Good Morning Eastern Oklahoma

Got up this morning to go for my walk and had 2 tag-alongs with me.  Squirrel and Annie decided they wanted to go for a walk too.  It was the first time for both.  They both did well except for when Annie decided to chase EVERY bird she saw.  Poor Squirrel ended up with rope burns behind his knees thanks to Annie and her leash.

Squirrel took this pic of our beautiful sunrise...



Then when we got back home, Squirrel checked for eggs.  We haven't had very many lately due to the 105+ heat. It stresses the chickens out and they just don't lay.  BUT we had a nice storm 3 days ago so I think the chickens considered that as a visit to the spa cause they cranked out some eggs for us.

9 of our 11 chickens layed an egg.  We have only been getting 2-3 a day.


Guess what we had for breakfast...fried eggs.

Just a reminder . . .

I also have a "foodie" blog where I post recipes and such.  Some of the posts on that blog are the same as this but only a few.  So go check it out at Ten Thumbs Up.

National Cowboy Museum

Can you guess why we chose to go to the National Cowboy Museum?  Was it the art gallery, firearms, rodeo history, pioneer living or western movies exhibits?  If you guessed all of the above, then you would be correct.  We (Kyle and I) enjoyed it much more than the kids but they did great going thru all the galleries and exhibits.  I think their favorite parts were the rodeo history, western movies exhibit and Prosperity Junction which is a life size western town.  The kids were excited to see stuff on John Wayne since we like to watch his cowboy movies too.

I suggest that if you take children to the museum, have them check out the museum on their website.  They actually have a children's site that gives online tours, songs, games, characters, printables, etc.  Check it out at the Diamond R Ranch.

We spent 3 hrs here and had a great time.  It was the kid's first art museum and I was very proud of them.  They were really interested in the artwork which again surprised me.

Jailbirds

We are HUGE readers in our family so seeing this
 great display of children's books in their gift
shop was awesome!

                                                   

Science Museum Oklahoma

The third museum on our OKC museum tour was the Science Museum Oklahoma.  It is right next to the OKC Zoo.  We considered going to the zoo also but when it is 105 degrees outside, it was a no-brainer to just stay inside the air-conditioned museum.  We actually ended up spending 6 hours at this museum!  But I do not have the pics to show for it because the museum is totally hands-on so I had my camera in my pocket pretty much the entire time.  Since Kyle is an engineer, he was in "hog heaven" with all the physics displays and surprising enough the kids loved them too.

I think our favorite part of Science Museum Oklahoma was the Segway Track.  The kids could not get enough of it and YES they begged to have one when it was all over.  I told them that if they wanted one, they needed to become a mall cop.  Our other favorite part was the planetarium.  We all learned a lot about the Oklahoma night sky.


Other parts we enjoyed were the aircraft display, flight simulator, working train track, huge tree house to climb on, Science Live show, earthquake simulator, magnets and optical illusions.  Speaking of the Science Live show, Kyle was called up to the stage to help to a science experiment.  It was HYSTERICAL cause he does not like doing things like that in front of a LARGE group of people but he endured it.

Playing with magnets

Experimenting with air

Flight simulator

Optical illusion

Kitchen Re-do: My RED Kitchen

I am HAPPY to announce that we FINALLY finished our kitchen re-do project.  It only took us 1 1/2 years but who is counting?

We scraped and peeled wallpaper, floated the walls, painted the walls and ceiling, painted the island and decorated.  Yes, all that took 1 1/2 years but again, who is counting?

So here is the before pic.  It was actually the pic that was online when it was on the market.  Note the country blue wallpaper (and it had the 80's goose border too).  Lovely, huh?

And here is the "almost" final product!  We have added some things on the top of the cabinets since I took this pic but for the most part this is it!  It was a big commitment painting it red (I know) but I have wanted a RED kitchen for a long time and I had bought a lot of the red things a long time ago and just waiting for my red kitchen to come along.

Next phase will be the big guns phase.  We are going to move appliances around, have a new island built, new flooring and paint the cabinets.  We are also wanting to build false beams for more lighting and then possibly hang a pot rack from them over the island.  All this will come when the income tax refund arrives next year but until then, I LOVE MY RED KITCHEN.

Museum of Osteology in OKC

On Sunday mornings we usually let the kids watch Outdoor Oklahoma if and only if they are dressed, fed and have brushed teeth before it comes on at 8am on OETA.  Recently when we were watching, they were touring the Museum of Osteology (skeletons) in OKC. My kids were GLUED to the television and in total awe so we decided to add the museum to our "museum tour".

The story behind the museum is just as interesting as the museum itself and it all started with a 6th grader's collection for a science fair.

