R's Song.

A while ago I posted R singing a little song and asked you to guess what the song was. No one knows apparently. It's the ACE reading programs  K song. 'A kangaroo from Kalamazoo kicked up his heels and played a Kazoo!! ' At almost 3 she knows about 1/3 of the songs J learned this year from this program. L knows all but one or 2 and E knows about 4/5's of them.

Awesome Movie of the Kids.

They did this all by themselves. I only helped them find the 5th instrument. The drum. J is the band leader and they totally love to play together. They switch instruments often and they either all sing together or have a 'singer.' What do you think?? Gonna be a bluegrass band someday :) They start off playing really slowly. Then J yells SPEEDING and they all go as fast as they can. They've been doing this with singing too. SLOW MEDIUM FAST!  They enjoy playing with the tempo's  and seeing how very slow or how very fast they can sing.

FINISHED Grade 1 Math!!!

J is officially done Grade 1 Math!! We've been taking a bit of a break from pace work and finishing up some other fun stuff we wanted to do. Then yesterday I remembered that he had been nearly done his 12th math pace so we pulled it out and he finished it. Then this morning he finished his test! 100%!! Way to go Jed!!!
We already ordered and received the Grade 2 Math paces. So we'll start them next week!
We also recently got a neat little Math book called Mind Benders. We got the 1st book which is verbal  word problems. J has been speeding through 10 of these a day and asks me if we can do them!! He loves them! They are fun and we both enjoy doing them. I'm going to order the next Mind Bender book soon as there is only 100 in this one and they are not really hard for him.

Valentines Day, A Special Gift.

Papa brought me yellow roses on Valentines day. He surprised me with them after he was suppose to be at work. He banged through the door, handed me the flowers and a heart shaped box of chocolates, kissed me several times and proceeded to tell me what else he'd brought home. A little chopper for baby food and a new mixer as mine has mostly given up. Then he kissed me again, yelled that he'd be home late and headed off to work! What a sweetheart he is. He normally gives me red roses but this morning I told him if he was going to give me flowers please could I have daffodils. I'm really wishing for spring these last few days and I thought the bright yellow colored flowers would help with the February winter YUCK.

 As Papa headed out the door I noticed E was standing beside me with something I'd asked her to bring to me. Her 4 year old eyes were large with excitement and twinkled. Did you know little girls were born to be romanced? I didn't,  not until today. OHHHH The OOOHHHS and AHHS the 'they are GORGEOUS mommy. Just GORGEOUS' R says to me. I want to keep them forever and ever because they are SO GORGEOUS!!' They had to smell them, touch them, watch me as I cut the stems and placed them in water then OHHH and AHHH over them again when I put them on the table. Several times R said. OH Thank YOU Papa!! And E would say 'Papa's at work, we'll have to tell him Thank you for the beautiful flowers when he gets home!' Oh Oh OH!!! At one point after I'd cut them and was putting them on the table I saw the two of them grin at each other and spontaneously HUG!!! E lifting R off the floor!! What little girls they are. I had no idea, and I'm sure Papa didn't either, how much our two little girls would enjoy those bright yellow roses!!

The boys were outside doing firewood as all this was going on. But when they did come in for a quick moment they had to see the flowers and smell them. J stuck his nose in a flower till his nose was just about gone and inhaled deeply then sighed. They really do smell nice! L's eyes lite up and his cheerful little grin lit up the room.

They went Ga Ga over the chocolates too. I cut all the chocolates in half so that everyone could try a few not just one or two. What a great idea that was. We will be doing that again. Half a chocolate is quite enough for a good taste. We don't have favorites because we get chocolates so rarely so this way we can try a few and see what we like!

It's been several days now and we are still enjoying our spot of spring on the table. Amazing how handful of bright yellow flowers can make the snow seem not so deep and the sunshine a little brighter and grins pop out on faces a little more often. What a wonderful gift! Thank you Papa!

The Snow Castle.

R peeking through a window in the top 'keep' area. 

