Random Fun At The Black Bear This Week ~

 Last weekend we enjoyed the annual garage party at Becks Auto.  There was fabulous music...

 lots of dancing...and great company!  And as always...wayyyyy tooo much food!

 Sunday afternoon was gorgeous out, so what better way to spend it then by digging for 

buried treasure!

 And look what was uncovered in the dig...

a little pirate coin!

With the weather being unusually gorgeous out, our bees were busy gathering pollen from anything they could find.  If you look closely, this particular bee is loaded up with a light yellow that was gathered from the catkins.

On Friday, Jordyn had her second soccer practice, and i was able to snap off a few photos...

Saturday morning was Jordyns first soccer game, however, Jordyn woke up with a sore throat and a nasty phlegmy cough, so we decided to stay home.  She was bummed to miss her first game, but she spent most of the day on the couch in her pjs, so she definitely needed the rest.  

The good news is...her team won!  Go Cowgirls!

She quickly cheered up though, when this Easter package arrived from grandma Barbara!  

Look at all that Easter booty!

!

Lots of toys, spring clothes, and of course...some new coloring books!

Meanwhile, Justin has been busy at work out on the island felling trees and peeling off the bark of the infested trees.  Underneath the bark there was lots of larvae, which, when peeled, dehydrates the larvae and kills them.  We hope that by doing this we can save some of the other trees on the island...namely, the tree fort trees!  We've cut down about 10 trees so far, and have about 10 more to go....whew!  Its lots of hard work, because once the trees have been cut down, limbed, and sectioned, they still need to be debarked or removed from the area or the beetles will fly in the Fall.  We've sectioned about two cords of wood so far, and have them covered in plastic (another method to kill the beetles).  Hopefully it works, and then we will have plenty of firewood in a few years 

when the stumps dry.

We have spent most of our afternoons outside at the picnic table, enjoying meals, crafts and relaxing.

I know we could use the moisture, but an occasional early Spring is fine with me :) 

Oh, the cats are enjoying this fine weather too...just look at the lovely gift they left for me in my bedroom...

This is the 3rd day in a row ive come home to a house full of scattered feathers and carcasses!  Doh!  Yea, drink up kitty...im sure hunting makes you awfully thirsty!

Trees, EMS and Chili, Oh My....

 On Tuesday i came home and heard some noise down on the island...when i looked over, i found Justin up in a tree!  This is one of the beetle infested trees, and the tree guys and literature online, said another way to get rid of beetle killed trees is to chip the bark off....so Justins plan is to turn this ginormous tree into a totem pole complete with lookout tower on the top!  Sounds like an attractive nuisance to me, but then, so is our tree house :)

 The next day, when Jordyn and i got home from school, i looked down on the island to see how his tree project was coming along and couldnt believe how high Justin had climbed up into the tree....yikes!  Thankfully, he is using a rope system to keep him in the tree!

 Naturally, Jordyn being part monkey, decided she would give tree climbing a try...but coming down proved to be much more challenging than she thought, and daddy had to help her down!

 She was sporting quite the hairdo from all the branches tangling up in her hair along with sap! 

 Then on Friday, i had an all day EMS conference in town, so Justin had to take Jordyn to school this morning.  Today was also her first soccer practice, which i am so sad i missed, but grandma and grandpa bruen took her to practice, and they took some photos for me, so im excited to see those.  Apparently she had a blast...and was one of the few kids that knew how to put on her shin guards properly :)  atta girl!  Anyways, with a free evening, and Justin still up in a tree...i headed over to our first annual chili cook off for the Poudre Canyon VFD.  Many other volunteer fire departments were invited, so it was quite a turnout!  There were 19 entries... and i tried every one of em!

 Being in the mountains, we had several big game meats, but there was also one vegan chili entry, which took 3rd place.  There was venison, buffalo, elk, pheasant, beef and pork....and they were all delicious, but my favorite was the pheasant chili....wow!

 The judges had a good time with the contest, who wouldnt enjoy someone bringing them bowl after bowl of chili...and then a giant platter of desserts!

 The Firemans choice went to the folks from Crystal Lakes...

 Then of course, there was Jackies Pheasant chili...which i loved...

 and then finally, the judges choice...

 even Aunt LeAnn took second place with Grandma Berdenas chili recipe from Rustic Resort...

 We had an auction, and some giveaways, and of course lots of food...and a good time was had by all!  What a great way to end the day and kick off a beautiful weekend!  Happy Friday!

Spring Break at the Black Bear Cabin

 Spring Break has sadly come to an end.  We enjoyed relaxing at the house, with minimal time spent in the car!  hooray!  We had a play date on Friday with some of Jordyns friends from school.

 The kids had fun jumping on the trampoline, driving the barbie car, climbing the treehouse, and of course, throwing rocks on the frozen river!  Meanwhile, the moms enjoyed relaxing with margaritas and adult conversation!

