Raging Bear Ranch

Justice was not served for Lauren.

2012-02-22T14:02:19Z

You know what can get a ole Mama Bear riled? Mess with her Babies.

You know what gets this ole Mama Bear riled? When you mess with ANY CHILD!

I linked over to Blondee’s blog where I read her post – posted below with her permission.

We have got to say enough is enough.

You decide, was Justice served for Lauren?

Child Killer and Enough

There is no relationship that lasts longer in this world than the relationship of siblings. God’s gift of best friends to us in life. MeetLauren Belius and her twin sister Erica. Beautiful baby girls, aren’t they?

The girls were inseparable, Lauren being the brave ‘older’ sister, and Erica being the shy little sister.

Older brother Nolan didn’t just have to share the spotlight with one cute little sister, but two! These three joined our Taekwondo studio last spring. Busy little kids that we all got a kick out of watching as they learned their counters, kicks and kata’s.

Lauren and Erica- blessings beyond words, beautiful memories made of first birthdays, milestones, holiday mornings and their sweet personalities.

Until one horrific morning in July of 2011.

David Trebilcock stabbed Lauren to death in her own bed as her twin sat inches from her in the very same bed, horrified and screaming for help. David had been plotting her murder, going as far as to lock the family dog in the garage and barricade the bedroom door with a dresser before approaching these amazing girls, naked- to fulfill his plan of killing a child.

By God’s grace, Lauren and Erica’s mom was able to break into the room and attacked David, incapacitating him so she could get her girls out of his evil clutches. Lauren succumbed to her injuries, tragically the little girl with the big grin left her family that day and went to Heaven where she would feel no pain, have no fear, and never be harmed again.

Now a little sister who was shy and dependent on her older, brave sister would be left to navigate the world alone. Her twin, her other half, torn from her right in front of her, torn from us all.

David Trebilcock admitted to murdering Lauren Belius. He did not take the stand in his own defense, instead pleaded not guilty by defense of insanity. He then requested a bench trial instead of a jury of his peers and last week was found NOT GUILTY of killing Lauren.

Our community has been devastated by the murder of this sweet girl, a family broken forever, and a mom has been left to look over her shoulder the rest of her life for a man who made statements that make us all concerned that her other children may be in grave danger when he is released. This man had the foresight to lock a family dog away from the girls it would have fought to protect. He shoved a dresser in front of a door that would have allowed these girls to escape. This man is not an insane man, he’s a cold, calculating murderer who just worked our system and has been freed of all charges by Judge Dwyer of Oneida County.

Our laws need to be changed!

There should be NO plea of insanity if you murder a child, and there certainly should be no bench trial demanded by the murderer!

David Trebilcock can be out in the world amongst you and me in 12 months!! A man who admitted he had intercourse with a 12 year old child. A man who admitted to having drug problems in the past. A man who hid his past from others and left other states when he knew he was in trouble. The very same man who murdered Lauren in cold blood.

Allison, Lauren’s Mom is asking for help in spreading the word of this injustice. PLEASE, I am asking all of my readers to help me spread the word! Repost this on your own blog. Make every community aware of what our laws really do. Help us gain national exposure to get the ball rolling and make it so David Trebilcock and other child killers can not get away with this!

Please do not just link to this blog…too many readers ignore links. Please cut and paste! Right click to copy the photos.

I thank you for your help.

Lauren’s Mommy thanks you for your help!

Photos posted of Lauren, Nolan and Erica Belius are with written permission of their Mom. Photos of sadistic liar, admitted child raping, and confessed child killer David Trebilcock are copied from the Internet.

Progresso® Souper You® Contest – Are you the Biggest Loser?

2012-02-06T14:31:00Z

We have a WINNER!!!

Rena you have won the Progresso prize package!!

I have sent you an e-mail with the information I need.

Thank you all for participating.

Are you ready for a new look this New Year? Progresso® is excited to announce the return of their Souper You® Contest giving you the chance to win an incredible makeover! By telling Progresso why you deserve a makeover and what you love about their soup, you could have the chance to win an ultimate makeover experience in Hollywood this Spring!

Now that the ball has dropped and the confetti has settled, it’s time to consider how you will stick to your resolution for the New Year and maintain your weight management plan, without sacrificing on variety or the taste of foods you love. Thanks to Progresso®, you can have your soup and eat it too!

