The Blustery Time of Year

The past week or so has been super windy around here. On the bright side, we 'finally' have decent kite flying weather!

I'm not sure who was doing more flying, the kite or my little man!

Lenten Friday Lunchbox

Today has been a bit rough in the meal planning department... We are out of milk (GASP!) and eggs and since it is Friday during Lent, no sausage... This left us with oatmeal with brown sugar and diced apples for breakfast. Not bad I might add.

Then it was time to decide what would be on the lunch menu... Again no meat. So we've gone with PB&J, which is really a treat around here, considering I make it less than once a week. Strawberries an CA cutie orange mix, carrot sticks and a handful if Pirate's Booty. Yes, this mom caved and bought the snack "All The Other Kids At School" have in their lunch.

Sometimes I feel like I lack in the lunch packing department and other times, I wish I had thought to make a second
one for my own lunch.

These containers from Easy Lunchbox (www.easylunchboxes.com/) have seriously made it much easier for me to get through the lunch packing process... no juggling plastic sandwich bags, smashed food and sticky leftovers. And after school my little guy can put it right into the dishwasher!

What are your favorite lunchbox meals? Lets share some inspiration!

Valentine's Day

It's the night before Valentine's Day, and I'm up until nearly 11 baking cookies for our little guy's class celebration tomorrow.

They definitely did not turn out like my mom's have ever since I can remember... But they will have to do.

Any special Valentine treats making an appearance at your house this year?

Movin' Bulls

While the little boys are off playing at the park with their cousin, I'm avoiding Mt. St. Laundry Pile by helping my guy move bulls.

We raise registered breeding bulls to be sold to other dairy farmers, and today was the day s few of them graduated to a bigger pen down the road.

I love their winter wooly! (Even though they really have hair, not wool, winter hairies just doesn't sound the same!)

The Adventures of Elfie 2012: Part 1

It seems to have become an unintended tradition. During the late fall and winter months, this little blog becomes extremely neglected. It's not that I mean to, or want to, there just are not enough hours in the day. For the past few weeks, our adventures have been never ending; from the first day of pre-school and Kindergarten for each of our little guys, spending time in the classroom, a birthday celebration and cramming all of the holiday prepping into a few short weeks. One day, I will begin sporadic Christmas shopping in July and have it all completed by Thanksgiving. One day.

 

We have also been especially busy chasing Elfie from one end of the house to the other. I have decided to create a 2-part post on the Adventures of Elfie 2012, to share some of the fun we've been having.

 

For those of you who are not familiar with the Elf on the Shelf concept, Santa sends a "spy elf" to homes around Thanksgiving, to keep an eye out on the children and observe their behavior. Each night, the spy elf flies to the North Pole to report back to Santa - good or bad - and then flies back to a new spot in the house. Elfie arrived last year and spent a couple of weeks with us before flying off with Santa on Christmas Eve. Over the past year, I have amassed a drawer full of letters to Elfie and Santa that the boys sent, pictures they have drawn and gifts they have sent. Daddy Elfie was sweet enough to write back to them twice, and you'd have thought they hit the jackpot! Needless to say, Elfie was missed every day while he was gone.

 

So, this year, we decided to make things a little more exciting, rather than just having him sit in different places around the house. Thanks to Pinterest for many of the initial suggestions that help us get going when we hit a block.

 

Elfie arrived the morning after Thanksgiving - and while I was worried at the end of last year that we'd possibly forget to bring him out, we had two little boys who counted down the days to Thanksgiving, knowing their little friend was going to return! He made himself at home with a hot chocolate and slice of pumpkin persimmon pie.

"Mom! Elfie is here! He came back!"

Elfie has been found all over the house... playing the Memory Game...

"flipping race cars" like Clayton taught him the day before...

playing in mom's jewelry box (this was daddy's idea!)...

making a snow angel with shredded coconut he found in the fridge...

chatting with the snowmen about what their cousins in the North Pole have been up to...

Elfie even got a hold of a dry erase pen and marked up the boys' pictures! (another one of Daddy's ideas).

I picked up these hat and antlers window stickers at Target for $4 or $5 and wasn't sure what to do with them... Elfie found them! Looks like he's still got that dry erase pen...

One morning there was even a report card (Daddy again!), Whew! So far, they both still made the good list!

Hanging out on top of the "castle" as the boys call it.

This is a great reminder that there is nothing more important than good friends! Elfie rounded up the snuggle favorites while the boys were asleep, for milk and chocolates. The boys spent the day sharing chocolate kisses with these guys!

The morning of Clayton's birthday, Elfie found the extra crepe paper, left over from the curtain I hung on his bedroom doorway, and created a swing for himself over the dining room table.

The Rudolph in our living room must have been making Elfie homesick... he slung up some reins ... maybe they went for a ride during the night... we will never know... ;)

When Elfie heard that Grammy and Pop were coming for the weekend, he decided he needed to look up this Pop guy... and where else than the Grand Slammers section of the big horn sheep magazine.

The Lego table was a lot of fun, building a village and a train with the farm animal friends.

