Ice Skating

On December 12th, we went ice skating at Crown Center for Jake's birthday. I learned more about ice skating this time, but I still had my feet slide out from under me. Mom helped me. Someday, I might be better. My favorite part of the day was when we had hot chocolate and giant cookies after ice skating. Aunt Stephanie made us all matching scarves, and I really liked them.

Friday Funny!

Q: How come you never hear anything about the 10th reindeer "Olive"?

A: Yeah, you know, "Olive the other reindeer, used to laugh and call him names"

Bandit

My cousin, Michael, who lives in Nebraska has a pet racoon. We got to see her when we went for Thanksgiving. He found her when she was a baby in an old barn and bottle fed her. We saw her in May when she was a baby. Now, she is so big! They built him a house with a tree inside for her to climb. She liked to climb on my back and put her nose in my ear. In the first picture, she is a baby in May. In the second picture, she is big and eating a roll that we took to her.

First Snow!

Today it snowed!! Mom had to go up to the attic to find our sleds. We took Hershey out and played with him and went sledding. We also had a snowball fight--I am sure I won. I hope that it stays around for tomorrow.

Cooking Class

In our homeschool classes, Conrad and I are taking "Boys Can Cook" class with Mrs. Schmidling. You know how much I love to cook and eat, so this is perfect for me. My favorite recipe so far has been apple fritters (are you surprised it was something sweet?) This is the recipe:

Apple Fritters
1 c. flour
½ t. salt
1 t. baking powder
3 T. sugar
1 t. cinnamon
2 eggs
1 T. melted butter
½ c. milk
2 large apple, peeled and sliced
Powdered sugar for dusting
1. Stir together the first five dry ingredients in mixing bowl.
2. Add eggs, butter, and milk. Whisk until batter is smooth.
3. Dip slices of apple (or chunks if you prefer) in batter and drop by tablespoonfuls into deep fat fryer or electric skillet at 370’ F. 4. Cook for 2-4 minutes per side, turning over with slotted spoon.
5. Drain on paper towels and dust with powdered sugar while still warm.
You can also use this batter to make funnel cakes!

My First Deer!

I killed my first deer on Sunday afternoon. It was a button buck, and tonight I am going to eat it for supper. Dad, Conrad and I were in the blind and I decided I was ready to be done because I was getting bored. Then, Dad saw two deer on the hill, and the button buck came in and then I went "kaboom" and he fell right there. I was very excited, and I helped Dad recover it, and watched him while he skinned it.

Hay Bale House

I built a house out of hay bales and blankets, and Ginger, my cat loves to come in there with me and play with me. One time she accidentally knocked it down. I love my hay bale house because it is nice and cozy and I can spend some time alone with my cats.

If you come visit me, I will invite you to my hay bale house. We can drink hot chocolate in there.

My Pumpkin Patch

This year, we grew pumpkins from seeds from a pumpkin we got last year. We ended with an awesome crop! We were able to give them to many friends, and then we sold them two different times. We made $211 selling pumpkins for $2 each! I did save some really nice, big ones in the patch for my birthday party.

Trent Green

One Saturday, when we were at Conrad's game, we realized that Trent Green was there because his son was the quarterback for the team that Conrad was playing. After the game, I went and got my picture taken. He is a great Chiefs player!

Cooking

Today we went to Michael's and they had great recipe boxes and recipe cards for forty-seven cents!! My mom asked me if I would like my own recipe box! I can't wait to find some more good recipes. I do have some I like to make, but please send me your favorites.

P.S. Aunt Stephanie, please send me your cinnamon roll recipe. :-)

Caden's Quick Cinnamon Rolls

This recipe came from my summer school cooking class. I made them for me this morning, and then Conrad wanted some, so I helped him make them. They are yummy!

Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

1 slice white bread

2 T. butter

2 T. cinnamon sugar

2 T. powdered sugar

Water as needed

Directions:

Remove crusts from bread. Flatten bread with hand. Spread butter on bread and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Start at one side and roll the bread up tightly. Secure with a toothpick. Mix powdered sugar and water to make a glaze. Drizzle glaze over roll and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon if desired. Toast in toaster over for 3 minutes. Remove carefully, slice if desired, and enjoy!

Friday Funny!

What do you call a lazy kangaroo??

