Thankful

A blog post!  Only took me 2 weeks to update.  Geesh.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, how about you?
I have so much to be thankful for, first and foremost that I was able to spend time with my family.  Nothing better.  I miss them oh so much and wish time wouldn't go by so quickly when they're here.

I'm also thankful my sister took pictures, because I took zero pictures.  Not even an iphone picture.  Lame.  So, thank you Caitlin for all these pictures.

We had dinner at my parents house.  My mom always makes the most amazing meal and her presentation is always gorgeous.  This year she did it all with bad back pain...anyone who's ever had back pain knows how miserable it is.  Poor mom. :(

The cute relish turkey she made.  Her inspiration came from Pinterest...she actually made something she pinned...I'm so bad at that. 

Camdyn and Cooper each got a turkey leg.  Camdyn devoured hers...literally, down to the bone.  Ew.

Pumpkin cheesecake...divine!

Her fall mantel.

Her built-in china cabinet.  Love!

Rodiggity provided mood music.

Caitlin and her bff got up and did the Turkey Trot that morning.  Way too early for me...I slept in until 9! HA!

Riley was busy all weekend making scarves for Christmas presents.  She still has to show her mother how to knit.

We had a great holiday weekend, hope you did as well!

Basketball and Butterfinger Bars

This weekend was filled with a basketball double-header, basement and bedroom cleaning, and work for me.  Flu season is starting, so we've been super busy.  So much coughing and hacking and sniffling...I feel like wearing a Hazmat suit to work.

Anyway, basketball...it's fun to see how much confidence she's gained since the beginning of the season.  She's learning the fundamentals and having fun doing it.  Perfect! 

Rebounding!

She has a great coach, he's done a great job helping them learn the basics.

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I also made the homemade butterfinger bars with inspiration from Caitlin...I used the same recipe she did from Bunsinmyoven.

Three ingredients and no baking...how easy is that?

It is crazy how much they taste like Butterfingers, CRAZY!  I kept mine in the fridge, because she mentions they're more crisp than chewy that way.  Please excuse the horrendous lighting, I forgot to take an after picture until later that night.

Even Booth thought they smelled yummy, he tried on several occasions to help himself to ten one of them.

Friday

Our week by Instagram ~

Saturday, Meghan and Cooper organized my parents basement.

They got rid of quite a bit of crap...it looks great down there.

The basement staircase has a door that leads under the stairs.

The kids think it is a secret fort.
When they opened the door, they found writing on it. It was from when we were kids.

It said, "People in the clubb" and listed Meghan, Brendan, and several neighbor kids. Then someone added, "Not Caitlin".

Which made me giggle. I'd forgotten how much fighting Caitlin and Meghan used to do when they were little.

After the clean up, we headed to Carrie's farm in Wisconsin.
That's their farm straight ahead.

Last few flowers hanging on.
I miss summer already.

I love the sun shining through.
Heavenly.

Rowyn fell asleep watching Rapunzel.
Nice boots Ro-dig.

We celebrated my mom's birthday at Red Robin.
She's beautiful...inside and out.
They sang Happy Birthday to her and announced she was turning 21 again. :)

Camdyn had so much chocolate milk, I surprised she didn't float away.

I had a garden burger, sweet potato fries, and a Cabernet.

We got a new car this week.  I'm pretty much in love with it.
My dad got it washed for me today.  Free car wash for veteran's.
Thanks, Dad.
For the car wash and for protecting our freedom.
Thank you to all our veteran's...those with us and those not.

Snow

Well, it happened.
We woke up Wednesday morning to white crap.
The first snowfall of the season.
Rowyn came running into the room, "I wanna make snow angels!"

So, after waking myself up enough with some coffee...out we went.
I don't know who was more excited, Rowyn or Booth.

He wanted to play with her in the worst way.

So, she threw handfuls of snow in the air for him to play with.

Then she climbed to the top of the hill and announced,
"I'm on top of the world!"
I love that girl.

Back to crazy Booth flying past.

And finally...

Snow angels.

The first snowfall is always the best.

A Wisconsin Dairy Farm

We were invited to Carrie's farm in Wisconsin on Saturday.  What an eye-opening experience for us city folk.  It's crazy the amount of dedication it takes to be a dairy farmer.  You have to milk twice a day...and it's not like you can just wake up and say "Eh, I don't feel like working today."  Their poor udders would explode from engorgement.  Carrie's dad goes to bed every night by 8:30 and he's back up by 3:30am. 

Three Thirty AM!  That's not early morning, that's middle of the night.  To go to bed at 8:30...we don't even begin watching our dvr'd shows until after 9pm. 

Dairy farming is a whole different world to me, and I marveled at the dedication, the drive, the hard work...all so we can have milk in our cereal and cream in our coffee.

A two-day-old calf. 

The dogs were very interested in it.  The smaller Golden Retriever is Carrie's mom's dog, Chaney.  He, Tucker, and Booth all came from the same breeder in Wisconsin. 

The kids really loved all the calves they had, much less intimidating than the big cows.

The kids couldn't believe that every cow had a name. 

The milking parlor was unbelievable.  Every day...twice a day...they milk over 65 cows.  Crazy!

Every cow has a name...this one was Shakira.  You know my hips don't lie and I'm starting to feel it's right.  Haha...no, she didn't break down into a beat, but she was swinging those hips waiting for her turn at the gigantic Medela-like pump.

Rowyn found herself another boyfriend.  That's Maverick, Carrie's four-year-old nephew.  Right now he just hangs out and plays when his dad and mom are helping milk, but I imagine he'll be right in there helping once he's a little older.  My kids growl and moan when I ask them to make their bed...they have no idea how easy they have it compared to the hard work farm families do every day.

Cooper could have played on the tractor all day.
For real.

I think she just realized we were all wearing Iowa Hawkeye gear...right in the middle of Badger country. Haha!

Thank you for inviting us to your farm, Carrie.  We had a great time and learned so much...and we'd love to come back next summer! :)