I have to say that it was just as cool on television as it was in person.  To say we loved it is a total understatement.  There were so many different varieties of animal skeletons that you literally have to sit down to look at each display and really examine them.  I took more pics than I probably should have but seeing all the different skeletons was just so fascinating.  The pics I am posting are those animals that you see in Okie Land.  Also to see all the teeny tiny bones of a mouse or a hummingbird then to turn and see the skeleton of a humpback whale and a giraffe is just crazy.  We are so glad we went there and plan on taking the kids again especially when they are older.  This would be a great place for a science field trip.

Mouse

Turtle

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Raccoon eating Milk Duds...so true

Hummingbird in flight

Hummingbird & nest

Jasmine Moran Children's Museum in Seminole

HUGE maze

Dragon-like thing to climb on

On our mini-vacation we went to Oklahoma City for 3 days and visited 4 very different museums while we were there.  The first one we went to was the Jasmine Moran Children's Museum in Seminole which is just outside OKC.  We have never been there before but last year the first grade at the kids' school went there for a field trip and the teachers, students and parents raved about it so we thought we would give it a try.

Let's just say, my kids were is HEAVEN. When we got there we checked out their outdoor activities first before the heat set in.  They have a train you can walk thru and a train to ride.  They also had this really cool maze that was huge.  We all loved running thru it scaring each other.  Then the inside of the museum was separated into play areas like construction, school, courtroom, grocery store, fire station, hospital, mechanics, and science and art areas.  They also had a large aquarium, place where you could dig for dinosaur bones, they could be a surgeon operating, an airplane cockpit and ambulance that they could play in.  They even had a HUGE dragon-like climbing thing that the kids could not get enough of.  Our favorite part was the bubbles area and then this room that had a glowing wall.

Don't tell anyone . . . but I hope the first grade goes back again this next school year.  I will be going as a sponsor with my 2 first graders and will be taking my big kid too.
.

Future mechanic?

Or maybe a pilot with his crew

Making a big bubble wall around them

The engineer playing

Grocery shopping

Stowaways

We took a mini-vacation to OKC last week and went on a "tour of museums" which I will write about soon but I wanted to go ahead and post this pic cause it was SO HYSTERICAL.

As we were packing the car for our trip, we discovered we had 2 stowaways who were trying really hard to blend in although they didn't know that we were taking them with us and dropping them off at the big farm to stay while we were gone.

We decided it looked like Maggie was saying . . . Annie, don't make eye contact and maybe they won't notice us.

We LOVE these pooches!

No More Leftovers

What happens when you eat dinner in the sunroom and leave leftovers of Chicken Fried Rice on the table while you take dishes in to be washed?

This . . .

On Hiatus From Blogging . . .

For the past 2 weeks, we have been busy little bees around our house re-doing rooms, took a mini-vacation and even had a family gathering at our house with 42 guests.  I will be posting pics of all our adventures but for now I need to get back in to the swing of things around the farm and house.  Laundry is calling my name...

BEST GUARD DOG EVER

When we moved into our house we inherited a dog. Not a new dog but she was new to us.  The previous owners decided to leave her at the house when they sold it cause it was her HOME.  We became her new family.  She took us in and accepted us.  Her name was Callie but we have called her Callie Jo from day one.  She was a Collie mix with long matted hair.  She hated when we would brush her hair but none the less she would endure it. We have no idea how old she was.  The previous owner said that his wife had found her on the side of the road somewhere and she was not a pup but about 1-2yrs old.  They had her for about 10yrs and then we had her for a year and a half.  So she could be as old as 13 or as young as 10.  We don't know, only she did.

When we woke on Saturday, she was moving really slow and she had an eye that was drooping and watering.  She was breathing hard but not panting. She would not drink water.  We figured that she must have had a heat stroke thanks to our 100+ degree weather.  Sunday, she was doing a little better.  She walked around, drank a HUGE amount of water and even went with Kyle and Squirrel on a walk to the far side of our property.  She even made it up Butterfly Hill before the guys made up it. We thought that she must be pulling thru what ever had happened.

Then yesterday morning she was throwing up then crawled under our flatbed trailer and wouldn't come out. The kids and I checked on her periodically then I went out by myself and she had died.  We are heart broken. She was a great dog to us and according to Cricket, she was the BEST GUARD DOG EVER. We buried her by the creek under one of the pecan trees. Cricket wanted to be able to look out her bedroom window and see her. So we did. Luckily, we said our goodbyes on Saturday night since we thought she wouldn't make it thru that night and we took theses pics Sunday morning when she did.  We are thankful that we were able to have these memories with her. This is HER house and HER land and we will always remember that.

Our Miss Annie is having a difficult time with it too. We lost our dog but she lost her best friend. She is howling as I type this.  She would always howl if Callie got shut out of our fenced in yard. Kyle is already talking about getting Annie a new friend but with the heat, I say wait a while til it cools off but I know we will have one soon.  

