Pictures for you all!!

Thanks Becca for putting picture online for us!!

Sorry I can't move the pictures around so they make more sense. Becca very sweetly put them all on for me with her computer
and we both thought we could move them around but I can't.
And it would take a LONG time for me to put them on so
better on then not!! :)

L and E with their stick on mustaches. They loved them and they are reusable!!


J and L with their facial hair and their matching PJ's.

Smiling!! Papa's got a funny look on in the back!!

Our 2nd annual family Gingerbread house project!!

We build it close to Christmas and eat it on New Years.

We got a huge kit this year but had icing problems so this is as

done as it gets. E decorated the trees in the front. J and L did

a side of the roof each and Papa and I did the rest.

Baby R watched from her chair and ate Gingerbread cookies...

I think she has the right idea!!!

(from the one that flopped the icing :)

The boys decorating the roof!!

E, smiling as she happily stacked candies on the trees.

E in J's armour that he got for Christmas..

Papa reading "On the shores of Silver Lake" to the kids in their matching PJ's.

I think this was boxing day!!

J with his brand new 'kid guitar' which he's already learned a chord for,

and in his Knight outfit!! Boy is he growing up fast.

This was Christmas morning.

Note the ice on the window, it was only 0F that morning

and we could see out the window!! Bonus!!

E cooking with her new little kitchen on Christmas morning.

We have limited space so we got

her this little set that all fits into the pink box for storage.

She loves it and made all kinds of things already.

Papa is tuning J's guitar in the back.

L with his new log truck... playing with his sisters moose.

He does like his trucks

but they zip around so much I haven't got a good picture yet.

This was also Christmas morning.

The boys using their new swords to help E open her little kitchen!!

She was quite impressed!!

J and L with their armour and pirate stuff on Christmas morning.

They were both SO ecstatic!!

Note: What you see in the back is about 1/3 of our living space. Kitchen and dining room.

The boys are in the living room.

Oh and just in case you are wondering the curtains have new rods that

will cause them to fit properly... the old ones are too short and too brittle!

L looking very piraty!!

We disliked the skulls that were all

over this set so I took them off or colored over them.

Much better and he didn't even notice!!

J without his sword!!

I packed this all together in a box and wrapped his sword separately.

He was SO worried he wouldn't get a sword to

'protect the family!'

From what I know not!! :) But he loves us!!

E looking very pleased with her new horse from Auntie R.

When I took the picture she had just realized that the horse made noise!!

Taken Christmas morning.

Well that's our Christmas in a nutshell.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures and God Bless!!

~Christmas~

We are truly blessed and we had a wonderful Christmas. The kids counted down and ate their chocolates from their advent calenders and counted down some more. Then, all of a sudden, it was THE DAY. LOL. The pictures will pretty much speak for themselves but a few verbal highlights are: J, after opening his breastplate, helmet and shield, "Oh I really need a sword!! I really need a sword to protect the household. Mom is there a sword so I that I can protect the household." Then after opening his SWORD. " I GOT A SWORD!! NOW ME AND PAPA AND L CAN PROTECT YOU AND E AND BABY R" He was so excited he really did talk in capitals. E got a stick horse that makes sounds from Auntie R and she thought it was a sucker for ages and when we were opening it I'd ask her "what is that?" and she'd come back with "sucker". Then we got it open enough to see what it really was and she her eyes just LIT UP and she says "HORSE!!!" Then later I went to fix his crumpled ear and it has a button in it that makes noises and she LOVED it. It's so heavy for her 21 lbs that she can only play with it in short bursts but she always goes back to it. It was Baby R's 1st Christmas and she enjoyed the fun. She really liked her stocking and the chocolate that went with it. She's a real chocolate hound. L had a great Christmas and seems to really enjoy his new replacement "big Papa dump truck" and his new log truck.

