Herding cattle

Well, Sunday after our church service, a family invited Cassie to go with them to herd their cattle on Monday. They had a whole group going out to bring them back to their home fields. We weren't too sure what to expect, but that didn't matter to Cassie because all she knew was she was going to get to ride a horse!!

So, Jay took her over Monday morning because they were hoping to head out by 9:00 a.m. After Jay dropped her off he called and said they put 9 horses into one trailer, two more horses in another trailer, they had 11 riders (including Cassie), and Patti had made sandwiches, hot chocolate, and coffee for the crew to take with them. So they headed down the road to get over 100 cows!!

When they got to the field, Cassie was with a group that was responsible for opening gates while the other riders rounded up the cows and herded them out. They were approximately 2 1/2 miles into the pasture.



In this picture you can see some of the cows off in the distance.



The cows had to cross this area.



Once they got them out of the pasture, they traveled up the section lines between the fields for about 2 miles till they got to the main road. This was Cassie's view from her horse, you can see the top of Pedro's head/ears in the bottom center. It's been a while since Cassie rode a horse, but she said it is a lot like riding a bike. She just asked a few refresher questions and then she was on her way.



The weather was nice yesterday, it was sunny, not too windy, and in the low 40's. Cassie layered up - she put on leggings under her jeans (can't squeeze much under 'skinny jeans'), layered up two pair of socks (knee highs w/low rise), long-sleeve shirt under a short-sleeve t-shirt and a big heavy sweatshirt, and then she wore her new winter coat ($15 black Friday sale), gloves, and skater shoes (don't have any type of work boot, yet). Well, after riding for a little over 3 hours, her fingers and toes were numb, so she packed it in and rode the last 2 hours in the truck.

The cattle were moved 2 1/2 miles in the pasture, 2 miles on the section lines, and then another 7 miles on the main road. That's 9 1/2 miles. CRAZY!! So, from what I can gather, the truck w/trailer (they left one behind) lead so they could let any cars coming toward them know and then the riders had to ride in front, on the side, and behind the herd of cattle to keep them together.



Once they got them to the house they had to get the cattle to turn into the driveway and then get them to go into the pasture. Look at all those cows!!

Well, when they got back to the Frank's, Patti had a whole pot of stew ready to chow on. There was a fire for them to gather around and warm up. We got to join them when they arrived!!

Keep your eye on the blog, Cassie is going to write about her experience and I plan on posting it on the blog.

Trimming the Tree Tradition

Traditionally we put our Christmas decor up on Thanksgiving evening. Well, we did it the day after Thanksgiving which is no big deal for me, but I know decorating the house for Christmas is one of Jay's favorite things.

I remember when I was pregnant with Zack awaiting the birth of our December baby I vowed that we would not put up the Christmas decor until after his birthday because I didn't want his birthday to get lost in the holiday shuffle. I wanted and still want to make sure Zack's birthday is kept separate and apart from Christmas. Everyone of us gets to celebrate our birthday separate and apart from Christmas. Unfortunately, we can't wait to decorate the house till after his birthday otherwise we would never be in the holiday spirit until the holiday season was almost over. So, as our compromise, we celebrate Zack's birthday between Nov. 12th & Thanksgiving, that way on Thanksgiving we can put up our decorations without it overshadowing Zack's birthday celebration.

Well, the evening after Thanksgiving, with the help of my dad moving furniture, Jay put up two of our trees and then we spent time decorating them. Our first tree decorated was our Disney tree which features ALL Disney ornaments of some sort. Then our second tree decorated was the Family/Hallmark tree which has ornaments that have been given to us or Hallmark ornaments. Now we have to put up my angel tree and the aluminum tree. The fiber optic retro tree has gone to the church to be used as the Giving Tree (just this year) and Jay took his sport themed tree to his office. There's a pink princess tree in Mackenzie's room and Cassie would like a tree in her room, too.

Decorating the trees . . .






Well, believe it or not, we only lost two (one of them shown above) ornaments in the move. I did have to repair a couple with super glue or hot glue, but at least they were salvageable.



