Who is this kid?!?!?!

Now that it's Februrary, I've accepted the fact that it is 2013!!!  Wow!  Where did the last 13 years of the 21st century go?!?!  I still think it's only about 2001 or 2002.

And speaking of time flying, this kid was born in 2001.  Where did 11, almost 12 years go?  Who is this young man?  When did he learn to shoot a shot gun and actually hit something!?!?  Wouldn't he rather just curl up on the couch with me and let me read him a story?

When did he get to be old enough to play middle school sports, handle homework on his own, be responsible for studying for tests and do pretty well all on his own?!?!?  Shouldn't he just be playing in the back yard on the swing set?

Why does time have to pass so quickly? Isn't it amazing that with the passing of years, kids get bigger, they gain more experience, and they need mom and dad's help even less?!?!?!   Dave said he changed the oil in one of the tractors the other day, almost all by himself!  Oh well, I suppose this is the way it should be. 

I guess all we can do is sit back and enjoy the ride!

The D stands for Daly, not Dave or Duh or Dyno-mite or Dogs allowed or ....

I went to Wally World the day after Christmas because I desperately needed (and still do need) more white Christmas lights.  (Side note:   I have looked everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE for white lights and have had absolutely no luck.)  Anyway, I DID find wreath hangers for $1.00!!!  And so began my foray into making one of those fancy, pinterest-inspired wreaths.  (There are 4 keys around the wreath, the picture doesn't do them justice.)

Wreath:  marked down from $14.99 to $4.49
Ribbon:  marked down from $9.99 to $3.00
Keys:  not on sale, but each $1.50 (I bought 4)
Letter D:  not on sale, but only $1.99
Pink Glitter:  $2.00
and don't forget the hanger:  I don't know what the original price was, but sale price $1.00

I started by putting my little helper to work covering the letter in glue and sprinkling on the glitter.  This required two applications for my desired glittery-ness.

Then, I played around with the ribbons and keys.  I hot glued the letter on, and Viola!  A beautiful new wreath for my beat-up, not-so-beautiful, down-right-ugly front door.

So, the whole project ran me about  $18.50.  I looked into similar items on Etsy.com and I think a wreath like this would run anywhere from $30.00 to $75.00, not including at least $15.00 shipping. 

I'd say it was a successful DIY...

Take your wife to work day...

A few weeks ago the kids went with grandma and grandpa to see How the Grinch Stole Christmas at the Oriental Theater in Chicago. 

Dave had cattle coming and going that night, so I went out to the feed lot with him that afternoon to help him get ready.  (Mostly I just wanted to see what all the "excitement" was about, but also I needed a bovine fix... it had been a couple of stressful weeks...)

First, I put on my favorite pair of shoes.... yaaaaayyyyy!!!!

Then, we loaded up some straw bales in the back of the truck. 

We had to move some of the big guys to a holding pen for when the semis arrived.











Dave scraped and we bedded their old pen and then moved in some younger (not-ready-to-go) cattle.  Don't they look so happy?!?!

Next, we (Dave) filled the feed bunks in the pens with feed for when the new (little guys) would get off the semi.  

Before long, in rolled the semis.  The new cattle were off-loaded, then the big guys were loaded on the semi.  Just the time it was getting dark, the trucks were full and off they went to a meat packing plant in Iowa for Monday morning processing. 

Then, I went back home and finished grading papers...booooooo....

My fancy new pan...

I got this fancy new pan for Christmas!  Isn't it spiffy!  It's made by Wilton. 












I was lamenting my anguish at baking quick breads earlier this fall: how my glass loaf pans take forever to cook completely through, how they're a smidgen too small for my normal bread recipes, and no matter how long you leave the bread in the oven, the bread usually isn't done in the middle and the tops are burnt and crusty. 

So to break it in, my littlest helper and biggest kitchen comrade whipped up some Snickerdoodle Bread.  I found the recipe over at http://lilluna.com/snickerdoodle-bread/

The cinnamon chips are easy to find right now, and I admit that since finding this recipe, I have been stock-piling because they're a seasonal item. 

Since we were going to be ringing in the New Year with three other families, we decided to share our bread with them!

