislikes messes. What I also find amazing is the fact that he's still wearing this shirt and it still fits him.. these pictures were Easter last spring!!

Sword Fighting :)

The kids love to sword fight with Mr. B. It's the highlight of their visit! Often it's 4 against 1 and the 1 still wins. They are getting better though! Mr. B always dies very dramatically which is half the fun! 

 L getting a good hit in! E and J are playing chicken! 

 Mr. B holding them all off! 

 All three of them in on it. 

Mr. B is starting his dramatics. E and J have the new weapons the boys got for Christmas. A mace and a battle axe!  Mr. B is getting in one last stab at L before 'dying.' 

 L getting in one last blow!! They love it! 

Oh and these pictures are from before J's Birthday.. they haven't had a battle since J got his shield. It will be a battle to remember I'm sure.. I'll let you know how it turns out. :) 

Tackle Box and J's 1st KNIFE!!!!

Grandma and Grandpa stopped by the other day with the promised tackle box!! He also got a VERY bright LED flashlight (just in case they stay out too late and need to find their way back in the dark, or so he informed me :) and a little leatherman like tool that does everything :) Including clip to your shirt so you don't loose it!! One of these days we'll have to take Grandpa out shopping so we can get some stuff to put in his tackle box. Stuff he can use for fishing anyway :) Now he has a tent, sleeping bag, fishing rod, tackle box, several flashlights, and is waiting to go fishing!

J reading.

Here is a longer clip of J reading. He had never read this book before.  Now that Papa is working straight evenings J has taken over the 'reading of the bedtime story.'  He loves it. The books we've been getting from the library are just right for him. Both level 1 and level 2. This is a series about a little female dog named Sam who gets into a lot of trouble.

Gingerbread House Update :)

Turns out

LEVI

was the lucky one to break the house!

Great Job LEVI!!!! :)

(Thank goodness for Papa's with great memories :)

SpiderBABY!!!

The boys love this sleeper and pick it a lot. They have no idea about Spiderman except that he can climb up walls and is a super hero! Which is enough for them to love him :) They tell me Baby J loves him too :)

Update on Cats.

We finally named our kittens we got this summer.. Tabitha and Daisy! We wanted them to have different 1st letters in their names because they are both females and if we keep any kittens they will be named with the same 1st letter. The same as we do for the cows. Here they are on their favorite chair. They are quite spoiled and sleep with the milking machine under the heat lamp! Chip puts up with them and every once and a while we see him with one by the scruff of the neck packing it around. I figure if they let him they must not mind too much! Crazy kitties. They love to 'pat' at me when I'm in the outside fridge and the other day one attacked my bare toes while I was standing on the porch. They love the other couches that are still on the floor. There is also a garbage can of bones up there and one or possibly both of them (They are quite hard to tell apart from a distance) have gotten chick-a-dee's by hiding between the cans. Our other 2 cats come home every once and a while but mostly live in the bush or at the neighbors. We've had Chip for over a year now and they still can't seem to get along! Joey our old Was. State cat is still alive and well and we hear his Siamese yowl regularly. 

Close up of, I think Daisy?? 

Tabitha. One is lighter in color and Daisy has more white (Barely!) on her face! 

Baby J dancing!!

It's just a short clip for those of you with slow Internet! He loved our little home church singing the other day. He would stop dancing whenever Papa changed songs but then start right up again. When we sang the 'Trees of the field' we clap and Papa raps on his guitar and Baby J would JUMP and look wide eyed around then just get dancing again and then we'd clap and he would JUMP and look wide eyed again. About the second time he did this the kids noticed and started giggling. Of course then it was LOTS of fun for Baby J. He's a little clown :)