Wordless Wednesday Tuckered Out Mini Pony

Gizmo, our mini pony, is tuckered out after a day of eating hay and running around.

Wordless Wednesday Oh Christmas Tree

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays From The Abel Home to Yours!

The Okee Dokee Brothers Winterland CD Review

We received this product free to facilitate this review. Affiliate links may be in this post. Thank you for supporting this blog.

The Okee Dokee Brothers, Justin Lansing and Joe Mailander, are wonderful outdoors men and Americana folk musicians. The duo are at it again with their very first winter album. This new album is called Winterland. This album includes a 24 page full color illustrated booklet with book-style cover and spine. They went on a snowshoeing, cross country skiing, sled dog racing, sledding, tubing, snow fort building, ice fishing, adventure to create these songs. You can see all the videos to some of the songs in Winterland on YouTube.

Here are some pictures of the fun artwork in the booklet-style cover.

Track Listing on the CD:

1. Blankets of Snow: This is a great song...one of my favorites on this CD. I love the fiddle and it just makes me warm inside even with the cold outside.
2. Welcome Home: This song is a happy, upbeat song for a weary traveler when they come home. I love the fiddling and banjo in this one. It is definitely toe tapping.
3. Ice Fishin' Shack: This one reminds me of living in Alaska. It is great to go ice fishing with a partner.
4. Keep Me Warm: This upbeat song is a lot of fun with some fiddling and a great beat for dancing! You can just see Jack Frost dancing with the Snow Queen.
5. The Abominable Yeti: Lots of banjo to this one. I like the lyrics in this one. We find out that Yetis are misunderstood and even huggable.
6. You You You: This is a silly song that has some silly made up words. I don't know about this one. It sounds like The Okee Dokee Brothers ran out of material. Sorry guys.
7. Candles: This one is so lovely. I love this song that is The Okee Dokee Brothers "This Little Light of Mine"...in there own words.
8. Slumberjack: This one is a lullaby that lumberjacks could sing to their little ones as they drifted off to sleep.
9. Ukulele in a Snowstorm (with Paula Fuga on vocals): I like this ukulele tune. It helps me think of warmer weather or Hawaii while it is snowing or really cold outside.
10. Howl: This is a fun song that gets my kids howling.
11. Snowpeople: This one is about gender equality and being your own kind of unique.
12. Lazy Day: Sometimes we just want to take a lazy day even if we have a lot of things to do. This slow lazy song is about just that.
13. North Country Dance Band: This is a great toe tapping song that you just want to square dance to. Yeehaw!
14. Great Grandmother Tree: I absolutely love this one! It reminds me of the tree in Pocahontas. It reminds us that life goes on even when something dies.
15. New Year: I love this lullaby about new birth & growth and will be playing it for the New Year.
16. Signs of Spring: Spring is one of my favorite seasons and this song is a perfect way to start this season.

Here is a video of Howl:


This album is great to take with you to listen to on a family road trip, snuggled up inside with hot chocolate around a fireplace, around a campfire, or even while hiking. It is a wonderful reminder to get outside to experience and explore nature with your family and friends. Winterland is wonderful kids music that resonates with adults as well. I love The Okee Dokee Brother's CDs because they bring back so many good memories of the great outdoors when I was a child and remembering helps me recreate wonderful memories with my own kids. The messages in all the songs are good and wholesome and The Okee Dokee Brothers feel like Kindred Spirits to me. I can't wait for the next CD from The Okee Dokee Brothers!

With their beards, flannel shirts, overalls and instruments The Okee Dokee Brothers are sure fun to watch perform on stage as well. You can see when their next show is here.

BE SOCIAL
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/okeedokeebros
Twitter - https://twitter.com/OkeeDokeeBros
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/okeedokeebros/
YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/user/OkeeDokeeBros
Pinterest - http://www.pinterest.com/okeedokeebros
BandsInTown - http://www.bandsintown.com/TheOkeeDokeeBrothers

BUY IT
Go HERE and you can buy The Okee Dokee Brothers merchandise or purchase Winterland on Amazon.

10% of proceeds for Winterland go to 'Keep the North Cold', an initiative from a Minneapolis, MN company called Askov Finlayson that aims to give 110% to combat climate change and reduce their environmental impact. Climate change and global warming threaten winters everywhere and all of life on planet Earth. We all need to do our part to stop it.



DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: Thanks to Beth Blenz-Cluc​as of Sugar Mountain PR for sending me a free The Okee Dokee Brothers - Winterland CD to listen to and review. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review.

Artsy Olive Personalized Framed Art Print Review and Giveaway

I received this art free to facilitate this review.

Artsy Olive is a online shop where you can get custom, lovely art pieces for your home. These come in different sizes, prints, and you can choose different frames (black, white, oak) or none at all. They have a great selection of fun art and inspiring quotes to choose from as well. There is something for everyone and every room in the house.