Rest in Peace, Callie Jo.

Funny Face Eggs

Our chickens aren't producing very many eggs right now due to the heat so I am not able to sell eggs.  We are barely getting enough for our household.  BUT when I am able to sell them again, I am SO going to do this.  We have friends at church that usually but 3 dzn from us each Sunday and they would totally get a kick out of this.  I saw this on Pinterest but couldn't find the original post where it came from.

Spiders . . . I HATE THEM

I HATE SPIDERS.  Any kind, every kind.

Our new-to-us house was empty for several years before we bought it.  So when we moved in . . . we stirred up all the brown recluse nests.  EEEEEEKKKKKKK.  During the summer, I generally find one a day and so far (knock on a huge piece of wood) none of has been bitten.  Right now we have sticky pads all over our house that are made specifically for brown recluse that we got at our local feed store.  It has their pheromone on it and attracts them to it.  We have one behind each couch, under tv cabinet, behind washer dryer, in closets, kitchen cabinets and pantry.  Then upstairs, we have one under each bed and in closets.  Just this morning I found a brown recluse in our dirty laundry basket.  I HATE THEM.  Cricket was helping be carry the laundry down the stairs when she saw it in the pile.  We dropped the basket and I ran to get a shoe while she watched it to make sure it didn't run off.  And yes, I killed that thing.  I told Kyle last night that we needed to check all the sticky pads so we did.  You will be shocked at how many we had.  33...OMG, did I just say 33?  Yep, I did. 33. Needless to say, I had MAJOR NIGHTMARES last night.  We are now looking at other ways to rid the house of them.  At this point I am up for almost anything. I HATE THEM.

I was bitten by one when Kyle and I were first married on the inside of my thigh.  It didn't rot my skin or leave any scaring . . . thank goodness.  A week after I was bit, I found the culprit.  It was in between the top sheet and comforter on our bed so we think it bit me thru the top sheet and that was why it was a "mild" reaction to the bite.  Yes, I HATE THEM.

A friend posted this chart on FB recently and I thought it would be a good thing for others to see whether you live in the country or not.

Checked on the Cattle

We checked on our cattle that we have on our leased land last night and they are still looking good.  They LOVE their treat when we come . . . RANGE CUBES. 

When we were on our way home, I was able to get a pic of our neighbor's Longhorn.
 I stayed in the car to get the pic!  I don't want to get TOO up close and personal with this guy.

Happy Independence Day 2012

I pray that everyone has a fun and safe 4th. Not sure what we are going to do today since Kyle is home but I am sure swimming, grilling and fireworks are on the list.  No big fireworks at our house cause it is so stinking dry and our hay is already burnt. Thank goodness we have a large asphalt drive way that we can do the small ones on.  Thanks to my sister, Ang, for this pic.

Go here to hear the Star Spangled Banner by the combined choirs of the U.S. Armed Forces.  

Artichoke Update - Proud Mama

HE DID IT.  Squirrel helped me cook the artichoke he picked out at Reasor's the other day and he ate it (about half).  Trust me, this was a major accomplishment.  He is our picky eater. He is not a eat fries and chicken nuggets only kind of kid but he does have a limited pallet and he is a gagger.  We have tried thru the years to get him to "taste try" different foods but to no avail he usually just ends up gagging and spitting things out so this was a MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENT.

I have to admit I had to look up how to fix it cause I wasn't quite sure but I think it turned out perfect.  I showed him how to "scrape" the leaves on his bottom teeth and tried to get him to dip it in mayo but he doesn't like mayo.  I only got a few "scrapes" from it cause when he was done with it, the twins gobbled it up.  So I guess the $3 spent was well worth it and I am ONE PROUD MAMA that he actually tried it!  Way to go Squirrel!

First I rinsed it and cut off the stem and the top portion. 

Then Squirrel took the kitchen scissors and trimmed the tips of the leaves.

 Next we steamed it in our steamer for 40 minutes 

When it cooled off, I cut it in half then drizzled olive oil in a saute pan
 added minced garlic and browned the flat sides.

How Do YOU Eat A Watermelon?

We recently baled hay at the big farm in the 100 degree heat.  We knew it was going to be a long and hot day so on the way to the big farm, we stopped at our favorite veggie stand and grabbed a freshly picked watermelon.  The man who has the stand is a retired agriculture teacher and has know Kyle's family FOREVER.  We asked him how to find the best watermelon and he said that it needs to still be a little green on the bottom and of course the "thump" test. We put the watermelon in the freezer for a couple of hours so it would be nice and cool.  

So . . . How do you eat a watermelon? This is how our family eats a watermelon.  Slice it down the middle, cut it into LARGE pieces, put it in a cake pan and DIG in.