Someday.....

Someday things will work out for me to update this blog regularly. Every time I think things are falling into place for that to happen, something else comes up. This time it's pneumonia. :o( Thank you to each and every one of you who read my blog even though I don't do the best job at updating it lately.

The Santa Story

If I had only known, I would have at least put on a little makeup. So why am I in this picture? Because Megan, who insisted on seeing Santa, wouldn't go near him once we got there.

Megan wants a Swim To Me Puppy for Christmas. She wants one so bad that she begged to see Santa because she wanted to make sure he knew it's what she wants. Yes, she sent him a letter. But that's not as good as telling the person face to face.

So we find out that Santa will be at The Depot Saturday afternoon. I load all three kids in the van and head out. We get there and Jade is the one that gets all excited and rushes right up to sit in Santa's lap. But little miss Megan won't get within five feet of the Jolly Old Elf. So I take Braden up, he takes one look at Santa and screams.

The solution? I sit beside Santa. Braden sits on my lap, Meg stands in front of me and Jade gets in just so she isn't left out. Next year I'll remember that I should do my hair and make up to see Santa.

Easy Homemade Christmas Ornament

This is a total variation of an ornament craft I found in Family Fun Magazine. You can see the original HERE.

I cut polar fleece into 1 1/2 inchish squares and strung 100 of them. Then tied it all up into a wreath shape. After that I added a ribbon and bell to hang it with.

It was so simple and turned out so pretty. I want to do my whole tree in them. We are making these for our 4H craft tomorrow night.

Oh Christmas Tree

It would seem I procrastinated just long enough.  When I got to Meijer yesterday, I found that all the artificial trees were 50% off.  So not only did I get a white tree, I got a prelit white tree.

Here it is in the box....Hmmm....I wonder how long it's going to take to put together.

Well now, that didn't take long at all.  It was in three pieces and just slid nicely into the base.

When Jade got home from school, the girls had so much fun decorating.  All has gone well so far, except that Braden has figured out what the candy canes are for.

And just look at the adorable chicken ornament my mom found me.  I feel ready for Christmas now.

Dreaming Of My Garden

What does one do to drive away the dreary blahs that winter snow brings? Order more seeds for spring planting of course.

I found http://www.humeseeds.com today and boy have I had fun. I wanted to order so much more than I did. I had to keep reminding myself that 1) I'm on a budget, 2) I already ordered several seeds, and 3) my time and garden space are limited.

So I settled on herbs I have been wanting. Basil, garlic chives, dill, Italian parsley, and peppermint. Most of those can be easily grown in containers if I don't get time to prepare the beds early enough. Then I had to order a few things just for fun.

We are getting "Mammoth Grey Stripe" Sunflowers. How beautiful are these? They are supose to grow 6 to 12 feet. I'm going to plant them in a circle to make a playhouse for the kids.


If you have never heard of the sunflower playhouse, here's what you do. You plant the flowers in a circle fairly close together. Then when they are nice and tall, you tie the tops together to make a sort of tee pee out of them. The kids are rather excited about this.

I also ordered a couple other sunflower varieties just for fun. I like to plant them for the wild birds.

Then I had to order a couple things just because they plain looked like fun. The girls are very excited over the ornamental pop corn and the multi-colored carrots.


Now I just have to wait for spring. I told Rob I want my cold frames built as my Valentine's Day present. Hopefully he takes me seriously. I can't wait to get started on my garden now and it's not even Christmas yet!

Friday This and Thats

I think I killed the earth worms. I forgot to bring them in out of the garage when it got below freezing. When I looked in on them, the surface was frozen solid. :o( I'm bringing them in to thaw and hoping that only the edges actually froze and that the worms are alive and well in the center.

The chickens are tolerating the snow covered ground better than I expected. They actually spend a good deal of the day outside in it. They do huddle under the porch at times, or hang out in the coop more. They also aren't leaving the back yard now.

We are getting as many as seven eggs a day now. That's pretty good for this time of year. I wonder if they will lay like this all winter. We are almost to the solstice. For those wondering what that has to do with chickens and eggs, the solstice is the shortest day of the year. Exposure to light directly effects how much chickens lay eggs. Often they stop laying all together once the daylight hours drop below 10-12 hours a day unless they are provided with a supplemental light source.

The rabbits seem to be doing well also. I can't believe we breed them in just a month. Hopefully that goes well.

Christmas preparations are underway. I think we have our get together's with extended family scheduled OK. Now I just have to finish up the shopping and get it all wrapped.

That's all for now. Maybe I'll have a nice Christmas cookie post soon. In the mean time, here is a nice picture of the chickens and rabbits for you.

Winter Wonderland

As much as I don't care for the cold, I love the look of nature the morning after a heavy snowfall. There is nothing quite as beautiful as the undisturbed snow clinging to the bare branches of the bushes and trees.

So I headed out with my camera this morning to share the view out my windows.