Zack taking his turn hanging an ornament.




Mackenzie's turn.



Jay puts some up higher.



I sit and open all the boxes and put them out for the kids to put on the trees. Cassie doesn't like decorating so she took pictures.



Two of our Christmas trees. Now we just need to finish decorating the rest of the house.

Celebrating Zack's birthday

Well, I wanted to surprise Zack and try to make another unique cake for his birthday celebration. He loves lighthouses - he collects them in all shapes and sizes. With my mom & Dad in town, we decided to celebrate Zack's birthday with them too. Well, we kept telling Zack I was going to make a Lego cake, but he started questioning me since I only had various round cake pans lying out on the kitchen counter.

So my dad suggested they take the kids to the movies. And they did . . . they took the kids to see Old Dogs, which I heard was very funny. Matter of fact, it seems Zack was the one who enjoyed it the most and Grandpa Tom couldn't stop laughing at Zack's laughter!! Not only did they enjoy the movie, but the kids loved the movie theatre, they said it looked a lot like Egypt with its themed decor.

Before they had left, for the afternoon show, I had cooked off all the round cakes and made a double batch of butter cream icing so I could work on the cake while they were gone for a few hours. As soon as they left the work began . . .

It took me a little over two hours to get it together. I chopped up some Quaker Chocolate Crunch Rice cakes in the food processor, stacked, carved and crumb coated all the cakes, and then I broke out the pre-made fondant. I'm not a big fan of fondant, mainly because I haven't worked with it much. So I took my little glass cup, flipped it upside down, and then formed some fondant on top to resemble the top of the lighthouse.

The plans were there for the cake, but the execution could have been better. Once I got the lighthouse on top of the base cake I knew I was going to have a problem. First off I could only find one dowel rod to help support it and second I placed it too close to the back. Well, I'm not very good at taking cakes off/apart because I'm lacking a few cake tools - besides it was only for Zack, so I finished decorating it. Once I finished, I knew it could be a disaster, so I called my mom to see if the movie was over. Well, they were actually on their way to Wal-Mart to kill some more time because they figured the cake wasn't ready yet. So, I explained to Mom if Zack wanted to see his cake before it fell they might want to bring him home sooner than later. And they did.

The cake was a success, Zack loved it. Believe it or not, it never did fall. After he opened presents, I took the top glass off, which was heavier than I originally thought. Having never made a lighthouse 3D cake before, I now know what I would do different if I were to make one again!!

Zack with his stash of presents from Grandma Linda, Grandpa Tom, and Uncle Matt & Aunt TJ.

A lighthouse nightlight for the lighthouse boy! He was soooo excited about all his gifts.

Well, now on his actual birthday, December 12th, he will receive a gift or two from us and some hugs and kisses. NO more cakes this year!!

Thanksgiving with Family

On the eve of Thanksgiving my parents arrived from Iowa. I spent that Wednesday before Thanksgiving going to the dentist, getting a haircut, and shopping at Target, Wal-Mart & Sam's Club. Earlier in the day we spent time cleaning and organizing the house for our visitors. Finally, about 3 o'clock in the afternoon I still wasn't home and still had plenty of prep to do for our first Thanksgiving meal in our new North Dakota home. So, I frantically called Jay and he assured me it would be fine if we missed the joint church service at First Lutheran in Bismarck. I felt bad because Jay was leading the service and baptizing a little one, but I was relieved I would have plenty of time when I got home to make the pies and put together the sweet potato pie casserole.

I spent Wednesday evening making a cranberry relish mold, the traditional pumpkin pies (my first time) and a chocolate pecan pie (YUMMY). I cooked off the sweet potatoes and put together the sweet potato casserole. That way I didn't have to do too much Thanksgiving morning besides sleep in after delivering the special edition of the Bismarck Tribune to its subscribers!! Before hand I wrote down our Thanksgiving dinner menu that way I wouldn't forget any of our favorite dishes.

