MERRY CHRISTMAS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE HAMMER RANCH!

Tressie's Christmas Tree

I am so tired of fighting with blogger.....Anyone else having problems? Download the pictures in the order that I want them and then when I preview them, they are in a crazy different order??? Any suggestions?

OK, so to the post....This is Tressie's Christmas tree! This picture was to be the last picture so that you could see the finished tree at the end.

We had this little tree that we used while we lived in the trailer as it was "trailer size". Haven't used it for several years, but thought that it would be fun for Tressie to have a tree that she could decorate and touch and enjoy. It fits just perfect in this corner and we have had such a fun time making decorations for it and then she loves putting them on "her" tree!

Grandma put a string of lights on the tree and the next day we made this paper chain. She really had fun! Yes, Grandma did finish it up, but she stayed with it longer than I thought she would! She would pick which color of paper strip to put on next and she also had TONS of fun with the glue stick! Good thing it cleans up easily with water.

Our next decoration was little green Christmas trees that I cut out of scrapbook paper. I had some little star stickers and she was quite good at taking them off of the sheet and putting them on the trees!

I also decided that this was a good place for all of her Christmas books. They only come out at Christmas and she enjoys having them read to her and also reading them herself!

I think her favorite project was making the candy canes out of red and white pipe cleaners! She kept saying that we needed more, more.....so we made more, more! These were super easy for her to hang on the tree!

On Tuesday we finished up the tree decorations. I remember Tressie's Mama making some decorations when she was little with macaroni. I cut circles out of poster board and then she glued macaroni on them. Grandma then sprayed them with gold spray paint. I also cut out some Christmas stockings from scrapbook paper and she put stickers on them. So, to see the end results of these projects and the finished tree, you will need to look at the first picture in this post!!!

Notice the plain little yellow star on the top of the tree.....would have looked really pretty with some gold or yellow glitter on it. Only problem is, this Grandma doesn't do glitter! She will endure alot of messes but not glitter! Sorry Tressie!

We are all enjoying Tressie's little Christmas tree in the corner!

Countdown to Christmas with Tressie!

The other day while Christmas shopping, I was looking for a new advent calendar to use with Tressie this Christmas season. I was thinking the little paper calendars with the little flaps that you open one every day until Christmas. You know, the kind like I had when my sister and I were little. Well, while looking at those, my eye caught this Little People nativity advent calendar by Fisher-Price.

Have you seen these? This is the cutest calendar for someone Tressie's age! It will also be Gunner's when he is old enough. It is a cloth banner with individual pockets for fabric pieces. Each piece has velcro on the back and makes it easy for Tressie to attach the pieces by herself! Each day a new piece is added to the scene until Baby Jesus is placed in the manger on Christmas morning! She is going to have a hard time waiting until Christmas morning to put Baby Jesus in the manger as it's only day 3 and that is the one that she wants to put on every time!

Tressie absolutely loves it! The only problem is where to hang it. She wants to be playing with it all of the time. That wouldn't be a problem except that she is a little rough when pulling the pieces off and her Mother declared that it was NOT something that she could play with, but something special to do each day at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

So glad that I found this as I think it will be something that Tressie and Gunner will look forward to getting out each year at Christmas while they are younger and who knows.....maybe even when they get older!

Our New Grandson!

Once more, a post that is way overdue, but too important to pass over!

Our grandson, Gunner William Golding, was born on October 10, 2012!

We had waited for what seemed like a really LONGGGG nine months to meet him! He has the most beautiful soft hair! I kept telling his Mama that I thought he was going to have hair. She had a hard time envisioning that because Tressie was born with only a very small amount of hair. We laugh and say that Gunner already has more hair than his big sister!

Speaking of his big sister.....she absolutely LOVES her little brother!

Gunner is a very good baby! He has alot of very expressive faces that he makes already! One of them is wrinkling up his little forehead when his sister is standing right over him yelling his name over and over and telling him "Hi"!!! I am sure that they are going to be great friends as they grow up together over the years!

Although, he might get tired of his big sister blaming things on him! We were sitting down at the table eating supper one night when Tressie's Mama asked about the fingerprints all over Grandma's window. She didn't even hesitate.....she immediately said....."Gunner did it"!!! And the poor little guy was only a week old!

Grandma and Grandpa are very blessed to have them live so close to us and we enjoy them and love them both more and more every day!

Chocolate Praline Layer Cake

I am very behind in the blogging area of my life.....Alot has been going on and I really hope to get caught up with several posts in the next few days...

Moving right along....Saturday was my best friend's birthday. He is also the love of my life! It was Tony's 54th birthday and I made him this cake.

I stumbled onto this recipe quite a few years ago in a Pillsbury Bake-Off Cookbook that I bought. You know, you stand in line at the grocery store and you get suckered into buying something on impulse. Then, you feel obligated to try at least one recipe! Well, I think this is the only recipe I have ever made out of this cookbook, so I guess I picked the right one! Tony loves this cake and I try to make it every year for him.