With 40 delicious soups with 100 calories or less per serving, Progresso Soup has a variety of offerings that help you beat diet boredom and satisfy your taste cravings, while helping you stick to your weight management calorie goals. Progresso soups are packed with hearty ingredients like pasta, beans, rice, meat and vegetables that suit your taste buds and make you feel good about including it in your meal choices.

This year, the Souper You® Contest will provide three lucky winners with an ultimate makeover experience in Hollywood; this includes a trip for 2 to Los Angeles, California where the winner will receive a head-to-toe makeover including hair and makeup, guided shopping spree with a $1,000 fashion retailer gift card, $1,000 spending money and 2 tickets to this season’s live finale of NBC’s The Biggest Loser
Progresso is asking fans to visit www.SouperYou.com and submit their photo with a brief essay about why they love Progresso® soups and why they deserve a makeover, by no later than February 22nd
Fans can check back on March 12th for the announcement of the top ten finalists, and to vote for their favorite finalist until March 25th
In addition, visit http://bit.ly/ProgressoCoup to download a printable coupon for $1.25 off the purchase of four (4) cans of Progresso Soup today!
Also, tune into The Biggest Loser on NBC Tuesdays at 8/7c

I am excited to be involved with this “Souper” contest! Progresso® and MyBlogSpark have given Raging Bear Ranch Readers the opportunity to win a Progresso Souper You prize package.

The winner’s Progresso “Souper You” prize pack will contain:

(2) VIP Coupons for Progresso Soup
(1) copy of “The Biggest Loser” Workout DVD

Rules for this Giveaway are very simple:

Leave a comment on this post on which Progresso Soup you like the best.
Only one entry per 24 hour period please.
If you tweet or Facebook with a link to this giveaway – you will get one
extra entry – be sure to note that this is either your daily or your TWEET/Facebook entry.
I will use the WordPress Plugin And The Winner Is to select the winner.

Contest runs from Today 1/30/2012 – 2/5/2012 at 11:59pm.

Click here to watch this amazing video of the 2011 winner experience.

www.SouperYou.com | Also, find Progresso on Facebook

Disclosure: The Progresso^® Souper You^® prize pack, information, coupon, and giveaway have been provided by Progresso through MyBlogSpark.

Happy New Year – from our Barn to yours!

2012-01-01T01:28:02Z

Raging Bear Ranch would like to wish all of our Friends a

Very Happy New Year!

May your barns be blessed with full hay and healthy animals!

Coupons for Christmas for your Pooches

2011-12-21T18:55:55Z

Your pooches will be singing your praises if you get them these for their stockings and it doesn’t hurt when you can save money makin’ them happy!

Click here for a 1.00 off coupon for Snausages or SnawSomes dog snacks!

Click here for a 1.50 off WYB 2 coupon for Snausages or SnawSomes dog snacks!

Raging Bear Ranch Frugal Comfort recipes

2011-12-08T22:56:28Z

Thought I would pass on two recipe’s that we use that we can literally eat on for two or three days since it is just my husband and I but we practice frugality since we have 9 horses – yes horse so we have learned to cut edges everywhere – I even wrote a book entitled Equine Tightwaddery- how to keep horses without breaking the bank.

Hobo Stew
Cut up potatoes into quarters and put in the pot OR just clean small red potatoes and drop them in the pot. If you like potatos you can increase the number of potatoes you use.

Either use fresh green beans (this will take longer to cook and should be cooked first and then added to the stew) or one-two cans (or frozen veggies) of green beans, carrots, peas, I use fresh corn on the cob cut into sections and also cut off corn from the cob but you can use a couple of cans of corn as well. You can add all type of veggies – just about the kitchen sink! If you use fresh remember the time to cook might take longer and you will have to adjust the water – if using cans just pour veggies and juice in the pot (you want the water level to be about a 1/2 to 1 inch above the potatoes. On top of all the vegetables cut up into small bite-size pieces smoked sausage (my husband and I use the beef but any type of smoked sausage will work). Put it on low-med heat and put the lid on – checking juice every now and then – when the potatoes and green beans are cooked the stew is ready – it is great with just a little dab of butter, salt and pepper or a little shredded cheese on top. What is left over goes right into single serving bowls for lunch the following day and left overs – the longer it sits the better it gets!!!!

