"Never A Dull Moment" Dinner

I feel certain you have heard the phrase, "Never a dull moment." If our family had a motto, this would be it! Fortunately, my family and I thrive on being busy.

Sara and the 8th grade class of 2015.

Daughter Sara is thinking back to school. It's not only the students that prepare for, and anticipate the first day of school, but teachers like Sara have school in mind as well. She has been rearranging and reorganizing her classroom library, "beautifying" her classroom, mentoring new 8th grade Language Arts teachers, and preparing for a student teacher from a nearby college. Never a dull moment! 

 She is a great example of one of those people that was born to teach! I know I sound like a bragging mom, but she, like so many other great teachers, always put the students first. She's creative and is always coming up with new ideas. I mean, let's face it- how many new and different ways can you think of to teach historical fiction and grammar, and still keep 14 year old's engaged? She goes the proverbial extra mile for the kids. Which is why there is never a dull moment for Sara!

So in honor of Sara, and dedicated teachers everywhere, I'm sharing one of the first recipes Sara learned to make-

 

Sara's Impossible Cheeseburger Pie 

1 pound hamburger

1/2 cup minced onions, if desired

1 cup milk

3 eggs

3/4 cup Bisquick

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 tomatoes, sliced

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Brown hamburger and onions, drain. Beat milk, eggs, Bisquick, salt and pepper. Put browned meat mixture in 10" pie pan. Pour liquid mixture over this and bake at 400 degrees F. for 25 minutes. Take from oven. Top with tomatoes and cheese. Return to oven and bake until knife inserted in center comes out clean. (5-8 minutes) Serves 6-8.

And then when Sara's school day is over, it's on to farm chores.

 Never a dull moment...

S Is For Stories

It's June dairy Month! The barn doors are open, 

so join me on my daily A to Z journey 

to learn more about dairy. 

  Today S Is For Stories

 

 

In celebration of June Dairy Month, our local public library invited me to read my favorite cow books during Preschool Story Time. Wednesday morning 51 preschoolers, some big brothers and sisters, oodles of mommies, and even a few grandpas came to hear my cow tails tales.

Now, what to read? I am a collector of cow and farm themed books. It took much effort to narrow down the ones that I talked about. After a brief overview of my favorites, I began by reading Out and About at the Dairy Farm.

I like this book as it takes us along with a group of school kids who go on a field trip to a dairy farm.

 

 

After learning how milk goes from the farm to the grocery store, we learned that we need three servings of dairy every day to stay healthy. This seemed like a moo-velous time to talk about what can be made from all that milk. We played a game trying to name all the dairy foods we could think of. And nope, potatoes are not a dairy food. Neither is noodles, in case you weren't sure. 

 

 

After sharing what our cows do, eat, and how they are milked, it was time to read Dooby Dooby Moo! I LOVE this book! Have you read it? It's an udderly goofy book about the animals on Farmer Brown's farm who think they should enter the talent contest at the County Fair to win the grand prize. Can you guess what the prize is? BOING! BOING!

  

 

 

 

Look who I invited to join us. It's Gabriella, Dakota County Dairy Princess,

with mommies Melissa and Michelle and their sons! Gabriella helped me hand out goodie bags to the kids, and treat bags to the mom's and the grandpa's too! Everyone left the library with a cheese stick to munch on the way home. Three servings of dairy every day...1 down, 2 to go!

 

 

 Check out some of my other visits with wee ones-

 

Back To School 

 

Farm 2 School 

 

 

 

 

 

A Dairy Good Summer

As the weather warms, and summer is fast approaching, it is time for me to say "see you later" to my other job...working as a Title One Instructional Assistant at one of our local elementary schools. Each day I am blessed to help some of the most incredible students with their reading and math skills. As I wave good-bye to some wonderful students and their teachers, I step back into my other job at our dairy farm. 

Here are some farewell greetings from a few of my students...

"Have fun milking the cows?" Sure will!

"I love you more than cows do."

Can you tell they know I live on a dairy farm?

I always loved finding a prize in my cereal box. So sweet!

Saying good-bye is difficult for all of us.

What a lucky person I am to have two careers that I love. So for now I say "see you later" to my students, it's time for this lucky lady to be a full-time farmer, so until next fall...

I couldn't have said it better myself!

