Coyote Vs Cat ~

Brought our cat home from the vets today...she had a nasty abscess. The wound was much too big to be from another cat, so it was most likely caused by the ginormous coyote thats been hanging around here. Poor Kitty! But she seems to be feeling much better already...Vets Rule!  oh, and my kitty is badass!  :)

New Ice Skates!!!

 Our new ice skates arrived in the mail today, and we cant wait to try them out on the pond!  Jordyns are adjustable, so hopefully she'll get a few years use out of them.  They velcro and snap on like ski boots, so im hoping they will be easier for her to get on and off.  As for me, im pretty excited...this is my first pair of new ice skates...the pair i used before were picked up at a thrift store, so im hoping skates suited to me will keep me from going down so often (yeah, its all in the skates :)

 They had an awards assembly at school today, and Jordyn received another award for perfect attendance....way to go sweetie!  We both put a little pink in our hair this week to brighten the winter blahs!  She designed her whole outfit around her hair today i think!

Oh, and some exciting news...i had my first sale on Etsy today!  HURRAH!  I was a little nervous at first...dont want to screw up my first sale...but the item is packaged and ready to ship first thing in the morning!  I guess i better get some more stuff made soon, now that i have one fan :)  Happy Days!

Winter Playground ~

This is our winter playground!  As you can see, our house remains in the shade for most of winter, so after the solstice, we get excited about the extra 5 minutes of sunlight each week!  To rid us of the winter blues, we play in the snow (no matter how cold it gets)  :)  This is a giant sled run that Justin built that goes down onto our pond and across the ice to the other side.  If you look closely, you can even see a little tunnel built in the snow for Jordyn...here is a close up shot of it...

We like to sled across the ice as well as ice skate, however, Jordyns ice skates are too small, so we ordered her a new pair, and i got myself a new pair too.  We look forward to trying those out when they arrive.  Justin also just purchased some new fiberglass sleds,  which we look forward to getting in the mail soon too.  We are pretty tough on our sleds, and these claim to be virtually indestructible, so we look forward to putting them to the test!

We try to involve the cats in our winter sports, but they dont really care much for the sledding!  Fuzzy bailed out of Jordyns arms before she was even down the hill!  But we all had a good laugh at her expense...poor kitty :)

Ive received all of my blocks from the birthday block swap on about. com.  The only two missing are the ones i didnt make yet...naturally!  But i plan to make several blocks to make this quilt bigger...the pattern looks really cool with more blocks, so ill post more when i get around to that.

And finally...here is a new recipe i tried today...its  called Fiesta Bubble Bread, and it was quite tasty.  Im including the recipe in case you'd like to try it...

Fiesta Bubble Bread

1/2 cup melted butter,

1 1/2 cups shredded mexican cheese blend,

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese,

10 oz jar sliced jalapenos (drained),

1 Tblsp of parsley,

2 - 12 oz tubes of refridgerated biscuits.

Stir together the first 5 ingredients.  Then cut the biscuits into quarter size pieces and stir into the cheese and butter mixture.  Transfer to an ungreased bundt pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden.  I only had one tube of biscuits, so i cut the recipe in half, and it was just the right size for us.  I also substituted bacon pieces and green onions for the jalapenos, since Jordyn doesnt like spicy, and it was delicious!  I will definitely be making this again! 

Winter Fun ~

Fort Collins Museum of Discovery

Several of us decided to meet at the Museum of Discover yesterday, its a brand new facility and we were excited to check it out!  With all this super cold weather we were having, we all had cabin fever, so getting out of the house sounded like a great idea!  Jordyn and i almost didnt make it though, as it was so cold the night before, that neither of our cars would start!  Justin to the rescue!  I am happy to say, we made it in time to meet up with everyone else at the doors, and the adventure began!

The tornado chamber was a big hit with the kids...who wouldnt want to be blasted by a bunch of air while everyone watches you....in this picture the wind is blowing at 78.9 miles per hour.   :)

Then you could build your own parachutes and flyers to put in this wind tube...the kids really enjoyed this!

There were two piles of dino dung molds in the fossil exhibit, and you had to determine which one was from a herbivore and which one was from a carnivore.  Naturally, Jordyn loved this part of the museum...not only for its toilet humor, but because of all the cool dinosaur stuff!

There was a "build your own horn" section, which was fun...

lifting the piano, by moving closer or farther away from the piano...Jordyn gets a little help from her friend, Hope...

a music room, that we only saw half of...so we'll have to go back, besides, we need more COWBELL!!!  :)

a blue foam construction room, that caused a few meltdowns as well as laughs...no matter how many blocks there are, there are always a few kids that dont want to share! 

and of course, the Dome Theatre, where we saw the Sea Monsters movie!  Watching a movie on a giant dome ceiling is a great way to view a movie, especially one with a bunch of giant prehistoric sea creatures swimming around...just dont sit in the front row if you can help it!  :)  It was a great day in town, with 15 of her friends there to run around with!  So glad we were able to make it...thanks for getting the car charged for us Justin, this was an adventure not to be missed! 

Our Volunteers Rock!

 

New Years Day our volunteers were called out of bed around 7 am...i am happy to report that all went well, and the patient is alive and well.  Not a bad way to start out the new year!  We really do have a terrific crew!  These images were taken by the paramedics from PVH...thanks for the photos guys...and thanks for all of your help!  Our volunteers ROCK!  p.s. thats me in the navy wearing the bun in the top shot :)

Welcoming 2013!!!

 Happy New Year Everyone!  We brought in the new year with full bellies of shrimp, lobster and crab...and LeAnn also made the famous cheese soup family recipe!  Yum!

 We feasted well and enjoyed a tasty bottle of Gewurztraminer.  Jordyn had seconds of the cheese soup, but really enjoyed the crab!  Here she is disappointed when a crab leg turned up empty :)

 After eating all that rich food, we lounged around enjoying cocktails and great conversation.  I needed to get motivated or i wouldnt make it to midnight, so we decided to play some games and then we danced around the house to Queen.  LeAnn crashed out on us for a while, while Jordyn and Daddy enjoyed his new graphic novel from Aunt Leann, Castle (like the tv show).

 At some point, Jordyn decided to pull a pesky loose tooth...she came out of the bathroom bloody and proud :)  Hope the tooth fairy isnt too busy celebrating to stop by on New Years Eve!

 Then it was time for some fireworks!  We lit some off up at LeAnns place, and then we headed down to Menas to light some there too!  Man was it chilly!  It was 9 degrees outside, but felt a heck of a lot colder!  BRRRRRRRRR!

 We had sparklers, fountains, flowers, battleships, tanks, and of course a pagoda!

 Then Mena dragged out the big guns for the grand finale...

 while Jordyn added numerous layers trying to stay warm...her fun meter was just about tapped! 

 and the countdown begins...

 Our neighbor, Pete, decided to join us, so we were six freezing souls ringing in the New Year with beer, laughter and a sparkly show!  Happy New Year Everyone!!!