Birthday Celebrations at the Farm!!!

...AR and her grandpa (Matt's dad) have birthdays only three days apart. We decided to spend the weekend out at the farm and celebrate both their birthdays together. First, we had to drive there. Check it out, she even was using the gear shifter!

Her and grandpa picked strawberries and had them as dessert for lunch.

Matt and I went on a four-wheeler driver.

AR ready to go fishing. She didn't catch anything but Matt found a snake that bit him!

The furbabies went too. Emma, she's getting older, but I insist that she's going to live forever.

And Shadow, such a handsome boy!

Her baby wanted a ride on the four-wheeler too.

And she read to her baby, too.

My child is a fan of celery... glad one of us is!

Her Aunt EB got her her very own birthday cake!

Of course, what's a weekend at the farm without s'mores!

She climbed trees and deer stands all weekend cause she's a monkey.

On Sunday, our favorite veteran and Matt's bestie, Dusty came to the farm with his dog and we had a good time hanging out with him. I found a tick on AR's back but luckily, Dusty came to the rescue to take it off.

One thing about camping is that by the end of the weekend, we all have some crazy hair... especially this little girl!

So happy birthday AR and Grandpa!!!

Family Fun Day at the Farm...

...last Sunday, we slept in (6:30AM!), played a little in the living room then headed out to the farm. It's been almost 3 years since I've been to the farm. Last time I was there was opening deer hunting weekend 2010!

 

Here's AR sitting ON her shopping cart saying, "let's go!"

AR took a nap on the way out there so when we arrived, she was hungry. Daddy took her to the garden and she feasted on raspberries off the vine.

Her Aunt EB found a toad. AR petted it and even held it for a split second but once it moved, she quickly dropped it.

We took Emma and Shadow. They loved playing in the pond, hated the gunshots and AR loved all over both of them. It was a full on, every gets dirty kind of day.

AR and I rode in the back of Daddy's truck with Aunt EB as we drove the short distance to the pond...she loved it!

Here's Aunt EB with us.

AR was yelling at her Daddy to catch a fish. I told her we had to be quiet while fishing. We walked around while he fished and there's a big downhill behind the pond. AR was being Miss Independent again and had to walk by herself, therefore, she fell and rolled down the hill which she thought was HILARIOUS! Seriously, the girl laughed forever and then tried to do it again. She's so silly!

Then Daddy caught a fish and she went to inspect. The first thing she wanted to touch was his eye. Funny that she knows a fish eye and we'd say, "where's the fishie's eye?" and she'd point to it but you ask her where her eye is and she touches her ear. FYI-I had Purell in my pocket that we applied all day long. Luckily, she's good at holding her hand out and rubbing her hands together.

Then Daddy and Aunt EB told her to kiss the fish and she did!

Daddy took a break from fishing and sat on this little john boat. I wanted to get a picture of the two of them together but AR didn't want to be held by Daddy, no, she wanted to lean on the boat like him instead.

When we got back to the house, AR had to hydrate so she took an entire bottle of water and drank almost the whole thing herself. She split some and tried to get the doggies to take a drink from it too.

Then before we left, Daddy took her for a ride on the John Deere. Here she is smiling and waving but I caught her in mid-wave.

It started off a cool day then heated up around lunch time but we still had a good time. My baby girl touched a toad and kissed a frog, she's so much braver than her Mommy!

Meat in the Freezer!!!

...well, everyone, we made it back safe and sound AND with meat for the freezer! Don't worry, I'm not posting any gory pictures although it was kind of a gory weekend and I did get some gory photos but they're for ourselves. This was the first year that I got to go in the woods and see the deer after they were shot and watch them be field dressed. It is all very interesting and kind of like a biology lesson as Mattie pointed out different body parts to me.