Here is how it works:

1. choose a background
2. personalize
3. choose a frame
4. checkout

What I Thought:

We got to choose a customized 7.7" x 7.7" framed art print. The process of ordering was quick and easy after I selected what print I wanted. I selected the Rooster Kitchen print, personalized it with The Abels' Kitchen and the phrase "In This Kitchen Love is Homemade and Generously Shared", choose a black frame, and checked out. This was so simple and painless.

Even though I unwrapped it some I wanted to show the plastic and cardboard protecting it while it was shipped.

I received it in the mail super fast. The box was filled with packing peanuts that I really don't care for, but it came to me in good condition. It was wrapped in clear plastic and the corners were protected with cardboard pieces. It also came with hanging hardware as well.

Rooster Kitchen print framed in black and personalized for my home.

I love the art of the very colorful rooster. It matches my kitchen very well. I initially thought it might do well hung above my sink in my kitchen, but I think now I might want to find a better place to display it because there is no waterproof protection, like glass or clear plastic over the print and I do not want it ruined. The Rooster Kitchen print also comes in the 13.7" x 13.7" size.

Artsy Olive Rooster Kitchen print hung in my Kitchen.

Arsty Olive is a great company to get lovely and personalized art from. I recommend them highly. These would be wonderful gifts for the holidays!

BUY IT
Get 15% off with code blog15 at Artsy Olive. This code is good Dec 1-30 for unlimited use.

WIN IT
Prize: A Framed Print from Artsy Olive.
Host: Arsty Olive and FrontGate Media.
Who Can Enter: Open to US Residents 18 years or older.
Selection Process: 5 winners will be selected on 12/31/2018 and notified by email.
Where to Enter: Go to this link https://www.blessedfreebies.com/artsyolivegiveaway.html and fill out the form to enter.

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received this product for free to facilitate this review. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review.

Cave Tools BBQ Grilling Glove Oven Mitts Review

I received the Cave Tools BBQ Grilling Glove Oven Mitts free to facilitate this review. Affiliate links may be in this posting. Thanks for supporting my blog.

Cave Tools is a great online store to find BBQ: tools & accessories, charcoal grills, recipe books, apparel, and gift ideas. They have a great selection of things from tool sets & grill baskets to grill racks & a portable charcoal grill. Find your barbecue and grilling needs at Cave Tools!

Cave Tools BBQ Grilling Glove Oven Mitts.

BBQ Grilling Glove Oven Mitts Features:

• Never Burn Your Hands Again - Heat resistance up to 662°F for Smoking, Grilling, Baking, or Cooking and extended cuffs protect your forearms when reaching into the back of the grill or oven.
• Perfect Combination of Heat Resistance, Flexibility, and Grip - Made from light weight flame retardant Aramid Kevlar fiber coated in nonslip silicone.
• One Size Fits All - Polycotton inner liner is extremely comfortable
• Cleanup is Easy - Just use warm water or toss them in the washing machine.
• Comes With 25 Professional Barbecue Recipes - Step by step instructions and detailed grilling tutorial videos. Free download Meat Smoking Journal iOS & Android App.
• Lifetime Satisfaction Guarantee - If at any point you are unhappy with your bbq oven gloves you can return them for a full money back refund. They take customer service that seriously.

Using the Cave Tools BBQ Grilling Glove Oven Mitts with hot cast iron skillets.

Our Thoughts:

The Cave Tools BBQ Grilling Glove Oven Mitts are great to use in the kitchen or outdoors around the grill! These protect your hands and forearms from getting burned from hot elements, grates, pans, pots, fire, flame, etc. We used these with my large stainless steel pasta pot that has lost a handle on one side, my cast iron skillets (the handles get hot, especially right out of the oven), and while baking. You can take pans straight out of the hot oven with these on. I love that these have great grip and flexibility too. I like that they are so versatile and will love trying them when we are grilling on the BBQ next.

Using the Cave Tools BBQ Grilling Glove Oven Mitts to get out a hot cookie sheet with cookies out of the oven.

These say they are one size fits all, but my hands are so tiny that they have room to spare when I have them on. This can get a bit cumbersome and I feel like I have the gauntlet of infinity on sometimes. They do work very well for my sons, Delbin & Jaedan, who are both aspiring chefs and my husband Brian, who loves to grill.

Using the Cave Tools BBQ Grilling Glove Oven Mitts to get out a hot pan with ham out of the oven.

I want to mention that the fabric used in the gloves is not waterproof. Steam and hot liquids can and will burn through the gloves. Make sure to use them dry not wet and never reach into hot oil to grab foods with them!!!

All in all, we think the Cave Tools  BBQ Grilling Glove Oven Mitts are great and we highly recommend them.

BE SOCIAL
Official Website: https://cavetools.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CaveToolsGrilling
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CaveTools @CaveTools
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/cavetools/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cavetools/
Google+: +Cave Tools
YouTube: http://cavetoolsvideos.com/

BUY IT
At Amazon or Cave Tools.



Cave Tools Coupon Code: Grill Gloves 15% Off: GrillGlove15

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received this product for free to facilitate this review. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review. Affiliate links can be found in this post. Thank you for your support of this blog!