While the breads were cooking, my little artist worked up some gift tags :)   

We started our New Years Eve celebration by going bowling.  After that, we went back to one of the family's house where we had a blast!  The adults played "Apples to Apples" and the kids played the Wii and with new Christmas toys.  The oldest (our 11 year old) and the youngest (4 year olds) boys crashed around 11pm, but everyone else made it to midnight!   It was a great way to send out 2012 and welcome in 2013!

Happy New Year from the Dalys!

Cable Knitting...

One day before Thanksgiving, a friend was at the high school subbing.  As she was supervising her class in the computer lab, she was working on a cable-knit baby blanket.  I oohed and ahhed over her handiwork and she gave me a short lesson on how easy it was to knit cables.  She doesn't use the special cable needle, here's a link to a blog and youtube video that will show you how:   http://www.theknittingscotsman.com/knitting-lab/video-lesson-how-to-knit-a-cable-without-a-needle/  

Over Thanksgiving break, I whipped up a few "mug cozies".  These are very quick to make and once I got the hang of it, I adapted a few different patterns that I'd found online to create my own 'look'.  If you are interested in the pattern, let me know and I'll post it or email it to you!

I was able to turn out a mug cozy in about an hour and a half, and I didn't buy any yarn, I just used left overs. 

My sister wanted some leg warmers for Christmas, so I did some research online and then, again, came up with my own pattern.  I don't fully understand how to knit in the round, so I just knitted these on straight needles and then sewed a seam.   I'm not 100% satisfied with how the seam turned out, but Emily seemed to like them well enough.  I tried them on with a pair of tall boots and they looked good sticking out of the top of the boots. 

Christmas eve morning as I was wrapping up the leg warmer project, I decided to whip up one last mug cozy for Emily.  I didn't have much yarn left, so I just did one quick cable on bigger (size 8) needles.  I really liked how this one turned out.  It's not as tall, but I think it looked really nice with the tan mug.  I had a chunky button with a farmy-scene on it which finished it off nicely!  This would be a great starter project.  If you're interested in the pattern, let me know!!!

Many hands make light work...

This is a multiple choice test.  Please read all choices and then choose the choice that best answers the question.  When you are finished, check over your test and make sure you answered all of the questions.  

1.  This is a picture of:
a)  a dirty combine
b)  a project that will take hours, if not days to complete
c)  something that you should not brush up against when wearing light colored pants
d)  all of the above

2.  These children are:
a)  learning the value of team work
b)  happy to be outside on the 1st of December in 50-degree weather
c)  saving their parents many trips from the machine shop to the water hydrant
d)  all of the above




3.  This little girl is:
a)  a true farm girl
b)  not afraid to get her hands dirty
c)  proud to be keeping up with her big brothers
d)  all of the above







4.  Dave is on top of the combine because:
a)  he loves to be daring
b)  he's power washing the roof and the hopper
c)  he's getting the kinks worked out of the powerwasher so his wife can take over from the ground
d)  all of the above







5.  The girl in the pink is:
a)  playing in the water!!!
b)  giving her mom's back a break
c)  learning that, in this family, we all work together
d)  all of the above








6.  After 3 hours of power washing, the combine is: 
a)  ready for a break, it's turning all pruney!
b)  looking a little bit better...
c)  tired of all those little kids climbing all over it!
d)  all of the above

 

If you answered "d" to questions 1.- 6., you scored a 100%!  Nice job, smarty pants!!!

Christmas Greetings!

This is the part where I gloss over the fact that I haven't blogged in 3 weeks...

So, what have we been doing?


Ummm... We had a visit from "Gingerbread Fred"!  This will be our last visit from him, too... He comes around at Christmastime to visit with each of the Kindergartners.  We had supper, read some books, had breakfast in the morning, usual Daly life stuff.

Let's see... We survived the Christmas program at church.  What a huge undertaking, but like our pastor's wife said, "It's a big responsibility to share with our church family the best story ever written!"
 

What else... Well, even the cattle are getting a dose of holiday cheer!  The guys put a light-up wreath on the back of the feed wagon.  I'm still scratching my head on this one... It is pretty cute, though! 







So, that's about all that's new with us.  Hope you are having a happy and safe Holiday season!