We spent Christmas Eve with my family, those who could make it, at T&D house. They have a great big house which is great because our family is growing every year. There are 12 grand kids and 14 adults so far. The pictures of us in dresses and 'good clothes' as the boys call them, are from Christmas Eve. We all managed to match which was neat and one of these days I want to take a family picture in our "Christmas clothes." When and if I can find someone to take it I'll post it. We had a great time with the family and the kids had a blast playing with the cousins. One of the Cousins said a pile of verses for us all and J chimed right in and said his Christmas verse as well. L said his later when we were all leaving after his 'shy' had worn off. J's was Luke 2:10 and L's was Luke 2:11. E's was Heb 13:1. "Let Brotherly love continue" Which is the 1st verse our kids learn.

Papa and I got a wonderful Christmas present from an unusual source. A real blessing!! A friend of mine knew of our washer problems and also knew of a family who had just gotten a new washer and dryer set because their dryer quit. So she called us and asked us if we wanted it!! We did!! Our washer was 30++ years old and worked but not very well. It leaked oil out the bottom and had started leaking oil into the washer while it washed!! The new washer and dryer were in the 'big city" where our friend lives and her and her husband rented a dolly and loaded them up (turns out the dryer may be a quick fix) and brought them to us!!! He dropped it off yesterday and helped Papa take the old one out and the new one in. Papa crawled up under the addition and fixed my water freezing problem and now I have a "new to us" washer ( we think it's about 5 to 7 years old) with running water.

Christmas morning was spent at home reading the Christmas story from the book of Luke, opening gifts, taking pictures, playing and eating a great breakfast of pancakes, sausage, homemade syrup and eggs, thanks to Auntie R!! In the afternoon we went to the W gathering (my mom's side) and saw a bunch of Aunts and Uncles, my grandparents and my cousins and their kids. One of my cousins brought their 2 day old baby and we got to see him for the 1st time. We all had a great time and stayed late to enjoy part of the evening with them.

All and all we had a great Christmas Holidays. Boxing day was spent at home and Papa took the boys out sledding with their new sleds. It snowed most of the day and we relaxed and played most of the day. I read an entire book (390 pages of a mystery!! :) and Papa read a good chunk of his new beer making book. In the evening we watched "Finding Nemo" one of the kids Christmas movies and had a snack night. After the kids were in bed Papa and I had a 'Movie date" and watched "Junior" with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito. A very funny movie that Papa had never seen before and we both really enjoyed.

Baby R's 1st Christmas!!

Baby R, still tiny but not really a baby anymore as she is crawling and cruising and trying to walk!, and Papa on Christmas Eve. That red thing in front of her is a Christmas dress from Grandma and Grandpa F which was size 3 months and fit my 9 month old perfectly. The dress came with neat tights that had black shoe shapes on the feet of the tights so it looked like she was wearing little black dress shoes! Which is a real bonus when you can't find black dress shoes to fit or stay on her tiny little feet!! The thing that she is so excited about is a toy cow that makes a sound that is suppose to be a mooo but sounds like something else entirely!! She loves it!

The top picture is of Christmas morning and the pink thing in her hand is her "Baby's 1st Christmas" Ornament. The dollar store fish between her legs is a greatly sot after toy from the biggest to the littlest child. Strange things that kids just love!!

Merry Christmas!!

Well it's that time of year again and this year I've decided to email our letter and photo around to those who have email and print them for the very few who don't.

Our family has grown again and we welcomed Baby R Griggs into the family on March 10th 2008. She was 7lbs 15.9 oz and 19 3/4 inches long. Now at 9 months she is a healthy smiley if small girl who loves her siblings and BEAMS with love for every one. Papa and I both think she is our happiest baby yet. She weighs in at a mere 14 lbs and about 25.75 inches tall but is crawling like a pro and cruises along the furniture. She is a little joy to us all and we thank God for her.

E turned 2 on Oct 22 and is also a very small girl. She weighs in at just 21lbs but is a full 33 inches tall. She is our daredevil and climber. With 2 older brothers she has a "if they can do it, or even if they can't. I WILL TRY IT!!" attitude. So far she hasn't broken anything but I suspect she'll be the 1st one in the ER with a broken bone. She has scared us both several times and luckily scared herself as well so maybe she'll settle as she gets older. She is a little mother and cleans up after the boys and herself, loves to help with 'chores' and mothers her 'babies' and protects them from her brothers. E and Baby R seem to have the start of a great relationship and we hope and pray that it continues.

