For those of you who know our family, you know that we strongly believe in lying to our kids. Yep, we'd lie to them all the time when it came to food. They would never, not ever, not even once, not even for a million dollars (or candy bars, chips, suckers, etc), absolutely would not let a bite of meatloaf pass through their lips. But, if I served a "giant sliced meatball" for dinner they would eat like a high school football team. I would never dream of serving baked beans with our hot dogs or hamburgers, but the kids would ask for 2 spoons of the jelly beans in sauce. And for lunch do NOT serve them a ham or turkey sandwich. I guarantee you, they will not eat it. BUT if you serve them the pink or white salami they will eat like there is no tomorrow. Yep, I frimly believe that lying to our children has made them fairly easy to cook for.
Now, for a year or two we'd get all of our beef from a neighbor down the road. "Farmer Joe" had chickens, llamas, pigs, goats and cows. The kids would go and visit the animals from time to time and Katie began to really like cows. She loved their big brown eyes that always looked friendly and their funny tails that would always whip around. Not a huge problem unless you have a child that really enjoys the flavor of beef but does not want to eat a cow because they are so nice.
Katie told us one day that she wouldn't eat cow anymore, but she still wanted to eat beef. We'd make a steak or roast and if she thought it came from a cow she would NOT eat it (or at least just one or two bites, after all a girl has to eat!).
Enter the lying parent. So here we are with a freezer full of beef and a girl who won't eat anything that came from a cow. Good thing we have such an amazing farmer just down the road. "Farmer Joe" created a new animal JUST FOR KATIE! Now, in addition to the beef that came from cows that he had become accustomed to raising, he started on a new venture.....Chicken Beef!!
Yep, that would be the kind of beef that comes from chickens, not cows. Katie had no aversion to eating meat from a chicken. After all, those beady eyed little buggers do nothing but chase you around and peck at the ground. Eating a chicken was fair game.
There is something absolutely amazing about that beef that comes from chickens. It has the same texture, color and flavor as the beef that comes from cows. If you came to dinner you'd never be able to tell the difference between the two. And you may even give us a strange look across the table when you were told (by Katie) that you were actually eating chicken beef, not cow beef.
Things went pretty well for a while. We were able to keep our little secret hidden until we went to dinner at Grandma's house one evening. We were having a beef roast and before we could fill anyone in on the chicken beef Katie asked Grandma where she got her roast. Luckily for us Grandma answered "From the store." That gave us just enough time to come in and save dinner. Katie followed up asking if the store Grandma shopped at had chicken beef or cow beef. Just as Grandma began to answer the quesiton to her best ability we told Katie that Farmer Joe made a deal with Grandma's grocery store and he was now supplying them with his beef. We assured her Grandma got the very same kind of beef from Farmer Joe that we had at home.
After the meal was saved from the brink of ruin we settled in and enjoyed our dinner. Once the kitchen was cleaned up we were able to inform Grandma and Grandpa about the special arrangement we have with our neighbor to provide us with his special 'chicken beef' and explained why.
After a few years, and a few visits to the County 4-H fair, Katie realized that all beef comes from cows. By that time her ability to enjoy a good steak far outweighed her love of those big brown eyes and that funny tail. She told us 'It is okay to eat cow beef because it comes from old cows. They aren't nearly as cute as the baby cows. And if we eat the old cows Farmer Joe can get more babies!'
Farmer Joe no longer raises the beef for us, but we are greatful for those years of producing that interesting creature known as the chicken beef. Thanks to him we can now enjoy a good hamburger without being worried about hurting someone's delicate feelings.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Through the ice
One afternoon we headed out to Jay's Sporting Goods in Gaylord. Dave wanted to check out some of the new bows on the market. For those of you who have never been in a sporting goods store with Dave, if you find yourself in that situation bring a book!
So here we are, waiting for Dave to shoot yet another bow. We've looked at the pelts (she found one that was only 'playing dead' - an opossum), checked out all the fishing lures, laughed at the names of the hunting accessories and named all of the mounted animals and animal targets in the store.
After all those time consuming activities I thought we had run out of things to keep us occupied. I was wrong. Katie spied the last CLAM ice fishing shelter set up on display and promptly took a seat. Upon sitting down she motioned for me to sit in the chair next to her and she handed me a 'fishing pole'. Of course in those shelters the fishing poles have as much substance as the ice.
So here we are, ice fishing in the floor display shelter of Jay's Sporting Goods. When I'd loose my bait Katie would reach into her bait bucket and hook a minnow. I sat 'jigging' waiting for the big bite. Well, I didn't get the first bite.
