Disneyland!

Charlie and I woke Lily up the morning of her birthday with exciting news! We were taking her and her nephew (Charlie's grandson) Caleb to Disneyland for 3 days to celebrate her birthday! She was as excited about going as any 5 year old that had never experienced Disneyland could be. We packed up, dropped off Grace, picked up Caleb and were on the road by 8:30 AM. Nothing short of at least 20 "Are we there yets?", and we arrived at the park by 1:30. It was a bit overwhelming at first, and the kids didn't understand why we were waiting in such long lines. We acclimated and spent most of our afternoon in Tomorrowland. The second ride we went on was Space Mountain, and Lily was a bit hesitant about it. When we were finished, I told her how brave she was, and she laughed and clapped, then proceeded to burst into tears. She and Caleb weren't quite as trusting about getting on rides after that!

Lily is packed and ready with her Princess hat on and ready to go to Disneyland.

Here's my fantastic five year old in California Adventure. She and Caleb were troopers the entire time we were at Disneyland. They walked everywhere and went on most rides with us, even the scary ones. We had to drag both of them on Grizzly River Run, but when we got off, they asked to go on it again.

Meeting the characters was a highlight for both kids. They loved Donald Duck.

After the Pirate's of the Carribean ride (the 2nd time!) - which was Lily's favorite ride (she liked the parrots) - we came upon these pirates singing a jig. They followed us to my favorite picture taking spot. We captured this great candid of the kids. Lily was a little unsure after the pirates said that they were going to capture her!

The elevator was a source of more than a few fights. They raced to see who would push the buttons. Unfortunately, the hotel was full of "mature" people there for a convention. Most people were good sports towards our active kids.

Lily saw her prechool friend, Brandon, in Tomorrowland. Brandon was also at Disneyland celebrating his birthday. Brandon and Lily were born about 3 hours apart on the same day in the same hospital.

We took the kids to Ariel's Grotto on Friday for lunch. All the princesses were visiting each table and taking pictures. It was a highlight for Lily!

"It's Tough to be a Bug" 3-D glasses

More than one time we realized that Disneyland isn't always the happiest place on earth! Throughout the 3 days we were there, we saw more than a few families getting angry with their kids, saying that they were going to have fun or they were going home. That happened to us too!

Valentine's Day - I am glad it's about the kids now!

Lily's school celebrated Valentine's Day with a party today. We prepared her Madagascar Valentines and stuffed the envelopes with suckers last night. She's gotten quite adept at writing her name, even our last name!

The class decorated cookies, read a valentine story and did a valentine activity paper. I was glad we could be a part of it, and she had fun! I enjoy watching her in social situations to see what kind of a kid she is. At this point, she is aware that there are opinons about her, but she isn't too concerned with what they are. Hopefully that doesn't change! She does get her feelings hurt too easily, and she is kind to all her classmates. She wants to be friends with everyone and doesn't understand why they don't always want to play with her or be friends with her. There is quite a bit of drama already, and I am not looking forward to more. I don't do drama well!

Most of the kids enjoyed the frosting, sprinkles and decorations more than the actual cookies.

It rained for 4 hours straight this morning. Thank you, Lord! We needed it so bad and could use more. I'd love to see the mountains right now. Continue to pray for rain for our Valley. We need it to be able to grow crops, feed our animals, grow food, and employ workers.

Farm Show!

It was a beautiful but cold day at the World Ag Expo! We didn't sell as much ice cream as we would have liked (blame it on the economy), but it was still a great day. I spent the day driving around my gas powered Polaris with my partner, Diana, delivering ice cream and providing moral support. It was great fun!

Here's my beautiful friend, Lorraine, selling another bar of Haagen Daaz ice cream. I couldn't have done it without all my volunteers!

These boys were just precious! They were playing on the biggest cotton harvester I had ever seen! The technology available to farmers today is amazing. I am hoping to get more pictures tomorrow.

The girls are getting a ride on the Polaris. We parked our trailer there for the week for convenience sake. It came in handy this afternoon! We visited some friends down the road and ate dinner in there. The girls had great time at the Show!

Charlie took the girls around to investigate all the equipment. They played in this corn harvester while I closed up all my booths (Can you see their little selves in the cab?). We're back at it tomorrow!

Cioppino and Heartland

Yesterday afternoon Charlie offered to take me out for dinner if I could find a babysitter. While most women would swoon at that offer, I came back with a better one! We'll save the money we would have spent on a babysitter, stay home, and I'll make cioppino (an Italian seafood stew). I've been wanting to make it for a long time, and since Charlie asked for seafood for dinner, it was the perfect opportunity. Lily helped me out in the kitchen. The two pictures below are of Lily (with my help) going through the mussels, looking for open or cracked shells and cleaning the mollusks off. They are quite sandy, and about a third of the mussels were already open. Do not ever cook or eat an open mussel. It means that it is already dead and unedible. To cook the mussels, you need to steam them with a cup of water for about 5 minutes. They will open up, and the inside is what you eat. They are delicious!

I am making fish stock in the red pot below. I was horrified to learn that our local market doesn't carry it on the shelf. I had to take the shells off the shrimp myself and boil them in water for 45 minutes to make my own. It was quite satisfying!

Here's the beginnings of the stew. A good stew or soup always starts with some olive oil and onion. There is also bell pepper in this recipe. The recipe called for a green pepper, but I only had a yellow. That's what I love about cooking, compared to baking. Nothing is exact, and you can improvise as you go. If you don't bake according to directions, more than likely your recipe won't turn out. Cooking allows for so much more creativity with flavors.

Here's the final presentation. We had fresh, crusty bread and great red wine. The meal was delicious! If you're interested, you can find the recipe at Simply Recipes.
The girls were behaving nicely (Sophia and Grace were sleeping!), so we played Heartland Strategies, which is a homemade game I received from my friend Kimberly. Sadly, the guys beat the girls this round, but we're ready for a rematch.Here's a random picture of the girls taken while I was doing laundry on Saturday morning.

There really isn't a meal plan for this week. I will be working at the Farm Show all week selling ice cream. Come on out and say hi if you're in the neighborhood!

Shooting some more clay pigeons

With milk prices the way they are, we thought we should find some cheap entertainment. Friday afternoon we invited the Mellemas over for some skeet shooting and carne asada. A good time was had by all.....

Melissa's been practicing and is getting really good! It was fun having her hang out with us. She is a really neat person and we're looking forward to shooting with her again. Hopefully she wants to come back! ;)

Kevin, unjamming Brooke's gun

A little father to daughter advice

Brooke, Melissa, Kevin and Mike are playing Annie Oakley. They were all pretty good shots, and not too many skeet went into the field. We changed locations this time and were next to our pool house in our side yard. It was fun being there, and the house isn't even close to being finished yet! The guys have everything cleared out, and they are putting paper on the walls. The electricity will be wired next, with insulation coming after that. I've been looking on Craigslist for used furniture. Charlie assures me it will be finished by June. I have every faith that it will. I'll post some updated pictures of the project soon.

My meal plan is pretty shoddy this week....We're going to be very busy the next two weeks. Farm Show!!!! All activity in the Valley stops for those 3 days. I am looking forward to it though. Here's my meals, such as they are:
Monday: Dinner at Jim and Linda's for Kevin's birthday
Tuesday: Lasagne, salad and garlic bread. I am hosting 10 other people for a meet and greet of an interviewing pastor for our church.
Wednesday: Sloppy Joes from last week's menu. Didn't get to those....
Thursday: Chicken and spinach from last week's menu. Also didn't get to those.
Weekend: Eat out and whatever comes up!