From Ryan's Phone

In Support of Public Broadcasting

2011-01-25T20:25:00.000-08:00

There are three bills in the house that are trying to defund PBS and NPR. This is what I sent to Chip Cravaack, my representative.

Some people pay $50 a month or more for cable, which now has 70+ channels, but everyone still says there is never anything good on. Or worse, they are afraid to let their kids watch what IS on. And even the shows for children are interrupted every few minutes to try and sell something (usually unhealthy) to them.

Lakeland Public Television has 5 channels that arrive free to my house. On those five channels there is usually something worth watching. When I tune in I know my four children are watching something safe and educational. It's a good feeling to know my kids are being treated like thinking individuals and citizens instead of gullible young consumers.

I do not want to see support for PBS cut. Voting to keep PBS is supporting education, the next generation of good citizens, and family values.

If you need to help pay for it, try taxing something that it not good for kids, like commercials aimed at kids and broadcast during kids shows.

Recipes for Thom

2010-12-31T17:24:00.001-08:00

Cowboy Beans:

Brown a pound of ground beef, or some of other favorite meat with garlic, onion, pepper, and whatever else you want for spices.

Add several cans of your favorite beans. We used:

-Black beans

-Pinto Beans

-Navy Beans

-Red Beans

-Two cans of Butter Beans

Then add a cup or so of Ketchup, 2 tablespoons of mustard, and 2 tablespoons of vinegar or apple cider vinegar.

Simmer for a little while and enjoy.

Corn-Fusion Muffins

1 cup corn meal

1 cup flour

1 can Creamed Corn

2 eggs

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup olive oil

1 tsp salt

just enough milk to make a nice battery consistently.

Add pepper, cayenne, curry, or almost anything else you'd like.

Mix everything together, bake in muffin tins till lightly brown on top.

Remodel

2010-08-13T07:27:00.000-07:00

One nice wave

2009-12-30T08:58:00.001-08:00

This is one nice wave and the best picture I caught. Later, there were many larger waves that sprayed all the way up to the top of the street lights. And of course, the ones in the canal were the coolest.

Swimmin' last weekend

2009-12-30T08:54:00.001-08:00

Avery in Pink hair

2009-12-30T08:52:00.001-08:00

One more snow and waves

2009-12-25T21:37:00.001-08:00

This year's crop-o-jack-o-lanterns

2009-10-30T19:35:00.001-07:00

Found at work

2009-10-29T14:09:00.001-07:00

Ethan and the green belts about to spar

2009-10-25T09:33:00.001-07:00

Happy Ethan

2009-10-25T09:32:00.001-07:00

Mapping

2009-10-25T09:30:00.000-07:00

Ethan and Avery got a geography lesson as the colored where they had been, where they want to go, and anyplace else that seemed intersting. Avery can't wait to go to 'Hanna Montana'.

Chester and Oz

2009-10-21T07:59:00.001-07:00

From last weekend

Oh, yeah!!

2009-10-08T20:17:00.001-07:00

2009-10-08T11:03:00.001-07:00

Ethan gets a haircut before the tkd test.

5 bags of harvest veggies, 2 big zuchinnis left.

2009-09-27T14:22:00.001-07:00

Edible Bionicles

2009-09-19T19:22:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Ethan got the latest Bionicle movie. Today we had the cousins
and Konnor over for a bionicle party. The party consisted of crafting
bionicle masks, watching the movie, and making edible bionicles from
pretzel sticks, marshmallows and grapes. They also carved apples. Much
tasty creativity was expressed. The combination of marshmallows,
pretzels and grapes is not bad tasting.

New home for the rooster

2009-09-19T19:09:00.000-07:00

Butterscotch got a new home today with a great family. He'll be looking
after 5 hens and one of them is bigger than he is. You can see him in
this picture standing on the gate and watching the new chickens with the
whole family watching.

Avery and Butterscotch

2009-09-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

New chicken waterer.

2009-09-19T15:41:00.001-07:00

And they like it.

And a few neighborkids chip in

2009-09-16T16:25:00.002-07:00

More dumpster fodder

2009-09-16T16:25:00.001-07:00

Our "worst chimney" candidate.

2009-09-16T14:30:00.001-07:00

Baby rack.

2009-09-16T12:26:00.001-07:00

This is where you park your baby.

Swimmin at the lake.

2009-09-16T12:23:00.001-07:00

Emu!

2009-09-16T12:22:00.000-07:00

On our way to Duluth on Saturday we stopped in McGregor.

New homeschooling bus?

2009-09-16T12:19:00.003-07:00

First day of Avery's preschool

2009-09-16T12:19:00.001-07:00

She really was excited and had fun, but she didn't show the camera.

New floor

2009-09-16T12:17:00.001-07:00

Our dojang has a new blue foam floor. Plus I thought this picture of Ethan's class was nice with the different color belts.

Harvest!

2009-08-22T11:26:00.001-07:00

Burying the deceased little chicken

2009-08-02T15:11:00.001-07:00

Despite how it appears, Avery didn't have an over full bladder.