After a few minutes of sitting Katie feels the first big bite. She pulls and reels in the fish. She can just barely pull it through the hole in the ice but finally manages to land the biggest bass you have ever seen pulled through the ice. A successful ice fishing trip if we finished there, but our adventure continued.
Katie 'unhooks' her big bass, tosses it onto the ice and then scopes out a new place to cast. She gazes out the door of our shelter and spotted a fishing hole near the dog kennels that looks promising. She winds up and casts her ice fishing line across the store and makes a perfect hit. She hit the hole 20 feet away smack dab in the middle. She is just that good.
After a few minutes of waiting she gets the big hit. Wow, this is a whopper! She fights the fish, reeling and pulling. As hard as she is working the fish is fighting that much harder. The fish is pulling so hard that the line is cutting a line through the ice. All that back and forth between Katie and the fish has managed to saw a crack in the ice from that hole where Katie cast her line to the hole in the ice in front of her. Amazing, truly amazing.
Once the fish gets centered in the hole she manages to wrangle the head to the hole. She finally swings the fish around to get the head up through the ice and begins to pull the body out. She pulls, and pulls and pulls. What an amazing fish! It takes her a full minute to get the entire body up out of the ice. Once she lands her catch she examines this monster. She has pulled a 6-foot-long northern pike through the concrete, um, I mean ice, at Jay! Quite a little fisher person.
Finally, Katie makes her last cast. This time she throws her bait into a hole over near the deer targets. Within seconds she gets a bite, and it is the biggest one YET! She struggles and fights this huge catch. Every time she pulls, the beast on the other end of the line pulls just as hard. Finally, after a long back and forth stand off Katie manages to tire out her catch and is able to reel it in. She gets it up to the hole and finds the hole is too small! She hands me a chain saw (how else would you cut a larger hole in the ice?) and asks me to cut the hole larger.
Using the chainsaw I enlarge the hole and Katie manages to pull the head up through the ice. She has pulled in a 12-point buck! She gets the head up out of the ice and has to cut it off in order to get the rest of the body through the ice. As she is deftly cutting the head she has me enlarge the hole yet again. Because she is so efficient at severing the head of a deer pulled through the ice and I am so poorly suited to enlarging ice holes with a chainsaw Katie had enough time to mount the head of her deer while I chipped away at the ice.
Finally I was able to get the hole in the ice large enough to get the deer's body above water. She lands that big ol' buck and cuts him up (She is just so darned quick with that knife of hers) into steaks, sausages and jerky. Handing me all the packaged venison Katie packs up all of her ice fishing gear, picks up her head mount and we head back off the ice to find Dave.
We managed to find him back in the archery department just finishing up having shot the bows he had been looking at. As we are walking out the store Katie tells him of all her adventures on the ice and shows Dave the trophy she has captured on her ice fishing adventure in the middle of Jay's Sporting Goods. That trophy happens to be hanging on the wall in her bedroom, and although you can't see it she spends time every day cleaning his antlers.
So here we are, waiting for Dave to shoot yet another bow. We've looked at the pelts (she found one that was only 'playing dead' - an opossum), checked out all the fishing lures, laughed at the names of the hunting accessories and named all of the mounted animals and animal targets in the store.
After all those time consuming activities I thought we had run out of things to keep us occupied. I was wrong. Katie spied the last CLAM ice fishing shelter set up on display and promptly took a seat. Upon sitting down she motioned for me to sit in the chair next to her and she handed me a 'fishing pole'. Of course in those shelters the fishing poles have as much substance as the ice.
So here we are, ice fishing in the floor display shelter of Jay's Sporting Goods. When I'd loose my bait Katie would reach into her bait bucket and hook a minnow. I sat 'jigging' waiting for the big bite. Well, I didn't get the first bite.
After a few minutes of sitting Katie feels the first big bite. She pulls and reels in the fish. She can just barely pull it through the hole in the ice but finally manages to land the biggest bass you have ever seen pulled through the ice. A successful ice fishing trip if we finished there, but our adventure continued.
Katie 'unhooks' her big bass, tosses it onto the ice and then scopes out a new place to cast. She gazes out the door of our shelter and spotted a fishing hole near the dog kennels that looks promising. She winds up and casts her ice fishing line across the store and makes a perfect hit. She hit the hole 20 feet away smack dab in the middle. She is just that good.