L will be 4 in April and is 32 lbs and 37.75 inches tall. L has turned into a little reader in the last few months. He loves to look at books and make up or tell the story in the book. He still loves his trucks but books are a close second. He is very reserved with people until he gets to know them then he loves them completely. He loves to play simple games like Simon says or round and round the haystack. He loves his brother and the two of them are great friends. L recently found that he likes to draw and he is often at the chalk board drawing families. We've also found that L is very talented with snow. He makes awesome snowmen with ears and everything all by himself.

J will be 5 on Jan 5th and is 45 lbs and 44 inches tall. He is a wonderful willing helper. He enjoys telling hunting stories or singing hunting songs he makes up himself. He often 'reads' books to his younger siblings and has several books completely memorized. He learns quickly and retains almost all of what he learns. He enjoys singing, adding numbers, crafts, reading, pretending and tea parties with E and L. He will not be starting school until 2010 when we will be homeschooling him. We legally have to start then and are planning on taking the next year to research our options.

We had some other big changes this year. Papa has started his commercial transport mechanic apprenticeship as of Oct. So far we all love it. It gives us a lot more time as a family and a regular schedule which is really nice. We eat supper together almost every night and the work is steady and interesting for Papa. He mostly enjoys the challenge of diagnosing problems. The only part that is frustrating for him is that he can only fix what the customer wants fixed, even if it really needs it. To Papa that is leaving it half done and he dislikes leaving anything half done. The hours are nice and the schooling can be done close by which is an answer to prayer.

We also did some changes in our farm this year. We had our 1st calf ever born on the place this spring and had fun with him and another calf that we were given as we tethered them around, figured out several milking problems and tried to keep them and the cow happy. All in all we enjoyed them and are looking forward to the beef. We also hand cleared 2 acres with a chainsaw and lots of hard work. We did leave some trees as a wind break and canopy but we think we took out about 3 log truck loads of trees. Then we limed and seeded it and watched it grow. We are really looking forward to spring and the new patch of grass. We plan on finishing the 1/2 acre that is still down, and taking a few more trees out, and clearing another acre or 2 this spring and summer. We also did 6 pigs for the 1st time ever this year and raised them up on milk. They were summer pigs so we still have them and will probably butcher in the new year.

Our house is on hold as we save money to start the next stage. We did get the trusses built and the next thing we need is tin for the middle roof. We have decided that it can wait until we have what we need. Papa is planning on making several things in the trailer to make our storage problems more manageable. He is going to make the kids bunk beds which will free up a lot of room in their room. We've also turned the back bathroom into a storage room with a toilet which helps.

I keep busy with crafts, farming and reading when I'm not busy with the kids, household stuff, baking, gardening, sewing, and a hundred and one other things that need doing. I enjoy it, for the most part ( I honestly don't know anyone who enjoys toilet training and all the mess that goes with it) and like to keep busy. I also keep up our blog which I really enjoy as I am a writer at heart and writing about our kids and lifestyle suits me wonderfully.

Our family is still attending home church with 3 or 4 other couples in this area. We switch from house to house and instead of Sunday school teach our children verses and read them the Bible nightly. Both the boys have a wonderful clear conceptions of who God is and what He has done for us and what He does do for us. They often floor me with their questions and insights and often supper time is spent teaching them God's ways.

Luke 2:10 and 11. Then the angel said to them. "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born for you this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. "

Merry Christmas!!!

Love

The Griggs Family.

The Tree!!

We got our tree on Sunday. Papa and I went on a walk-a-bout on the place and found one we both liked. We cut it to size and surprised the kids with it. Here they are with a ornament to place on the tree.