I posted a picture and birthday wishes to Tony on FB and I received about 6 requests for this recipe. So, here it is. Your friends will think that you really worked hard and spent lots of time on this cake. When in reality, it is very easy and uses a Devil's Food Cake mix!

Cake
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 Devil's Food Cake mix
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup oil
3 eggs

Topping
1 3/4 cups whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Whole pecans, if desired for the top of the cake
Chocolate curls, or grated chocolate if desired

Heat oven to 350. In small heavy saucepan, combine butter, 1/4 cup whipping cream and brown sugar. Cook over low heat just until butter is melted, stirring occasionally. Pour into two 8 or 9-inch round cake pans; sprinkle evenly with chopped pecans. In large bowl, combine cake mix, water, oil and eggs at low speed until moistened; beat 2 minutes at highest speed. Carefully spoon batter over pecan mixture.

Bake at 350 for 35 to 45 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool 5 minutes. Remove from pans onto waxed paper. Cool completely.

In small bowl, beat 1 3/4 cups whipping cream until soft peaks form. Blend in powdered sugar and vanilla, beat until stiff peaks form. To assemble cake, place 1 layer on serving plate, praline side up. Spread with 1/2 of whipped cream. Top with second layer, praline side up; spread top with remaining whipped cream. Garnish with whole pecans and chocolate curls or grated chocolate, if desired. Store in refrigerator.

Enjoy!

My Birthday

Tuesday was my 52nd birthday. We decided to make a trip to the big city to do some things and I called some of my family and asked if they wanted to meet up with us at a family favorite, Fargo's Pizza. So, pretty much overnight, we had plans for a party!

Tressie's idea of fun at Fargo's, is the game room! She was happy with sticking her quarter in this machine and seeing what her fun little "surprise" was! Don't we all remember begging Mom or Dad for a quarter to put into these machines for some plastic something? She also enjoyed "driving" the race car.

She wasn't too happy about leaving the game room to come and eat pizza. In fact, I don't know as she ate any pizza but she sure enjoyed the pop and the birthday cake! She helped me open my cards and presents and then was wanting to go back and "drive the car" as she put it!

What's a birthday party without cake? Emily wasn't able to get one made as like I said, we planned the party on really short notice. But, she was able to run into Safeway and get a yummy cake that I throughly enjoyed! Thanks, Em!

The best presents were being with my family and being able to spend time together! I also got this pretty candle and good smelling lotion! Emily, Justin and Tressie are giving me a "special" necklace that is in the mail and on it's way! I will for sure blog about it when it gets here and let you know why it is "special"! I also received some money and am thinking about maybe ordering a new Vera Bradley purse? Oh, who knows.....so hard to decide what to do with it when you have birthday money!

A fun birthday for me! Thanks to my family and friends for all of the cards and birthday wishes!

Happy 30th Birthday, Emily!!

Today is Emily's 30th birthday!  Where do the years go?

Happy Birthday, Emily!  We love you and wish you many more!

Love, Mom and Dad

KEEPIN' THE BLUE!!

It's a boy!!!  Grandma will be keepin' the blue sleepers for the precious new grandson we are expecting in October!  Lots more shopping to come as I'm sure he won't want to be wearing all the pink we have around here!

PINK or BLUE???

Today is an exciting day!!

Emily has an ultrasound and hopes to find out if they are having a baby girl or a baby boy!

Grandma and Grandpa are very excited to have another grandbaby and will be thrilled with a baby girl or a baby boy!

Grandma being the shopper that she is..... just couldn't resist these cute little outfits while shopping at Kohl's this week-end!

So, the question is.... which outfit will she be keeping and which outfit will she be returning????

Stayed tuned and "hopefully" we will know later this afternoon!

Fun Camera Accessory!

I mentioned in my blog post about my new camera that I had ordered a bright new camera strap from Etsy.

Well, here it is....



Not the greatest picture as I took it with my old Kodak camera. I somehow forgot to take a picture of it BEFORE I put it on my new camera. Now putting the strap on is not all that complicated, but it does take some time and I was not in the mood to take it off, just to take a nice picture of it.... Yes, lazy....

So there you have it. This will make it very easy for Emily and I to tell our cameras apart with just a glance. Her camera strap has greens and blues in it.

If you are in the market for a bright, colorful and fun camera strap, check out cottoncandybynatalie.etsy.com!

I LOVE LILACS!!

I absolutely LOVE lilacs! They are my very favorite flower!


The only lilac bush that we have that is very big, is up by the corrals and an old house that was here when we moved here. The bush is right outside the kitchen door of the old house. I often wonder if the ranch wife threw her dish water out each day on the lilac bush to water it?