After a few minutes of waiting she gets the big hit. Wow, this is a whopper! She fights the fish, reeling and pulling. As hard as she is working the fish is fighting that much harder. The fish is pulling so hard that the line is cutting a line through the ice. All that back and forth between Katie and the fish has managed to saw a crack in the ice from that hole where Katie cast her line to the hole in the ice in front of her. Amazing, truly amazing.
Once the fish gets centered in the hole she manages to wrangle the head to the hole. She finally swings the fish around to get the head up through the ice and begins to pull the body out. She pulls, and pulls and pulls. What an amazing fish! It takes her a full minute to get the entire body up out of the ice. Once she lands her catch she examines this monster. She has pulled a 6-foot-long northern pike through the concrete, um, I mean ice, at Jay! Quite a little fisher person.
Finally, Katie makes her last cast. This time she throws her bait into a hole over near the deer targets. Within seconds she gets a bite, and it is the biggest one YET! She struggles and fights this huge catch. Every time she pulls, the beast on the other end of the line pulls just as hard. Finally, after a long back and forth stand off Katie manages to tire out her catch and is able to reel it in. She gets it up to the hole and finds the hole is too small! She hands me a chain saw (how else would you cut a larger hole in the ice?) and asks me to cut the hole larger.
Using the chainsaw I enlarge the hole and Katie manages to pull the head up through the ice. She has pulled in a 12-point buck! She gets the head up out of the ice and has to cut it off in order to get the rest of the body through the ice. As she is deftly cutting the head she has me enlarge the hole yet again. Because she is so efficient at severing the head of a deer pulled through the ice and I am so poorly suited to enlarging ice holes with a chainsaw Katie had enough time to mount the head of her deer while I chipped away at the ice.
Finally I was able to get the hole in the ice large enough to get the deer's body above water. She lands that big ol' buck and cuts him up (She is just so darned quick with that knife of hers) into steaks, sausages and jerky. Handing me all the packaged venison Katie packs up all of her ice fishing gear, picks up her head mount and we head back off the ice to find Dave.
We managed to find him back in the archery department just finishing up having shot the bows he had been looking at. As we are walking out the store Katie tells him of all her adventures on the ice and shows Dave the trophy she has captured on her ice fishing adventure in the middle of Jay's Sporting Goods. That trophy happens to be hanging on the wall in her bedroom, and although you can't see it she spends time every day cleaning his antlers.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Pest Control
While we were staying up at Aunt Mary and Uncle B's cabin Katie decided she wanted to sleep in Grandma and Grandpa's camper. Of course, Grandma and Grandpa were more than willing to have her sleep with them.
Now, over the winter they developed a problem with mice. They winterize their camper and leave it up north for the winter and the mice decided it was a much cozier home than their brush and leaf piles. Luckily there was no damage from the mice but once Grandma and
Grandpa opened their camper up for the season they were unable to evict all of the squatters.
One of the first nights we were staying we had sent Katie out to bed. We got her settled down in the camper, tucked into bed and went out so she could get to sleep.
A few minutes later, as we were sitting around the campfire and we heard a blood curdling scream. Moments later a terrified Katie came running out the door of the camper.
We asked Katie what was wrong and she told us the horror of what she saw. "Grandma's camper has mice!" Yes, we know and we told you before you went out there. "But these are VAMPIRE mice! You didn't tell me there were vampire mice out in the camper!"
Wow, vampire mice. We were not aware the infestation was that serious.
Katie sat out with us at the fire while Grandpa set some mousetraps out in the camper. While we were waiting for the traps to be set Katie offered some help to Grandma. "I can bring Dennis up next time we come. That way she can catch the mice for you, but you have to get rid of the vampire mice first." Apparently, her cat is only able to catch regular mice. We never really got a straight answer as to what would happen if Dennis came across a vampire mouse. All Katie would tell us was it would be bad. Very, very bad.
Not wanting to potentially subject Katie's cat Dennis to the evils of the vampire mice in Grandma and Grandpa's camper the mission for the weekend was to catch that little bugger.
The following morning Grandpa checked his traps. Success! He had caught 2 mice. Katie had to check to make sure he had caught that vampire mouse she had seen, but alas no. These were just run of the mill regular mice. That horrifying vampire mouse was still lurking in the camper.
That night Katie once again slept out in the camper and kept watch for that vampire mouse. And yet again, she saw it! This time when she came out she told Grandpa where that evil mouse was hiding and helped him set a trap in just the right place to catch him.