Papa building while J, L and R look on. He made this huge pile with the bobcat taking all the snow that fell off the carport side of the roof and several other places. So a LOT of the snow is in great big chunks. Frozen solid. You can see one tunnel right under J. 

The boys and Papa working on the castle.

The 4 on or in the castle. R is peeking out the window. No J is not on top of her, he's farther back. The top where they are at is probably 10 feet at least wide.

It's fun to sled off the end. Chip loves it sit up there and watch them. Even the kittens have gone down this hill on the sled!! When L told me he'd taken them down I asked if they'd liked it. His answer...'Humm.. I really don't know!" I suspect not. 

We got more snow the night after Papa started it. So it got a bit bigger. Here you can see the path on the left. There is a path all around the back and several tunnels and a slide back there that either go to the 'keep' or slide out of it. 

More tunnels. 

The path around the back.

A long tunnel. 

I have no idea what this picture is... maybe a start of a tunnel?? :) 

L in some tunnels. 

J and L in the 'keep' which actually is taller then this now. Papa built the sides up with snow blocks sort of like an igloo. 

Inside the keep. It measures about 12 feet long and 5, at the widest point, wide. 

Papa digging what turned into the slide. 

Here you can see where he's working. He's standing but bent over. 

This has nothing to do with the castle but I thought it was kinda neat. See that little tiny snow hill at the far side by the trees?? It's not really by the trees. It's close to where the trampoline is. These sled tracks go all the way from that little snow hill down to where I took the picture. The boys had an awesome time sledding on our new orange sled with Papa. Papa stayed behind the hill and when they were ready he gave a big PUSH and WOW did they ever go!! 

Fun In The Snow With The Sled.

The kids checking out the sled before we got it off the trailer! 

Chip sitting in the middle of the driveway while Papa takes a child and the sled on the road. 

R after her 1st ride! 

Papa and E on the sled. Chip LEAPING through the deep snow trying to keep up. After a while there was a trail and then it was much easier for him.

E after her 1s ride. 

L LOVED it and giggled the whole time. The sled was quiet enough that I could hear him giggling even when they were on the front piece. Wonderful sound. 

J was too big to go in the front and boy was I worried he'd fall off. He didn't and they both had a ton of fun! 

The next day T's came over for a ride or two. Here is Little Miss T loving it. 

This little Mr. T didn't want to go more then the one time his Momma said he had too.. and he loved it just didn't want to go again. 

The day was mild enough that Baby J got to sit outside for a little bit and watch. Papa took the kids on the road and J very proudly told me that 'we went faster then hwy speed.' After all the kids had several rides and Papa had made a few good trails he took me for a ride. We went to the lease behind us and on our road that goes down the side of our 5 acres he says he hit 40 but I was 'screaming and yelling at him'  so he slowed down. I do NOT like to go fast. I like to meander not FLY!! LOL. So he slowed down and on the way back he let me drive! What fun! 

A Little Thief. A Baby Take Away Story.

Baby J doesn't have a soother but Baby T does and the other day while they were playing together Baby J decided to give it a go. Baby T was NOT impressed and they played tug of war over it for a minute. Baby J didn't know what to do with it except put it in his mouth like another toy and chew! 

I showed Baby J how to put it back in Baby T's mouth and then Baby T was happy again. They had it back and forth for a little bit before Baby T decided he'd had enough and army crawled away. Baby J takes longer to move with his butt shuffle and Baby T is fast! Neither are actually crawling but both get around.

'But MOM I wanted it!!' Baby J.

'But it's MINE'  Baby T.

Operation Steers-eye And Mountain Memories.

Bullseye enjoying the sweet mix of beet pulp, mineral, molasses, and flax we feed Maggie while we milk. 

It went super well. He loves the sweet mix we make for the cow and walked right in and BAMM the head gate slammed shut when Papa pulled on the rope attached to it. A couple of boards on either side so he couldn't move around too much, a piece of plywood to block his view of the humans. Then Papa tied a rope to his tail and I pulled the rope and kept his tail up, cutting off the feeling in his back legs and keeping him from kicking. Then Papa did his thing and TA DA we have a steer. And we no longer have to worry about if he 'can reach' when Maggie goes into heat! That was about a week ago now and he's doing really well. We wanted to do it before spring because of the flies and that whole 'reachability'  thing. He will be 1 year old in May.

