Something else that fell right out of the sky!

After my weather balloon post, I heard from David's great-aunt Joetta, who lived and farmed with her family 1/4 mile from our present farm.  She gave me permission to share.  The balloon she describes was found 1 mile north of our farm.

"We came home one night at 11pm and the kids were all in bed.  Zeke heard this funny noise up there and a light would go off and on.  He came in and told me and we listened to it.  It was a little scary.  We went and drove up north to Hettich's farm. 
Here it was--a big parachute with a big box, a heavy one.  It was hooked on the fence.  Just as we got there, the wind came up and it went dragging across the pasture and Melvin and Zeek tried to hold it.  I was driving the car and I tried to run on the long rope that was attached to it.  But by the time it hit the next fence, it broke loose and the box stayed there, but the balloon flew up and away. 
We read the note like you did, but it said to call a number.  We did.  It was an experiement sent out from Canada and so a couple of days later they came down to pick it up.  It was about 400lb.  They took it to Aberdeen and loaded it on the train and shipped it back to Canada.  They would not say what was in it.  They paid us $300 for the fence and our trouble for reporting it.  We never even got to keep the balloon parachute that carried it, as it flew away." 

What are the odds?  I'm just glad these things are lighter now.  I can't imagine seeing a 400 lb. box falling from the sky--and I would hope I wasn't under it!!

Falling From the Sky

Our mail carrier alerted us to a parachute-looking thing on our road yesterday.  The Big 3 were more than happy to check it out. 

They came back with something exciting--and it had fallen RIGHT OUT OF THE SKY!

We were the lucky finders of a weather balloon and its contents.  We were supplied with all the information we needed to know.  1.  Don't touch the balloon if it is still inflated (it wasn't). 2.  The wires and other contents attached to it are not dangerous.  3.  Please mail the wired box back in the enclosed mailer.

We did as we were asked to do and mailed it back.

The best part?

We got to keep the parachute! 

 

You just never know when something exciting will fall right out of the sky!

Valentine's Day Countdown

We are ALWAYS counting down to something at our house.
Currently, we are counting down to the next time I teach piano lessons (so Teresa can play with my students), Super Bowl, when our supper guests will arrive next weekend, and probably several other things I don't remember or I am just not aware of yet.
I came across this Valentine's Day Countdown craft from catholicicing.com today.  Teresa and I put it together this morning and she can't wait to take off the first link tomorrow!  It comes with 14 Bible-verse links, so I just added another one that says, "What do I LOVE most about my family?" to the chain so that we don't have to wait one more day to start!
Follow the link to get it all printed and done for you.  All you have to do is cut and fold the strips into hearts (fold in half and then staple the top).  Be sure to link each folded heart before you staple it into a heart shape.  I ALMOST made this mistake . . . but maybe I'm the only one without that foresight.
Despite the blog's name, it is not necessary for you to be Catholic to make this craft.  I promise. :o)
Now, off to find out more about St. Valentine so we can put a little meaning into our Valentine's Day celebration beyond balloons and chocolate!  Only 15 days left!

Name-Your-Own Chicken

 

We tried something new tonight.  It was consumed without complaint by all, from youngest to oldest at the table.  (To be fair, the oldest only complained one time in our marriage, and, well, I don't see that happening again. . . .) :o)

I have found that my pickier two middle children are more apt to try new things when they help in the prep work and they were more than happy to help with this one.  Nathan got to pound the chicken with the meat tenderizer and Teresa got to crush the crackers (both done in gallon size Ziploc bags--NO mess!)

I am calling this Name-Your-Own Chicken because I took it out of the Sept. 2012 Ladies' Home Journal last fall, probably--appropriately--sometime around September

In the magazine it is called "Mrs. Potter's Chicken."  The person renamed it in honor of the woman who shared the recipe with her.  Previously, Mrs. Potter named it "Marie Murphy's Chicken" in honor of her friend.

So, call it what you want, but I do suggest you try it!

 

1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp black pepper

Chicken breasts to fill 9x13 pan (sliced in half, if necessary, and pounded to about 1/4 inch thick)

2 T butter, melted

 

Heat oven to 425. Spray pan with cooking spray and set aside.  Combine cracker crumbs, Parmesan, and pepper in a shallow dish; set aside.  Pound each chicken piece to about 1/4 inch thick.  Coat chicken in melted butter (I use my glass pie plates for these sorts of things), and then dredge in cracker mixture, pressing crumbs firmly onto each piece.  Lay chicken in pan in a single layer.  Sprinkle any excess coating over the top.  Bake for 15 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

 

 

$100

Yesterday Nathan's class celebrated their 100th Day of School.  Nathan brought home this paper:

I was so proud of him and totally didn't expect this sort of serious answer from him.
I would have expected something closer to his brother's answer two years ago which was, "I would buy 100 cheeseburgers at the Chelsea Bar." 
We all have our priorities!