Pie on the Porch

2009-08-02T15:10:00.001-07:00

At the annual fundraiser at the Laposki's house.

Avery finally got a lop ear bunny.

2009-08-02T15:08:00.001-07:00

3 hyper kids sitting still enough for a picture

2009-07-30T20:53:00.001-07:00

Now go to bed, you hooligans! It's a quarter to 11.

There's a hole in our cups

2009-07-29T18:40:00.001-07:00

Lesson: make sure dishes don't fall into the bottom of the dishwasher.

There's a hole in our hearts the size of a small chicken :(

2009-07-29T17:34:00.001-07:00

Tears were shed. Dogs were scorned. Life goes on with a little less zest this evening.

Wounded chicken

2009-07-29T15:24:00.001-07:00

Ethan is keeping little Surprise warm hoping it'll recover from a light chomping in Cedric's mouth. I'm hoping, too.

Cousins in a Coop

2009-07-27T16:09:00.000-07:00

This was an interesting day with lots of kids getting to know lots of
chickens and lots of chickens wishing they weren't getting to know the
kids quite so fast.

Nahni w/ Chickens

2009-07-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

An Avery Series

2009-07-27T16:01:00.000-07:00

Avery and the Garden Chickens

2009-07-27T15:59:00.001-07:00

Avery

2009-07-27T15:57:00.000-07:00

With a bunny and a piece of celery. Good combination

Nahni

2009-07-27T15:56:00.001-07:00

Cheering the chickens

2009-07-19T14:39:00.003-07:00

The kids are cheering on the chickens as they are exploring the ramp to their pen.

Dancing on tables

2009-07-19T14:39:00.001-07:00

Ribbons at the fair

2009-07-18T21:40:00.001-07:00

Ribbons for everyone. Amber's entry won grand champion in the art category, so stay tuned for state fair pictures in September.

Belly dancing demonstratrion at the fair

2009-07-18T21:38:00.003-07:00

And Nahni watching

Avery having a chat with a sheep

2009-07-18T21:38:00.001-07:00

I'm pretty sure neither one really got their point across, but they did actually converse for a while

Belly Dancing at the fair

2009-07-18T20:58:00.003-07:00

George and Olivia

2009-07-18T20:58:00.001-07:00

Jesse avidly munches on wonderful weeds while two new 7 week old New Zealand Whites are pretty much petrified. We need to tame them, so they are living in the porch for a while.

Shop time

2009-07-18T07:03:00.001-07:00

Lessons include electricity, hand saws, brace and bit, clamps.

Avery dancing at the fair

2009-07-18T06:57:00.001-07:00

Despite the cold wind, weeks of preparation culminated in a cute "Under the Sea" dance in front of packed bleachers.

Saturday morning cartoons with 3 chickens

2009-07-18T06:51:00.001-07:00

So what do you do when you're sad about your mom going to work? Two words: Chicken therapy.

Catch'er in the rye

2009-07-13T12:25:00.001-07:00

Rest in peace, littlest robin

2009-07-11T07:14:00.001-07:00

Unfortunately, the runt of the litter continued to get weaker despite careful attention and feeding. Yesterday after I'd gone to work, the little guy called Amber over to it and then gave up the fight peacefully in her hand. I had already decided that I couldn't do the relentless feeding schedule for the next 4 to 6 weeks that are required to help them reach independence in the wild. This little guy reinforced the idea that his siblings would be better of with an experienced rehabilitator.

Turtle crossing

2009-07-11T07:01:00.001-07:00

I escorted this huge snapper across the road last weekend and I'm only now posting the picture.

Physics lesson

2009-07-11T06:55:00.001-07:00

Here is the action shot to go with the previous post.

Silly boys

2009-07-11T06:53:00.000-07:00

In a fit of physical learning about levers and catapults, the boys piled wood chunks on one side of the teeter totter here and then jumped hard on the other end. The wood chunks were successfully propelled up into the air, and unfortunately, right against their faces. First Ewan tried it and then Ethan reconfirmed the discovery.

Birdies from 3 days ago.

2009-07-11T06:47:00.001-07:00

Since this picture was taken, the birds got bigger and featherier.

Sorpresa the surprise chicken.

2009-07-11T06:32:00.001-07:00

Last night we came home from fetching Ethan and the kids discovered that the egg we put in the incubator 3 weeks ago had hatched. The reason it was such a surprise is that I had failed to turn it or check it for pretty much the last two weeks. Normally we turn the eggs 3 times a day for the first 18 days, so this is particularly noteable. I finally have 100% hatch rate, though. We're happy.

4 baby robins

2009-07-07T06:42:00.001-07:00

These ugly little things are sooo cute! In the last 2 days we have found 4 baby robins that must've fallen from their nest high on a pole. We can't possibly get up to put them back, so we are attempting to take care of them. They seem to be about 3 or 4 days old. They eat blueberries readily and we've been giving them some cooked up chicken feed from a syringe. I'll be giving them some worms from the worm bins at work, too.

