Wordish Wednesday..Boots In the Concrete...

One of the best parts about pouring concrete is that you can "brand it" anyway you please. 

Your "brand" will be there for years.  There is a slab of concrete in front of the field beside our house.  I don't know what the purpose of it is-probably a boundary marker or something, but it has two sets of hand prints on it.  No names, just hand prints.  I have asked Brad who they belong to, but he doesn't know.

So, when the final pour for the new shop was complete the girls got to sink their boots into the freshly poured concrete and "brand" it.

B was first up.  Dad's help was required because one slip up could ruin the job...

 Mel was second (shirts are always optional at our house...if you are under 6)

 Adding a few more details...

 Now everyone will know who those footprints belong too unlike the mysterious hand prints by the field...

 Although 100 years from now, people will probably wonder who the heck B and Mel are!

Happy Wednesday friends!!!

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Watermelon Lemonade Vodka Slush...

This coming weekend we will be celebrating Labor Day. 

Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer and a chance to enjoy one last hoop-la before fall.

In celebration of the holiday, I am sharing a very delish adult beverage with you!

This mixed drink idea stemmed from The Wife of a Dairyman.  Her kids had a lemonade stand this summer.  One day they make watermelon lemonade and that got the wheels in my noggin turnin'.

You will need a watermelon....obviously....

 Did you know that you should pick a watermelon that is heavy for its size?

Puree and strain the pulp from your watermelon...

Squeeze about 4 or 5 lemons.  If you don't have any lemons, you can use lemon juice...

4 cups of water...

 2 cups of Vodka...

You will need sugar as well, but I failed to take a pic of that!


 Yum!...

Watermelon Lemonade Vodka Slush

3 c. watermelon juice
1 c. lemon juice
4 c. boiling water
1 c. white sugar
2 c. Vodka

Puree and strain watermelon.
Squeeze lemons.
Boil water.
Combine all ingredients.  Stir until sugar is dissolved.

Pour into large container with a lid.
Freeze for at least 4 hours.

Scoop out spoonfuls into a glass and top with Sprite of 7-Up.

Now go and enjoy one last hoop-la of the summer while drinking this.  Super yummy!

Local....

Mel and I went to the Kroger in our small town this morning.  While I was waiting on the nice lady to slice off a big ole hunk of bologna for my ham salad that I was serving for lunch, I saw this...

Cheese from Fair Oaks Farms right here in Indiana!

The nice lady slicing the big ole hunk of bologna also had a hat on that said this....

I, of course, had to tell her that I like her hat.

Happy weekend everyone!!!

Wordless Wednesday:Shades...

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Pickled Beets....

We love our beets!  Even the girls love them which a lot of people think is weird, but they are healthy and that is all that matters!

After pulling your beets up from the ground trim the stems, but make sure to leave the teeny tiny green leaf like the one in the picture below.  If you cut that leaf off, your beets will start to bleed and will loose their deep rich red color.

 Wash them and place in boiling water until fork tender...

 Once they are tender, remove them into ice cold water...

 Cut the top part off and peel them while they are still slightly warm...

 Then either slice them or cube them.
We prefer ours sliced!

 You will need approximately 2 quarts (or 8 cups) of sliced (or cubed) beets...

 Place beets in the vinegar and sugar mixture.  Add mustard seed and cloves and bring to a boil.

 Place rings and lids in warm water to sterilize them...

 Ladle the mixture into the jars leaving 1/4 inch head space...

Wipe the rims of the jars with a CLEAN rag to remove any juice, etc. that may prevent the lids from sealing...

 Adjust the rings and lids...

 Place in hot water bath and make sure there is at least a half inch of water covering the lids...

 Boil for 30 minutes...

 Remove from hot water bath and set for 24 hours...

 Make sure all the jars are sealed.  Once they are cool and sealed you can remove the rings and label the jars...

Pickled Beets

2 quarts (8 cups) sliced or cubed beets

4 c. sugar

4 c. vinegar

1 T. cloves

1 T. mustard seed

Cook beets until tender.  Peel while slightly warm.

Cook sugar and vinegar with beets and bring to a boil.  Add cloves and mustard seed.

Ladle into jars leaving 1/4 inch head space.

Adjust rings and caps.

Place in boiling hot water bath for 30 minutes.

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Miscellany Monday...

Since I have a few ramblings going on inside my head on this beautiful Monday, I thought I should link up with Miscellany Monday.


