First Daze of School IV Subtitle: Feeding Them ll

Since I don't get up at dawn and make a fat boy breakfast for my guys every morning, we enjoy breakfast for dinner. This is an easy dinner made easier by my two picks. Drumroll...facon, it is really bacon that has been fully cooked by someone other than yours truly. My guys call it facon, fake bacon. I call it a lifesaver. I buy the big pack at Costco and for nights when I am going to whip up breakfast it is 40 seconds in the microwave. Remember the perfume ad, 'I can bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan. Hey, if you're helping to bring home the bacon, get facon. It is also good for topping baked potatoes, BLTs, and my personal favorite, corn chowder. The second timesaver is the Swedish pancake mix from Trader Joe, my friend Anna Greta, from Sweden would likely be appalled but we like it. My guys use butter and sugar, roll them up and eat'em up fast.
Next week I will share my corn chowder recipe using the 'facon'. My corn chowder recipe is from this cookbook. My Grandma Dykstra got this book free with Prell shampoo. My Mom has one and I got the extra copy. If you see this book at a thrift store, grab it and buy it. I make many recipes from this book, including corn chowder, shortcake, rhubarb cobbler, pizza bread and more. It is a keeper. And I like to imagine my Grandma getting it with her groceries and taking it home and trying some of the recipes. She never drove so Grandpa took her to town on Friday mornings. Sometimes I got to go along. Good memories.

First Daze of School III Subtitle: Feeding Them

When back to school hits I feel like I need to get my game on in the kitchen. Lunches to pack, and timely dinners to be prepared. Max has football after school, sometimes we need to eat quickly before the next comittment. Or we come home from games and everyone wants dinner NOW. To prepare I did the big Shop this past weekend and on Monday. This means the grocery store, Trader Joes, Costco and Target. After looking for new recipes though, I am back to Safeway today. Ugh.

I like to buy my cantalopes and pineapple at Costco, come home and chop. Watermelons have been really good from Trader Joes this summer. Once it is sliced, it goes fast at our house. It's good for everyone and they love it.
Dinners, I am trying make some new recipes. On Monday I made a new chicken sandwich filling. Pretty good, we had it on croissants.
My Mom made this Taco Bake recipe and I had to have it. Best of all, it is easy peasy.
1 Pkg. Kraft Deluxe mac and Cheese Dinner 14 oz.
1# ground beef
1 pkg. taco seasoning
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup thick salsa *I chopped one fresh tomato and then added salsa to make one cup. Yummy.
Prepare the mac and cheese dinner. Brown the hamburger and add seasoning and water, simmer. Stir sour cream into the mac & cheese dinner. Spoon 1/2 into 8-9" pan. Top with 1/2 the meat, 1 c. cheese and then rest of m&c and taco meat. Bake 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Then top with salsa and the rest of the cheese and bake 5 more minutes. *You can also top with crushed tortilla chips.
During the school year I sometimes brown hamburger and freeze it. I do the same with taco meat. It is nice to have ready on busy nights. It would make this recipe even easier.
*Watch for more Fall, easy, back to routine recipes this week.

First Daze of School II

Max's first day of high school! Yahoo! No apple in his hand, just his phone.
My BIL Jeff is the president of the school board this year and so he made opening remarks this morning. Nicely done, Jeffery.
I think we are off to a great start. We were on time this morning, Max was able to open his locker and find all of his classes.
Now, 179 days to go!

First Daze of School

Okay, so only the little guy still goes to school. The big guys go to college. I always took First Day of School Pictures before bringing the boys on their first day of school. You'll notice they all have an apple for their teacher. We started that tradition when they were young and kept it up until they were too old to care about first impressions with their teachers. It just sets the tone for the year. Some people might call it trying to be the teacher's pet but I think it was just good manners.
Do you have any fun first day of school traditions with your children?

New Do

Yahoo! I got my haircut today. I've not colored my hair for several years and was only getting a trim once in a blue moon. Today I got it cut off and it feels soooo good. I think it is going to be easy too. A friend of a friend cut it for me. Maybe next time I'll get highlights or lowlights or something to cover the gray...

Good Things

Some GOOD Things:
*Technically it is the weekend because I don't work on Fridays.
*I got caught up on all correspondence this week, letters, thank you notes etc.
*Tomorrow I am getting a haircut, that always feels good and I am going for change.
*My hubby and I walked and talked for over an hour tonight and made lots of decisions, feels good.
*I think I may have found a good book. Lately I can't find a good book to save my life.
*Friday night we are going to the beach for some crabbing and visiting with friends.
*My guys are feeling good about the new school year.
*I didn't gain weight this summer-usually I do. Yay bootcamp!
*Jerrie helped me at the museum this week, all of the new Legos and Playmobil are on display!
*We had dinner together-late-but together tonight. Nothing like tater tot casserole to gather the guys.
*It stopped raining.
Life is good.

