One of the things I love most

One of the things I love most about this time of year
is breaking out our box of Christmas Books.

Over the years we have collected quite a few.

The kids love to sit around and read to themselves or each other.

Caleb & Hannah get a kick out finding and reading books that we
purchased when they were small.

They like to tell the little ones about how they picked books out for them
because they were"just babies" and couldn't do it for themselves.

I think out of all the Christmas books that we own, this one is my favorite.

Every night I try to sit and read from one of the books.

The kids want this one read in its entirety.

It has a Christmas story from each of the books in the
Little House on the Prairie series.

They NEVER , EVER get old.

When we sit down I will let the kids pick the first story read
and they ALWAYS pick MR. EDWARDS MEETS SANTA CLAUS.

In this story,Mr. Edwards crosses the raging creek to
bring in Mary & Laura's presents from Independence.

My children always comment on the fact that girls were so excited
over a tin cup for Christmas, opening discussions on what we should
truly be thankful for and the real meaning of CHRISTmas.

I personally marvel at Ma's excitement over the sweet potatoes that
Mr. Edwards brings to her.

I secretly long for that kind of simplicity in my life, especially around the holidays.

There are days when I think that living out in the middle of nowhere in a
cabin with nothing but my children and my husband seems like Heaven on Earth.

It is out of print, but you can find copies new or used from 2nd-hand
bookstores on Amazon.

If you do pick it up and decide to read it to the kids-
My advice is to bring along some popcorn and hot cocoa.

You will probably be there awhile.


Peace.

Christmas Party Cowboy Style

The "farmhands" decided that today would be a good day to have
our Christmas Party and exchange gifts.


Spaghetti and Meatballs


Corn on the Cob


Cupcakes and little bags filled with loot.
Everyone was tickled over what they got.


Eden & Nicole putting on their new Spur Straps

Rick doing some "horse business" while watching the kids.

Then the kids headed out to the barn.

It was decided at lunch that we would take our ponies to the

sale in Oklahoma.

So Rick decided that it was best to go ahead and shave our colt, Pixie.

This is Pixie. She is a year and a 1/2.

She will follow you around like a puppy....But

she is too small for the kids(so they think)....

Before we can sale her she needs to be clipped

and BROKEN!

Caleb listening to the "Operation Pony" plan.

I don't think he's buyin' it.

John Cross watching from his horse.

Car Car knows Pixie isn't happy...so she isn't happy either.

Rick clipping Pixie.

Caleb has her pinned up against the door.

Morgan taking it ALL in.

Then our 2 Female Farm-hands decided that they were

going to start "breaking" her.

She wouldn't move, so Eden tried to whack her with a little stick.

That didn't work. Sooo......

Nicole decided to walk in front of her.

Pixie followed her.........

THEN Pixie started to trot beside Nicole..........

THEN Pixie started chasing Nicole...............

THEN Eden fell off........

Into the Mud!

While the other kids watched & laughed

& laughed!

While Rick watches in disbelief.....

But he figures everyone needs to learn to break a horse....

might as well start with a little one.

This was fun.

Peace.

Mother- Daughter Tea & Birthday #5

This year's Mother-Daughter tea was held at the Century House.


Our Homeschooling Association sponsors this wonderful outing & it is something
that we all look forward to.



This year Rachel was old enough to go.
You have to be at least 5 years old to attend
and since she was going to have her 5th birthday
(3 days after the party) the coordinator slipped her in.



I don't know who had more fun- Rachel or
Hannah and me watching Rachel.



She took in every sight and sound,



and was thrilled to be having tea with the big girls.



This is old hat to Hannah and the girls.

They decided that we should do this every month.



Rachel drank her tea like a little lady and tasted everything from
each of the 3 courses.

I was very proud of her.



These two could be having tea at the White House with Mensa
and they would STILL clown.



Some of the Mom's helping the little ones pour.



This house has some if the neatest mirrors .



Precious little things.

It was a wonderful day.

We can't wait until next year.



The next day we had a birthday party.

Rachel's North Pole Birthday Party!

When I asked her what that was supposed to look like ,
she said, "Ya Know...like you go and eat at Santa's house."



How easy was that?

10 kids, sugar, glitter, presents, cake, and reindeer-

Viola! Eating at Santa's House.










Happy Little Guest of Honor.



Mary Elizabeth with Ice-Cream Mouth.
She was working on her 2nd cup.
It is a good thing our best friend is a dentist.

She loves sugar sooooo much.
If it weren't for him, she probably wouldn't have
a tooth left in her head.



Opening the gifts!



Sleeping Beauty loot from Aunt Su Su!



American Girl Doll from the American Girl Store in Chicago
Compliments of ABP & CarCar.

After the guest went home and the dust settled we let Rachel pick out
a spot for dinner.

We headed out to the Chinese Place and then hit the
Books-A-Million!

A good time was had by all!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
RACHEL KATE!

We Love You!

Peace.

If You Could Have 1 Christmas Wish

Just 1

No matter how BIG or small
(Besides World Peace)

What would it be?

Peace.

EVERYBODY GOT SNOW......

But us!

The snow stopped 20 miles down the road.

As you can plainly see, I have two VERY disgruntled
Snow Bunnies!

We did hear that our cousins(Layton, Riley, Ellie, and our folks in LA)
did get plenty of the white stuff, and since we got a bunch
last year(when no one else did) we figure it's only fair.

Maybe next time!

Tish- Caleb gets that curly hair from his PawPaw's people.
Sometimes I ask him if he is ready to cut it and he says,
" Nope. The Girls like the curls."
Can't say that I blame him. :)

Peace.

Waiting For Snow

Satellite Weather has said they expect us to get 4 to 6 inches of snow.

Not something we see much around here.

Rachel has on Ben's old "Lumber Jack" hat and a fuzzy scarf

and she looks out the window every 5 seconds.

"Come On Snow! We're Ready!"



Peace.