Happy St. Patrick's Day!

  I can tell that I am getting older due to my nearly missing this holiday!  I had planned on some fun treats and some projects but calving and life got in the way of that.  The day is not done yet so we will see how it plays out!   St Patrick's Day has always been one of my favorite holidays and I am even a smidgen Irish so I can justifiably celebrate it!  Luckily, I threw on a shirt with some green on it so one will be pinching me :)  

Hope that you have a Blessed Day!
~C~

Water Bead Fun

  A good friend of ours recently gave us some water beads for Mr T to play and explore with.  I pulled them out today since the weather is slightly chilly and the wind is nasty.  Indoor play it will be today!

I started Mr to out with a few containers, a canning funnel and some Tupperware measuring cups along with a tote filled with water and water beads.

Mr T morphed it into all of my plastic ware and a few spoons!  

  This provided lots of fun and creative minded play for Mr T.  It also reminded me that I should make some cloud dough for him again.  I think he would like to play with it and we are passed the stage (well kinda) where we have to throw everything!

  Have a Blessed Day!
  ~C~

BHSS Finds 2014!

  A few weeks ago, Hubby, Mr T and myself headed off to the land of South Dakota to spend some quality time with Hub's family.  His brother, SIL and our two nieces, along with Gma S came down to check out the Stock Show and to spend some vacationing time with us.  We had a blast!  Mr T had so much fun bossing playing and spending time with his cousins.  It was a nice relaxful kind of weekend!  We hit up the WaTiki Water Park, the Trade Show, the Angus Show and Sale, Chili's (my favorite!), a Rodeo, the Dakotah Steakhouse (yum!) and a few other prime shopping spots.

  Here is this year's bounty from the Trade Show at the Black Hills Stock Show.

My annual stop at the JR Watkins booth is resulting in more and more stuff!  

A stop at the Tupperware booth, and I finally got my pickle container!

Leather conditioner that is not greasy and repels water.  Excited to use this stuff!

Discounted his and her fencing gloves!  Hard to beat the price at $6/pair for fencing gloves :).

Gma S found this pair of boots at the Boot Barn for Mr T!  We have such a tough time finding boots that will fit his high arch.  These are a little big, should fit him just right in time for Spring brandings!

  That was all that we came home with this year.  Some year's I am in a buying mood and some year's - not so much.   This was a not so much year!  We had more fun spending time with family :).

Have a Blessed Day!
~C~

Craft Time with the Munchkin!

  I am still here, been busy doing things but I really don't know what I have accomplished!!!

  With the weather turning colder and snowy here again, Mr T and I have been stuck in the house a little more than either of us likes.  We have turned to craft time to fill some hours.  I am trying to use craft time to teach Mr T the letters of the alphabet.  It's been working pretty good.  For crafts related to the letter of the day, I refer to this BLOG, it's been really helpful and has easy to do crafts.

  This week, we were on the Letter C and made these for our craft time.

A random painting and C is for Cow.

Our attempt at making a paper plate cow (awesome, huh!).

And finally, a Christmas Tree - Mr T has been all about putting the Christmas Tree back up so this was the closet tree that I would put up!

  And that, folks, is how I entertain myself daily around here!  I have been doing some Scrap booking lately which is awesome!  I am trying to get Mr T's album caught up, so far I am to Christmas of 2011.  The first year of Mr T's life - I took a LOT of pictures and it took awhile to scrap them!  However, I do have less going forward so hopefully it goes faster.
 
  Enjoy the weather, stay warm!

  Have a Blessed Day!!!

  ~C~

In Progress Report

  I thought I had better pop in and tell my readers 'Hello' since it has been awhile!  We have been busy with different projects, some are pulling together quite nicely - others not so much!

This cart is getting revamped to become my printer stand.  I have had some spray paint issues and it remains 'in progress'.

Man Cave is now complete!  Just got the light installed on Sunday.  

Nothing like ordering antiques from Ebay and having them arrive broken.  This mug lost it's handle.  Sad day for me....still waiting on a resolution (I think that is the Ebay word).

Bathroom upstairs is 'in progress'.  The toilet is function-able, we have a leak on the facet - haven't had time to get back to see what's wrong for sure.  The shower needs a door.  It's getting closer!

That's pretty much what's going on.  I am trying to get some stuff unpacked into the office so I can start scrap-booking soon.  I hate being so far behind.  I have moved Mr T's toys upstairs which has helped with the living room downstairs being a little less messy.  We are still waiting on our pellet stove to arrive.  That has been a run-around but a stove is on the way now.  Hubs built our floor mantle(?) for the stove to set on it, looks great!

Well, I think that I am off to play 4-Wheeler cowgirl today in the warm 20 degree temps!  Have a Blessed Day!
~C~

Freeze Branding

  Saturday we freeze branded our Replacement Heifers.  This is only the 2nd year that we have done this.  Last year, we branded nearly 200 head with our Replacement Heifers, 2s and 3 year old cows.  It's a lengthy process but we are hoping that it helps with our tagging system by keeping the same number for a particular cow for her entire life.  We had a pretty good turnout with the numbers showing up but felt that there was room for improvement.  So, Hubs got the internet and did some internet and YouTube research.  We will see in a few months if this year is better!

  We had a neighbor come over to help Hubby brand.  Boss Man ran the chute, while I pushed the cattle in the alleyway.

I grouped them in 3s, to fit in the alley way better.