Answer: a POUCH potato

Camp!

Conrad and I went to camp last week. It was fun. Because it was my first year, I had to eat spaghetti dinner one night with only a knife as an initiation. It was hard! I made some crafts--one was a basketball goal that sits on the table, and I also made a sand necklace. I made some new friends and the picture is of the boys from my cabin, including my cousin, Jake!

We played some fun games, like having to get a pencil into a bottle without touching it in a relay race, water balloon volleyball, hula hoop relay, and others.

The other picture is of singing class and my cousin, Eli, had come to visit that day and went with me.

Grandpa and Grandma's house

Last week, Mom, Conrad and I went to South Dakota to Grandpa and Grandma's house. My very favorite thing I did was play games, like Rummicube, Progressive Rummy, and Golf (a card game). I also liked Grandma's ice cream cake! And, I liked helping in the garden--we dug potatoes and picked peas. I tried to help Grandpa peel potatoes, but it was hard. We also did some fireworks--the picture is of me with SMOKE BOMBS--they are great! I had so much fun!

4th of July

We went to Eric and Christina's for the 4th of July. I learned how to play croquet, and had so much fun playing kickball. We also jumped on the trampoline. They had a LOT of BIG fireworks. And, we had homemade ice cream and it was GOOD. I got to stay up late!

Swimming!

On Sunday afternoon we went swimming at Mike and Robin's house with Eli. I got to use the big water gun. In the picture is my big twin. Dad likes to dunk me.

My Tadpoles and I

Thursday was a fun day! I got to go with the 2nd graders at Minnie Cline for Park day. Then, Mom picked me up at 1:30 and we went to the Conservation Dept for a homeschool event. First, we played a game about watersheds to learn how trees help prevent flooding. Next, we got a net and a bucket and got to explore what was in their pond. I loved this so much, and Mom finally had to make me leave--we were the last ones there. I caught six tadpoles, two dragonfly nymphs, one creature we didn't know, and insect eggs on a leaf. It was a nice day, and I can't think of a better place for a boy to go than to get to explore a pond! In the last picture, the Conservation Agent is looking at my treasures!

Chocolates!

I learned how to mold chocolates. We made them for the graduation party we are having at church for all of our graduates. At first, Mom helped me and melted the chocolate, but by the end, I was doing it all by myself. First, I melt the chocolate, then I pour it into the mold. Then, I tap them to get all of the air out; then, I put them in the freezer for 7 minutes, and then I un-mold them. Then, I put them in the container (since Mom won't let me eat them all). In this picture, some of them look funny because of the way the light hit them, but they actually all looked the same--they look like chocolate! Someday, I hope that my Aunt Stephanie opens a sweets shop and hires me!

Look at her Little Face!

This is one of our nine kittens. She is about four weeks old. Isn't she cute? The kittens like me, and they are starting to come out of their cat house to get to me so that I can hold them.

Goslings!

One of the fun things about living in the country in the Spring is having the goslings hatch. Every year the same pair of geese land on our pond into the nesting box we have there and the female lays her eggs. We have to watch closely because they only stay a couple days with the new babies (they hop out of the box and start swimming) before they all leave and if we aren't paying attention, they leave before we know it. After they leave, we don't usually see them again until next year (and only the mom and dad). They are so cute swimming out on the pond behind their mom. This year, there are four goslings, but they are hard to see in my picture (they are behind the mom).

Applesauce!

Grandma Dixie makes the best applesauce! She brought her food mill with her when she came to visit and taught me how to make applesauce. Just call me "Chef Caden".

Piano Recital

On Sunday afternoon, I had my piano recital. I played two songs: "Trumpet Song" and "Let's Boogie." I was nervous because this was my first recital. Both of my grandpas and grandmas were there and Donna and Eli. One of the pictures is of Becca, my teacher. When I am dressed in my pants and tie, everyone thinks I look just like Dad!

It's Fishing Season!!!!!

Even though I like hunting a little bit (Dad and I went this morning), I don't like it nearly as much as Conrad does. But, I LOVE fishing. I ask Dad EVERY DAY if we can go fishing. We got to go on Saturday and Dad said I was old enough (after I begged and begged) for him to teach me how to clean the fish and I got to do one.

Lemonade and Uh-Oh!

