Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix

Ditch the store bought hot cocoa mix and make a batch of this easy Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix. You'll love the rich & creamy flavor so much that you'll be looking for a reason to warm up with a cup this winter!

Celebrating a Winter ONEderland

Winter is a busy birthday season for our family and with another birthday arriving soon for our family I'd feel awful without sharing about our youngest, JP's, Winter ONEderland.  For all of our kid's we celebrate their birthday with a family birthday party surround by grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  It is always a lot of fun and a great way to get everyone together.

To start off, we made invitations for all of our family members.  For all of the kids' first birthdays the invites have involved their footprints.

To get the "Winter ONEderland" feel, the older kids helped me cut snowflakes, that we hung around the house with copies of photos of her from over the past year, and we made a big letter snowman.

The party started with a soup dinner.  I made chili and chicken and dumpling soups in crock-pots, and I made Jeni Eats's Funeral Sandwiches, which we affectionately called Birthday Sandwiches for the party's sake.  We also had a snowman cheese ball and relish tray out for people to munch on as everyone arrived.

The hot chocolate bar was a huge hit with everyone too.  I think everyone had at least one cup, if not two, before the end of the party.  The hot chocolate bar included individual hot cocoa mixes, mini chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, Heath bar toffee chips, peppermint chips, whipped cream, and wafer rolls.  I thought the wafer rolls would be the perfect "stir sticks" but they didn't last long enough in the heat of the water for that purpose.  So word to the wise, have extra spoons ready to stir your hot chocolate!

After we had the soup dinner, we opened presents.  JP loved having her big siblings help her, or should I say that they loved helping her :)

And all of the cousins had fun in JP's new sled!

After the presents were open, it was time for our traditional birthday cake and homemade ice cream!  I made a snowman cake with a cake pan I received from a family friend's grandmother.  It was the perfect touch for JP's Winter ONEderland party!

Our family - MP, My Farmer, me, JP and LP with JP's cake!

JP always has a smile on her face and is such a huggable, lovable kid.  She looks up to her big brother LP so much and loves to "train" with him as he likes to call it (aka practice walking).  Her and MP already have a sister bond and enjoy playing kitchen and dolls together.  It was so much fun to get our family together to celebrate such a special member of our family!  We all had a great time and felt very blessed.

Do you want to check out the other kids' first birthday parties?  Look at LP's First Tractor Birthday and MP's First Butterfly Birthday!  What is your favorite part of JP's birthday party?  What are some other first birthday party themes you thought were creative?  Remember to Comment for a Cause!

5 Family Winter Fun Activities in North Iowa and Beyond

The last couple of weeks have kept most North Iowans at home due to snow, wind and below zero temperatures.  But this weekend looks to be changing the pace and is going to be a great chance to get out of the house.  Here are a few things that my family suggests you enjoy!

Support Make-A-Wish at Battle of the Badges

Every winter our family loves going to at least a hockey game or two, and one we always make a trip for is the annual Battle of the Badges that raises money for Make-A-Wish in North Iowa.  This is a friendly, charity hockey game that puts North Iowa police officers against North Iowa fire fighters.  It is a lot of fun to watch, and our favorite part is when they have North Iowa Wish Kids come out for the first puck drop.  This year's Battle of the Badges is tomorrow night, Friday, February 19th at 7pm at the North Iowa Ice Arena in Mason City.  There is a $5 admission for the game that is donated to Make-A-Wish.

Members of the Fire and Police Hockey Teams for the Battle of the Badges

Fly Away at the Color the Wind Kite Festival

Our family thinks kites are cool no matter the time of the year, but going to the Color the Wind Kite Festival on Clear Lake is really cool. Professional kite flyers from across the country come out to Clear Lake to fly their giant kites!  It is so much fun to see the huge variety of kites and see a kite dance show.  This year's Color the Wind Kite Festival is this Saturday, February 20th from 11am to 4pm on Clear Lake along the Downtown Seawall.  This is a free event.

The huge variety of kites at the Color the Wind Kite Festival

Go Roller Skating

I will always remember roller skating in PE at school growing up and have to admit, up until last year I hadn't laced up since I was a teenager.  To my surprise, my roller skating skills came back to me pretty easily.  Our family loves going to Roller City in Mason City each year for the Make-A-Wish Skating Party.  This is a great chance to practice your moves, play some classic roller skating games, and support local wish families.  The party is this Sunday, February 21st from 1 to 4pm at Roller City in Mason City.  There is a $5 admission that includes your skate rental.  $3 of each admission will be a direct donation to Make-A-Wish.

There are a lot of talented limbo skaters at Roller City

Eat Local Delicacies

We love going to different local town's food festival and events every year and this winter includes some of our favorites!

Last night we traveled down to Conrad, Iowa for their American Legion's Lamb Nut Fry.  It takes places the third Wednesday of every month with a "R" in it.  It starts at 5pm; adults are $20, which includes all the nuts, fries and salad you can eat.  Come early and hungry though, because a few hundred people show up to each Nut Fry.  The money from each Nut Fry support local scholarships.