A few minutes after the traps were set and Katie was settled in once again. But it didn't last. Less than half an hour later we heard Katie once again shouting. "Grandpa, grandpa, grandpa!" Grandpa went out to see what had happened. They had gotten that vampire mouse!
While Grandpa was taking care of the carnage (Vampire mice do not burn up to ash when they die like your movie vampires do. They actually leave a carcass.) Katie came out and sat with us at the fire once again.
At that time Grandma asked Katie how she knew it was a vampire mouse. "The eyes." Katie said. "The eyes were glowing red." "How could you tell that mouse Grandpa caught was the vampire mouse?" Grandma asked. "Because I could still see the glowing eyes even after it died." Katie answered. "How many more are there?" Grandma asked. "None, that was the only one." Katie told Grandma. "How do you know?" Grandma asked. "Because I saw it, Grandma. It was the only one. But guess what?" Oh no, what was Katie going to say next? "Now Dennis can come up and catch the rest of your mice!" Yep, always willing to help.
Grandma and Grandpa were able to eliminate their mouse problem without the aide of Katie's very efficient mousetrap so Dennis never had to make the trip up to the cabin. And luckily there have been no more sitings of the horrifying vampire mice.
Now, over the winter they developed a problem with mice. They winterize their camper and leave it up north for the winter and the mice decided it was a much cozier home than their brush and leaf piles. Luckily there was no damage from the mice but once Grandma and
Grandpa opened their camper up for the season they were unable to evict all of the squatters.
One of the first nights we were staying we had sent Katie out to bed. We got her settled down in the camper, tucked into bed and went out so she could get to sleep.
A few minutes later, as we were sitting around the campfire and we heard a blood curdling scream. Moments later a terrified Katie came running out the door of the camper.
We asked Katie what was wrong and she told us the horror of what she saw. "Grandma's camper has mice!" Yes, we know and we told you before you went out there. "But these are VAMPIRE mice! You didn't tell me there were vampire mice out in the camper!"
Wow, vampire mice. We were not aware the infestation was that serious.
Katie sat out with us at the fire while Grandpa set some mousetraps out in the camper. While we were waiting for the traps to be set Katie offered some help to Grandma. "I can bring Dennis up next time we come. That way she can catch the mice for you, but you have to get rid of the vampire mice first." Apparently, her cat is only able to catch regular mice. We never really got a straight answer as to what would happen if Dennis came across a vampire mouse. All Katie would tell us was it would be bad. Very, very bad.
Not wanting to potentially subject Katie's cat Dennis to the evils of the vampire mice in Grandma and Grandpa's camper the mission for the weekend was to catch that little bugger.
The following morning Grandpa checked his traps. Success! He had caught 2 mice. Katie had to check to make sure he had caught that vampire mouse she had seen, but alas no. These were just run of the mill regular mice. That horrifying vampire mouse was still lurking in the camper.
That night Katie once again slept out in the camper and kept watch for that vampire mouse. And yet again, she saw it! This time when she came out she told Grandpa where that evil mouse was hiding and helped him set a trap in just the right place to catch him.
A few minutes after the traps were set and Katie was settled in once again. But it didn't last. Less than half an hour later we heard Katie once again shouting. "Grandpa, grandpa, grandpa!" Grandpa went out to see what had happened. They had gotten that vampire mouse!
While Grandpa was taking care of the carnage (Vampire mice do not burn up to ash when they die like your movie vampires do. They actually leave a carcass.) Katie came out and sat with us at the fire once again.
At that time Grandma asked Katie how she knew it was a vampire mouse. "The eyes." Katie said. "The eyes were glowing red." "How could you tell that mouse Grandpa caught was the vampire mouse?" Grandma asked. "Because I could still see the glowing eyes even after it died." Katie answered. "How many more are there?" Grandma asked. "None, that was the only one." Katie told Grandma. "How do you know?" Grandma asked. "Because I saw it, Grandma. It was the only one. But guess what?" Oh no, what was Katie going to say next? "Now Dennis can come up and catch the rest of your mice!" Yep, always willing to help.
Grandma and Grandpa were able to eliminate their mouse problem without the aide of Katie's very efficient mousetrap so Dennis never had to make the trip up to the cabin. And luckily there have been no more sitings of the horrifying vampire mice.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Katie's Crash
On one of our Labor Day trips to Aunt Mary's cabin the kids had brought their bikes. There is little to no traffic on the roads so the kids could ride from sun-up to sun-down as much as they wanted. And ride they did.
