Cooking For Baseball Season

Baseball season is a crazy time in our lives.  It overlaps with the 4-H show and this year the boys will be at different baseball fields. 

I have never tried OAMC (Once A Month Cooking) but I try to double or triple recipes once in a while to freeze some for later. 

Since the Maniac is playing basketball this year I decided I better get a jump on the baseball season cooking. 





Spaghetti Sauce



Baked Macaroni and Cheese



 

Alfredo Sauce - This is my first time freezing it,
not sure if it will work.

      

 

          Lemon Chicken Stir Fry



Beef Stew or Beef Pot Pie Filling



My family thinks I have gone crazy taking pictures of our food.  :)

This Is The Way To Watch Your Calves

He wanted to make sure to be ready if they got away



The "Whites"
Fallon and Ace

 Halter breaking show animals can be tough.  He was a little worried that they might get hurt.  They were in the trailer and obviously doing fine. 

I Just Liked The Ribbon

I saw this ribbon and I had to have it.  I didn't know what I was going to do with it but I loved it.  

 I found some coordinating fabric, I figured whatever I decided to make was going to need it.  Then Amber surprised me with this beautiful hand spun, hand dyed (with Kool-aid) alpaca yarn and it matched perfectly. 

I decided that with yarn this special and ribbon I was this much in love with I better make something I would use everyday. 

I made a plan and got to cutting and sewing.  I know it looks slightly like underwear at this point but it's not I promise. 

I was so excited to get started,  guess what I forgot?  Yeah, the whole reason for the project in the first place.  I took it apart and added the ribbon. 

I always lose my cell phone in my purse so I made a little bag to keep it in.  I crocheted the drawstring with the awesome yarn. 

I also lose my sunglasses and keys so they got their own pockets.

It was not intended to be reversible but it can be. 

I crocheted an edge and it's done.  Don't worry Amber I will try to knit something with the rest.  :)

It was a bit of an "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" kind of project but it was fun. 



What Can Nevadans Do About Tree Houses?

What kid doesn't want a tree house?   We never had any trees big enough to build a house in so here is the solution that the boys came up with.....



The Buckaroo Room





The Bunks




Dad's sleeping arangemnent



The heat
















The Occupants



Solved Mystery

The Maniac's Bed

The Negotiator's Bed

It's Not Easy Being A Maniac

We had an addition on our house that wasn't built correctly and was beginning to leak.  There was no foundation and it was in really bad shape so we had to tear it down.  We had mostly used in for storage so the decision to tear it down also lead us to the decision to build a craft room and a garage. 

Before

The Maniac was the only family member truly excited about this project.  We were all excited about what would be the finished product but not the work and the mess to come.  He even asked for a wrecking ball for his Birthday. 

Tearing down the addition walls.

Tearing down the roof and floor.

Leveling for the pad.

The concrete was his favorite.

Putting up sheet rock in the garage.

Tape and mud.

Very soon after this he bought himself a tool set with his Christmas money.  He was sick of borrowing dads drill.

New tools.

So far.


There is still a lot of work to be done but it's getting there.  The Maniac has been a huge help every step of the way and he wont let Johnny do any work without him.

A Memorable New Year

New Year's Eve 1999

When I think about New Year's celebrations the year that stands out the most to me would have to be coming into the new millennium.  Remember how everyone thought it would be the end of civilization as we knew it and we would have to go back to living like it was 1900?  We were living in Tonopah NV at the time which in my opinion was already about 200 miles from civilization.  We didn't even have a computer because internet service was not yet available in that area.  I wasn't really all that worried about computers thinking it was the year 1900.  After all what could I do about it?  Our friend Tom Gray had spent at least the last six months planning and surplussing.  I figured if things did go horribly wrong we were going to be staying at the Gray's house for a while. 

 New Year's Eve has never really been a big deal in my life but I always stayed awake long enough to watch the ball drop if nothing else.  This particular year Johnny was working shift work at the mine and wouldn't be home until morning.  I had a colicky five month old baby who seemed to think sleep was a waste of his time so if he was sleeping, I was sleeping and he was sleeping.  

A short time after midnight, I woke up and looked around the dark room and  noticed the digital alarm clock.  I thought "Well, it's working so we must be okay.....oh, wait it has a battery back up."  Then the baby monitor....."oh, wait it has a battery back up too."   I couldn't find anything confirming that we still had electricity within reach but I was too tired to care.  I went back to sleep and didn't give it another thought. 

I think for our generation, coming into the new millennium is one of those things that most people will always remember.  The way that JFK being shot or Elvis dying were memorable for generations past. 

Tucker and I slept through it!



1-1-2000