Fair, fun and family of course!

Memorial Day weekend for many means camping, water sports  and the beginning of summer. For us it means the county fair. This year we made two fairs over the three day weekend. 

First up, our local Silver Dollar Fair in Chico. We love to attend on Saturday of the fair to not only take the kids and get the customary corndog but to also attend the Jr. livestock Auction. If you've read this blog before, you know I think the world of the 4-H and FFA program.  We were unable to make a purchase this year but maybe we will be able to next year; I sure hope so.

Back to the fair.  Clayton is three years old now and understands what carnival rides are and we of course gave in. 

First up the pig races. Who knew a pig would run in a circle to get an Oreo cookie as a prize? Then again I too might be motivated by an Oreo cookie. You never know. 

Dalton just took it all in from the comfort of his stroller. Next year he will be just as excited as Clayton.

There were motorcycles,

and cars,

and tea cups. I think he loved it. 

Probably the best view of the fair and his favorite ride, on dads shoulders. 

Next up, Sacramento County Fair.  But why would we drive all the way to Sacramento to go to a fair when we have one in our own backyard? The answer is the family portion of this blog's title. Our niece Jenna and nephew Josh were showing at the Sacramento Fair. A pretty good reason to attend  in my opinion. 

This fair offers a "Primary" program for soon to be 4-Hers who fall in the five-eight age range category. Josh is still in the primary group so we had the chance to watch him show his rabbit and a Pygmy goat. Jenna is a full-fledged 4-Her at the age of nine and she exhibited her chickens earlier in the week.  We were unable to make that show but we still got to spend the day with her too.

Dalton thought playing in the holding pen was fun. Mommy that it was a great idea since this kept him from running all over the place. 

Doesn't Josh look so grown up in his 4-H uniform?  

Clayton had a great time following Josh and Jenna around. He also had the chance to pet a few animals including Jenna's chicken and the previously mentioned rabbit who goes by the name of Midnight. So far he has not asked his dad for his own fuzzy pet but I'm sure it's coming. 

Both fairs were lots of fun! And I of course made sure to get a corn dog at both. Bonus!

Thanks for reading. ~mrs. c 

Officially Farming - Part One

It's no secret, Jake and I want to raise our boys like our parents did us, with deep roots in agriculture. That has been the plan since before we got married in 2008. We moved the plan forward in 2011 when we bought the soil to plant those roots. Roots that we hope will keep us grounded, provide stability and will foster an admirable work ethic for our boys.

We took the next and most important step last week in our journey, we planted the ROOTS! Our little farm is beginning to look the way we envisioned. Here are a few photos detailing the day that our walnut trees were planted.

 
 

Digging the holes 

 

 

Each hole got a stake and ...

 

 

some tree food (aka fertilizer). Everything has to be perfect! We are planting these trees to last a lifetime so every step is important and vital to the trees health.

 

 Bare root Howard Variety Walnut trees from Burchell Nursery.

 

And lots of them.

 

Have you ever see such beautiful roots?

Each one has to be positioned perfectly to ensure that it will grow in the right direction for the next 50 years. Jake was on site all day to help with the process. I would have liked to be there but someone had to work their real paycheck delivering job that's helping to pay for (with the assitance from our bank of course) all of these gorgeous new trees. We are very blessed however to have careers that allow us the ability to do both at the same time.

 

 

That handy tool was used to place each tree and stake.

 

Next up, dirt,

dirt,

 

and more dirt!

 

There you have part one. There are still a few steps to finishing the planting process including watering each tree in, adding more dirt, cutting the top of the tree off, painting and giving it a protector. Stay tuned, those photos are coming next.

 

There are lots of people who have helped Jake and I get to this point and here is one of them. Juan Carillo and JC Farm Service out of Corning helped with the planting and provided all of the labor. Jake has done work with Juan for a few years now and says he's the best. Look him up if your in need of some extra hands for a big farm project in the North State.

 

Thanks for following along and I hope you'll stay tuned for the next set of pictures. We are so excited to see this journey in our life take another big leap and we are blessed to share it with our family and with you!

 

Thanks for reading. ~mrs. c

2013 - Year of the Farmer

I'm jumping on the bandwagon and I'm going to also post the link for the wonderfully crafted Ram Trucks commerical from yesterday's Superbowl. So here it is. "So God Made a Farmer."



