Do You KNow What Else Comes From COWS?

When we went to take our cold

cow's milk out of the refrigerator

we noticed something.

CREAM had risen to the top!

And you know what cream is good for?

BUTTER!

We used this little Ninja to help

churn our butter.

(when my kids were small, we put the cream in a jar and shook it, but that takes patience)

 We mixed and we mixed and we mixed

and finally we got a little dab of

REAL BUTTER!

And this is how little girls eat real butter.

I actually had biscuits ready to spread it onto,

but the girls like their butter plain!

 

Look Who Else Milked the Cow

When we got to the barn

Olivia was a little surprised at 

how big the cow was.

At first, she was a little 

intimidated by it's size.

So, Grace milked the cow first.

 It seemed safe enough.

 And Olivia thinks she can do

anything Grace can do.

So - she did indeed milk that cow!

 And the next morning, once the

cow's milk was chilled,

we had a taste test to see if the 

girls could tell fresh milk from

store bought milk - and BOTH girls

were able to tell the difference.

 When asked which they preferred,

Grace liked the store bought milk

and Olivia liked milk from the cow.

Grandpa pulled out his

Almond Milk for comparison, too.

So now, Grace likes Vanilla Almond Milk

and Olivia likes fresh milk from a cow.

I think that leaves Heather with a

bit of a shopping dilemma.

She found a dairy where she can buy

Olivia's milk, but it's in Gainsville.

I think we will be making a stop

on our way down.

 

Happy Birthday, Olivia!

TODAY is OLIVIA's BIRTHDAY!

And when she was asked what she wanted

to do for her birthday, do you

know what she said?

She said she wanted to go milk a cow!

So, we called and e-mailed and called

some more and I finally found a 

family with a cow willing to share!

 Olivia got her wish!

She milked the cow and played

on the farm and totally enjoyed

the country! 
 
The cow's name is Buttercup!
She belongs to Paula Nunley and her
family.  Paula was gracious enough 
to allow us to milk her cow and
even sent us home with a jar of
real cow's milk - which Olivia loved!
I think Olivia could be a farm girl!
She's having her birthday party
Saturday at a ranch.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, OLIVIA!
I hope your birthday is as special as you are!

Bringing the Outdoors IN!

 Brilyn had so much fun

with the slide in the house.

 She climbed up.... slid down.... over and over

again. And then, she wanted a Tea Party!

 We HAD to make cookies (with an extra egg) so she could 

crack some eggs.

 I normally keep cupcakes in the freezer,

so I can put together a tea party with

very little notice, but we had to do

something with those eggs!

(Brilyn LOVES cracking eggs)

Once we got everything ready Brilyn had

a tea party on top of the climber. 

 She played some more and even watched

Tangled from the slide.

 And then she had another Tea Party

UNDER the climber.

Bringing that climber in

(and getting it clean enough to bring in)

was a lot of work - but hard work pays off!

Brilyn had a lot of fun and got more exercise

than she would have other wise.

 

I even caught her sharing! 

And look! She's sharing the frosting

not the cupcake!

That's the good part!

What a sweet girl. Looking back on it,

bringing the climber into the house

was totally worth the effort.

When Your Mouth Is Quicker Than Your Brain

Do you ever speak before you think?

Is your mouth ever quicker than your brain?

Mine was.

Brilyn wanted to play on the slide

but it was too cold.

Brilyn might have been okay,

but I had Asher to think about. 

But - Brilyn REALLY wanted to play

and Brilyn is a high energy kid who

NEEDS to play.

When I told her it was too cold

to play outside she wanted to bring 

the slide in and I said, "Okay!" before I realized 

that it wasn't a very good idea!

  

I realized QUICKLY what a mistake

I had made. I took the slide apart

and brought it in - piece by piece.

When a piece came in, it had to be washed!

ICE had to be dumped in the sink.

And as each piece was cleaned, I

reassembled it.

I could have changed my mind.

I could have told Brilyn it was just too much!

It was too much!

But - I said "Okay!" 

And children quickly learn who can be

trusted and who can not.

I was not going back on my word.

If I teach my grandchildren

nothing else I want them to know

that I love them and that they can

depend on me.

I want the example I set before them

to lead them to trust Jesus Christ

as their Lord and Savior someday, and I 

never want to hinder them in any way.

Keeping my promises is IMPORTANT!

 

And you know what.

Even though this was much more work than

I had anticipated, it was also much

more fun! I'll share more later!

February Family Birthday Party!

 February's Birthday's belong to

 Billy & Olivia!

Treasure Chest Cake

 So - how do you incorporate a party for

a grown young man and a little girl?

What would BOTH of them like?