Christmas Crafts and Cookies

For some odd reason the Christmas season insists that you craft. I'm not sure why it does but it does. And I love it. Crafting with kids is fun. Crafting with BOYS is funner yet. The other day we did Paper Christmas trees and E got to make a pipe cleaner bracelet. Today we painted hanging ornaments for the tree. J had a bear, L had a star, and I had a moose. E got to color and Baby R was locked in her chair with a gingerbread "Mary" (the men are Joesph) as the kids call gingerbread woman. Christmas time also calls for cookie making and decorating and we made cookies last week and we were hoping to decorate them this week but we didn't have water for part of it and the week is getting away from us. Anyway. L wanted his star to be yellow so I got him a paper plate and put a little paint on it and off he went. J wanted brown for his bear and so we all started to paint. L covers about half of his star (the middle half :) And wanted another color, green. So green goes on top of the yellow. Still looks cool. Then J wanted red for his hearts under the bear. Fine. Great. I like how he paints. L perks up (painting so far for him is a tad boring but all these colors are fun) "I want red too." OK. No surprise there. "I want BLOOD!! I want blood on my star!" Then the two of them proceed to have a talk about how stars don't bleed so maybe the star was butchering something, chickens or maybe bears or something, and got covered in blood?? I just closed my ears after that and hoped L would want another color to cover the BLOOD. I'm still shaking my head. I've crafted, being a girl, with girls for years. Blood doesn't come up. EVER. It's like a taboo topic. But a Christmas craft with my boys and here we are having a, what they consider, perfectly normal and fine conversation about blood on their Christmas ornaments. He did pick another color and another and another and the blood got pretty much covered up but in the end his star was red but blood was not mentioned. We all had a great time. E actually colored 2 sides of her page from the coloring book quite well which is neat and we'll have to start coloring more. The boys have never been really interested in coloring but maybe with E coloring they will too. J did an awesome job on his bear and it is brown with blue eyes with a pink scarf and hat and red hearts hanging under it.

Another Pig Story.

OK OK I'll admit it. A pig has me for a favorite too. I'm not sure which one but one of our pigs really loves me. Or maybe it used to it hasn't done anything in a while. But I thought... fair is fair if I tell about Papa and Wilbur I'd better tell about The Egg pig. You see one day when Papa and I were moving the pigs this fall... I made a friend forever pig. Quite on accident I can assure you. I was waiting for Papa to be done messing with the wire and I found a egg in the hay. Now the chickens have been in and out all summer so I have no idea how old this egg is. So I have a bright idea. I'll feed it too the pigs. Good thing I did as it turns out it had been there for some time. Well one little egg shared between 6 pigs and no one gets much, if any. So I was just going to put it right in one pigs mouth. So I showed the egg to the 1st pig that comes along and sort of pop it in it's mouth and hold it there for a second until it chomped on it. Worked great. I was wearing gloves so I wasn't too worried about my fingers. The pig went crazy with pure joy!! At least I think it must have been pure joy, I would have thought from the smell that the pig should have been retching but the pig seemed to enjoy it very much. Actually I know that crazy pig loved it. Every time I went into the pen for a long time I would have pig follow me trying to get at my hands. The Egg pig was born!! He'd nudge me on the hand just like a dog does, begging for more eggs. I never did find anymore eggs in the hay, even though I looked for quite some time:)

Haircuts and Kittens.

Haircuts. Last week when Papa had a few days off I cut hair. Male hair. LOL. The boys figured we should cut E's hair as well and she caught on and asked "haircut??" a few times. So we explained why not to her and she was mostly fine with that. But after each haircut the person who's hair was just cut has a quick shower so rinse all the hair off. Well J's hair was cut and he showered, the L's hair was cut and he showered, then Papa's hair was cut and he showered. And confused little E says "Haircut??" Nope. "Shower??" she says with a worried look. I laughed. Nope. Relief!! Pure and simple relief flooded her face. No more questions asked just in case I changed my mind. Once she gets in the shower she has a great time but she really would prefer not to.

Kittens. The kittens are still very tame and the other night I picked one up (the black and white) and pet him and brought him in and got him warm and purring. It's a little male which is what I thought. The other one is still more testy and I haven't gotten him yet. I'm pretty sure they are both males as our two males have accepted them completely. Patches, the mother, is gone again and both Papa and I haven't seen her for over a week. We suspect she has kittens again somewhere as she did this last time as well. Miserable time to have kittens. I need to go dig in the shop and see if I can find them. I don't think they are there though as last time she took herself far off and we did not even see her for 4 weeks. She doesn't even come to the house to eat. We are probably going to fix her this spring. Depending on a few things.

Parade Awe!!