Now I would encourage you to visit ramtrucks.com/keepplowing and learn about this effort to recognize the farmer in 2013.

This is not the first time this Paul Harvey tribute has made our blog. Another video has circulated the web and I posted it some time ago here.

Since we eat everyday I think everyday should be about the farmer. However recognizing them for all of 2013 is a good start. The bonus is every time you watch this video the FFA benefits too. Another program I love so much. Thank you Dodge. ~mrs.c

30 Minute Soup - And it's Good!

Sometime ago we were invited to dinner at our dear friends the Ernandes'. The menu that night, soup. The soup was fabulous so I of course asked for the recipe and Teri obliged and made me a copy. Little did I know this soup was easy to make and didn't need to cook all day to taste great. It has now become a dish I make often. There is a good chance you have everything for this soup in your kitchen right now. And if you don't have everything you can probably substitute. In fact I have altered the recipe for our family and you can do the same too. So here goes.

Tuscan Bean Soup

1 tbsp olive oil
1 med white onion, chopped
1lb of Italian sausage
2 cans of diced tomatoes
1 can of white beans
3 cans of chicken broth
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1/2 cup white rice

 

Saute onion in the heated olive oil in a soup pot.

 

Crumble sausage and cook till no longer pink with the sauteed onion.

 

 Open the cans of tomatoes, beans and broth and add to pot. Stir.

 

 

 

 Add the Italian seasoning and rice, stir.

 

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until rice is cooked.

 

That is it! Make a salad, warm a loaf of crusty bread and dinner is served.

 

As you can see, the recipe has endless substitutions depending on your taste buds and what is in your pantry. I used mild sausage, you could use spicy Italian or even turkey Italian sausage. The onions and the Italian seasoning were my additions to the original recipe. I used white kidney beans. You could use small white beans. Last time I made this I accidentally opened a can of garbanzo beans instead of the white beans. It still tasted great. 
 
This one makes enough for a family of six and leftovers for lunch tomorrow too. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed.

Do you have a favorite go-to soup? Thanks for reading! ~mrs. c

Happy 3rd Birthday to our first baby!

Three years ago today we became a family of three. Of course today, in 2013 we are a family of four but January 20, 2010, three years ago, will forever be the day we became three. Today we celebarte the 3rd Birthday of our first baby. Where has all of the time gone?

Janaury 20, 2010, 7lbs, 15 ozs and 21 1/2 inches long.

Jake and I brought Clayton Jacob Cecil into the world during a really wet and windy storm that blew outside, after many hours of labor, after many cups of cranberry juice and sprite - the Enloe Hospital cocktail of choice for laboring mommies and many sleepless hours  for daddy on the really uncomfortable couch they claim a person can sleep on in a hospital room.

One year later with family and friends we celebrated his first birthday with cake, balloons and presents. Love those cheeks!

 

 

Can you see a theme? We love Disney at our birthday parties. Here is Clayton as a 2 year old and soon to be a big brother. Present and Big Brother covering mommy's belly with soon to arrive baby brother.

 

 

Christmas Morning 2012

 

Happy 3rd Birthday to our first baby and Dalton's big brother Clayton Jacob!

Love you forever,

Daddy, Mommy and Dalton

Work and Play in Nashville!

Sometimes there are benefits to my job and this last weekend was one of them. A trip to the American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Meeting. Not so exciting until I tell you it was in Nashville, TN. Neither Jake or myself had ever been to Nashville so when I learned that Butte County Farm Bureau was going to be recognized for our Agribee program, I knew Jake would have to go. To be honest, Jake is not a fan of Farm Bureau events that have "meeting" in the title, especially when I have to work. He becomes an instant assistant even if he doesn't want too. For the record he is great at it and I appreciate his help and support of my career.

 

Only four days in Nashville, and two of them I had to work so what do we do? The weather was cold but we did manage three places and they were fun!

 

 

First things first, a celebratory beer at the airport after we left the kids with Ava and Avo (grandma and grandpa for those that don't speak Portuguese) and realized this would be our first adults only trip since December 2011. Oddly enough, that was a Farm Bureau meeting too.

 

 

Do you watch American Pickers on television? Jake does and on his list to do was a visit to their Nashville store at the historic Marathon Building.