Kids in the lake.

2009-07-04T17:34:00.001-07:00

Chickies in the coop

2009-07-04T15:06:00.003-07:00

Little chickies in the big coop where they don't stink up the porch.

Patriotic Chickens

2009-07-04T15:06:00.001-07:00

The two older chickens are celebrating Independence Day by having their first opportunity to wander around in the wide open yard. After that, they were very happy to sit on Ethans and Konnors laps.

Quack

2009-07-03T13:05:00.002-07:00

Other things

2009-07-03T13:05:00.001-07:00

I forgot to get pictures of the bat we found in our laundry, the chickies out in the coop, now, and the kids selling lemonade at the duck races.

Dave's Turkeys

2009-07-02T10:15:00.000-07:00

Dave Thomas has acquired 5 little turkeys to help in the garden. I like them.

Picnic on the big hill

2009-06-28T14:27:00.001-07:00

Today is our 12th anniversary and we went up to shingobee hill with my dad. We discovered while we were there that there is a hiking trail running through there that goes all the way from North Dakota to New York. It's called the North Country Trail. Someday we'll grab a backpack and go for a hike.

Clay and his baloon

2009-06-28T14:20:00.001-07:00

Kids at a parade.

2009-06-28T14:19:00.001-07:00

Cousins and cousins and they still ended up with a large bag full of candy.

Entrepreneurs!

2009-06-27T09:57:00.001-07:00

Waiting for their first sale. In the rain.

12 cheep-cheeps

2009-06-26T20:45:00.001-07:00

The 13th might not be doing to well, but the first 12 are all happy.

Chick video

2009-06-26T17:32:00.001-07:00

This is another test of the video on this phone.

9 little fluffies!

2009-06-26T16:51:00.001-07:00

And 4 more out of the shell in the incubator.

A day at the races

2009-06-26T15:47:00.001-07:00

Well, duck races, anyway. Ewan was hanging with us today, but it was Avery who won both a 2nd place and a slowest duck prize.

A day at the races

2009-06-26T15:46:00.001-07:00

Well, duck races, anyway. Ewan was hanging with us today, but it was Avery who won both a 2nd place and a slowest duck prize.

Way too cool!

2009-06-26T14:09:00.001-07:00

...and waiting for the plasma table.

Video test

2009-06-25T20:42:00.001-07:00

Veloce 2

2009-06-25T14:30:00.001-07:00

Ride in a Veloce!

2009-06-25T14:26:00.001-07:00

Another Chick Pic

2009-06-25T11:32:00.001-07:00

2 more

2009-06-25T11:30:00.001-07:00

And another 4 have peeped through the shell.

New peep peeps

2009-06-25T07:04:00.001-07:00

The little peep peep has moved in with the bigger peep peeps. The big ones were quite intimidated by the noisy little one chasing after them. But they are warming up to him.

First chick hatched!

2009-06-24T17:35:00.000-07:00

First chick hatched out of the 30 eggs. Hopefully there will be many more over the next few days.

Hypno-toad

2009-06-24T13:29:00.001-07:00

If you don't know futurama, this explains hypnotoad: http://web.qx.net/lhaddix/htoad.htm

Chick'n'bun

2009-06-22T16:08:00.001-07:00

The pooch leers into the grazing pen at the chicks sharing space with the bunny.

Mud babies

2009-06-20T19:32:00.001-07:00

Avery's Ten Berrets

2009-06-20T13:06:00.001-07:00

Hannah: The girl who doesn't feel pain.

2009-06-20T09:50:00.002-07:00

Water fight

2009-06-20T09:50:00.001-07:00

Nahni at the Lake

2009-06-20T09:16:00.001-07:00

Rainbow and wind turbine

2009-06-19T20:16:00.001-07:00

Coolest Tyranosaurus Rex Cloud!

2009-06-19T18:21:00.001-07:00

This was the absolutely awesomest case of a cloud looking like something that I've ever seen. And it was just amazingly cool with a great swishy tail, eye sockets, both legs just perfect and even a tongue! Ethan could totally see it, too. And it was just minutes after seeing a great rainbow!
But alas, I was driving and didn't think to take a picture, so here I am writing about it, instead. I mean that was the coolest, awesomest cloud I've ever seen and probably ever will see.
That means it's all downhill from here, I guess. Oh well.
Every cloud has a dull grey lining, huh?

2 1/2 week old chickies

2009-06-17T15:32:00.001-07:00

They totally love fighting over june bugs!

TKD Test! New belts all around!

2009-06-16T20:53:00.001-07:00

--
Sent from my Android phone with K-9. Please excuse my brevity.

Girls on swings

2009-06-14T17:21:00.001-07:00

Especially cute are the teeny girls hanging together.

2009-06-13T16:54:00.001-07:00

Visit from a gravid snapping turtle

2009-06-13T13:40:00.001-07:00

Dam Park Meeting

2009-06-10T10:02:00.001-07:00

Moo's wreath

2009-06-09T15:15:00.001-07:00