 I decided on a Treasure Hunt Party

because Billy likes investing

in silver and gold.

And Olivia would have loved the 

treasure hunt I had planned.

(we were going to dig for gold nuggets in the sand box

but hunted them in the house instead - due to snow)

The nuggets could be traded in for prizes

from the Gold Exchange Basket!

 I used rustic decorations because 

Billy is a cowboy and

Olivia is a cowgirl, so they

have their love of horses in common!

 Olivia opened presents!

I think she loved them all!

Billy had opened his the day before.

We had a fun, fun birthday party.

All of the kids were there, so that makes

it extra special!

 

A New Gallery Wrap

 I simply love Gallery Wraps!

This one is gorgeous,

but the picture doesn't do it justice.

 Maybe you need a closer look!

This really is a beautiful piece of art!

 

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!!!

 Happy Valentine's Day!

 I blogged earlier about the accordion

mini's that we did with pictures

of Grace and Olivia.

Now, I'm sharing the ones I did with

Brilyn and Asher.

 I THOUGHT Asher was too young for this.

I THOUGHT he was too little.

But, boy did he surprise me!

Look at those cute little faces. He really got into

this posing stuff.

He did amazingly well!

Accordion mini's make the cutest

valentine's ever!

My Sweet Little Helper

 I made a birthday cake and let Brilyn

use the left over batter to make cupcakes.

 She even decorated them.

And she added cookie to make a sweet

little Tea Party treat!

 Doesn't it look beautiful?

She added all of these sprinkles herself.

And then decided to play outside in the

snow before having a Tea Party.

And it all went downhill from there.

She went out to play and I think the cold

air caused the fluid on her ear drum to

expand or something.

She was in immediate pain.

Then came fever.

Then came a trip to the ER

with a diagnosis of two ear infections.

The doctor seemed to think it was a 

good thing Brandy took her in.

If she had waited those eardrums

may have ruptured.

Poor thing. We didn't even get to have

her Tea Party.

Thankfully, she's better now. 

But, don't you just hate it when 

babies are sick?

SNOW DAY!!!!!

We had a SNOW DAY!!!!

Actually, we've had several.

But.... this time, there was enough

snow to really play in!

Brilyn loves getting a 

SNOW DAY

with DADDY!

Don't they look like they're having

fun? It's bitter cold out there

so I took pictures from the window.

That Brilyn is one tough kid.

The cold doesn't bother

her much at all.

We've Been Enjoying A Cold Winter

 It's been a cold snowy winter!

 We don't get a lot of snow in Oklahoma,

so this has been an interesting change.

It's BEAUTIFUL!!!!

 

And, I've enjoyed it.

I love the way a snowfall comes

in the night and forces 

us to slow down. Days normally

spent working get to be spent

at play. Normal life takes a back

seat and we see beauty all around us.

Don't you just love 

looking out at the snow?

Pretty Little Valentines

I made these pretty little Valentine's Day

templates for accordion mini albums

of Grace and Olivia.

 I went with the Photo Booth theme

because silly pictures are much easier

to capture and I needed 10 pictures.

They are so, so sweet!

I've made a similar book using

pictures of Brilyn and Asher and

it should be arriving any day.

What sweet little Valentines!

Our Little Cowboy

Some boys seem to be

born with their boots on!

They're 100% Cowboy!

And, I think our Weston might 

just be one of them.

Here he is in his Daddy's saddle

with a row of boots just waiting

to be filled.

His boots, Daddy's boots 

and Momma's boots, too.

Isn't he the cutest little cowboy, ever?

Our Happy Boy!

This little guy is almost always HAPPY!

He's snuggly and sweet and loves

to be cuddled and loved on!

He's recently made friends with 

his little feet. He just loves playing

with them. So, I, of course

had to take a picture.

  

Isn't that just the cutest little thing?

Pure innocence!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BILLY!

Today is Billy's Birthday!

Billy is my middle son.

He's the tough guy in the family.

He's brave and daring and full 

of adventure!

 He's was always the kid who

kept me on my toes.

He was into EVERYTHING!

And he's recently became

a father!

 

I wonder if little Weston

will be as adventurous as his Daddy?

In some ways, I hope so...

Because... Billy was always FUN!

Our house was never boring

when he was a kid.

But, then again.... Billy was

a handful. So, in some ways

I hope Weston is a bit more calm.

Because a calmer child would

be much easier to raise!

AND he'd be much safer!

But then, safety might be over rated.

After all, Billy's tried every

daring stunt he's had the opportunity

to try and he's still alive.

That in itself is reason to

give glory to God!

He's protected this young man!

And He'll protect Weston, too!

No matter how adventurous he turns

out to be. 

God really is GOOD!

Happy Birthday, Billy!