He looks so tiny in there compared to big tall Maggie. The cat was PRETTY SURE we'd forgotten to feed her that day! We had fed her, but they have to try it. It was a warm wet snowy day and we had PUDDLES on the ice! 

I have to remember the last time Papa and I did this to a little bull. We were living on the mountain in WA. state and the calf was a Holstein bull calf we'd gotten as a 3 day old and raised on our goats. He was TALL and we placed two trucks side by side and tied him between the two of them. Then I stood with a pair of gloves and great balance on the truck bed sides.. OVER the calf. So one foot on one truck bed side and one foot on the other truck bed side and held his tail up while Papa 'did his thing' and Gaffer the calf bawled for his goat momma. Looking back we should have tied her to the front of the truck.. he would have been quiet then. Gaffers goat Momma was named Little Girl and she loved him as much as he loved her. She was always looking out for him and would let him nurse any time he wanted.. even though he was twice as big as she was. He was a lot older then this picture shows when we steered him. He's only a couple weeks, if that, old in this picture. He'd follow her anywhere. If he got scared he would hide behind her... well as good as he could anyway! Very funny! 

What do Pigs, A Steer, A Calf, Chickens and A Milk Cow all have in Common this Winter??

None of them want to stay in the pen that was made for them! The calf wants his Momma, or at least her milk. The steer wants FREEDOM plain and simple. The pigs and cow well they both want the same thing and neither of them can find it nearby! Papa commented after a particularly trying week 'Might be a good reason to keep them pregnant, at least THEN they stay in!' I, yes the pessimist, thought darkly, "No that just means there will BE MORE OF THEM OUT!!' So far this winter I have chased, yelled, bribed and shot, yes SHOT, each of our 3 sows, the steer and the calf multiple times!! The now steer is the worst and we've actually considered shooting him now just to get rid of him once and for all. Bullseye, recently re dubbed "Steers-eye" after a hour or so of work, is an escape artist who is too stupid to stop when the electric fence nails him. He's his mothers son and will be the last of Bindy's BAD SEED on the place. It doesn't help that we've had a LOT of snow this year and our fencer is NOT working as well as it once did. I think we will be replacing it VERY soon. I"m a bit leery of getting a bigger one as this one hits pretty good in the summer and quite frankly I seem to attract the 'charge' as much as or MORE then any animal on the place. OUCH! But it's been crazy around here and something has got to give. 

We got a lot of snow one night and the next morning Papa noticed the pig and then the tracks going down the driveway. So he bundled up and went out looking for her. Poor Chip sat in the middle of the driveway and watched as he's not allowed out of the yard. He sat right about where Papa is in this picture and I was able to tell what Papa was doing by watching the dog that loves him. First Papa went left and Chip stared off that way. Then Chip stood up and got super excited. Sure enough, here comes Papa into view. No pig. All of a sudden Chip sat down hard and dropped his head in sorrow. Papa's finger was pointing at him and I'm pretty sure he got the 'stay home!' Then Papa went right. Chip watched the right side eagerly. Time passed. Chip lay down, still watching to the right. Then he sat up. Barked. Sure enough here comes Papa, pig trailing behind him. Chip is SUPER excited and does his 'whole body wiggle' multiple times. Papa hits the drive way and starts down it. Chip launches himself in the air in excitement but doesn't cross the line. The stay home line. Good dog. Papa's knows the pig doesn't really care for the dog so poor Chip has to 'go lay down' and can't greet his love, his master properly. He MUST obey and he does. What a good dog! 

