January 2015 - Farm Life

Although there are not nearly as many outside chores to be done on the farm in the winter, we still keep at it. This January, we had the pastures brush-hogged, we worked on clearing fencelines, I began my chain-sawing career, and we took Rudolph the Big Red Steer to the butcher.

This was a big day for the farm! We had been eating a vegetarian diet for too long. (When you raise your own meat...nothing else can compare.) We had been on the butcher's waitlist for months and we were anxious, sad, and excited to take Rudolph in. The kids loved Rudolph but wanted to come see the Butcher and say goodbye. Talk about a learning experience! We got him settled in the corral, patted his nose, told him goodbye and then went inside to sort out all the different cuts we wanted. Inside, there was a couple of big cows hanging and the kids didn't even flinch!

Here's Desi lingering at Rudolph's stall. :(

Of course, when the sun comes out in January, we take full advantage. We miss being outdoors! We held a "tee ball" meeting at our house. A bunch of our friends with kiddos the same age put together the team and of course we had to meet to plan it all out...this involved beer, fishing, and eating a huge meal together of course.

 8 handsome little boys fishin' in our pond. G is often the only girl. Lucky little thing! :)

December - 3 NEW Traditions

While in the past, I would have easily remembered to take pics of each and every Advent activity and probably found a way to write a blog post for each, lately that seems impossible. I did grab a couple of photos this month of our Advent fun but that's it. It's disappointing, but it's also my reality. There is just so very little free time anymore.

 

For advent, we introduced three activities we had never done before and that was really fun! Our first, was not just attending our town's Christmas Parade, but actually building and having a float IN IT! A group of my yoga students and I built our very own Yoga Float. The theme of the parade was "All I Want For Christmas" and we thought it was PUNNY to put a few benefits of Yoga on our float. (i.e. less stress, to touch my toes, better balance etc.) Then we DID yoga on a MOVING trailer down a very bumpy Main Street in the COLD! It was a blast! My kids and hubbie helped with the building of the float. Brad actually had another float in the parade for his Business Club at the college. My parents took the kids to watch their parents cruise down Main Street and cheered SO loud when they saw us! It was super fun.

Another fantastic tradition we added was caroling with friends. When I was little, our youth group and church would do this. We would join together and hit up a couple of neighborhoods singing door to door. I loved it then, and it was just as special as an adult. We joined two other couples and their 3 kids (9 kids total: 7 and under!) We had hot cocoa and mulled wine (so yummy) and hand selected 4 families that we knew either needed a special holiday lovin' or could use a good laugh! It was so fun and the kids LOVED it! We will definitely repeat this next year and maybe invite even more friends!

 

This last tradition is special too, even if I wasn't there. Ben was invited by his favorite little buddy at school, Collin, to go see the Christmas lights display. We do this every year as a family too, but he's never gone with a friend. As he was leaving, Des started crying. Collin's dad ran back inside and said, Des! You can come too! Wanna? Oh man, Desi's holiday season was complete. Collin has a little brother that's just a touch younger than Des, so those 4 boys had the time of their lives! Then to top it off, Collin's parents took them to McDonalds! My boys were in heaven. Such sweet little boys...all four of them. We love this family.

Holiday Boy Band.

 

So, look out Christmas 2015. You have a lot to live up to.

911 and Pigtails.

A week or so ago we had a very exciting day on the farm. First of all, it was the first time we got G's hair into pigtails. Oh my gosh, I was dying. 

We were at Gaga's house because she had those tiny rubberbands. Anyway, G was hanging out on Gaga's lap and had the phone in her hand pretending to call people. This is one of her favorite things to do and Gaga lets her push the numbers and G just laughs and chatters away. Well, we notice a police car drive up and sit in the driveway. He doesn't get out of the car though so we just watch him for a few minutes. Gaga decides to go out and see what's going on. The police man is sitting in the patrol car and tells her that he is responding to A 911 CALL! G. had done it! The kids and I had made it out by this time and mom and I are apologizing and Ben is saying, "Don't take our little sister to jail! She didn't mean to do it, she's just a baby! It's my Gaga's fault for letting her play with the phone!" And Des too, "Yeah! It's Gaga's fault! She's my baby sister! She's just a baby!" It was hilarious. But the weird part was that the officer had called my dad's office first before responding...then pulled up and sat in his car because he was SCARED OF THE DOG. You know, our fierce beagle and yellow lab. He was nice though so I forgive him. That and I wasn't being held hostage at gunpoint. 

But the real excitement is this: Can you believe those pigtails?