Horse Manure Park

My daughter found "elf tracks" in our back yard. How exciting!! Christmas can't be too far away.

...of year again - Farm Fest festivities start a week from today. I'm getting pretty excited now. This marks our ninth "official" get together out at the old family farm, although the original gathering was over the Fourth of July holiday in 2002. We started calling it Farm Fest the following year and the year after that, some seven summers ago, we added live music to the mix with our little family band and started selling t-shirts as a souvenir of the weekend. I really like this year's t-shirt design, although my original plan for this year's shirt was going to look like this: Yep, good ol' Alan-A-Dale from the original animated Robin Hood.  We came up with the rooster as the Farm Fest mascot years ago and Alan-A-Dale seemed a good fit for this year's shirt until I found stumbled upon the rooster "continent" pattern which is what the final design ended up to be.  Come up with a cool motto, add my own little graphics to it, and voila ! 

I've taken quite a hiatus from blogging.  But I was thinking this morning (as the kids screamed around the house while Max and Ruby warbled in the background) what a shame it is that I've kept this blog for five years and I've kind of just let it go. I guess we all need a break now and then - and I've had that break.  Time to get back to it. Besides, this summer has brought about huge changes in my life.  Some of them have been personal, some have been professional.  I guess you could say this truly has been the summer of change for me and my family. Before anyone starts wondering what terrible thing has happened, let me assure you, it's all good.  And there are times when change can be very good. I'm not sure where to even start - I suppose April is a good place. I went to the doctor in April.  I was feeling run down.  Tired all the time.  No energy.  I just didn't feel good.  A thought lingered in the back of my mind: I was afraid I was developi

I've been away from blogging for a long, long time.  I'm trying to maintain a football website and it is really hard to find time to sit and write a personal blog when Facebook is right there in front of me.  But here is the new Farm Fest 9 invitation and t-shirt order form for anyone who is interested! http://farm-fest.blogspot.com/

Copied from a posting on Facebook.  A man walked into a bar and ordered a beer.  He left a note and asked the bartender if he would keep it there.  Very moving.

On Tuesday, the Oreo cookie turns 100 years old.  The first Oreo was introduced to America on March 6, 1912.  The Oreo cookie One would think that Oreo has been so successful because it was an original idea: a white, creamy filling between two chocolate wafers.   But Oreo is actually a rip-off.  The original cookie with a white, creamy filling between two chocolate wafers was called the Hydrox.  The Hydrox cookie Hydrox made its debut in 1908, some four years before the Oreo.  It was finally pulled from production in 1999 after a 91 year run on the cookie market.  It simply could no longer compete with its younger carbon copy. I remember Hydrox cookies.  We used to have them at our house all the time -- I'm sure it was because they were less expensive than Oreos.  I honestly couldn't tell the difference between the two.  Until, of course, Oreo introduced the "Double-Stuf" The Oreo Double Stuf.  Making American kids fat twice as fast since 1975. S

So this is what we call a major winter storm, eh? Sorry for the sarcasm, but I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.  The National Weather Service really built this one up.  They even issued warnings via the Emergency Broadcast System on television.  Prepare to be bludgeoned with 18 inches of snow in the Brainerd Lakes Area .   The end is nigh.  The geniuses at the local newspaper, the Brainerd Daily Dispatch Disgrace , in all of their journalistic hyperbole, called the looming disaster "Snowmaggedon."  (Real original, I know) The underlying feeling was that we've never seen snow before.  My personal thought was the weather folks have been bored all winter and they finally had something to talk about.  And this storm was being blown totally out of proportion. It turns out I was right for once. Now I'm not claiming to have seen it all, but I have lived in Minnesota for all of my 42 years.  I've seen bad winter storms.  And I started having m

According to this map, the weatherman feels fairly certain that my neck o' the woods is going to get absolutely hammered by a winter storm in the next 48 hours. They scared us with "the possibility of a half foot of snow" on Sunday and we barely got a dusting. What will Tuesday and Wednesday bring?  Could the computer models be wrong twice in three days? Sure they could. Or we could have the first real snow storm of the season - maybe it will be remembered as the "Leap Day Blizzard of '12".  But fret not.  Spring is exactly three weeks away.  And daylight savings time begins in eleven days! If I have to break out my snow shovel for the first time this winter on March 1st, I'm not going to complain much. 

Time for what I'll have to call my weekly update, or perhaps bi-monthly?  A few things have happened since last time I typed away... The most important thing is my oldest turned six years old on Feb. 9th.  We had a quiet party on the night of her birthday (Mom and Dad were working the entire weekend).  Celebrating at home, Feb 9th.  Little brother had already started trashing the cake. This past Saturday we had a bigger party for her at the Three Bears Waterpark at the Holiday Inn here in town.  Even cousins and Nora and Jacob came all the way from Bismarck, ND, to be at the party! Little brother checking out the cake.  Again. Ava's cupcake cake A few of the kids at the party Opening gifts... Concentrating on her Lego veterinarian clinic, one of her birthday gifts.  This little work of art took over two hours for Dad (with some help from the birthday girl) to piece together!  She's determined to be a vet when she grows up.  In the end, she had a

I just added a new feature to my blog for those who don't have Facebook.  I will try to update my Twitter status frequently (to the left).  You can also click on the links "pics.twitter.com" to view any pictures I might post.  Hope this keeps my blog more relevant to you non-Facebook folks!!!

A quick update here, for those who still stop in to check my blog.  As you can see, Farm Fest 9 has been set.  It was a challenge to find a weekend that worked for the majority.  Nothing in June, nothing in July.  The first weekend in August was about our only choice.  Everyone is so busy these days, every year seems to be more and more of a challenge. Even this first weekend of August has its drawbacks.  The biggest is that it's WE Fest weekend; but what can ya do?  If anything, Farm Fest is a lot more affordable.  And the company is better, right? Well, we are all starting to get healthy again around here.  It has taken forever, but the coughing, sniffles, runny noses and hacking are all starting to subside.  It all started on Thanksgiving.  I'd say we've paid our dues. Well, this is just a quick update.  I will update again next week.  Until then, stay healthy!

My first music video... made just for my girlfriend because I like her.

I posted this to Facebook, but for anyone who does not have a Facebook account, here's a new documentary that I think is a must see...

My first "featurette" made with my iMovie program.  The footage is from my iPhone, already posted on Facebook, so there is really nothing new here, just edited together...  sort of. I don't know how to get rid of the "pillar box" look - the dark columns on the left and right - but it's my first effort.  Now if I could find a good compatible camcorder for my Macbook, I'd be in business! Anyway, here is my avant garde production; it's only a minute long.

It's my first entry of 2012.  So much for resolving to update my blog more often in the new year.  Nine days later, I'm finally getting around to it.  It was an exciting football weekend here in the Branstner household.  Instead of repeating myself, I'll just redirect you here to Snot Bubble Football , my "other" blog, and to read about the excitement of the Bison winning their first FCS national title.  Meanwhile, our house has been full of germs and sickness, which has been an ongoing theme since Thanksgiving.  It's really getting old, I can assure you. Both kids had pink eye early last week.  Neil got it first, then Ava (and it didn't come from school - Ava was still on Christmas break, so we don't know where in the world this came from).  I took both kids to the MD on the 4th and the eye drops they were prescribed quickly cleared up the infection. And right on cue, Neil came down with a doozy of a cold.  Again .  He went into a sort of resp