On the menu: turkey (of course) - we cooked two, one in a bag and one in an electric roaster, stuffing (StoveTop is our favorite, plus less work), mashed potatoes & gravy, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, creamed spinach, cranberry sauce, cranberry relish, rolls, pumpkin pie, and chocolate pecan pie. Even though I made the menu, I still forgot our favorite side dish . . . the creamed spinach. The kiddos were very upset, no really they were because believe it or not creamed spinach is one of their favorites!!



So we sat down as a family and enjoyed a great meal!!



. . . minus the creamed spinach . . .



The visit was more than just a meal. Mom and Dad (Grandma Linda & Grandpa Tom) were here for a nice visit. They had already visited in September, about a week and half after we arrived in North Dakota, but that visit was so short and Dad helped Jay organize the garage. So, this visit the kids got to spend more quality time with their grandparents. Zack enjoyed playing a couple of games of checkers with Grandpa Tom, okay he didn't really because Grandpa Tom KICKED his butt twice (at least).



The kids and Grandpa Tom & Grandma Linda spent some time on their Nintendo DS because they all have their own. So they would trade systems and play each others' games.



Zack, Grandpa Tom, Mackenzie, Grandma Linda, & Cassie



Zack finally got someone to play the Titanic board game with him. Grandma Linda & Mackenzie played several times with him, so maybe we can put it away for a while. The game is a lot like monopoly and a good game can take "at least 90 minutes."

We had a nice visit with my parents and we tried to get some things in that we didn't the first time they were here. We drove them down to the river, along River Road, and around Bismarck for a little bit and then went to our favorite thrift store. They even found a plastic Santa on someone's trash pile . . . yes, we are firm believers that someone else's trash is someone else's treasure!! My sister had called earlier and had asked my mom to look for a lighted Santa Clause that she could use outside to decorate with. Well, as we were driving around some guy was putting a box out by the curb and believe it or not there was a Santa in the box. So, we turned around and my dad got out to talk with the homeowner, but before he could get to the garage the lady of the house opened the front door and told him to take whatever he wanted. Well, we brought Santa home gave him a shower and then reassembled the light, plugged it in, and YEAH it worked. Santa search was a success in more ways than one!! So now when my sister displays her chubby jolly fellow she'll know he came from North Dakota so she'll have to think of us everytime!!

Well, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!! We were fortunate enough to get to celebrate it with family in our new home, which made it special for us.

More Drywall

Well, when the inspector came a couple of weeks ago, he said we needed to drywall under the steps. Evidently, by having the underneath of the basement steps drywalled, if - that's a big IF - there is a fire in the basement it gives an additional 30 minutes before the steps would go up in flames. Hopefully we never have to worry - okay I'll worry about it, but hopefully a fire in our house will NEVER be a reality!!



So, with Cassie's help, Jay got the underneath of the basement stairs drywalled and we have started moving things into the storeroom.





Well, I didn't get any pictures, but last night the kids helped Jay hang more drywall on the exterior walls of the store room which are the walls for the game room. We don't plan on drywalling the interior walls of the store room because it is just for storage. So, hopefully tonight we will be able to move more stuff into the store room as we prepare for the arrival of my parents to celebrate Thanksgiving with us!!

Smores Saturday . . .

Okay, we don't wait till Saturday to have Smores, I just thought about taking pictures and posting or Smores snack time. The kids (and I) LOVE Smores, especially the roasted marshmallow part!! We've had this little kit thing forever, but I have never replaced the Sterno fuel until now. So, we are having Smores quite a bit - it's even been our 3:30 afternoon snack - I know that's not a healthy snack, but sometimes we just have to indulge!!






Now there are those time I do worry about the flaming marshmallow. Cassie loves her roasted marshmallows BURNT. As you can see from Mackenzie leaning as far away as possible, Cassie had a really good burn going on. I had to explain to her that the flaming marshmallow is NOT good in the house because if she were to accidentally fling it the carpet or curtains could catch on fire!!



YUM . . .