We are looking forward to St. John's Annual Aebelskiver Dinner on Sunday, March 6th in rural Hampton, Iowa.  Aebelskivers are delicious Danish "pancake puffs".  They serve the aebelskivers with sausage and all the fixings!

Lastly, the Annual Coulter, Iowa Fish Fry is a must!  This year's Fish Fry is Thursday, March 31st at the Coulter Community Center.  This Fish Fry has been going on since the 1950's and not too much has changed since the original, including their delicious fish batter recipe and secret tarter sauce.  The Fish Fry raises money for different community projects.

Some Aebelskivers cooking on the stove top

Explore the Ice Castles

This is where the "and beyond" comes into play...  I couldn't make a Winter Family Fun list without including our family's annual tradition of going up to Eden Prairie, Minnesota to check out the Ice Castles.  The Ice Castles are built by placing icicles by hand and running water.  In the "growing phase" they make 10,000 icicles each day.  The end product is amazing and a great place for kids, and adults, to let their imaginations run wild.  Our favorite parts of the Ice Castles this year was the giant slide and maze area.  Our tip is to wear snow pants and plenty of layers so you can fully enjoy everything the Ice Castles have to offer!

LP and MP choosing what "door" to go through in the Maze at the Ice Castles

So why wait?  Get out and explore this winter with your family!  What is your family's favorite winter time activity?  What would you add to the list?  Remember to Comment for a Cause!

Overdue + Snow Storm =

Overdue + Snow Storm = Spend the Night in a Hotel

When you're overdue with baby #3 and there is bad winter weather expected you have to ask yourself, do I risk staying 25 miles away from the hospital or do we pack up the family and spend the night in the town next to our hospital.  Well, for the last two nights my family opted for the latter option!

6+ inches of snow fell in our area Monday night and last night there were 35-40+ mph winds blowing that new snow.  My Farmer and I talked it through and decided if we would stay home, the baby would want to come and we'd be at risk of having baby #3 in the car and if we stayed in a hotel close the hospital the baby probably would decide to stay in the womb to stay warm but we'd have some family fun during our final days as a family of four.

Maybe we should have stayed at home though because I am now five days overdue...  Oh well, better to be safe than sorry and the kids have had a lot of fun staying in a hotel and taking full advantage of the pool and all the continental breakfast options.  But now we are headed home with hopes of returning to town soon and welcoming baby #3 into this world!

Do you have any memorable birth stories because of weather?  Remember to Comment for a Cause!

10 Ways to Beat the Winter Blues as a Family

Lately I have been hearing from a lot of family and friends saying that they are tired of winter and that they wish spring would come soon.  With short days and our fair share of polar vortexes, it is not surprising that so many have a little case of the "winter blues".  Well, according to Puxatony Phil we have six more weeks of winter, so here are 10 ideas on how to beat the winter blues with your family:

1. Embrace the weather and go sledding, make snow angels or simply teach your kids to catch snowflakes on their tongues.
2. Celebrate "Library Lover's Month" in February and check out books for the entire family.
3. Have an inside picnic.  (LP loves doing this currently.)
4. Bake cookies and share them with neighbors, friends, or family.
5. Make a fort out of blankets, pillows, chairs, etc. in the house.
6. Go to a local sporting event such as a basketball game, wrestling meet or hockey game.  (Our family personally loves going to at least one hockey game each winter.)
7. Go bowling.  (And the best part of bowling with kids is that everyone gets to use the bumpers!)
8. Go to the movies or have a movie and homemade pizza night at home.
9. Send a hand-written "just because" letter or postcard to an extended family member or good friend.
10. Take a step out of your normal routine and do something new, different and special as part of Random Acts of Kindness Week, February 10-16.

I hope these ideas can help you combat the "winter blues"!  What is your favorite thing to do during the winter?

Be sure to Comment for a Cause!

Wordless Wednesday

A view of our snow covered field with my in-laws acreage in the background

It is official.  Harvest is over and winter has begun.  We've had snow for a solid week now on the ground and I don't see it going anywhere, anytime soon.  Thankfully we finished combining on Monday of last week (November 18th) and since then we worked on a variety of fall field work (fall tillage, manure application, anhydrous application, tiling, etc.)  With the freezing of the ground and the chilly temperatures our farm work will turn to inside jobs like equipment repair, tax preparation and planning for the 2014 crop season.

The 2013 crop season has been one for the books.  We started with wet conditions and then got dry as the summer went on.  Our crops had a variety of yields and left us wondering if we could really learn anything from this year besides the benefit of a corn and soybean rotation.  But that is the great thing about farming, you get to start fresh every year.

So here's to changing the pace and moving on to winter farm work!

Wordless Wednesday - Winter Fun

Winter Fun Inside

Winter Fun Outside

Ice, Rain and Snow Oh My!