 

The store was small but they had probably the best band we heard while we were in Nashville playing for the customers. Lots of really expensive antiques but there was more t-shits, hats and Antique Archeology swag than anything else. Oh well, we can antique shop later. They did get my money and everyone got a piece of logo'd swag.

 

Handsome isn't he?!

 

Door as a sign? Love it!

 

Such a cool building. I wish they would build things like this now.

Another perk of Nashville was getting to see my social media sister Katie from www.thepinkepost.com. This is probably the most horrible picture of me, Katie always looks fabulous. I made it smaller, made it black and white and adjusted a few other things in Lightroom to get this. Not our best photo but it was the cell phone, it was REALLY dark in the restaurant, and the flash was not gentle on me. Nonetheless I loved getting to spend time with Katie. We just wish Nathan would have made the trip too. Next time. Who knows, maybe North Dakota is in our vacation future?

 



 

So I'm sure these people will not appreciate me posting their license plate on my blog but look how cool! Those folks from Tennessee love their Agriculture so much they have license plates. This reminds me that we will soon see something similar in California. I can't wait!

 

Back to seeing the sites. This is probably a picture I was not supposed to take. Inside the dressing room at the famous Ryman Auditorium, the Mother Church of Country Music.

 

Love the glass windows at the Ryman.

 

During December and January the Ryman is home to the weekly Grand Ole Opry Show.

 

Such an intimate venue. Loved being able to see this history.

 

Again so handsome!

 

The other highlight of the trip was seeing a show at the new Grand Ole Opry House. AWESOME! Lots of music, laughs, dancing and Phil Vasser as the headline. However song writers Tim Nichols and Craig Wiseman  were my favorite. These two guys have written some BIG songs. Tim McGraw - Live Like You Were Dying and Jodee Messina's Heads Carolina. I knew all the words. I am sure my husband was unimpressed with my singing through the entire show.

 

Courtesy California Farm Bureau Federation

So I said we were there for work. What was I doing? Promoting the Butte County Farm Bureau's Agribee, a spell and define bee with all the words related to agriculture and nutrition. We won the opportunity from the American Farm Bureau to participate in this meeting. It was lots of fun and our program was the highlight of the event (in my opinion of course.) Other guy in the picture? Butte County Farm Bureau President and our really good friend Stacy Gore.

 

There were other pictures but I'm not sure where they are now. Maybe another post. Who knows? Nashville was fun and Jake and I can't wait to go back and take the boys too! There was so much we didn't see. Have you been to Nashville? What was your favorite part?

 

Thanks for reading! ~ mrs. c 

New Holiday Traditions - Homemade Ornaments

It felt like a great day to start and finish a project. Even better it was an arts and craft project and I was able to involve the soon-to-be three year old. In all honesty, I do like to craft but time is lacking and so is patience with the soon-to-be three year old. This little project was just perfect. He helped with the ornament cutting and the painting.

 

I used a fairly standard recipe. I looked a a handful online and each was a little different. My biggest difficulty was figuring out the time. I choose the low and slow method so they would not puff up like cookies. So here is what I did:

 

2 cups Flour

1 cup regular table salt

3/4 - 1 cup water

 

Knead, roll on lightly floured surface and use cookies cutters for cutting holiday shapes. I rolled to about 1/4 inch think. Use a straw to cut a hole for where you will place the twine, ribbon or ornament wire. Bake on a cookie sheet at 300F until hard. This took about an hour for my ornaments. The time will vary depending on thickness of the ornament and the heat of oven.

 

When they were completely cooled, Clayton and I painted the little blank canvases. Nothing fancy, green, yellow, red and a little glitter. After they dried and the boys were in bed for the night, I took the project one step further and used some Mod Podge to add some pictures of the boys. I used a Sharpie, added the boys ages to the back and the year. Voila!

 

 

The ornaments are not fancy, they are homemade. They are treasures to remind me of the this year, the laughs we had painting and the lessons learned in placing ornaments on the tree. They are beautiful reminders of how precious family is. I'm already excited to put them on the tree next year and look back at the day we spent making them. Who knows, maybe this will be our new tradition? Making a personal ornament each year with the boys to add to the tree.

 

Do you have an annual holiday tradition that you look forward to?

Merry Christmas! ~mrs. c