Buffalo Burgers...........

Its that time of year. Time to get busy. I have been sort of working in the garden and also trying to make garden ornaments. We went to take two of our four Poodles to the groomers on Saturday. I took my camera in the hope of seeing the Buffalo out at the farm. After dropping of the kids at the groomers I went for a quick look around my favourite thrift shop. Yup, I found a few things. Of course I did. More on that on my other blogs.
So on the way home we took a back road to see if we could get some shots.

I actually did not know this farm was back there. Its the hub. There is a huge shed with the trucks for transporting the buffalo.
Let me back up. There is a local family the Olson's. They have some stores here and own a lot of land, or did at one time. There has always been buffalo around here at least as long as we have been here. When we first came to Traverse City there were big old barns where there is now a Mall. Sold by Olesons to the developers. It was just a two lane road then that went through town. Along both sides of the road were fields of buffalo. Later another couple of fields were sold and became shopping centers. One day the buffalo got out and were feeding on the front lawn to McDonalds. Made headlines in the local paper.

We stopped to take pictures, the ones who were eating hay decided to join the herd.

The herd is resting. There is certainly a LOT of fresh hay in the field so they are not at all hungry

Soon be time for little ones, but none to see yet

There are many more fields around the area.


These pictures do not show how very big this herd is. Its not the only one either. So on the way home we past adds for our annual NMC (college) BBQ. I believe its the end of May and the beginning our tourist time. The college benefits from the Olson's generosity. They provide food for the BBQ and the ticket price benefits the college. Unfortunatley the menu includes Buffalo burgers.

Easter...................

What Easter means to me..........I dislike all the commercialism. It seems unavoidable. We are slogged with the Easter bunny, chicks and eggs. Kids seem to know about all of that before you even begin. I do not like to do any of that stuff myself. Well, not wanting to be a spoil sport I participated. The only thing I absolutely refuse to have anything to do with is Halloween. Choose your battles someone said.
So today.........Tristen gets up and he just happens to look out the window and oh oh "I see Easter eggs out there"........no mention of Easter bunnies. Well Reina said yesterday "Hey mum I know there is no such thing as the Easter bunny"...........thank you Lord. SO Tristen in his 4 year olds wisdom can cross that one off. Now, I have no problem with pretend OK. I can tell fairy tales and talk about Santa and all that stuff as long as its make believe. I want him to know the difference.

It was frustrating for him I am sure. He could see the eggs carefully hidden the night before, well hid at dusk but bright in the morning sun. He had to wait till 10am when Laura and the girls arrived. We had been up since 7am. He waited without a fuss though so that was good. We filled a few plastic eggs with a few jelly beans. One of his broke open and the picture above is Tristen with his cheeks packed. Reina shows off her hoard

Raylene got a good share

The guy next door came out and he was the one who mentioned the Easter Bunny.........."I see the Easter bunny has been playing in your yard" yes they all say and show off the loot

They each found quite a few and had fun looking for them. Then they shared out what they found. Time then for Easter baskets. I wanted to tell them the reason for Easter but they were so excited at this point there was no point. So eyes covered and Granddad brings in the baskets. Excitement.........I filled Tristens with goodies other than candy.

I was happy that they shared the candy. Tristen was given enough for a couple of days and every one sat and examined each others baskets. Just little trinkets so that it was not all candy.
Here they are looking at the treasure trove.

In Tristens was a small book. The story of Easter. SO, after it all settled down I was able to read them the story of why Jesus came and how he gave up his life "Did they shoot him?" says Tristen. I told them the rest of the story and why and they listened. As I finished ..........it was back to the baskets and all was forgotten. Ah well, I tried.
Dinner was a success. The kids actually ate dinner and did well. Miricle of miricles. We say prayer at a family dinner like that and Tristen likes that. He is sweet when he says grace but I hope God has a sense of humour. This time though I did get chance to remind us all that its not about rabbits and eggs and candy and things like that.

There Is A Green Hill Far Away - King's College, Cambridge.

There is a green hill far away,
outside a city wall,
where our dear Lord was crucified
who died to save us all.

We may not know, we cannot tell,
what pains he had to bear,
but we believe it was for us
he hung and suffered there.

He died that we might be forgiven,
he died to make us good,
that we might go at last to heaven,
saved by his precious blood.

There was no other good enough
to pay the price of sin,
he only could unlock the gate
of heaven and let us in.

O dearly, dearly has he loved!
And we must love him too,
and trust in his redeeming blood,
and try his works to do.

---

Words: Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-1895)

Bums and Babies...............

Yea more bum pictures for ya. What is it about babies bums that are just so cute?
Cooper was here for a whole week. His parents were here because Gabrielles car was in the shop. She works at Munson that is only a few blocks from here so her dad was able to take her, and Tony picked her up. They slept in the new blue room and Tony did not bang his head on the shelves above the bed. Woo hoo.
So it was that I got Cooper up one morning. Apparently Gabbies alarm did not go off and he was mad as a wet hen. He had pooped his diaper and he does not like that at all. Trouble was it was his night one and so it was soaked too. I brought him down and would have let Gabby sleep in but............well it was a complete blow out. Needed a bath so I sent for Gabby. We decided on the kitchen sink.

At first he wondered what we were doing with him. He sat and looked at the water. Gabby had filled the sink to the top and it took awhile for him to keep his balance. We asked if he wanted scrubbing

He was soon comfortable enough to stand up and discovered he could look out the window.

Wave to Bud

Here it comes. Did I mention that my floors needed to be washed?

Here he goes, he had such a great time look at that face

He forgot all about his sore bum. It was all better when he got out. My counters were swimming and the floor too but oh what a great time he had.

....and here it is, his bum is all better and forgotten

Cooper.............

Cooper is one now and has been walking long enough to be expert. At least he thinks so. I am going to share a few pictures. Not much news but he and his parents are staying here for a few days awaiting a car repair. Good photo op for me.
I dont usually see Cooper in the tub so had to take a few pictures.
All mums must do this, the soapy curl on top

Cooper loves his bath

The water was not too hot but I loved this pink rosy bum

He enjoyed Tristens toys and our tub is bigger than his so it was like being in a swimming pool I bet

So the other picture is Cooper enjoying a little rocking chair we have. I got it many years ago and when the girls came along (grandkids) they loved it one after the other. I will always remember Danielle sitting ther jabbering like an old lady before she could talk. Also Alex, one of her first words was "wow" and she would sit in this little rocker saying "wow" " wow" "wow". So now its just the right size for Cooper. They can take it home until he is ready for the next size. The next one I am going to paint and put Coopers name on it. Tristen has his own little chair that he uses to eat meals at the coffee table or to sit and draw or whatever. Little kids love little things just their size

Cooper says I am a big kid now