Papa, ( he knew I was taking pictures and does his best to look cranky when I take pictures of him. I think he thinks I'll quit if he always has a scowl on his face..but he's mistaken :) bringing home a pig one Sunday Morning in January. We have 3 sows. 2 with long tails and one dubbed STUB for a reason. Both Stub and this long tail get out every time they go into heat. EVERY TIME!! Neither of them like me at all but they will fallow Papa to the ends of the earth. So I rarely have to put them in. When I do I use the pellet gun and shoot them in the rear. Multiple times. They take the hint and stay off the front yard even if they won't go back in. At least they are staying out of the neighbors and out of trouble. We are contemplating butchering both Stub and this long tail and keeping the other long tail who stays in and the very last female piglet from this springs batch and breeding them to farrow this fall. Neither of those two get out! Bonus. What a lot of sausage that would be :) 

Maggie the cow has only been out a couple of times and only after the steer has ripped the fence down. I sometimes wonder if she enjoys chasing the steer through the fence just so she can go and try and make a pig of herself with the sweet mix we feed her at milking time. Thankfully it can't hurt her and she's not as tricky as Bindy or Steers-eye and we figured out how to keep her out of it rather quickly. 

We finally managed to keep MOST of the chickens in. I'm not really sure what caused them to decide to stay in but I'm grateful for it. I'm also getting about 6 eggs a day! Finally some one is behaving around here! 

Chip in the deep snow. 

The ambulance in the deep snow. Pretty much covered over! 

Bagels! 1st Try!

We, Papa and I that is, made bagels today for the 1st time ever. It won't be the last. We'd been talking about trying them for quite a while and then Auntie R tried them and FB me the recipe so we decided to try them this morning together while Papa was home. The 1st plan was to get up early and have them ready for breakfast when the kids got up. Well we ended up watching a movie which had troubles at the end and  we fussed with that for much too long and ended up going to bed in the early hours of the morning. SO we changed the plan, slept in, and had them for lunch with Papa taking his to work. Here is the recipe.

Susan's Egg Bagels

Jody Prival

2 pkg. active dry yeast (regular--not fast acting)
2 cups warm water
3 tablespoon sugar
3 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
6 cups flour
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoon dry onion flakes (optional)Dissolve yeast in water. Add sugar and salt, dissolve. Lightly beat in the 2 eggs. Stir well. Add 4 cups of flour, stirring to make a smooth thin dough. Then add remainder of flour to make a stiff dough. Knead this dough 15 minutes. Then set aside covered to rise for 40 minutes.Divide the dough into 20 equal parts and knead each separately to form a small ball. Push a floured finger through the center of each and twirl it around your finger to make a bagel with about a 1 to 1 1/2" hole and an outer diameter of about 3". Let rise for 20 minutes.
Bring to boil 3 qts. water with 1 tablespoon sugar in it. Boil 4-5 bagels at a time for 4 minutes each, turning carefully. Dry on a paper towel. Mix the egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water, beat well, and brush the bagels with the mixture. Bake 20-30 minutes at 400oF (until brown). Don't expose to direct fire in the oven.

From the Dinner Co-op

Looking good!! We did the egg yolk on top and I think next time we won't. Made the outsides really chewy. Oh and make sure you bake them long enough or they'll have 'gooey' parts inside the ring. Not that I really know anything about it as this is our 1st try. I used my bread maker for the mixing and it worked great! 

Papa 'twirling' two at the same time. He's a mechanic so his hands are rarely 'food grade' so I make him wear gloves :) He whines but he wears them :) Note J doing school work in the back ground. Because today is Friday and the T's come over every Friday afternoon when we'd normally be doing school. I gave J the choice of doing his school last night, this morning or tonight. He woke up and told me 'I'm starting school right now so I can play later!' and proceeded to do his English and Science at the table. English before breakfast! He did his Socials Studies later on after the T's had gone. I love how he enjoys school and I rarely have to nag him into doing it. (He's so far ahead in his Math that he skipped it all together today.) He'll start grade 2 Math by the end of next week. 

You really should do 20. We ended up with 16 and they were too big. I want to try them as mini's too. Oh and make sure the inside hole is BIG. Very few of ours actually had a hole in the middle. But the water took FOREVER to boil so they rose a bit long too. (And yes I started the water boiling right after we got them into rings but it was a large pot and still took over the 20 minutes to boil.) They really should look like the inside hole is about 3 times bigger then it should be before they rise that last time.