It was amazing how warm it was on Friday night then while we were sleeping it totally cooled off as the rain came in. I never go out on opening morning, I let Matt enjoy the thrill of the morning without having to worry about me and I don't mind sleeping in and spending the morning chatting with my MIL. Plus it's usually warmed in the afternoon than the morning. I headed out Saturday afternoon, here's Mattie and I (FYI, or in my opinion, warm hunting gear adds 10lbs to the camera):
I didn't see one single deer but then again, I probably only looked for an hour before I got out my J. Weiner book (don't worry, review coming later this week). Last year, I had told Matt that if I got a deer, I would caw so he would know to come to me (think caw like Ellen does), like he would really hear me cawing on the 100+ acres that's at the farm but in theory it was a good idea. I got out of my stand before dark though, nature called, and I saw him in a stand close to me. I cawed as I walked out so he knew I was down. As I was chatting at the house with him mom, his dad came to let us know he got a deer!!! I ran back down in the field cawing like crazy for Matt to come but he'd already left the stand and didn't hear me. It was pitch black by the time we got to my FIL's deer and I was getting yelled at for blinding them with the flash from the camera. Geez, it's my first time everyone, give me a break! When we got back to the house, Matt squirted me in the face with deer milk which is definitely NOT the grossiest thing that I saw all weekend and it was really funny. We both laughed and agreed that we had the humor of j-highers!

Sunday morning, Matt came back to the house around 9:30 asking for his dad to come help him track his deer. Every year when we go, I'm always cheering inside me, get a deer! Get a deer! I know how happy it makes him and how disappointed he gets when he doesn't so while I'm excited that the freezer gets filled, I'm more excited that Matt is super happy! They found the deer and came back to the house to get the tractor in which Matt came to find me telling me to put on my orange, I did and walked outside and realized it was just me and him going to get the deer. I was so excited...it was an honor!!! When we got to his doe, he was looking for something and I saw beside her petting her. She was so soft. I told her she was pretty and I apologized but let her know that she was going to good use. Then came the gory part and the biology lesson.

We, as a family, spent a good five hours Sunday afternoon cutting the meat and packaging it up. I sliced my finger on the bone...that stuff is sharp! We ended up with an entire cooler and a half and Mattie is going again next weekend so hopefully he'll get another one and we should be set for awhile! I know not everyone is a fan of deer meat but we love to make chili with it and hubs makes the best steaks with them...don't ask me how he does it, he just does!

Of course, what's a farm post without pics of the pups? My Shadie Adie...
My precious Em Dog...

I always feel bad taking them out on deer weekend. I mean they love the farm but when it's rifle season, we can't let them out because 1. we don't want anyone to shoot at them (esp Emma because she kind of looks like a very small deer) and 2. they'll sniff everything out and try to get into it! They were great pups though, only whining a bit and I even snuck them in Saturday afternoon for a little nap snuggled up with me.

Great job Mattie! I'm so very proud of you! Thanks for letting me learn a little more every year. Maybe next year will be my year...

PS

Matt is planning on having the heart for dinner tonight. Me? I'm going to dinner with Amy-thank goodness for blog friends!

Cleaning Out My Closet...

...last Sundy, Matt and I went to church then headed home for a day of NOTHING! Well, that didn't last long after I was getting antsy and bored so I decided to clean out the pantry. UGH! Take a look at the disaster, everything was just shoved in here and there, no rhyme, no reason which resulted in spilled herbs and like multiples of certain products such as oatmeal, sugar, flour, kidney beans, etc...
I took everything out and put it on the floor. I swept out the pantry and cleaned each shelf. I threw away expired items and merged multiple items if I could. Um...we had FOUR big containers of salt and three containers of cocoa! Oops! Here is the final product...TADA!!!

I'm really hoping you can tell the difference. Some stuff is still buried and other items will have to be removed to find them. The most exciting part though is that I made room for Matt's lunchbox (cooler) to be stored in the pantry making the kitchen look bigger!

We're off to the farm this weekend for opening weekend of deer season. I've got my books packed, my warmest clothes in my bag, and my gun waiting by the door. I'm sure I'll have book reviews for you in the next few weeks and hopefully I'll be able to tell you some successful deer hunting stories too! After Vee's post yesterday, I must admit I'm a little worried about this weekend although I know that you can't live your life in fear so we're still planning on going and being super careful. Please continue to pray for her and her family. Have a good weekend everyone.

Sunny Day Sunflowers...

...back to Labor Day again, at the farm there was a huge sunflower patch and it just totally blew my mind!?! Here's a picture of me, at all of 5'4, in front of the flowers. They are about 8 feet tall. I'm also holding the head of the flower in my hand...yeah, it's definitely bigger than my head!Later in the afternoon, I took the sunflower and decided to try out some different angles and setting on my camera. I think this is my favorite one with the chair in the background.

So what do you think? How'd I do? Have I mentioned how much I LUST for a DSLR? One day...maybe...one day...