Raging Bear Ranch Potato Soup
I’m lactose intolerant to milk (I can tolerate some cheeses) but love cream of potato soup – my husband has developed a recipe for potato soup that is (to me) better than a cream of potato soup.
Cut up a pot full of potatos – add water – cover the potatos and 2″ above the potatos, salt, and pepper and put on medium heat – watching to ensure that it is not too high – adding water as you go – about halfway through when the potatosbegin to soften (don’t stir too much) cut up a yellow onion and add some garlic to the soup. Stir the onion/garlic into the soup and add the lid but cock it so the steam can still escape and turn the heat down just a bit – Now, every 10 minutes stir the pot but do not add water as you now want it to thicken up just a bit when it begins to thicken get out your 2% milk and add just a splash for “color” and add just a little bit of butter. Now you have potato soup – bake a batch of homemade bread and feast like a king -this is one of our favorite dishes in the winter as it cooks it heats up the kitchen and our front room so we will cook a big pot starting after lunch for dinner. You can get a little creative with this soup but it really hits the spot and you have left overs for lunch and a meal the next couple of days!YUMMY – we are going to pick up some potatoes for homemade potato soup tomorrow!What are some of your favorite “comfort” recipes?

****These recipes are exclusive to Raging Bear Ranch – if you reference them on your site please link back to us and give us credit – Thanks****

Our Chicken Account (Petty Cash fund)

2011-12-08T22:20:07Z

Meet our Chicken, he sits atop our mantle and serves a much higher purpose than being a beautiful cookie jar. He is where all of our loose change and bills go every night. In addition, I will put extra cash I receive from riding lessons in him. When I drove carriages in downtown St. Louis I would put my tips into the “Chicken account” – I loved driving the carriages but I just did not have time to spend with my horses and Bear. It did help us through a period when we needed the extra money.

So, what do we do with our Chicken account. Rather than run to the ATM and possibly incur an ATM fee for using one that is not associated with our bank we withdraw from the Chicken account. This is if we really need to run to the store for something and don’t have any cash on hand. We just make sure to “re-deposit” what we take out when we have the extra cash. We generally have from $25.00 – $75.00 in bills and change (primarily change). Once the chicken is full we deposit all but $20.00 into our savings account and start over. Our biggest deposit has been $106.73! Now that is over an extended period of time but this Chicken account has really saved us in ATM fees.
So, now you know about our Chicken Account! Do you have a “Petty Cash” fund at your house? If so, how do you put money in and use it?

Kit’s “Popgrain” Balls for Horses

2011-12-08T22:08:59Z

Ever wanted to get your horse one of those expensive *cough* 19.99 grain balls but could not justify the cost? Have no fear, I have a recipe here for you that you can make that is just as good as the stuff you can buy online or in the store!

Here is a great recipe from my book that your horses and horse friends will LOVE!

I hand these out as gifts at Christmas – they are pretty easy to fix and I use them as fundraisers for horse events as well! These are similar to popcorn balls – only difference is you use grain instead of popcorn!

Kit’s “Popgrain” Balls (all my horses just love to get these for treats – we have a lot of fun with these)

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar or Dry Molasses (Local feed mill will have dry mollasses which I prefer)
1/3 cup light karo syrup
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla (I make my own vanilla – I’ll post that recipe soon)
3 quarts sweet feed (You can use sweet feed, oats, I use a grain and a handful of kernal corn for crunch)

Instructions:
Cook first three ingredients to medium-crack stage (280 degrees F by thermometer)
Add salt and vanilla.
Stir into sweet feed.
Grease hands and shape mixture into balls. ** You can also spread out on a greased cookie sheet and then break into pieces like a Peanut brittle or use a Cake or Candy Mold. I used a bundt cake (mini) to make little wreaths for Christmas one year!**

Place on wax paper to set.
Wrap in colored cellophane as gifts.

**You can also add a tie to this made out of hay- braid together several LONG sections of hay to make a “rope” that can be added to the ball so you can hang in their stall. I do not recommend using twine or rope.

Let me know how yours come out!

