My HAZEL eye

Creepy, I know.

This is simply to prove a point...they aren't brown. Well, not entirely brown anyway. I believe this is hazel-ish.

FUN FACT: Ed's eye color is exactly the same: Green on the outside, brown on the inside.

Safety OverkIll

It's not that Diana actually needs this much help (She CAN swim) it's that without being able to see the "bottom of the floor" as she calls the lake bed, she WON'T leave the boat without some serious flotational aid. LOL

I just love this picture

And this is what Diana does when you ask her to look at the camera and smile.

LEAPIN' LIZARDS

Boating Season BEGINITH

I just can't express how nice it was to be back on the water!

All of the recent rain served double duty, it's restored the land from the drought we've been in AND it brought the lake levels back up!
We left the house around 11am and made it back right at 7. We had a quick dinner and then one by one the kids dropped off like flies! LOL The whole lot were in bed asleep by 8:30. Gotta love the sun for pooping them out.

Dom and his cool self after leaving the ramp

Dom and his not-so-cool self. Was there ever a cuter dork?

Brooke and Dom taking a ride up front

Christina after having cooled off a bit

Blankie ... THE SEQUAL!

It was about 18 months ago that I "crafted" Dom's cowboy blankie and with a big road trip fast approaching, I decided Diana needed one as well. She picked out her own fabrics and I just LOVE them!

We'll have the finished product posted soon!

F I N A L L Y ! ! !

Ed finally has a date for his hand surgery: June 11th!

This is such great news as he's been suffering for quite a few months now. The Dr. is pretty sure that there is some permanant damage done , and that he may always have tingling in some of his fingers, but Ed is OK with that at this point, he just wants the pain gone.

It's a pretty straight forward proceedure and shouldn't take but an hour or so to complete.

Please keep him in your thoughts! :)

I can't believe it's REAL butter!

Yeah, that's right! I made my own butter!

Ok, so I'd been reading on the internet just how 'easy' butter making at home can be.

Coming from someone who can burn water if they try hard enough, I know that "easy" is a very subjective term, and decided to try it out myself.

Ingredients needed: (For my test run)

8oz or 1cup of Heavy whipping cream
1/8 tsp. salt

And a glass jar with a tight fitting lid

STEP ONE: Pour whipping cream into glass jar

PRE-SHAKE:

STEP TWO: Set a timer for 25 minutes and then: "Shake it like you wanna break it!" LOL Keep the jar moving for the next 25 minutes. I actually shook it for the first 15 and for the last 10, I let Dom and Diana roll it back and forth to each other on the floor.

POST SHAKE:

STEP THREE: Drain any remaning cream (now buttermilk) out of the jar. (Or keep it to make buttermilk biscuits from scratch)

STEP FOUR: Put butter in a bowl and press down with a spoon to remove any excess buttermilk still hiding in there.

STEP FIVE: ENJOY! I used this right away on a piece of toast, and let me just say: It was sooo good!

ONLY 14 DAYS!

Until we are headed out to the beautiful mountains of UTAH!

Thankfully we have a busy week coming up and next week will be spent cleaning and packing, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that the times just flies by!

I can hardly stand the wait!