Update Dec 8th.

Well we've had a interesting week, or 2, and this is in no particular order :) Our extended family has grown again with the arrival of Kirsten (said Keersten) on the 4th!! WAHOO. Congrat's D&A and the Oakster!! I told you you'd have a girl!! :)
The kids have all been sick and we went nowhere and did nothing this weekend. Baby R got it first and then L and E Saturday morning and J Saturday afternoon. I've got a bit of it as well, but Papa, as usual, hasn't gotten it at all. E gave us a scare Saturday night, barking and having trouble breathing. She had a touch of croup and we put her in a steamy bathroom and night air in turns and put her mattress beside our bed for the night. But she recovered quickly and last night slept in her crib. Thank You Lord. Baby R was better by Sunday morning, back to her smiley self. L and J were done by Sunday afternoon. Except J still has a cough, very normal for him to keep a cough for weeks after a cold, mild or otherwise. So E is really the only one left. So we had a lazy weekend, watching movies, puzzling, Papa plowed the driveway with the skid stear from work (one of the perks of the new job), Papa also made a new batch of beer (and a mess!!! 2nd time it's ever boiled over!! YUCK). We skipped church and our Saturday night games night with B&B and just spent time healing.
Friday night was the town Christmas light parade and we had a blast. The kids loved it and got pocket fulls of candy!!! We went out for hot chocolate after and had a great time. I have some pictures I'll try and post later.
Speaking of Christmas we also took the oldest 3 kids to the local dollar store and let them pick a gift for each of their siblings. Papa stayed in the travelall with the kids and I took them one at a time into the store to pick out gifts for each other. E is a very fast shopper, L is SLOW, and J took time to figure out what each one would like and did a great job of it. When we got home I took them one at a time into the bedroom and we wrapped them. Lots of fun. J keeps telling me "my mind keeps telling me to tell them what I got them.. But I won't" L has told J at least once what he got him but J pretends, or really doesn't, not to hear him. L also insists that the gift he picked for Baby R is for R and L. We will share!!! E is so quick she really has no clue what she got them. They can't wait to get a tree so they can put them under it. We did decorate for Christmas already, stockings up, lights up nativity set up and awed over, some other pretties up. Bows are everywhere. It was great fun.
We have been having wacky weather. Warm, warm, warm, COLD for 24 hours with 10 inches or more of snow, then WARM and rain, rain, rain. They shut our local highway down for several hours one day dealing with the ice everywhere. One morning I woke up and went to check the pigs and looked out and there was 6 piggies sleeping happily in my milking area!!! So Papa went out before work and chased them in. But he didn't have time to fix the pen so I went out early to fix it and found we had gotten 10 inches or more of snow, wet and sloppy. I found a pallet and was tying it to the hole :) when Papa came back for the shovel. Stuck in the yard. A few minutes later I could still hear him spinning so I went out to lend a hand... or my weight actually. The car is very light in the back and rear wheel drive so I stood on the back bumper and off we went. A few trys later we made it out the driveway. Our road had not been plowed but there was tire tracks so off he went. Pushing snow with the undercarriage. I went and finished my fixing and Bindy still wasn't there so I decided to go have a look down the road and make sure Papa wasn't stuck some place. I got to the end of the driveway about the same time Papa did. He didn't think he could make the turn to the hwy so he'd gone down the side road and was stuck. So he started up the Travalall and called work to say he'd be late and we headed out to pull him out. I love my travelall. She goes anywhere and does anything. She had no problems. We hooked up the car and he pulled me to the nearest connector road (to the hwy) and a few minutes later he was off to work in the car and I drove back home in the travelall. Just in time to milk the cow. What a morning and all before breakfast. He normally would have just taken the travelall to work on mornings like that but I was meeting him in town later for the parade and the car will not fit us all.
Sometimes after the kids go to bed we watch a movie and have a 'date'. With or without friends. When we do this we've been putting music on for the kids so they can't hear our movie (we live in a small space and even with their fan on they can still hear our movies) and will go to sleep. The 1st time we did this we did a CD of hymns. The kids liked it and the next time I assumed Papa would do the same CD. Well we put the kids to bed and he did the music and 20 minutes later I'm still hearing awake noises out of their room so I went in to see what was up. Here Papa had thought the kids would like some change and put his "Natural Guitar" CD in for them. Well the CD is great and I like it. But it has wolves howling in the background of over half the songs. Poor kids are all freaked out!! WOLVES!! LOL. Papa felt bad, he hadn't thought of that. So I switched it for the hymns and everyone was in dreamland in no time. After doing this CD 3 times J comes up to me and asks me if I want to hear a new song. J is very musical and constantly learning new songs and making up his own songs. Sure I'd love to hear his new song. He sang me the entire 1st verse of Amazing Grace. A few words where off a bit (wrench, "mommy why is he a wrench??) but the tune and timing was right. Amazing kid. He's getting a child's guitar for Christmas and we are all wondering if he'll pick it up easily and naturally. He already plays Papa's guitar but can't reach both ends to play properly.