Well, we will continue to roast our marshmallows inside until it is warm enough to enough an outdoor bonfire.

Father & Son working together

After Jay's dad helped get the basement started, Zack wanted to get in on the action. So, Zack got a chance to help Jay put the drywall up in the school room. Now, Zack is ready to help Jay when the time comes to finish framing and drywalling the rest of the basement - just have the common areas of the great room and the game room.









The guys worked really hard this past week. They got Cassie's room, the walk-in pantry, the storage room, and the school room framed and drywalled. Jay and his dad started running electric and now Jay will get it finished.

Cassie's room looks good . . .



Cassie's room looking in from the hallway.



Standing in Cassie's room look out into the hallway - Mackenzie peeking in.



Still Cassie's room.



Here is the school room cubby area. It is a nice size for some storage shelves and bookcases. Then we'll set up some tables to work at. What's nice about this area is it is in front/near the sliding glass doors of the walkout basement. I'm looking forward to having a central location for all the books, reference materials, and tools we need for our schooling adventures. I'm not sure how long it will take to get the final touches on all the new rooms, but it will all come together in time!!

A huge thanks goes out to my father-in-law, who spent his whole vacation here working in our basement. THANK YOU!!!

Birthday Celebration with Family

Well, Zack will be the first in the family to celebrate a birthday away from "home" and family. Zack is a December baby and we have always tried to make sure his birthday didn't and doesn't get lost in the holiday shuffle. We always wanted to make sure his birthday was kept separate from Christmas - you know, we get to get presents for our birthday and for Christmas, so shouldn't he get presents for his birthday and for Christmas?

After the first few years, I had read about December babies, especially those with birthdays closer to Christmas celebrating half birthdays. Well, we thought about it, but we hadn't done it so it seemed weird to start it, maybe if we would have done it from a young age then it would of made sense. Well, as all our families got bigger and busier, getting together for a December get together was hard to do - especially since we knew we'd be together for Christmas. So, since we would be together for Thanksgiving, we started celebrating Zack's birthday around Thanksgiving and it seemed to work out very well.

Well, with the move and all, I hadn't even thought about Zack's birthday -- that's terrible I know. With the upcoming arrival of Jay's parents, his mom had called a few days earlier and asked if we wanted to celebrate his birthday while they were here. Well, duh - thanks for reminding me (in a good way)!!!

Once Grandma Karen was here, we went "window" birthday shopping. Zack pointed out a few things he'd like for his birthday and then on a different day, she & I ran a few errands and she picked up his gifts.



Zack has been into chess lately, so when I saw this cake in a book I knew I had to make it for his birthday. Now, this year's birthday is a special one because it is what we call his "Golden Birthday" since he will turn 12 on the 12th day of December - a little more unique since he'll be 12 on 12/12!! Wow . . . what about the kids born on 12/12/2000 - they'll be 12 on 12/12/12!! Anyway, I decorated this cake using fondant (not a big fan of), but it actually turned out to be pretty easy. It was too late for me to make the chess pieces out of fondant so I bought a cheap chess game and placed the pieces. If I ever make it again, especially for a birthday cake, I will make the pieces out of fondant and have a few made around candles.



So after pictures with the cake, he got to open his presents and he found some of his FAVORITE toys - Transformers, Legos, Bionicles, and lighthouses!!







Well, one celebration down and at least one more to go. My mom & dad are coming for Thanksgiving, weather permitting -lol, and when they are here we are celebrating Zack's birthday with them. So, now I have to figure out another theme cake to make for him - I'm thinking Legos.

Our new pantry . . .

Well, we haven't had a central place to put our food. We shop and buy most of our can and boxed food in bulk from Sam's Club. I have one lazy Susan in the kitchen to house cans and jar food and then an armoire in the living room that houses snacks and boxed food, but no place to go with the overflow. So some of it was in the garage, on top of the frig in the basement, or on the floor of the basement wherever we could find space.



In preparation of the basement being framed, we moved all the food, cookware, crock pots, and other kitchen items to a central location (on top of the air hockey table) till the pantry could be completed.



