No Picture Weekend

Well, I did it again. I successfully made it through another weekend forgetting to take pictures. Darn! Seriously, I get so busy cooking for everyone, making sure everyone really does have their chores done (not just saying they do so they can go play) helping with this project or that, trying to sand on my piano a little, helping the Hunter with his projects etc. etc that I just forget to take pictures. We had a really good weekend though, you just can't see it. Friday night we rented movies. We got some new releases and as we were checking out, Bee and I watched the movie that was playing in the store and it was really funny. We asked about it and the lady said it was a real old movie and someone had said it was bad. She said we could take it for free if we would tell her where it was bad. So we did. We popped it in Friday night and only the previews were fuzzy. It was called Wild America. It was about some kids who wanted to film wild animals across America and make it into a TV movie - must have been back in the 50s or 60s. Anyway, we all laughed our heads off through the whole movie. The new releases we got were dumb. That's par for the course, isn't it? They just don't make 'em like they used to.


SATURDAY: The Hunter and Steelhead got up and were out of the house by 7:10 or so. They helped a man mill the walnut logs that we got last weekend. They got done by about 1:00 and later that afternoon I went with them and we "stickered" the wood: To dry wood have you have to stack it with space between each board so air can get to the wood. We used 1" x 1" x 3' "stickers" and stacked each board. It took a while, but it was fun to look at each board and see the beautiful grain. Hunters Dad is going to make us a dining room table out of some of that wood. The boards for the table top are probably going to take about 2 years to dry.


The Monkey had his first soccer game on Saturday. After chores we went down to the soccer fields for our first experience at being a "soccer family." Things I learned: Bring Sunscreen. Bring change for the concession stand. Bring band aids. Bring LOTS of water (so they kids don't drink mine). Have the Marten bring his own chair. Leave the other kids home? :) Monkey did real good. He sure was sucking air by the time the game was over. The game was at 11:00 and it was pretty hot by then. I'm glad he took enough water... I guess he didn't have to share with 5 other people. The critters Grandpa Toad (their Dad's Dad) came to the soccer game and cheered Monkey on. Then he took Martin, Monkey and Bee to the local University Football game. Of course he bought them shirts and tattoos, Bee a hair thing, socks etc. The critters had a great time dressing up and had lots of fun going out to dinner with him and really enjoyed their first big Football game. They got home around 10:30 and were tired and sunburned!

The other critters enjoyed the game in our air conditioned barn while the Hunter and I went to Stake Conference. The Saturday evening meeting is always the best and we were richly rewarded for going. We came home and watched a dumb movie while waiting for the critters to get back.


SUNDAY: Nice day. More Stake Conference. The critters did fantastic during the long 2 hour meeting. The talks were excellent. After a yummy pot roast and potatoes dinner the Hunter and I went back for another meeting where a new ward was formed. It didn't effect our ward too much, we did lose about 15 families, but we are in the same ward, same time, same building. The Hunter took his critters to their moms and the other critters and I played badminton and the Marten built a Tee Pee. He and the Monkey started sleeping out, but were worried about raccoons and getting cold, so they came crawling into their cozy beds at 9:15 pm.

A great weekend... sorry, no pictures.

The TRUCK

One of the critters asked me this weekend "why are there so many pictures of Lemur on the blog?" Actually, now that I think about it, I think it was Hunter that asked me. I told him that after school and on weekends I am so busy I don't have time to think about taking pictures. During the day, it's just Lemur and I at home while I work and he... destroys the barn. I have time to grab the camera and snap shots of how irresistible he looks, even when he is standing on the table, dumping cereal out of the boxes, pulling the cats tail or sitting on top of the lawn mower. I also told Hunter that Lemur is just so darned cute, just like baby animals; they are so cute when they are little, and then they grow up and get... well, get like Hunter and Zookeeper and who cares about taking their pictures! Who wants to look at us anyway? I'd rather look at Lemur, wouldn't you? I will try to do a little better job of putting more pictures of the other critters on, but I can't promise anything.

So today, Lemur was driving his favorite toy around the barn. He was even making bbrrrrr noises while he drove and he'd beep the horn now and then. He would get really mad when he ran into something and couldn't figure out how to turn the darn thing around. It was cute, and I had time to think and take pictures... who can blame me?

A Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Monkey crashed and slept for almost 3 hours. Ahh, I love Sunday afternoons!

Steelhead does this everyday if he can, not just on Sunday! After we got the logs Saturday, he came home and slept for three hours!

While I was taking a nap, these critters were outside building a tent out of old tent poles, 1x1 redwood porch railings, packaging tape and blankets. They worked together for three hours designing, building and playing in their tent (and no fighting!!). They had a great time... until they had to take it all down and put it away. They are already planning on building it again on Friday and sleeping out in it.

Leg wars on the swing... sounds fun!

Zucchini coming out our ears!

So, what do you do with all of your zucchini?


Here are a few ways we like to eat it... or at least a few ways I fix it, and most of the time the critters don't even know they are eating it!

*Grate it and freeze it in 2 or 3 cup portions to use later.
* Grate it and put it in your spaghetti sauce.
* Grate it and put it in your pancakes or scrambled eggs.
* Grate it and put it in sloppy joes. (When we had sloppy joes for dinner one night, Monkey asked, "what are those green things in there?" I said, "Oh, that's the sloppy part of the joes." he kinda looked at me funny and ate it all up.)
* Good cubed in soups.
* We slice it up like a cucumber and put it in our green salad.
* Steelhead put it in a vinegar and garlic solution that he makes and ate it with the cucumbers.
* Slice it in spears or rounds and eat with salt or ranch.
* Pick sorta small (like you'd buy in the grocery store) slice in half spread with a mixture of melted butter and garlic salt with a brush and throw it on the BBQ grill for just a couple of minutes, turning it now and then. Eat it crisp - so good!


Here is a recipe for Zucchini Spice Cake that a friend sent me. We made it twice this weekend it was so good. Once we ate it with whipped cream. The other time the girls made a glaze and put on it when it was hot. Cream cheese frosting would also be good on it, and I had it warm with vanilla ice cream - you can't go wrong with ice cream. I think I may put chocolate chips in it next time.

2 cups flour
2 cups finely chopped zucchini (I fine grated it)
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup oil
1/3 cup water (add this last, as you might want to omit it)
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs

Beat all ingredients for 2-3 minutes. Pour into greased and floured 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 for 40 - 45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. These would probably make great muffins too, just bake less time.


This is a recipe for Zucchini Bread that I got when I worked at a Candy Factory and craft Boutique my first year of college (way back in the 90's!) It is still my favorite recipe, and of course, it's best with ice cream and/or chocolate chips.

3 cups shredded zucchini (I prefer finely shredded versus coarsely shredded)

beat together
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup oil (sometimes I use half oil and half applesauce)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup brown sugar

then add zucchini and 4 cups flour and of course, milk chocolate chips.

Bake 350 for 30 minutes (I think it usually takes longer, but check it with a toothpick)

Also makes great muffins, just bake for less time (maybe 15 - 20 minutes) Sorry, cooking with a Zookeeper is not an exact science.

If you have any other zucchini recipes, I'd love to have them. Post a comment or email me! Thanks!

Walnut trees

I was so mad on Saturday when we went to get a walnut stump (about 12 feet long) and I forgot the camera! Hunter said he couldn't believe I forgot it either. We actually got two logs on Saturday. One was not far from our barn. Hunter got the crane and "hooked" it to the log using a hooker and then cut the log down. Then he lifted it up onto the crane. Steelhead was a great help and said he liked doing this kind of stuff because it "reminds me of when we used to log." (he was 0-5) when the Hunter was a logger. :) We also cleaned up the mans yard for him. The tree trimmer had left a huge mess. We lifted big branches out the bushes and around the house and made a pile where he could get to them. We stacked small branches and logs so the poor old guy could clean them up a little easier. I told him if he'd bring his truck around, we'd load it up for him, but I don't think he believed me. He paid us $100 for cleaning up his yard... which means we got a good deal on the log! Later that day the Hunter and Steelhead went to another farm and picked up an even bigger log. Now... who will help us take the log to the mill?