Home Tour Continues... The Bathroom

Since summer seems to be prematurely over and we are indoors, I decided to continue our home tour this evening. Next up, the Loo, the powder room, aka the bath. Please note it is our one and only. Many features sold us on our home, the number of bathrooms wasn't one of them. We moved from a house with three full bathrooms to this one with one. The best part is that I only have to clean one. We do have plans to add another, but I prefer trips to Hawaii and fun times to adding another bathroom so we get by. Oh, and we have boys.


When we bought the house, we gutted the bathroom and installed new cabinets, fixtures, tiles, tub and flooring. Well, actually, my hubby did it.





The decor is mainly yard sales, thrift stores and a little paint. And things I've found on the beach.

Maybe It's the Weather

Our weather is a bit unsettled lately. Hot, humid, rainy, windy, thunder, lightning, a bit of everything in the last 48 hours. I don't like it. It has made me unsettled. And all of the back to school preparations, meetings, responsibilities are intimidating me. But hey, maybe it's what I need, a regular schedule, routine and committments. Ya think? Nah, me neither.
*Sorry, no photo, blogger isn't working tonight. I had one picked out too.

Figs are Ripe

We have a fig tree and it is full of ripe figs. Wish someone here liked them. My hubby picks them and brings them to the Green Barn, a produce stand in our town. They are happy to get the figs and sell them to customers that love figs. It works out well because then the figs are not falling off the tree on to my van.
I bought a cookbook called, 'Fig Heaven'. I'm going to try to find a recipe that my family will eat. Maybe I'll make jam, fig jam is at Safeway in 8 ounce jars for nine bucks. Criminal!

This morning in church the pastor talked about figs. They were the sweet part of life for the Isrealites. That may be but I'd rather have a Snickers bar. They are pretty, the tree is beautiful and lush, figs are mentioned in the Bible, Martha Stewart is using them and making them popular, they are nutritious but I just don't give a fig for figs.

Back to School Supplies

Sam bought his college commuter car today. He had a lot criteria and had done the research. I wasn't sure it could be found, but YAY Sam! He did it. Sam took Consumer Economics in high school and they studied a unit on purchasing a used car. He had the '54 Chev pick up for wheels in high school but for college he needed a commuter car. He had a price range and stayed in it. I think it is really cute too. Sorry Sam, make that cool.

Working Together

The 4-H kids all help each other in the barn. Some brothers and sisters aren't old enough to be in 4-H yet. And they can't wait. Austin's little brother will run you over to be the one to pick up a cow pie. I can't wait for him to be ten, he'll do a great job.

Brooke and Jena's little sis, got to show during Open Class yesterday. It's good practice and she's been helping all week too.

Max and Petunia had a good morning- 4-H Grand Champion Jersey. Yay!

Max and Karrina getting ready for Karrina to show. Next Spring Max is going to mentor Karrina.

So much goes into this week, the kids working hard, the parents, the farmers, the families all coming together. Gotta love it! I have one more barn duty this afternoon and then life as we know it goes back to normal at the Stone House.
Oh, and I'll probably have to go to detox to get over the Fair food. It's been ugly.

Past My Bedtime

I was out late tonight. I am an early to bed girl. Max needed to milk Petunia at 9:30 p.m. tonight. Tonight is all about Petunia's udder, timing the milking so that tomorrow she is bursting and beautiful for the show. It is many farmers talking it through, hashing it out, making decisions about milking. Timing is everything, folks. Petunia has a nice udder and tomorrow is her day to show it off. My BIL Bill wondered if she had work done. Umm, no, but she is one of those girls that you wonder if she did. She has such a gorgeous udder, good rib and just such a nice dairy look to her. Trust me when I tell you I have NO idea what this all means, I've just over heard farmers' conversations this week.

Good Night. I'm bringing Max back to the barn at 5:00 a.m.

Extreme Cow Makeover

Before:

After:

Don't they clean up nice? The cow and the boy? I mentioned in a previous post about the washing, clipping, leading and pedicure, but seeing is believing. And that's just Petunia. Max cleans up real nice too, showered, shaved, fed, in his 'whites'. An amazing transformation.
*Those spots on my camera lens are obviously fat and grease flying around from Fair food...I'll fix that.