Once the pantry was finished we got to stock it up. Earlier in the day, my mother-in-law and I went to Sam's Club and I found some awesome shelves to use in the pantry.



We started an assembly line from the table to the inside of the pantry so we could all work together to get things in their new home.





YEAH!! Everything has a HOME!! I actually got to unpack four more kitchen boxes. Now when I need something all I have to do is send the kids downstairs to the pantry and they should be able to find it with ease.

Working on the basement . . .

Well, as many of you know we were fortunate enough to find a rental close to the church where Jay serves. It's a cute little 3 bedroom 2 bath ranch house with a full walk-out basement and a gorgeous view of Bismarck. We have been able to unpack the majority of our belongings to make it look and feel like home, but there are still things to be unpacked -- like Cassie's room and the most important school room.

Cassie claimed her sport in the basement and I claimed an area for the school room, but we weren't too sure how we were going to make them happen. Cassie had arranged her furniture and we had purchased one of those portable thingy thing for her to hang her clothes on. Well, we've been here almost two months and poor Cassie is the only one who has not been able to completely unpack her bedroom.

Well, Cassie is excited because the time is approaching that she will get to unpack ALL of her things. Due to some VERY generous individuals, we received some money that is allowing us to finish Cassie's room, the school room, and some other areas in the basement.

Jay's parents arrived Friday, Nov. 6th and the work started on the basement Mon., Nov. 9th. Jay and his dad, Doug, have been working very hard. The priorities included 1. Cassie's room, 2. school room, 3. a pantry, and if time permitted 4. a storage room.


So the work began . . .



Doug showing Jay and Zack how to use the table saw . . .



Together the three of them start on the wall that will divide Cassie's room and the bathroom (which will come at a much later time).







Cassie's room has two exterior walls already and one wall was already framed (part of the support wall of the house) so they only had to put in one wall and a closet. Here Jay and Doug are working on the closet.











The last phase of the closet was putting on the doors. Yeah!! Cassie's room is completely framed.



A new day, and time to for Zack to use the table saw.




Jay did show him how to measure "twice" and cut "once".







Here the back wall of the school room is done!!





Now Jay and his dad are working on the pantry. We need a lot of space for our food, cookware, small appliances, and cake decorating supplies. The kitchen is small with limited space. We are actually using an armoire in the living area as a dry food pantry and then all the overflow is in various places in the basement and in the garage.





Once the pantry was framed, Mackenzie and Zack got to cut the 2x4 to make room for the door.








Showing off their handy work and sitting in the doorway of the pantry.








YEAH!!! We have a pantry and we already moved the spare refrigerator into it. Now to the left of the pantry is going to be a living/great room that will serve as a sitting area with a TV and then that will also serve as the guest area since there is a daybed (w/trundle) that will be used for sitting. Then where you see the air hockey table's leg (bottom right of picture) that is going to be the school room (I'm standing in front of the sliding glass door).





Looking down the hallway - on left is the pantry then the stairs and then the soon to be storage area.





I decided I could help. I removed some existing drywall. So we can drywall the other side which is the classroom and they can run the electric on the other side. I know it sounds confusing, but it really isn't.











Zack & I had a good time working together.





Cassie decided she needed to get in on the action so she could say she helped, too.













This storage area is to the right of the stairs and directly across from Cassie's room. To the right of the storage room is going to be the game area with the air hockey table. Between Cassie's room and the school room is an area that is designated for a bathroom - right now it is storing Cassie's boxes that are patiently waiting to be unpacked.

So, lets add it up . . .

73 - 2x4s for framing, too many screws to count, four doors (two in - two to do tomorrow), several blunt drill bits, two hammers, three drills, one level, one square, one table saw, one jigsaw, one circular saw, and two VERY tired workers and the basement is framed enough for its first inspection. If all goes well with the inspection of the framing, then Jay and his Dad will put up some drywall (one side) and then next week some electrical ran. We're getting closer to having more organized space to make our own!!