A "Grand A" Day

Do you remember, as a child, how exciting Valentine's Day was? It was one of my favorite school days. It was so fun to make our box at home to bring to school so our classmates could stuff it full of Valentine's. Most of my Valentine mailboxes were made of shoe boxes or tissue boxes covered with paper, and if I was really lucky my mom would let me use wrapping paper as the covering! Most classmates made red or pink construction paper hearts and our "best" friends got the special hearts with the lacey paper doily attached. Of course as I got a bit older it was the "secret crush" that got that special decorated heart!

Working as an Elementary School educator, I still get to experience Valentine's Day from a child's perspective. The mailboxes may not be shoe boxes or tissue boxes and the Valentine's are probably bought and not home-made, but one thing hasn't changed...the excitement! It's nice to know some things don't change.

Wishing you and your sweethearts a wonderful Valentine's Day.

Thanks to "Must Be the Milk" for this image

Back To School

Monday through Thursday I am a math and reading educator at one of our local Elementary Schools. So what do I do on Friday, my day off from school? Go back to school. Say, what?! Today however, it wasn't reading comprehension or multiplication facts, but rather cows and milk.

I packed up my "dairy toolkit" and visited Mrs. Mueller's 4th grade class to talk about my "other job." I began with a power point presentation. I shared about my family, and how we balance our jobs on the farm with our jobs away from the farm. I explained that my husband John was the full-time farmer in my family, but we all have daily responsibilities. I continued with photos and stories about the buildings and animals on our farm. The pictures of the calves are always a huge hit! We discussed what our cows and calves eat and I explain the importance of good nutrition so our animals stay healthy to make the dairy products we enjoy. Then it's on to the video of my family milking the cows, followed by "where does the milk go when it leaves the farm?" After telling the story of how our milk travels to LandOLakes and within 2 days it is in the grocery store, I showed them cartons of how our milk is sold in the store.

While the kiddos enjoyed eating string cheese, I answered questions. Here are just a few...
If only the girls milk, what happens to the bulls? We raise some of our bull calves for beef, but most of our bull calves are sold to another farmer who raises them for beef. Does it hurt the calf when you put in an ear tag? It is a lot like when people get their ears pierced, a quick pinch and it's over. How long does it take for a cow to have a calf? Just like humans, it takes 9 months. Do cows have more than one calf at a time? It is usually one calf, but we have had twins, and one set of triplets too! What other animals do you have on your farm? Lots of cows, and lots of cats! How much does all this stuff cost on your farm? Many, many dollars; millions, in fact. For example a  combine for harvesting can be about $400,000. (After this answer I was looking at a classroom of very shocked faces!)

I always enjoy sharing our dairy farming story because my family and I are very proud of what we do. Thank you Mrs. Mueller and class for the opportunity to share what happens in My Barnyard!

School Tools

Our Education Minnesota calendar from the State Fair

Crayons, pencils, notebooks! I remember when I was younger, how excited I was to go shopping for my school supplies. My parents were the practical, thrifty type, so it was usually the standard yellow pencils, solid color notebooks (no current cartoon characters or TV star covers for me) and I got the basic 24 Crayola box, even though I begged for the 64 Crayons with the built-in sharpener. But once the first day of school rolled around, I learned most of my classmates also had practical, thrifty parents!

With Labor Day behind us for another year, this means school began this week. Our daughter Sara and I are both employed by our local school district. Sara is an 8th grade English teacher. Many people have told her that she has already earned her place in Heaven as a reward for working with Middle-Schoolers, but she loves teaching and her students and wouldn't change a thing. I am always impressed by Sara's creative approach to teaching and the hours outside of her work day that she spends preparing. I often have a "proud mom" moment when parents tell me their child has Sara as a teacher, and they LOVE her!

School has begun, but not for me...yet. I am a Title 1 Instructional Assistant which means I help students that need a little extra help with reading or math. Later in September I will start my 15th year working with students in Kindergarten through Fourth Grade. I love, love, love my job and am thrilled when students have that "I get it!" look on their faces.

Now that the school supplies are bought, let's all remember that one of the most important school tools is a healthy breakfast. You can get some great breakfast ideas at dairy makes sense. I love the Yogurt and Banana Spice Muffins. Give them a try!

I hope your family has a wonderful school year with lots of  "I get it!" moments!