I came across this contest last week on a cyber friend’s blog… she was blogging about entering.  So, I entered it too  

The polls have opened.. and I’m hoping that any and all of you will go vote for my ‘Best Recipe Blog’…  I entered my Venison Pizza from Oregon. 

Click Here To Vote

Leave me a comment if you voted.. I’d love to hear from you

Just in case anyone has wondered where I’ve been this past month… It’s baseball season.  We travel sometimes over an hour to the ‘away’ games.  Last week, both games were out of town.  Thankfully, this week – we are home for both games.. woohoo!  

We have been busy finishing up homeschool for summer break..  Also, the local dairy goat association, that I belong to, held it’s 38th annual dairy goat show.. I am the club secretary/show secretary.  Answering all the emails, phone calls and entering all the entrants in the book was soooo time consuming….  and of course there is all my goats, goats.. and more goat chores

I wanted to share a few pictures of my boys playing baseball.  Malachi (7) and Nehemiah (9) are both on the same team.. thankfully!

Malachi

Nehemiah

Here are some ‘action’ pictures

Go Neen... GO!!

Nice Swing Mally!!

I survived the superbowl party   The crowd was a bit smaller this year - few people cancelled due to illness, etc.  All in all, it was A LOT of fun.  We finished the painting @ about 10pm Saturday night, UGH!  I cannot believe how close we came to not finishing!  I hope I’ve learned some lessons through this process  

I just had to blog about the above box of Pepsi.  My husband and I were conversing about it.. he made this comment,  ”It is pretty bad when the box specifically mentions, ‘Made With Real Sugar, Limited Time Only’ ” I agreed!

I’ve got a question to ask….  Why can’t it be made with ‘Real Sugar’ always?  Why does everything have to be so highly processed?  It seems to me that processing different ‘real food’ items into ‘nonfood’ items, would cost more in the long run.. Wouldn’t it be cheapr to use the original ‘real food’ item? Hmmmm…..

Today marks another important milestone.  My husband and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary.  Wow, parts of time seemed to have just flew by… but on the other hand, it seems like I have been with and known my husband forever.  We grow closer and closer as the years go by   I found the perfect card for him.  It has a bit of history behind it.  I wrote in a past blog about my husband having to climb a tree to ’save’ our cat.  Well, that same cat has got stuck in a tree two more times since the first (3 times in total!!)..  Arghh!   So, I have been on the bottom end of a ladder looking up at him a few times recently

Anyways, this card was a perfect fit..lol.. Here is the front of the card ~

INSIDE THE CARD READS ~ And I'm the one hanging back, admiring your butt. Happy Anniversary!

It’s like I’ve gotten a new pair of glasses.  I am able to see everything around me so clearly now.  Why didn’t I do this sooner?  Today, we cleaned the house windows.  Yes, we wash the inside surface often enough.. it’s the outside surface that is neglected more often than not.  I tackled the three surfaces inside, while my husband was up on a ladder washing the outside surface.  We tried to do the the same windows at the same time… It was taking me a bit longer because I had three surfaces verses his one.  I was taking the sliding part of the window out to wash both sides + the other side of the window.  As we would wash the window together, I brought to memory the old Karate Kid movie.  Where Mr. Miyagi was teaching Daniel martial arts.  They were outside and Mr. Miyagi was saying ‘ Wipe On, Wipe Off’…LOL…  This movie is a classic, if you haven’t seen it.. you should

I have to admit I didn’t get much done today.  I mentioned yesterday that I got stung by a bee.  Not too unusual…  Except for this sting is extremely unusual. I have never had a bee sting that has hurt this bad.  I got stung yesterday morning around 9:30 am (not exactly sure what type of bee it was.. yellow with stripes on it’s back.  I had to pull the stinger off)… anyways, it has not stopped swelling since.  Here it is 38 hours later and I feel as though my leg might burst.  Not joke, the skin is so hot, tight and full of pressure.  I had my husband take a picture..I am just warning that it looks gross… and as my husband said, ‘The picture doesn’t even show how really bad the swelling is”.  I have tried to stay off my leg as much as possible because when I stand it hurts!  O.k… I really don’t whine very often.. just couldn’t hold it in

My Bee Sting 38 Hours Later

The kids and I headed out to the ranch my parents live on… to look for blackberries.  We hit pay dirt   Unfortunetly, we didn’t get started until about 4pm – the hottest part of the day… I think it was a mere 90 some degree’s.  We got a little picked before my husband showed up.  As soon as he got there… we were ‘inspired’ to become pick’n fools.  Sorry to say we all wilted quickly.  I was not at my peak due to a bee sting I had aquired earlier that day.  It has slowed me down   All in all, we ended up with two of our buckets full of blackberries.  I would say the kids consumed a fair amount too  

Loads Of Blackberries

Each year I gather fruit through the summer for jam.  I prepare and measure the smooshed fruit into ziploc baggies.  By the time fall hits, I will have my freezer full of fruit ready to become jam.  I thaw all the prepared bags at one time to make the jam.

Well, there is only one camping day left.  I think it is safe to say, fun has been had by all.  Today, the kids swam for a bit and then started on the next craft project.  This project is another repeat craft from last year (It was a hit) … We went to Michaels Crafts and bought the 3 oldest children each a t-shirt.  We then picked out a dozen or so different colored fabric paints. 

3 Oldest Children Painting Their Own TShirts

For the smaller children, we bought them a little wooden toy for painting each.  They seemed to get a kick out of it.  Although, our 8 year old said he wants to paint a shirt next year

One Of Our Sons Painting His Toy

Today we did not eat breakfast… the older kids didn’t crawl out of their tents until around 11:30am.  We decided to just eat lunch at that point…lol..  I made a 7 layer bean dip (delicious) with tortilla chips, fruit for a snack and Frito Pie for dinner.  Later we made smore’s over the fire

Please forgive me while I catch up on my blog

Between yesterday and today, I cooked enough food to feed a small army.  We leave this afternoon for our camping trip.  I can’t believe the preparation involved in getting ready for a camping trip (I’m exhausted before I even go..lol).  I used a ten pound bag of potato’s to make a potato salad, 2 lb’s pasta for pasta salad, 6 loaves zucchini & banana bread, 7 layer bean dip… I cooked 1 1/2chickens in the crockpot, deboned it.. added some bbq sauce for bbq chicken sandwiches.  I am sure I have forgotten something…  I will let you know each day what our menu is   

Tonight, after we get to the campground, and after we get set up.. We will start a campfire.  The campfire is an essential part of camping.  There is something deeply relaxing about sitting around the campfire.  I find myself just gazing off into a distant daydream…  It also serves as a great heating & cooking source

An Image Of Our Campfire

This is one of my favorite times of year – Our garden is overflowing with an abundance of fresh produce.  What a blessing!  We have lots of tomato plants (30 if I rememer correctly), zucchini, yellow straight neck, cucumbers, green onions, onions, broccoli, pumpkins, butternut squash, dill, green beans, bell peppers, anaheim peppers, jalapeno’s & lots of sunflowers. 

Our Beautiful Garden

Our last two gardens have been very successful and  I contibute this to our soil.  The original soil was clay.  Over time, we have added a lot of our livestock bedding + manure and chicken manure.  The soil is light fluffy and very fertile.  You should of seen the worms after it was tilled

Sunflowers Are My Favorite Garden Flower