Yesterday, we made a trip to La Junta to the chiropractor. Driving thru the little town of Cheraw on the way, I was amazed at all of the yards that had not only one, but five or six lilac bushes! I guess you don't really notice them if they are not in bloom. They were beautiful! Lots and lots of purple bushes and an occasional white bush. The beauty continued in the yards in La Junta!



Last year Tony planted several rows (yes I said rows!) of lilac bushes for wind breaks. They already grew quite a bit this last year, but I am looking forward to several years when they will be all grown up and making me happy each day that I look out my window at my very favorite flower of all!

My New Camera!

Last week on a trip to town with Tressie and Emily, I finally bought a new camera! Obviously, this picture was not taken with that camera! It's not a bad picture, but I hope to be posting better pictures in the future. My little point and shoot Kodak has served me well, but has also been failing in the good picture department for quite some time now. Won't feel so bad about letting Tony take it out to take pictures of cows, goats, pastures, etc.... (The Kodak, that is!)



I had been saving birthday and Christmas money for awhile to get a camera. Several weeks ago, I was pleasantly surprised by a generous gift from my daughter and son-in-law for their appreciation of me taking care of my precious granddaughter while they are at work each day. I consider that the best payment any Grandma could every want! The privilege of spending time with her every day! Anyway, I appreciate the gift and was able to purchase the camera much sooner than I had anticipated! Thanks guys!

I by no means expect to become a professional photographer...But do hope to learn some skills and be able to use my camera some day on more than just the auto mode.

You will probably be seeing warnings on future blogs about picture overload!

Oh, and Emily and my niece, Kelsey, both have these cameras and have pretty little camera straps that they ordered from Etsy. Mine is on the way!

Tressie's 2nd Birthday!

Today was Miss Tressie Laine's second birthday! We started the day with birthday pancakes and candles. She is still looking a little sleepy here....


But....it didn't take her too long to wake up and start partying!


This is her new "ta da" pose. Don't know where she came up with it? Her Mama bought her a new birthday outfit, probably at Target!


So it's on to Limon to meet up with her Daddy and Mama for lunch. Did you know that Limon has a new IHOP? Well, they do and Tressie tried out their new Dr. Suess menu. Macaroni and cheese with broccoli and a bowl of fruit. This girl loves her broccoli!


After a good nap when we got back from Limon, it was supper and a few presents. Her main/big birthday party is on Saturday. But how can you celebrate a birthday with no presents?!?! Well, after she opened this present from her Mama and Daddy she really didn't need anything else because this is her new favorite thing! Her little pink guitar! She has been using whatever is available as a pretend guitar. Well, now she doesn't have to pretend!
Let me tell you....we got a show that would rival any Taylor Swift concert! She loves to sing and dance and now she has a guitar to go with it! No keyboard or drums for this girl! Too confining! But with a guitar you can move and dance all over the play!


Yes, Tressie, we are watching....


We had to let her bring her guitar with her to bribe her up to eat her cake! Wow, blowing out candles is hard work! But, she did it!


She's looking a little sleepy.... Yep, it's been a good day! Grandma is still trying to figure out where the last two years have gone!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL! We love you!

Dancing Valentine!

Emily and I found this nice cabinet with plastic storage tubs to put toys in here at my house. Even has a nice place on top for storing more play things. It is only about two foot high. The other day Tressie decided that it was a nice place to sit on and read books. Well, then she decided that it was a GREAT place to break a few dance moves! And, as most of you know, this girl LOVES to dance!


She has all kinds of moves....


She doesn't even need music! She makes her own sounds with her mouth. Something she must of learned on the Disney channel show "Shake It Up"!


Oh, and did I mention? She's a big ham too!!



Hope you all had a nice Valentine's Day!

Tressie & "The Kids" - Take Two

You might remember me blogging last year about Tressie's first introduction to "the kids" also known as baby goats. She really wasn't too impressed and didn't really like it when this "kid" started crying really loud about the time Grandpa picked it up!


Well, it's that time again! Time for the "kids" to be born. Yesterday, Tressie and I ventured out to the barn to help Grandpa ear tag the new babies.

I put a baby in Tressie's wagon with her. This isn't too bad, she is thinking....


Everything went down hill super fast when we were done with the job at hand and Grandpa picked up this little guy so that Tressie could pet him. Yep, you got it.... Right about the time he picked him up, he started crying as loud as he could!

Then we had two crying kids on our hands!


The poor girl was so tired when we got back in that she went to sleep on my lap (which is un-heard of) and slept for about 30 minutes. At which point I decided that I needed to start supper and just laid her on the living room floor where she slept for another hour!


I'm thinking that we need to make some trips to the barn and pens and just let Tressie set and observe the babies playing. Maybe she will get used to them making those loud "noises" and learn to like them?!?!?