We went to Aunt Stephanie's garage sale on Friday and part of Saturday. I sold a few toys and Jake, Austin, Conrad and I had a lemonade/hot chocolate/cookie/Rice Krispie stand. Aunt Stephanie showed me how to make Rice Krispie treats--I had never made them before. It was fun! Thanks, Aunt Stephanie!
At first, we didn't plan to have hot chocolate, but it was so cold that people did buy it. We had a lot of fun and split the money--some people just gave us money as a tip and didn't even want a treat. I got $4.50 for my part of the lemonade stand. Whenever I wasn't at my lemonade stand, I was riding the scooter---it was SO MUCH FUN, but I ended up with scrapes under my nose, on my fingers and on my knees even though I had on a helmet.

Unexpected Science Experiment

Mom said that we could make cookies to sell at the garage sale we were going to do. We also needed two dozen for the recital. I was so excited that I woke her up at 6:45 am on Thursday to make them. Since she wasn't ready to get up, I went ahead and got out all of the ingredients. When she did get up, I made one batch of beautiful cookies, and then we decided we needed another batch. I made this batch, too, and when I looked in the oven at the first pan of them baking, I said, "Oh no! Mom, something is wrong". We figured out that I had put in 1 1/4 cups of flour instead of 2 1/4! I added more flour and the rest turned out good (and I ate the bad ones). The bad ones were brown on the outside and all doughy in the middle (but I still liked them). I didn't know how important flour was! I did my Science experiment on which kind of flour to use, and now I know that whatever kind of flour, you have to use it!

Mystery's Interesting Life!

Angel, my favorite cat, had 5 babies last Spring. We gave away all but two of them--Blackie and Mystery. Mystery had a very bad day. When she was still a kitten, mom called us while we were in town with Dad to say that she had gone out to get something in the van, and very curious Mystery tried to get in without Mom seeing her. Mom ended up slamming her into the car door and it completely closed when she saw that Mystery was caught. There was lots of blood and Mom had to call and tell us she was dead. I cried all the way home. But, when I got home, she put her head up to look at me, and we saw she wasn't dead. She was having trouble breathing, and we knew she was going to die. But, she survived the night, and we begged Dad to let us take her to the vet the next day if we paid for it. The vet was AMAZED that she had survived, and after some antibiotics and steroids, she lived!

And, now, she has become a mommy (Dad said we had to have her fixed, but she was too young when we took her in, and then it was too late!! :-) She has five babies---and, three of them are orange, and the rest are black. I can't wait until they are big enough to hold!

Easter--oops Dad!

On Sunday, Dad and I got to go to church together and then to Clark and Stephanie's for lunch and an egg hunt. Mom had to stay home with Conrad because he had a fever. Mom sent the camera with Dad so that he coud take some pictures of the Easter egg hunt and some of his cute little son on Easter. When we got home, we discovered that the only pictures he took were one of Jake eating and this one of Grandma's coconut cream pie!
The day went great even though I have no pictures to show you. Stephanie made a bunny cake (it tasted so good, but I kind of think it looked like a wiener dog instead of a bunny), and we had ham which is my favorite. I got lots of candy in the egg hunt (and you know how much I like that!)

Easter egg hunt

On Friday, Eli came over to color eggs and hide them. We hid and found them SO MANY times. They got cracked because we hid them so much, and one got so cracked that we had to eat it! :-) Eli lost two eggs, but we did find them later. My favorite color to use for the eggs was blue. The one I am lifting out in this picture turned out so pretty that I can't let myself eat it!

Dogs

These are my dogs and they both love me. While I am writing my blog, I am holding the small one, Coco. They are very fun and both like to kiss me by licking me all over my face. That is what Stitch is doing in this picture. Stitch has been a good dog for me.

Coco

We got a new puppy yesterday---the name is Coco. She is a long-haired miniature daschund. She isn't actually officially ours yet---we are still begging Mom and Dad. Yesterday, our neighbor, Forrest, found her in his yard, and we puppy-sat her while he went to work. She was so friendly and so skinny. She looks like she has had a rough time. She spent the night with Forrest last night, but this morning, he got tired of her and we have her. Now, she gets to spend the night here. We have played with her all day. She is so cuddly and already loves me. I am hoping that when Dad sees her tonight, he will fall in love with her like I have so that we get to keep her.