 We had fabulous weather all week, so we did a lot of work outside, and at night i did a lot of quilting inside.  Here is a photo of my little monster...its her new "scary" face...boo!

 Happy Saint Patrick's Day!  Here is Jordyn sporting all the green she owned, including some little shamrock socks!  No pinches for her today :)

 and none for Aunt LeAnn either...so my little leprechaun decided to help her work on the ditch. Hard to believe the ditches will be running in a month and a half, but we always look forward to that!

 On Saturday we had some friends come up to help us clear out some of the beetle kill trees out on the island.  We discovered several of them were infested with Moutain Pine Beetles in August last year, and knew they would have to come out,  so it was nice to have the help.

 This was the first tree down, and you can barely see Jordyn, but shes down there helping trim off all the branches. 

 The trees were cut into sections and hauled up the hill with our tractor...and some extra man power!

 Here goes another one...T I M B E R!

 Time for a cocktail break with Aunt LeAnn and our neighbor Russell...it really was a beautiful day!

 This was the last tree of the day (they cut down 6 total), and as you can see, there are plugs all over the tree showing the signs of Mountain Pine Beetle infestation.  It was sad to see these trees getting cut down, but necessary to prevent forest fires.  We still have another 15 or so to be cut down, so our island will be a little bare when they are done, but i suppose that will give the aspen trees a chance to flourish for a while :)

 We spent most of Sunday relaxing and doing some fun projects...Jordyn painted for a while, while Justin replaced our telescope stand with a new aluminum one, and i did some quilting.  We did go down to the island a bit to survey the trees, and Jordyn and Daddy counted the rings on the last tree we cut down to see how old it was....105!  :(  Poor tree!  We will use all the wood for firewood and other projects though, so none of it will be wasted.

 And finally...here is the miniature quilt top i made for a swap on about.com.  It still needs to be quilted and binded, but its almost complete.  I made two, one to swap and one to keep, and im glad i did.  I think this little quilt turned out cute!  The 9 blocks are only 3 inches each, and the overall size is 16" x 16".  Anyways, its a secret swap, so i hope the receiver of this quilt likes it!  I had fun making it!

Happy Birthday Grandma Pat

We went to grandma and grandpas on Saturday to celebrate Grandma pats birthday...
pardon the bad birthday cake photos, but the candles put off soooo much light, that when grandma blew them out the flash didnt go off on my camera and i had to doctor the photo to see everyone :)  And yes, that is a propane torch we used to light the cake! heheheh

 After the sugar high, the kids decided to wrestle around a bit...which again, made it hard to get a good photo!  But the pictures dont need to be in focus to see they were having a good time...

 Then on Monday, we spent the whole day outside enjoying the fabulous weather!  We're getting spoiled with all this sunshine, and i totally have spring fever, but i know we still have a few snowstorms coming before i can plant my garden.  But that doesnt mean i cant start planning it :)

 I signed up to do a miniature quilt swap on about.com, and these are a few of the blocks ive made so far....they are 3 1/2 inches in size, and Im making two sets, so i can keep one.

Well, gotta run...we are having a bunch of Jordyn's friends over for a play date tomorrow, and we have to ready the house!

The Lorax!

 On Thursday, the preschool, kindergarten and 1st graders went on a field trip...first stop....Chuck E Cheese! 

 The kids had a blast, playing games, running around and enjoying pizza!  Next stop...

 The Lorax in 3D!

 For a lot of these kids, it was their first time at the movies, so experiencing it in 3D was even more amazing!  What a great way to kick off Spring break!

 

On the way home we stopped at McDonalds...or as Jordyn likes to call it,  McDonalds Farm.  

St Pattys Day is just around the corner, so can you guess what we ordered?   Thats right...Jordyn's first shamrock shake...looks like she approves :)

 Meanwhile, Jordyn was out in the yard today playing, and it got very quiet, so i thought i better check on her...and this is what i found!

Have a fabulous weekend!

I "Heart" Quilting!

Ive been a bit quiet lately...but thats because ive been busy busy busy...quilting that is!  Ive got 4 quilts going right now, soon to be 5, so my posts may be few and far between.  I spent several days cutting out fabric, which is all assembly-lined in my living room, and i just finished sewing up the last of these hearts today...there are 35 total.  whew!  i plan to start work on jordyns bento box tomorrow, as well as a red, white and blue miniature im making for a swap on about.com.  (i have enough cut out to make two, so i can keep one, but we'll see how the first one goes).  I also received a very cool pattern by Rebecca Collins from Lynda over in England.  I complimented her gorgeous quilt and mentioned i would love the pattern, and she was awesome and mailed it on over to me!  Quilters are the best!  Thanks Lynda...it may be a while before i can get to it, but im looking forward to playing around with that pattern!  Ill be posting photos of my progress, so stay tuned!  If all goes well, maybe ill finally get that shop going on Etsy that ive been meaning to do...any of you have tips or opinions regarding that site?  Thanks...and have a great night!