We Have a Winner, Folks

Max and Petunia ready to go into the show ring. A calm seems to come over Max before he shows. And it shows. Judges like his style, his calm showmanship. Yep, they like it every year.

Petunia needs to learn not to pick her nose during pictures. Yikes girl! But she did real well in the show. Max too.

My parents with three of their grandkids. Katie and Max got firsts and Zach got second. Nice showing! Max and Zach are the same age so they show against each other. After 5 a.m. barn duty and milking they came back to our place for showers and my hubby made them the lucky breakfast-two fried egg and bacon. Looks like it worked.

Tidy Barn

Fitting and Showing Dairy cows and heifers is lots of work and these kids were busy today. Everyone washes and brushes their animal, the clipping is done in the last week, they are given lots of good hay and grain. The Jerseys get a pedicure and the Holsteins get their top line done just so. The tails get a back comb and spray. Each get fly spray and their nose and ears wiped out one last time and then it is show time. The kids change into their 'whites' at the last little bit to stay as clean as possible. During this whole time parents may not help and the barn must stay clean.
Today the Washington State Fair Commissioner came through during this busy time and was so impressed that the Dairy Barn won the Black and White Commissioner's Award. There is only one given at the fair per year. Congratulations everyone! The barn wasn't the only winner though...more on that later.

Fair Favorites

Monday was a non-show day at the Fair for Max. We had some barn duty time and some 4-H responsibilities but mostly it was our day to enjoy the Fair. My hubby was off work so we had a good time looking at the exhibits and eating.
The Grange displays are fresh on the first day of Fair.

So many pretty flowers, I'm not sure how the judges decide on a winner.

We had never watched the chickens get judged and these kids were so cute and so serious, so we watched for a bit.

Some of Max's 4-H group hanging out in the barn.

Tonight I'll let you know what happens with 4-H Fitting and Showing for Max. Will this be the year to prevail or to crash? Tune in tonight

GO Sam

Sam entered his FFA project at the Fair. He got a first place blue ribbon. Some of the FFA kids sell their projects at the Fair, ummm, no way, that bench belongs on our patio. Nicely done, Sam.

Ready or Not

Max has done all he can do to get ready, so here we go. To the Fair. Ready or not.

The First Year

Max and Uncle Darryl after Fitting and Showing 2003

Max was 10 when he started 4-H Dairy. He won first place in Fitting and Showing. Fitting and Showing is when the kids are judged on how well they have trained their animal and how well the animal is cleaned up, clipped etc. and the kids have to look sharp too. They dress in white-yes white. In the barn, by the cows and all that manure-white. When Max won he was pretty excited and we were pretty proud of him. He works hard and takes it pretty seriously.
He had a lot of fans, my parents, my aunts and uncles, Auntie Shelly and school friends. Auntie Shelly was so proud, she cried. It was a moment.

Pressure at Boot Camp

In the morning after I get home from boot camp, I make my breakfast shake, and I read the news. It is a favorite part of my day. I feel good that I've gone to work out and my shake is yummy and it just feels good. A good start to my day.
I didn't feel so great at boot camp today, we had a suprise quiz! Robb decided to test us. I did the most push ups in my class and I was the slowest runner. Mmmm. When I am working around my house, doing yard work, just plain old living, I am fast but you put me on a track and I am slow. Can't explain it or help it. Robb is going to keep track of our times and we have to show improvement. I don't like that kind of pressure. It scares me, in fact just thinking about it this morning is ruining my favorite part of my day.

Three Star Morning

Years ago I worked as a nanny and the family had an old Star truck in their family. I knew someone in my family that could restore it for them, my Dad. It was a big project and my Dad did a beautiful job. This morning the 1923 Star Truck was donated to the museum where I work. It was all so connected and fun. My Dad came down to see the truck, lots of memories. Much of the Star is original including the wheels that Dad spent hours refinishing.



A three star morning-Thanks to Kay, for a wonderful donation to the museum, to my Dad for preserving history and of course, to the 1923 Star truck!

She is Getting Some Manners

Looks like #52 is coming to her senses and leading quite nicely, Max even got her set up nicely today. Right now she is getting a bath and a haircut, also known as getting washed and clipped. By the time he's finished with her, #52 will be looking good. She will also get a pedicure.

I took some photos of the younger girls while I was hanging out at the farm today.

Curious maybe, but I think she just wants to be chosen to go the Fair. Pretty little face.