While Grammy was here, Elfie left a trail of mini-marshmallows from the boys' rooms through the house to where he'd filled their stockings with more mallows. (I didn't get a picture of the trail in time... little fingers ate the trail from the bedrooms within about 5 minutes!)

Catching up with friends at the 49er Stadium in the 49er village.

Mom and Dad got some giggles out of this one! We thought that maybe the new guy was making the rest of the snuggle friends a little bit jealous, so they decided to break in the new Nerf birthday gifts and "rough him up a little"!

 

We've got more Elfie adventures to come, after Christmas, I'll post the rest of the photos.

 

We wish you all a Very Merry Christmas!!

 

Give Away Winner Selected!!

I would like to apologize for the delay in announcing the winner of our Name the Biggest Baby Ever Contest! I have been a bit under the weather and am finally making strides at getting caught up!

 

A couple of weeks ago, we announced a CA cheese giveaway for the person who could choose the winning name for the big baby girl that was born on our farm earlier this month.

 

There were some great suggestions including...

Jumbo

Tiny

Minny Moo

Whale Calf

Fat (like Fat Head)

Ariel

Mack (like Mack Truck)

Bridgett Elizabeth Evelyn Fiona "BEEF"

Umberto (German for Famous Giant)

Mona

Bertha

King Kong

 

We would like to congratulate Amy Burkhardt @aim4thahardt, who submitted her suggestion via Twitter, and suggested Half Pint! Thank you ALL for your participation! Please check back often for updates on Half Pint! Amy, please send us your contact information so that we can get some fantastic CA cheese headed your way!

 

What's for dinner tonight?

A couple of years ago, I stumbled on a recipe for Savory Stuffed Peppers in a Mrs. Dash ad. I made it once and my husband Loved it! I much prefer my bell peppers in the raw, but once in a while it's good for the relationship - and the heart - to let him have his way.

 

I didn't say that it had to be often, it haaass been at least 2 years since the last time I made this. Honestly, I forgot about it until I found it in my cookbook... but the fact that it made him look forward to dinner, well, that was nice!

 

First, top and hollow out your bell peppers, then place them in a deep baking dish.

 

 

Mix together your "stuffing" ingredients in a bowl - this made my hands sticky and dirty, so no photo, but I'm sure you can use your imagination.

 

Then stuff your peppers. 

 

Pour marinara sauce over the top and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. 

 

Cover the dish and bake for 45 mins.

 

 

Score! He was happy! Though I think the boys prefer their peppers raw, like their mommy. :)

 

 

Savory Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

4 large bell peppers (I used 5 avg size)

1 cup Minute Brown Rice, uncooked

2 Tbsp. Mrs. Dash Tomato Basil Garlic Salt-Free Seasoning Blend (I used Tbsp. Lawry's 17-Seasoning)

1 pound lean, ground round (I used ground venison)

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup plain bread crumbs (I used Italian bread crumbs)

1-24 oz jar low sodium marinara sauce

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

 

REMOVE tops and seeds from peppers. Place into a deep oven-proof baking dish.

COMBINE Minute Brown Rice and Mrs Dash seasoning. Blend beef, egg and bread crumbs into rice mix. Stuff mixture into peppers.

POUR sauce over peppers and sprinkle with cheese. Cover dish and bake at 350* for 45 minutes or until peppers are tender.

Serves 4.

 

 

Wordless Wednesday: Left Speechless

This little lady has left us speechless, and generated a lot of conversation, all at once! The little farmers standing with her are 5 & 3 years old, and I'm pretty sure she could take Them for a walk!

 

 

 

She was born on our farm, in the late night hours of Friday, Oct. 5, 2012, about 10 hours before this photo was taken, and she is a cutie!

 She is One. Big. Baby!

This photo might not do justice to her size, but consider this: the man standing in front of her is over 6' tall! 

So we decided, that today was a good day for comparison photos.

The lady on the left is 1 day OLDER than our Big Baby on the right!



 

The "little" calf is average size, usually around 85-95 pounds at birth.

There is no doubt that our Big Baby was in the 170+ pound range.

 

 

Now it's time for a Giveaway! We have decided to have a naming game for our Big Baby! Comment below or on either of our Facebook or Twitter pages (Twitter entries please tag #biggestcalfever) with your name suggestions on or before October 20th. The winning name will be announced on October 25th and the winner will receive some yummy Real CA Cheese! Good Luck!

 

If you comment here with your entry, please be sure to leave some sort of contact information so that we can reach you in the event that your name is chosen as the winner.

 

Annual Corn Harvest Photos, 2012

Every year, during corn harvest, I like to take photos of the boys in the field, and today was the day to grab some shots before the choppers finish up and move on to the next farm.

 

 

The ears on our corn are very big this year, many of them are 10-12" long!

 

While we were there, the chopper came by - look out!

 

 

I love this photo, and am so proud that our little guys already have a love for agriculture!

 

 

 

"Cheeese!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is what the corn looks like after it's been chopped. Ear, stalk and all. It gets packed onto a concrete storage area known as the "pit", where it is covered with heavy plastic to ferment into silage, and then fed as an ingredient in our mixed feed rations.