Sweet Smelling Pets without the Water

2011-12-06T23:45:35Z

Does your dog smell, well, like a dog? Do you hate giving your dog a bath? Does he/she hate getting baths?

Did you know that over bathing can cause dry skin? Well, it does which causes your dog to itch more which in turn causes more dander that you have to sweep up.

Here is a trick to extend the times between bathing. Not only is this easy to mix up it is so Frugally cheap and out performs the branded stuff!

Find an empty shaker bottle (I use a small coffee can w/lid and I’ve punched small holes in it) – and put this in the shaker bottle – Mix well – 1 cup baking soda and 1 cup Cornstarch. Now if you want a little smell to it and you have some dried rosemary or mint add this to the mix and mix well or you can add some essential oil like rose, lavender, or vanilla. Just be sure you mix it WELL before putting it in your shaker. Now take your doggie outside or somewhere where you can easily clean up and shake this over his coat. Lightly rub into the coat and then brush out – do not over shake the mix onto your dog – just lightly dust him. This will deodorize him without stripping his coat of all the oils plus it lifts dirt up so you can brush it out!

This stuff will last forever – just keep adding to it at the ratio of 1 : 1 and mixing it well.

If your dog is long haired, I recommend doing this in sections at a time. I use our Furminator when I do this and you would not believe the results!

Best of all, no wet furniture or floors! Your dogs will smell good and your furniture will too!

Homemade Vanilla…..the good stuff!

2011-12-06T23:19:37Z

Homemade Vanilla

Source: annies-eats.net via Rachel on Pinteres

Traditional Vanilla Recipe
(Makes 8-ounces)
1/2-pint Vodka or Brandy
(The Brandy makes a Stronger flavor, the Vodka is more subtle)
4 Vanilla beans
(supplier for madagascar & Mexican vanilla beans:
http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeysvanillabeans.html
or you can find them at your local spice stores.

You will also need a Seal tight bottle or container
Decorative bottle (have your friends save their old vanilla bottles – soak off the label and put your own label on!)
1. Using a sharp kitchen knife, cut a lengthwise slit down the middle of each vanilla bean.
2. Cut vanilla beans into 1/2-3/4 inch pieces.
3. Pour vodka into your container.
4. Add vanilla beans to container and shake.
5. Wait and shake. It will take 30-days for the vanilla extract to mature. Once each day, vigorously shake the container for 30-seconds.
6. Once the 30-day cycle has finished, strain the liquid through a colander or coffee filter and place in decorative bottle.

Source: whipperberry.com via Rachel on Pinterest

I remember when……..

2011-07-07T18:47:31Z

Have you ever read something, seen something or possibly smelled something that just brought back a flood of memories? No pictures on this post, close your eyes and remember when……….

Today was one of those days…….homemade playdough! Yep, that is what brought back great memories of my Great-Grandmother Susie King, aka Nannie King, and her ways of keeping me occupied while I grew up.

You see, Nannie King was from an era that you saved everything whether it be a breadsack or a closet full of soap and toliet paper. Living through the depression and several wars made my Nannie King very diligent in the art of saving money.

My Great Grandfather, Eck King, fell one day and hit his head, he thought that he was going to die and told my Grandfather and Uncle King that he had $40,000.00 hidden in several places in the house, one being in between the mattress of his bed and some in old mason jars buried along the edge of the workshop shed!! The distrust he had in the banks were a carryover from the depression. Can you imagine having that much money in your home……this gives you a glimpse of how my Great Grandparent became big time savers and helped to shape and mold me.

Okay, back to the story of remembering when…….my Nannie had several things that she would do to keep me occupied during the day – on very hot days I was given a coffee can filled with water, a paint brush and a huge canvas also known as the driveway to draw till my heart was content or chalk was used to draw hopscotch patterns.

My Nannie also made the BEST homemade playdough in the whole world and kept batches of it on hand for me and my cousins to play with. I don’t know what her recipe was for making it but while combing one of my favorite sites – Hotcouponworld.com I came across this post – Homemade Playdough - and it just brought back a flood of memories, I had to share!

I hope that you will take the time and use some of the “depression” era ideas to have some quality fun with your children, neighborhood kids, or just be a kid yourself!

Think I’ll get my coffee can and paint brush and see what I can paint on my huge canvas driveway…..have some fun!