Parade Awe!! 2

Papa and Wilber the pig.

Baby R with her 1st pony tail. She has 2 times as much hair as E did at the same age. She was not happy and this is the best pic I got.

Baby R!!

Baby R having a bath in the kitchen sink. If you look close you can see her top tooth. Her bottom tooth is on the other side hidden by her top gum!!!

Thanksgiving and Papa's Days off.

We celebrated Thanksgiving on Sunday and got in the Thanksgiving mood by making hand turkeys. We all made one. So we had a hand turkey family!! We have a 3 gallon bucket of mixed pea's and beans and that is what we used for decorations. They are very easy to make. You get some colored paper and trace and cut out your hand. Turn it over so you can't see your trace line, slather with glue and add beans, peas or some people use different kinds of dried pasta. Even E had a great time doing this. With Baby R's it took both Papa and I to get a trace of her hand and then I just put glue on it and dumped a bowl of beans and peas over top. Waited a little bit and tipped it back into the bowl to get the extras off and it was done. I figured that was what she'd like to do with them. But I didn't want her eating any. E put the entire bowl she had one at a time on her glued hand in a big pile and yelled DONE!! So I dumped the extras off and let her do it again.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Papa's last boss, his wife and his daughter. We had a great time. Ate extremely well as per normal. Our one lonely turkey was great, breast nice and juicy just the way Papa likes it. We did not weight him, we forgot, but he weighed considerably more then E. (And he BARELY fit in my huge turkey roaster, we had to tuck the wings in as I cooked him breast down.) She is 20 lbs so we assume the turkey was late 20's early 30's. I made the best pumpkin pie ever, from the pumpkin J and I did, and a pretty good apple. After the meal we taught them to play Pinochle, which my team actually won!!! Gasp. I must be having a winning streak as that was 2 games, on two different nights, that my team has won. Both times we won by about 500 points!! YAHOO. The kids read books with Amy and watched us play. J and L had a cute discussion over supper about who's muscles where bigger which we all got a kick out of. Baby R loved the pumpkin pie and cranberries.

We moved the pigs again. Papa took the boys outside to make a pig run. We needed to move them about 200 feet so he made a pole and wire run from one area to the other. This worked great and the pigs are now in the under cover area where our cow spent last winter and what we've had so far this year. They will stay there now until butchering day. Which, being under a roof should be fairly easy to hang them. They are totally enjoying it (we poked holes with a rock bar and filled them with corn and they are happily turning it upside down.) but poor Bindy was really horrified!! PIGS in HER covered area. She stood a ways off and stared at them. She refused to go get a drink all day (it's by the pigs). She was so nervous milking that Papa only got 2 gallons that night and I got 2 the next morning. She heard the pigs 'whoof' and just about scared the daylights out of me. Her whole body did the lift up and move inches trick!! While I was milking. Now that's she's gotten used to them a bit she tattles on them. One of them got out yesterday and she bawled and bawled until we got it back in. Now the entire strength of the fencer is on the pig pen. I doubt they'll get out again. This morning I got about as much milk as I normally do so she has adjusted well. The plan right now is to butcher at least the biggest 3 between Christmas and new years. Maybe the biggest 4. We already have a line on Berkshire wieners for April and we are looking forward to trying the breed.

