Shopping.....for Cows!

Woohoo....I am going to a cow sale today!

The sad thing is....I am really excited about it, it's the highlight of my week....I think I need a life!

Brrrrr!

It has been so cold here the last few days. Today was a little better but the wind was still blowing pretty bad! I guess it's winter and I should be ready for it but it's a rude awakening every year.

Chad spent most of the day yesterday getting the tractors and truck running (we have to have them to feed and water the cows and calves). It was cold enough for the fuel to gel in some of them. I don't know if a lot of you are familiar with the diesel situation or not but fuel is hard to get right now and is over $4/gallon. The last I knew we couldn't even get #1 fuel from our local Cenex but Chad did get some yesterday at a station in another town and I don't even want to know what he paid for that! I am just thankful that my suburban can run on E85, that helps a little on the fuel bill.

Potluck

We have a potluck tonight before the Fall Sports Awards (for football, fb cheerleading and volleyball....letters and awards). I have about 2 things I readily rely on to bring....Calico Beans or Cheesy Hashbrowns. I have tried a few new things in the last year but always end up back at the same 2 things. We have several potlucks coming up and I am looking for new ideas....I am hoping that a few of you can help me out. I really like to use my crock-pot because then I can get called away for a few minutes (that's what hubby always says and it turns out to be hours) and I don't have to worry about it. Any suggestions???

Board Games

First of all.....I love playing board games!!!

We spent Saturday night at Wayne and Laurie's (good friends of ours), drinking and playing their new board game Apples to Apples. It was a really fun game and I would definitely recommend it to those of you who like to play board games. Although I did have a liiiitle too much to drink...right Laurie.....it was a great evening and I had lots of fun!

Anybody have any other board game suggestions since we like to buy a new one every year for a "family gift".

"Black Friday"

Well.....the tradition of shopping on "Black Friday" with my sisters was once again a success.

We added a few new people on our "adventure" this year. My brother Eric and his girlfriend Dulcy were back visiting for Thanksgiving this year so they tagged along. I don't think they were impressed with the whole "adventure" as they ended up sitting in the vehicle for a lot of the morning (neither one of them are "morning people"). My good friend Laurie also went along and I think she really enjoyed the "adventure".

We shopped quite a bit (as much as you can do in our small shopping town)....laughed a lot....did a lot of "people watching" (some people can be VERY RUDE!)....and ended the "adventure" with an awesome breakfast at Perkins.

Oysters Anyone??

ROCKY MOUNTAIN OYSTERS that is......

We have never kept them and prepared them before so we decided this year will be the year to try them.

For those of you that don't know what they are....they are calf testicles and they are supposed to by yummy...I guess we will find out.

My brother Eric and his girlfriend Dulcy were back when we cleaned them and got them ready to freeze....I couldn't help but snap a few pictures of them "checking 'em out".

Have any of you had them or prepared them? We got instructions from Chad's cousin who is a wonderful cook on how to prepare them (freeze, slice thin and deep fat fry) but are always open to other suggestions....anybody have any other suggestions?

One hurtin' kid...one more to come!

No....I am not beating my children!

Courtney started basketball practice yesterday and Jeremy starts next Monday.

We had a boys and girls basketball player/parents meeting after Courtney's practice yesterday and she was one sore young lady! Her worst complaint is her shins...she had problems with that during volleyball too...any of you have ideas to make it better?

The coach (who just happens to be her uncle...tough situation) really works the girls hard and whips them into shape! They had practice after school yesterday....meeting with parents/players at 7:00 pm....supper at the school....walk through about 9:00 pm....the varsity team stayed overnight at the school with the coaches....practice at 5 am today! There are conferences after school today so they couldn't practice after school...hence the 5 am practice. The girls and coaches thought it would be fun to stay overnight at the school. I thought it might be a cool "team bonding" thing....I guess I will find out how it went when I see her after school today.

I love basketball and am SO looking forward to the season!