Best Gift This Year

And what does it say?

I put ketchup on my ketchup. 

Thank you, Uncle Todd, for the great gift. At least two of these shirts proudly proclaim a great truth about the wearer. 

Hope you all had a nice Christmas. Ours has been good, shadowed only by the passing of David's aunt right before the holiday. She will be missed by all who knew and loved her. 

The Perfect Gift

For God so loved the world, He gave his only son.

And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,Prince of Peace. 

Merry Christmas. 

Not A Creature Was Stirring

Not even a mouse.

Well, okay. The hamsters were stirring, but NO MOUSE!

Everyone is tucked in and ready for Santa to arrive.

David and I are sitting down with a good movie and a good drink then I am off to bed!

And to all a goodnight!

Gas Wars

Our neighborhood gas stations were in a little price war last week. When gas hit $1.99, I filled up using my Kroger $1 discount. 

I paid less than $35 for 35 gallons. 

It's the little things in life that make me happy. 

Things like cheap gas and cats that pose for Christmas pictures. 

I just happened to find them lying together in front of the tree and stopped to take the picture. I never could have made them pose like that. 

Why?  

Because they're cats. Cats only do things if they want to. 

Kind of like husbands, but that's an entirely different post. 

Hope you had a good weekend. We have been at the farm working.  Three goats sold. We deliver them to their new homes in a couple weeks. We also snuck in a little play time on four wheelers back to the creek. 

Goodnight!

Lemonade Out Of Lemons

I cannot figure out how or WHY my phone insists on downloading all 2000 pictures from a single file when I backup my phone.  More importantly I can't figure out how to STOP it from happening.  It is annoying to say the least. 

BUT since I have a million old pictures to pick from, Throwback Thursday has been a lot of fun. 

Enjoy another walk down memory lane with me. 

By the way, thank you Simms

Family for letting us have your son for a couple days. We will take good care of him. 

Today's post was sponsored by Apple and the unfathomable technology that I have yet to master. 

See you next week for another edition of Throwback Thursday since I seem to be at an impasse with my phone and picture  downloading issues. 

Gingerbread Village

Welcome to the neighborhood. 

There was a variety of talented entries this year making judging very difficult. 

The modern minimalist

Simple yet sophisticated. 

The crazy neighbor

You know...the one who waits until May to take down the faded, drooping decorations. 

The over the top neighbor

that decorates it all including the trash can and dog house. 

And the winner of the house decorating contest for 2014 is the Keeping It Classy neighbor. 

Sorry. 

The prize money was used to buy egg nog. 

All Aboard!

Some people

put a train under their Christmas tree.

Us?

We prefer a hamster.

Lots of giggles from this little trick.  Squeak didn't mind either.  He could run a lot faster on the track than he could on carpet.  

Welcome to the zoo, folks!  

Thank You, Santa!

I appreciate the dedication of men who year after year create magic for those who believe.

As I watched Grace and Grant tell the jolly old man what they hoped to get for Christmas,

I wondered how many more years they will climb onto Santa's lap believing.

They have sat on his lap every year since they were babies.

Grace 4 years old - Grant 2 years old

Is it too much to hope for one more?

Grace asked for an American Girl doll.

Grant.....you guessed it......

Pokemon.

Grant is a very independent little guy.  If he thinks he can do something by himself, he is all for trying.  Sometimes this is terrific like when he wants to make his own breakfast or fold his own laundry.  It saves me time and he learns valuable lessons.

Other times it doesn't save me much time, but it still teaches valuable lessons....

like don't try the Mentos in Coke bottle rocket trick unless you are OUTSIDE!!!!

Yep.

One boy, one bottle of coke and one package of mentos adds up to one big mess in the kitchen.

Thankfully he didn't understand to drop the mentos into the bottle of coke.  He poured coke into a glass then added mentos.

Otherwise I would have been cleaning soda off the ceiling or possibly patching a hole in it.

Sigh.

The War Rages On

The view in my refrigerator.....

What's that behind the stop sign?

Egg nog.

We're serious about our nog!  

The World's Most Expensive Paperweight

Look who is eight years old. 

He stayed up until midnight Friday night so I could kiss a seven year old one last time at 11:59. His idea, not mine. 

We celebrated at the farm with cake, cards and gifts. A party is postponed until summer. He wants to take a friend to Six Flags instead. 

And the birthday present?

A slot car track with race cars and Mario and Luigi cars too. He loves it!

Someone else has a new toy even though it isn't her birthday. 

Emily just forked over a pile of cash for a new laptop. 

She wasn't amused when I told her she had actually purchased a paperweight that takes three or four years to be fully functional. 

She was even less amused when I told her it was multifunctional because it could double as a doorstop. 

The truth hurts. 

It has been a good weekend at the zoo. Hope yours has been a good one too!  

Goodnight!

Count down to

Easter?

Grace and Grant took Tinkerbell-Grace for a walk. I believe they turned a few heads. I saw one or two people stop and talk to them. 

I would hate to know exactly how people perceive us. I'm sure we score high on the crazy scale. Bunnies on leashes only reaffirm that perception. 

Maybe some day they will find a cure for our special kind of crazy. 

Actually we have been counting down days to Grant's birthday. He turns eight tomorrow. 

His cake is baked and ready to decorate.   Bet you couldn't guess it is a Pokemon cake. 

I caught him eating the part I trimmed. 

BUSTED!!

John and Emily clean the offices at ECO. Sometimes Grace and Grant are there while they clean. 

While they wait, Grace and Grant like to draw on the whiteboard. Grace draws horses.

And Grant?

Pokemon. You're surprised. I know. 

O Christmas Tree

How lovely are thy branches!

The beauty of the tree is inversely proportional to its proximity to the road. 

Grant wanted to cut down the chosen tree.  So he sawed. 

And he sawed. 

AND he sawed. 

Grace helped a little bit too, but John was the finisher. He made the final cut. 

Then it was off to drag the tree

The approximately 13.6 miles across the field to the road.  

You would think they would learn to pick a tree closer to where we park the truck but alas we are destined to tromp through the entire Christmas tree forest in search of the perfect one!

All that exertion earned Grant a piece of fudge before heading home. 

The tree is up and decorated. Grace modeled the latest in Christmas fashion. It is a SKIRT after all!