On the last day of our weekend we were getting packed up to go home. The kids took off on their last bike ride before they had to load them in the truck. About 5 minutes after the kids had headed down the road Erik came tearing back into the yard with a worried look on his face. "Katie's hurt!" We all take off down the road looking for our little lost adventurer.
As we are walking down the road we can hear Katie crying, but we can't see her ANYWHERE! When we call to her we hear her voice off on the edge of the road. After a little looking we found her lying in the brush on the opposite side of the ditch, unable to get up because she was caught in a tangle of ferns and saplings.
As we untangled her and hauled her out of the brush we made sure she was not hurt. We found her bike right next to her, lying in a similar mess. Once everyone and everything was on the road we assessed the situation. Katie had managed to ride her bike down one side of the 2 foot road side ditch and up the other side, ending up about 3 foot in to the woods. We were amazed at her ability to get so far in the woods and that she did so without getting hurt. She must have built up quite a bit of speed before her mishap.
At that time Erik pipes in "We were racing and she was in the lead.". We turn and asked him what happened. "I don't know, she was there one minute and then she just disappeared! I heard her crying but I couldn't see her anywhere."
As we were walking back to the cabin Katie begins to calm down a little bit. She is almost calm enough for us to understand what she is saying so we can ask her what happened. That is when Grandma saw her. This started a whole new round of crying, especially with Grandma's second question. After making sure her little granddaughter was not hurt she asked "Katie, where are your glasses?". Oh man, we all forgot she has been wearing her glasses as they had gone off on their final race.
Off we go again, looking for more wreckage from the big crash. It was MUCH easier now to find the site of the accident and managed to find her glasses about 5 feet away from where Katie landed, lying at the bottom of the ditch. She must have gone into that ditch at top speed!
When we got back to the cabin Katie had settled down once again, and stopped crying completely when she saw we found her glasses. We were finally able to ask her what happened.
"Well, Erik and I were having a race. We were going to see who could get to the end of the road and back to the cabin again the fastest." Okay, so far we were following her, but still didn't know how she managed to get in the ditch. "Then I remembered what Doc said to Lightening in Cars when he was learning to race on dirt." Now we are getting somewhere. Those of you who have seen the movie can probably guess what was said next. "I don't know how I ended up in the ditch, I did what Doc said. I turned left to go right!"
On the last day of our weekend we were getting packed up to go home. The kids took off on their last bike ride before they had to load them in the truck. About 5 minutes after the kids had headed down the road Erik came tearing back into the yard with a worried look on his face. "Katie's hurt!" We all take off down the road looking for our little lost adventurer.
As we are walking down the road we can hear Katie crying, but we can't see her ANYWHERE! When we call to her we hear her voice off on the edge of the road. After a little looking we found her lying in the brush on the opposite side of the ditch, unable to get up because she was caught in a tangle of ferns and saplings.
As we untangled her and hauled her out of the brush we made sure she was not hurt. We found her bike right next to her, lying in a similar mess. Once everyone and everything was on the road we assessed the situation. Katie had managed to ride her bike down one side of the 2 foot road side ditch and up the other side, ending up about 3 foot in to the woods. We were amazed at her ability to get so far in the woods and that she did so without getting hurt. She must have built up quite a bit of speed before her mishap.
At that time Erik pipes in "We were racing and she was in the lead.". We turn and asked him what happened. "I don't know, she was there one minute and then she just disappeared! I heard her crying but I couldn't see her anywhere."
As we were walking back to the cabin Katie begins to calm down a little bit. She is almost calm enough for us to understand what she is saying so we can ask her what happened. That is when Grandma saw her. This started a whole new round of crying, especially with Grandma's second question. After making sure her little granddaughter was not hurt she asked "Katie, where are your glasses?". Oh man, we all forgot she has been wearing her glasses as they had gone off on their final race.
Off we go again, looking for more wreckage from the big crash. It was MUCH easier now to find the site of the accident and managed to find her glasses about 5 feet away from where Katie landed, lying at the bottom of the ditch. She must have gone into that ditch at top speed!
When we got back to the cabin Katie had settled down once again, and stopped crying completely when she saw we found her glasses. We were finally able to ask her what happened.
"Well, Erik and I were having a race. We were going to see who could get to the end of the road and back to the cabin again the fastest." Okay, so far we were following her, but still didn't know how she managed to get in the ditch. "Then I remembered what Doc said to Lightening in Cars when he was learning to race on dirt." Now we are getting somewhere. Those of you who have seen the movie can probably guess what was said next. "I don't know how I ended up in the ditch, I did what Doc said. I turned left to go right!"
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