Good Thing I'm Working

It's a good thing that I work full time, because there would be a good chance that I might weigh 300 pounds or more if I stayed home and cooked all the things I wanted to every day. I have become addicted, perhaps even obsessed with "The Pioneer Woman," her blog, cookbook and her high calorie, delicious, to die for recipes. So the other evening I'm watching a segment on Fox and Friends that "The Pioneer Woman" appeared on making her Cinnamon Rolls. I was instantly inspired and headed to the kitchen where I began to whip up a batch. I didn't look too closely at all the details of the recipe to notice that this was a gigantic recipe (guess I should have been clued in when I put 9 cups of flower into the mix.) One batch makes 7 pie tins of these gooey, sweet, yummy Cinnamon Rolls. 5 of the 7 pans went to school to the teachers and they immediately blamed me for their weight gain and for going off their diet. Like I said it's a good thing I don't have time to bake daily!

On the menu for today..... complements of "The Pioneer Woman"..... Meatballs (she describes them as mini meatloaf packed with flavor), Macaroni and Cheese and Pound Cake. Looks like I'll be baking all afternoon, the perfect scenario for a snowy Saturday.

Check out The Pioneer Woman's blog at this link.

Snow Fun

Shari & Molly made their first ever "Snow Dog."

They did a really good job. This is the kind of dog we should all have.

Digital Scrapbooking

I'm learning "Digital Scrapbooking."

Here are a couple of my first attempts.

It's really pretty fun and I have to admit ... addicting.

There's laundry still to be folded a bathroom to be cleaned, but it's all good because I've learned something new and we're in the "Memory Making Business" aren't we?

The girls dressed up and had their own little tea party.

Perfect weather

The girls had a great time with their friends sledding this weekend. We couldn't ask for better weather... crisp air and blue skies.

They call this "the penguin."

What We Can and Cannot Live Without

We have discovered there are many things you can in fact live without....

• electricity
• TV
• phones and cell phones
• a heater
• internet and computer

However there are two things we cannot live without....

• running water
• our wood burning stove

Thankfully our water is back to normal. Hot showers are a must! The phones are working again too. The word on the street is that the electricity will be restored on Saturday. All is well!

Snow Update

As some of you know, last week we finally broke down and got a satellite dish. This only happened after installing a digital antennae 300 feet up our mountainside. When all was said and done we went from getting 7 channels to about 3. Which now explains the picture.... Zeek removing the snow off the roof that was blocking the dish. We plug the TV into the generator to catch a glimpse of the news so we don’t feel completely shut off from the world.

This is our own personal sled run designed, and maintained by the WORLD’S BEST DAD who operates some heavy equipment. This is just a portion of the snow scooped from our deck, yard, driveway and street. This provides endless hours of fun and entertainment. In the girl’s eyes “Dad brought the tractor home to make them a sled run.”

The final update for today is that we've lost water pressure... we still have water or at least we did when I left this morning, but not sure how long it will last. I'll find out soon, I'm heading home.

Snow! Snow! and MORE SNOW!

We have experienced the biggest snowfall in Forest Falls at one time since the 70’s. It’s beautiful, and about 4 to 5 feet deep. There are a lot things we’re very thankful for.... the new snowblower that was able to clear the deck, the generator that keeps the food cold and can run the coffee pot, the gas powered hot water heater that provides hot water at all times, Zeek and his ability to run the LOADER, Without that we’d be snowed in for days.

10:00 p.m. Zeek finally is able to get home to clear our road.

Love this snowblower!

There will be plenty of sledding for quite a while.

Zeek, THE KING OF OUR STREET!

We’re the only street able to drive in and out.

We’ve got a fire going at all times, and plenty of firewood.

The generator is on long enough to keep the refrigerator cold.

There’s lots of food and we’re cooking anything that can be cooked on the stove top or BBQ,

At night the candles are burning, we’re cozy, comfortable and safe in our own home.

However.... we have no electricity and probably won’t for a week, and the phones and cell phones are out as well.

We’ll try to keep you updated when we are down the hill and will check our messages on the cell.