Zinnias and daisies

Last fall, after my zinnias and pot marigolds and daisies were finished blooming, I had the critters help me break off the stems, pull them up and we dumbed them on the other side of the fence. Our back yard is bordered by a steep canal bank and then there's the canal. I can't really garden it, but there is some sage brush and the sprinkler hits it, so I though we'd just throw the dead plants (full of lots of seeds!) over the edge. They started growing this spring, and it turned into a very colorful border. This fall I'm going to do it again and toss them farther down the ditch bank. Some clover did grow up with it, but it added a nice lush green to the pretty colors, and choked the weeds back; no more cheat grass and milk weeds! We have enjoyed the beautiful colors and have even picked some for arrangements in the house.

The flowers also acted as a bit of a barrier to keep lemur from venturing down to the canal. He has been really good about staying away from it. Of course, he is never outside alone and we always keep a really close eye on him when we're out working or playing. Thank goodness it isn't a 12 foot deep canal, only an irrigation ditch, but still... water is water!

Shootin' Skeet

I think all of us like shooting skeet the most. I'm not nervous when I shoot the shotgun like I am when I shoot my rifle (see the next post). The boys are pretty good shots. I think I even hit about 50% this time. The girls "pull" and let the clay pigeons fly.

The critters have fun when we go out to the desert to shoot. Unfortunately a lot of other people go out there too, and drop their junk. We've found all kinds of stuff out there, from old computers and chairs, to a pair of roller blades and... Porcupine found some... uh, women's underclothing. Yup, all kinds of cool stuff. The critters do lots and lots of running around while we are there. It wasn't too hot last Saturday, but it sure was windy! Maybe that's why I only hit 50%!

Shootin' my new rifle

Last Saturday we went out to the desert to shoot my new gun. The Hunter shot it first to make sure everything worked right, and then I got to shoot it. I was a nervous wreck! I don't know what was the matter with me. It is the biggest gun I have ever shot, and it's only a 7mm. I have shot .22, hand guns, shot guns and of course, BB guns (hehehe) but not one this big. I think another thing that made me nervous was that Hunter had told me it had a really sensitive trigger and to be really careful with it. He was right, the trigger is extremely sensitive. It took forever for me to fire the first shot, and wow! It kicks! I think it hurt so bad because I was really tense. I shot it again (and I think I even hit the target both times!) then I let the boys try it.

We had set the target up about 100 yards away.

The Martin and Steelhead had to tease me because it took me so long to shoot, I was so nervous and I said that it kicked hard... they said it didn't kick hard at all. Guess I'm a wimp!

Steelhead takes his turn. Do you like our shooting platform? Usually we take the truck out here and shoot on the edge of the pickup, but we had all the critters so we had to take the big van. We look pretty red-neck don't we? But hey, what can you expect from a bunch of animals anyway?

Lemur and the Lawn Mower

Last week Lemur and I went outside to work in the yard. We pulled some weeds, dead headed flowers and then I started mowing the lawn. Now Lemur LOVES anything with a motor: cars, trucks, rototillers, motorcycles, and 4-wheelers, but he especially loves lawn mowers!! He got so excited when I started the lawn mower. He ran right over to help me. I know, call me crazy, but I let him help my push the lawn mower by pushing on the grass bag. He thought he was in heaven! He would get mad when we had to slow down and turn a corner and then he really got mad when I turned it off to empty the grass bad. Above is a picture of him throwing a fit about it.

He was still glaring at me for a while afterwards

When we were done, he kept hanging around the lawn mower hoping I would start it up again. I'm sure he's excited for us to mow the lawn again this week!

Lemur Loves Books!

Lemur has discovered books! He mostly loves it when someone reads to him, but during the day he will often sit in the chair and look at a book for a long, long time. He is really careful with books that aren't the hard cardboard baby proof books. He hasn't torn one ... yet. He mostly loves looking at animal pictures. He hasn't figured out how to say the sounds they make yet, but he grunts and squaks at them. In his mind he is making the right sound!

Bee got stung by a hornet the other day, so she was resting on the couch with some baking soda on it. Lemur brought her a book, climbed up with her and they started reading together. He makes grunting sounds like he is reading.

I'll be typing away and Lemur will bring me a book wanting to read. I try hard to stop what I'm doing and read to him. I can always work after he goes to bed at night.