Got a lot of butt views :)

A little view of the action!

   I got the heifers in the alley, then hoped over to blow the sand of hide where we needed to clip them, then clipped them.  This year, we double clipped them to get a closer shave for hopefully a better brand.  Then I blew them clean again.  If I had time I scrubbed them with 99% Rubbing Alcohol.  Our neighbor that come to help, usually helped me with the clipping/blowing/cleaning after he got his number 3 on each one. It was a pretty good team effort.

Closer view - the clock is for the guys to keep track of how long they have the iron on the heifer's hide. 

All done!

  We had a really nice day, it was in the 40s however the wind blow all of the hair right back in our faces.  I was a sticky mess of hair by the end!!!  Mr T helped out as well, the first 4 hours, he played with his toys in the barn, then he had lunch and thought he should help us.  However it wasn't a project that he could help with.  Mr T was super happy to be done with the freeze branding!

Have a Blessed Day!
~C~

A Pantry Revisited

  This week, I finally convinced Hubby to put the extra shelves that we had bought last summer up in the main pantry.  We decided to start with three and see if we want more as time goes on.  I am loving the extra space already!

  Here's the pantry as we started.

First, you send in Mr T to pull out the stuff being stored on the floor.

Second, take a picture of the mess - it's the cool thing to do!

We added the 3 shelves on the right.  The top shelf is 12 inches deep and the other two are 8 inches deep.

Happily filled and organized shelves.

The middle shelf is holding my extra baking supplies that don't fit into my baking cupboard.  The bottom shelf holds a basket with our different cooking mixes.  The right side is filled with containers with various to-go snacks for Mr T.  Needing to get some more labels made.

Bottom left side houses the extra canned goods on the shelf, then the floor is the bottled drinks, basket of chip bags and a few other extras.  Also, we finally got trim installed in the pantry during this process.  

The top half of the left side.  Very top shelf holds some of the extras (haven't gotten them all put up there yet), the middle shelf holds  a box with my extra dressings (Ranch, ketchup and etc), the basket of pudding mix,  olive oil , peanut butter, and vinegar.  The last shelf holds the breakfast items.  

That's the end of the Revisit to the Pantry!  Enjoy!

~C~

Pool Table - Picture Overload!!!

 On Jan. 2nd, we ventured over to my Grandmother's house and dismantled a pool table for the first time in our lives. We Hubby watched countless YouTube videos in preparation for this move.  Surprisingly enough, we were able to disassemble the table in about two hours and had hauled a flight of steep steps out of Gma's Basement.  It was not a feat for the faint of heart, due to the weight of the slate of the table.  But, we managed.  I am very thrilled to have my dear (departed now) Grandpa's pool table in our house, it is such an awesome memento.  We have the original receipt from when Gpa bought it in '94 and we know that is was used at that time.

Pool table wrapped up in blankets, along with a few other 'treasures' from Gma's basement.

Getting started with the legs and the support boards.

Mr T counting the balls.

Helping dad with the screws.

Mr T is becoming quite the photographer!!!  Here we are deciding how wide the table is so we can center it in our room.

Slate on and starting to get it cleaned up, leveled and positioned.

  Because it wasn't hard enough to haul it up Grandma's steps, we also had to haul it up our steps to the upstairs.  I should have taken the option of 'phone a friend' since my arms were absolute jello by the time we get it up there!!!  Then it was time for more YouTube videos on how to felt a table.  We ordered our felt online from Ozone Billiards and choose a Charcoal Gray to go with the wall colors in our rec room.

Putting the felt on the rails.

Getting ready to start the felting process on the table.

Stretching and hooking the felt on the side pocket.

Felt is on, now to trim the edges.

All Finished!

Mr T and Hubs playing the first game of pool.  

  We are awaiting our pool table light to come in.  Ordered it last night and it won't ship till Friday but in the meantime we can still play.  Looking forward to hours of perfecting our 'skills'!!!  I am sure that there will also be hours of YouTube videos on how to put more "english" on the cue balls along with other instructional ideas!

Have a Blessed Day!
~C~

Word of the Year - 2014

  I have never been very good at making (or keeping, for that matter) New Year's Resolutions and the past few years, I have tried to incorporate a new goal for me to work on each month to help better myself.  That didn't work so well either.  I would get sidetracked with all of the work and life events that we had going on.  I did succeed at getting some of my goals accomplished, just not all twelve.

   This year, I am hopping on the Word of the Year train and seeing if it works for me.  Here is a link to learn a little bit more about it One Word 365 and for some word ideas.  I think that it is a clever twist to New Year's Resolutions without having to set a specific resolution.  This is not a new concept by any means, I have been reading about it a lot on some of my favorite bloggers.  I figured if they can do, I can do it!!!!

 My word for the year 2014 is AUTHENTIC.  Here is the meaning according to the online Webster dictionary.

au·then·tic

 adjective \ə-ˈthen-tik, ȯ-\

: real or genuine : not copied or false

: true and accurate

: made to be or look just like an original

My intent for this word is to be True to myself, a more Genuine Wife, Mother and Friend.  

I think sometimes that I tend to let others dictate what I should want out of life and I don't want that to be the case anymore.  Check in with me at the end of 2014 and I will let you know if I succeeded in my task or not!

Have a Blessed New Year!
~C~

Happy New Year!

Have A Blessed New Year!!!!
~C~