Saturday, December 27, 2008

Some New Pics

Our first white Christmas in a long time. So sweet and even snowing big flakes while we were doing stockings. :)





Abby and Ebenezer on Christmas Eve

Abs and her Grandpa Peep doing some drumming



Abby in her new duds and her favorite new horse "Matrix" an appaloosa stallion.



Wednesday, December 24, 2008

The Eve

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

Hope everyone's Christmas is full of magic and light.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Christmas :) & :(

How is everyone doing this close to Christmas? Are you excited or do you feel stressed?
Are you done shopping or have you not wrapped a thing.
What is your fav part of Christmas and what makes you cringe?

My answers:
I feel stressed as I still have a few places to go and stuff to get. How many more days do i have, yeah, not many.
I have not wrapped a thing.
My favorite part of Christmas- Christmas eve and the morning when everything is done and all you have to do is eat yummy food and enjoy watching people open their presents. I really like seeing my family, especially the ones we only get to see at Christmas time. Sunday was that, at my parent's house, white elephant presents, yummy soup, the kids being kids roudy and having fun, and playing pinochle.
The part that makes me cringe- the sheer amount of STUFF! I'm trying not to pass on my neurosis to Abs but i find myself talking a lot about kids who don't have many things and how important it is that we all get to be together.

OK, now it is everyone else's turn- my version of tagging Carla, Jess, Anna, Kristy, Tessa, & Jill. :)

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Tagged


I was tagged by Carla to post a photo-
How crazy is this? My 4th photo in the 4th file is a sweet pic of Carla reading to Abby and Boone. So sweet.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

So I got a lot done today but really did the afternoon have to be so crappy?
I was in a great mood being productive, laundry, work at mom/dad's, dishes, more laundry, snow tires, and even some charting, hay and grain stocked up for the horses.
Packing water I lean down to pick up the full buckets and hear a "plunk." sound. It didn't even register at first then i realized my pocket felt lighter. The pocket that i had put my camera in so I could take some pics as it was really pretty. Yep, right in the bucket of water. So I run to the house for the hairdryer, yelling at abby to close the barn doors and the gate behind me. I'm trying to dry off the camera that won't do anything like turn on or show any sign of life while Abs asks a million questions about cameras and water. 2 minutes into the drying affair the phone rings and i hear on the machine the words- pump pressure zero, no water, and plumbers. Yeah, so our rental house appears to have no water and has been that way all day but didn't inform us until 5pm after hours really expensive plumbing time. GREAT... Turned out to be a pretty expensive 10 minutes. P.S. we next learn that there is also no hot water going out to Kali's house, that too, is frozen. So the next hour fires are built, plumbers called, talk of heaters and continued cold weather, dinner made. So we're all low on patience and Abs at the dinner table is happy as a lark, happy being wild and this momma seriously feels like growling. I try to calmly explain, could she just chill out for 5 min., that all this stuff has just happened and we all have no patience. As life usually does, it gets better. The rest of the night goes ok. Calls from good buddies, kisses on the forehead, reading the polar express all cozy in bed, and finally a bath, lots of deep breathing and a new book, the Life of Pi by Yann Martel. Such a roller coaster sometimes.

Some Snow


It is so beautiful here when it snows. It has been seriously freezing here but super sunny- so pretty.


Anyone that knows this child, knows it is next to impossible to keep shoes on her for any length of time. But really, in the snow???
Getting the goats fed and all cozy for the night. Packing water to these animals - a big downside to all this cold weather.


Is it my turn?



Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Lack of Micro


So it has been a few weeks now with no microwave. It's not necessarily the plan not to replace the thing but i guess its been very low on the priority list. I'll be honest, we don't have a microwave in the house but there is one a few steps away in Kali's house which i have been known to run knocking on the door for a quick zap. So I'm rambling already but the point of this post is that I don't really miss it that much. Today was hectic at best, didn't start out to be a busy day but ended up that way, no complaints, i got a lot done but feel like right now is the first relaxed moment i've had. So the discussion went.

Me: I feel like drinking hot chocolate but do i really want it that bad? Heating milk up on the stove instead of just pushing buttons on the microwave.

Joe: Come on, it only takes a few minutes to heat up milk.


As I'm standing at the stove stirring the milk I felt my shoulders relax, my breathing slow down and I actually took a few deep breaths.

The microwave wouldn't have afforded me the same time or the attention I had to pay it so it didn't burn nor the forced relaxation. So now i'm typing with my steaming little cup of cocoa feeling calmer and appreciating the pace of the stove.

Monday, December 8, 2008

A Visit





Abby, Sarah, Mike and Esa outside in the yard checking things out.




I love the entrance to the aquarium, one huge underwater wall!





One of the kids' favorites was the river otter exhibit- the otters were going crazy swimming right by the kids.






One of Abby's loves. She has never met a carousel that she didn't absolutely love. I think she loves how fancy each horse is and that she gets to pick her own horse out to ride.

Thanks guys for coming, for the laughs, the friendship, and good talks. Love ya!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Treasures

Last night Abby let me french braid her hair without screaming.
She wanted to do it wet, sleep in it and then take it out in the morning so it'll be "all crazy" in her words.
Before going to bed (if she doesn't procrastinate getting ready) we read every night.
Last night she read to Joe, "The Little Red Caboose." As I sat in the other room I could hear her saying the words she knows confidently and sounding out the others, it almost made me want to cry. Joe and I keep saying, "she's almost 6."
Hard to believe- it's just so fast.