Branding

These days I am spending a lot of time marketing socks and building a "brand".  On this particular weekend I took a break from business to spend some quality time with friends and family and work on a whole different type of "brand".

Whether we are helping friends make sausage, building a deck or branding I love to see how our kids pitch in.  They are naturally curious, energetic and love to be part of the action.  Especially when it comes to something new.  If only the same could be said for cleaning their room.

Some great friends invited us out to their farm for the annual branding.  This is our second trip out and the last time was three years ago (click here for the link)!http://www.thecircushouse.com/2009/07/rokochy-rodeo.html

 Here comes the Rokochys!  Let the branding begin!

 Guess what's in the bucket boys. They are called prairie oysters. Yummmmmy!

 Don't look at me to do any work. I'm a princess, I'm scared of cows and I just got a manicure.

 The three stooges.

 The hot brand.

 Pat imparting some wisdom.

 Carson's favorite part was the refreshments.

 Just moments later he stopped to water the grass but didn't set down his rootbeer.

 Olivia's job was herding the cows into the pen after they were branded.  She is good at this from all the practice she has herding her little brothers and sister!

 They said this cow looked different than the rest so I thought they should name it Lady Gaga. 

 Kesley is very brave and jumped in to push cows down the chute.  

 Olivia was taking it all in.  She even lost a tooth in all the excitement. 

 Everyone had a job and I could only keep busy so long taking pictures so I asked our host if I could help out thinking I could maybe make a salad for supper.  Instead she handed me a scalpel and a handful of balls and after a brief Prairie Oyster peeling tutorial I had a job.

This picture brought to you by photographer in training Olivia. 

 I didn't know cowboys ate popcorn twists. 
 Farm Life.

 I know these are going to be the times that the kids look back on and have fond memories.  I am so grateful to the many friends we have made and how they treat us like family.  It definitely takes a village to help raise these kids!

 Finally Olivia had one cow that she had to push all of the rest would be scared of her.  I am sure she was thinking maybe I could borrow this stick.  It may come in handy at home!

After the branding was over we enjoyed great food, a lot of laughs and we were even brave enough to try a few battered Prairie Oysters.  This was definitely an unforgettable day.  Thanks to the Dickies for making us part of the farm for the day!

Hamburgers, High Walls and Baseballs

A trip to Saskatoon for the Griswold family can be sure to include one thing.  If Dad is picking the restaurant we will be making a stop at Fuddruckers. 

Ok take the picture quick.  You are cutting into burger time. 

 

 Fudd Trainees. 

 Ladies like Fudd too!

 Although it may look like a cartoon thought bubble that is actually a neon sign over my hubby's head. 

 Keep one eye out for mom who always loves to steal bites of burger and fries because she orders a chicken burger and no fries and the realizes how good the burgers look. 

  The holy grail of burgers.  Harp music actually plays when you bite into one. 

 I'm all done!

 After experiencing the burger perfection there is nothing better than hitting a few balls. 

 The Rock can still hit a fast ball.  Watch how it's done boys!

 

 This girl can hit a long ball. 

 

Then over to the rock climbing wall.  Levi and Grandma had already take off to drive back to Davidson and I think Grandma is braver than the kids climbing the rock wall to take the teenager driver training on the highway!

Little sister stays on the ground to cheer the kids on. Mom holds her breath anxiously as her babies are 24 feet in the air.  When did I become so wimpy?  Does that automatically come with motherhood?

 Ring the bell!

 Great success!

 This should be completely natural for the red head.  If I had a dollar for every time he climbs over our fence into the neighbors backyard I'd have enough money to fix the loose boards in the fence!

Toys R Us and Snappy Socks

We were so excited to be contacted by a buyer from Toys R Us after she saw us on a rerun of Dragons' Den.  We flew to Toronto to meet they buyer at the Toys R Us headquarters.  Everything went very well and last week we shipped the socks.  So Snappy Socks will be on Toys R Us shelves very soon!

I am not sure if they have ever had vendors pose on their sign before but we had to record this momentous occasion!

 My sales rep/friend Karen was very excited about the sale! 

 She was excited for many reasons and one was that there would be less socks in her garage!

The Toys R Us Headquarters are very close to Canada's Wonderland.  I hope the next time we take a trip I will be able to take the kids and they can go play while we work.  Lucky for me the park wasn't open yet so I didn't feel quite so bad. 

Karen and I went out to celebrate it has taken a lot of hard work to get this far and she has been such and amazing support in this whole process from day one!