Ironically my last blog post was about how beautiful winter is in Iowa.  Now, for the last few days we've been having the exact weather that people dread during winter...

It all started with an ice storm on Sunday and Monday, along with heavy fog all day Monday.

Look how weighed down one of our lilac bushes is due to the ice
and how low the neighboring trees branches are hanging to the ground

Ice was coating everything - trees, bushes, grass, vehicles, the house, etc.
See how foggy it is, at the bottom of the photo you can kind of see the ground through the fog

Thunderstorms and rain Monday night and Tuesday.

The thunderstorm and rain left everything very wet

We usually have puddles like this in April, not January...

And now this morning we wake up to snow, with wind to pick up later today.

Our dog Bailey taking a mid-morning nap in the snow
I don't know why,
but she'd rather sleep in the flower box next the the house, rather  than her doghouse

Bailey back on duty protecting the farm, she'd never want us to see her sleeping on the job!

I guess the only type of weather we're missing now is sunshine!  I just have to laugh and smile and say, this is winter in Iowa!  I'm just happy that we've been getting precipitation!  After the 2012 drought, I'm concerned with what sub-soil moisture we have left and what conditions our 2013 crops will have to try to grow in.  So bring on the moisture, in whatever form it comes!

Hope you all are taking care in whatever weather conditions come your way!

The Beauty of Winter in Iowa

I know I've said it before, I love winter!  Technically, my favorite season is fall, but winter comes in a close second.  So many times I hear people at the grocery store, gas station, church, etc., complaining about winter.  They complain that it is cold, that it is boring, and that it is just kind of a blah time of year.  To all those that don't think there is a special beauty to winter, here are a few photos I've taken this winter that I hope will make people smile and cherish this special season we call winter.

My inspiration for this blog post - a bald eagle in one of our fields
My Farmer and I were commenting today
how there are so many more bald eagles in Iowa  now
than we have ever seen before

There is just something about winter sunsets (and sunrises)
The extra cold moisture in the air brings out beautiful colors in the sky

Ice and Snow - the two things people complain about the most during winter
But don't they look beautiful on this tree!

Farm Friday

This week the farm has been busy hauling grain into our local grain elevator and local ethanol plants, as well as selling some hogs.  Both of these things went very smooth due to the lack of snow!  Most winters we are busy blowing snow so we can get to the grain bins to get the corn out to haul.  We also spend a lot of time moving snow so we can have enough room at our hog site for semi-trucks to get near the loading shoots at the hog buildings.  We've only moved snow a couple of times this winter, and even though I have missed seeing a white cover of snow on the ground, it sure has made things nice for getting things done this winter on the farm.

Six More Weeks of Winter

From Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to North Central Iowa, it looks like there will be six more weeks of winter.

If you look closely you can see LP's shadow

Six more weeks of winter doesn't seem bad to me.  In reality I feel like we haven't even really had that much of a winter so far.  As you can tell in the photo we have parts of our lawn with no snow anymore.  Now there are only piles of snow here and there and in the ditches.

Farmer's Continuing Education

Earlier today My Farmer, LP and I participated in some "farmer continuing education" by attending an area crop clinic.  The winter time offers a lot of opportunities for farmers to learn more about marketing strategies, to new trait development, to agronomy trial results.  There were a couple hundred farmers at the crop clinic we attended today ranging from 80 years old to 20 years old (or 10 months if you count LP!).

My Farmer and I really enjoyed listening to Ken Ferrie talk about nitrogen management.  After today's presentations we are considering changing and modifying some of our current nitrogen management practices on our farm.  It is always a lot of fun to attend meetings like this when we have time because you get to learn new things, meet new people and talk with old friends.  Today's meeting was also very special to me because all three of us - My Farmer, LP and I were able to attend.  To be able to have some family time together was an added bonus to today's crop clinic benefits!

Crazy January Weather!

There's no doubt that this winter so far has been unseasonably warm.  Temperatures today at home reached the mid-50s.  It was so nice out that LP, our dog Bailey and I got the stroller out and took a walk down our gravel road!

Now I have to admit, the walk today was great.  But I am missing "normal" January weather!  I love winter - the snow, bundling up, the cold air and sledding with my church youth group.  Some may think I'm crazy for missing it, but I am missing winter!

Also, all I can think is what does this unseasonably warm weather now mean for the rest of winter and into spring.  The rest of the winter could be very cold; Iowa weather history indicates that a warm December and January are often followed by a colder than average February and March.  As for this spring, the farmer in me is wondering if Elwynn Taylor's drought is actually going to happen.  We already had a dry fall, if we have a dry winter, does that mean we will be in severe drought conditions for spring planting?

I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.  Until I get my beloved winter back, I guess I'll just have to go with the flow and enjoy the beautiful weather like I did today by going on a walk and grilling tonight for supper.

(I am happy to report for all my winter lovers out there - there is a chance of snow for tomorrow!  I am getting very excited and am hoping that I can dust off my sled soon!)