1. I heard on the radio this morning that a recent study found that Stay-at-home moms have the most stressful job compared to moms who work outside the home.  Stay-at-home moms scored lower on a mental health test than moms who worked outside the home. 


2.  I took B school shopping a few weeks ago and she found a shirt that said: "I ♥ Justin Bieber."  It also had a picture of Justin inside the heart.  She begged me to get it.  I told her, "You don't even know who that is."
Her reply, " Uh-huh, Mom!  It's Justin Beaver!"
I didn't let her get the shirt, but she did get a stuffed animal that day which she affectionately named, "Justin Beaver".

3. I didn't want to wake up so early this morning.  I wanted to sleep in.  I have been really tired lately (need to get on the ball and start taking my iron pill again).  But, I got out of bed so that I could be a responsible parent and have B ready in time to catch the bus.  I do get more done on school days because I have to get up earlier.  I had 2 loads of laundry done by 8:30 a.m and they were hanging on the line and blowing in the breeze by 9!

4.  I sometimes feel like some people are inconvenienced by my kids. 
I know this shouldn't bother me, but it does.
The majority of these people, don't have kids themselves.  To these people I say, "I hope someday you are blessed with children of your own.  I hope you then realize that they aren't an inconvenience, but a joy that your entire life revolves around."


Happy Monday friends!!!

Come Visit Me!...

Today I am guest posting over at Heather's blog, 3 Kids and Lots of Pigs.  Heather is the mastermind behind the Real Farmwives of America.

Come visit me and have a super weekend!!!

Craft Time...

This simple idea came from I Can Teach My Child.

Place a piece of paper in a pan.

Add some puddles of paint and a couple of peach pits.

Let your kid roll them around...

You get an abstract painting.

This is a fast and easy project that your kids will love (mine did at least).  It is also relatively mess free.  Gotta love that!

Happy Friday everyone!  Have a great weekend!

First Day of Kindergarten...

Today was B's first day of Kindergarten.

Where has the time gone.  The past 5 1/2 years have flown by.  There were several times in the past where I could not wait for her to go to school.  Today I wish I could have kept her home.  But that's life and away she went.

Before I let her go she had to pose for the first day of school photo(s).



 She looks so grown up...

 Love this pic!...

 She was exaggerating is this pic. ..

 Her backpack was stuffed to the gill with all of her school supplies!

 Walking down the driveway to wait for the bus...

 She said, "I cannot wait for the bus to get her so I can see how cool it is!"
Ha!  In 10 years she will be so tired of riding that bus and will be begging me to take her or let her drive!

Our school system has the kindergartners start school the day before everyone else so they are the only kids on the bus and in the schools.  She stays home tomorrow (all the other kiddos first day) then goes back on Thursday with everyone else.  It gives worry wart mommas like myself some peace of mind (and I get to spend ALL day with her tomorrow!!).

I met her at the end of the driveway when she got off the bus.  She greeted me with a hug and said, "I've been good!"

I asked her what her favorite part of her day was and she said, "Sleeping."  No, she didn't fall asleep in class!;0)  They have to lie down after lunch!

The Weaning Of the Plug(s)...

Well, it's official.  Mel has been off the plug for a little over a month now.  It was a job I was dreading and honestly, I wasn't at all ready to begin this task at the time.  It needed to be done as she had bitten holes in all of her plugs.

 Most people say that when kids start to bite holes in them they don't want them anymore because there is no satisfaction in it.  Well, the more holes in Mel's plugs the better.

One night when we were working in the garden I tried to convince her to plant it in the garden (that is what we did with B and she was convinced that they would grow and she would have a zillion plugs.  she forgot about the "plug plant" in a couple days).  Well, Mel wasn't having it.

She spent a Friday night at her grandma and papaw's house so the next Saturday she was extremely tired and ready for nap time.  I put her down with no plugs.  She asked for them (she would sleep with about 4 of them) and I told her we left them at Grandma's and would get them after nap.  She fell asleep without them and slept for a good three hours!

 When she woke up she never even asked for them.
Bedtime rolled around and, once again, she asked for her beloved plugs.  We told her she left them at Grandma's house and we would get them in the morning.

I thought she would wake up constantly in the night asking for her plugs, but she slept all night long.

In the morning she never asked and hasn't asked for them since!

Now on to potty training!