We loaded up the kids in the back of the Travelall and went and got a load of poplar from the back. 30 minutes and we had a truck bed trailer loaded and unloaded. I love being prepared!!! Because our weather this year is so mild we have not been burning any pine unless we need to start a fire. So we have been going through more poplar then normal. Which is fine with us as we have TONS of the stuff split and stacked.

Turkey Butchering day.

It was time. The turkey was big and fat. Thanksgiving was coming. The bird had to die. LOL. We borrowed a huge pot essentially. In German it's called a maul groughpen. (my spelling) It has a metal bottom piece that holds a huge metal bowl. Under the bowl there is a door where you put a propane torch and this heats up the bowl and you can cook with it, render lard or scald birds. With big gatherings they make soup in these things and it's amazing how many people you can feed with 20 gallons of soup!! 20 gallons is roughly what it holds. It's perfect for scalding turkeys. We only had the one so Papa just held it. But if you had more then 5 turkeys you'd really want a dipper on a board, lever style. As it was it took both Papa and I to get him out of the water that last time. We set the kids in front of a movie, with Baby R in her exersauser and headed out to butcher him. I had set everything up in place during nap time and so all we had to do was light the torch and start. Papa lit the torch and killed the 5 roosters someone gave us. Then while the water heated for the turkey I split the breasts open on the roo's and took out the breast meat. The rest of the bird went to the pigs. (we had the breasts for supper the next night with friends. YUM) By the time I was done the water was about to temp and Papa went and caught the turkey. I thought it would take a bit but Papa just walked in, picked him up and walked out. We have a stump with 2 nails in it and Papa put his head in between them and handed me the turkeys legs. CHOP went his head!! Back went Momma!! I just about landed on my rear!!! The turkey flapped his wings after he died and I was trying to hold him still and getting pulled and pushed and manhandled by a dead turkey. Papa started yelling "LET GO" and I finally heard him and dropped that big old turkey!! We think he weighed between 25 and 30 lbs dressed out.

Funny things Kids say.

We had oatmeal for breakfast the other day and J pips up "I feel just like Moses." I stared at him "WHAT??" Oatmeal to Moses. What a jump. "Look" Says my creative son. He has just a thin layer of oatmeal in the bottom of his bowl and he took his spoon and took a scoop of oatmeal right down the middle. Sure enough I thought. Moses parting the red sea. Or in this case J parting the oatmeal sea. LOL.

On the way to the baby shower the other night we pulled into the church parking lot and L says "Are we going to a WEDDING??" (we had a lot of weddings this summer). So I explained that it was a party for a new baby. Well he comes back with "A Baby wedding??" Of course his brother thought that was hilarious so we all giggled about it for a bit. After that there was no going back. Baby wedding was the joke of the night.

E loves our friend Becca. Us ladies had girls night a few nights ago and Becca's husband Blair was here with the kids and Papa while we were out having fun. They all had supper together and E just could not understand why Becca wasn't there. "Becca??" she'd ask Blair. "Becca's at girls night with Momma" he'd say. "Becca??" she'd ask again. LOL. I guess she asked him so many times that he finally asked L "Where is Becca??" L knows this answer already from listening and parrots "At girls night with Momma" Then Blair asks J, "At girls night with Momma" I guess after that she quit asking.

What a couple of weeks!!!

And no I'm not complaining.. at least I don't think I am? :P For several weeks there while Papa started his new job he took our Travelall to work which leaves me with out a vehicle. That's fine for a few weeks as we tend to do our shopping together as a family anyway. My once a week trips to town to go the library or park or grandma's house (or all 3) as well as the little bit of food shopping I do alone are not that necessary in the grand scheme of things. After about 2 weeks of this solitude we priced out the cost of fuel for the Travelall verses the cost of insuring the Toyota Station Wagon and the Wagon won. Hee hee I get my truck back right?? Well not so fast. First we had to get it insured. Not normally a big deal but they have different hours then we do and we both have to be there to sign the papers and it takes awhile so it can't be done on his lunch break. 3rd times the charm as they say. Then we have to have the time to go and GET the car. It's not far away, just behind the house down the road Papa built 2 years ago. But we can't do this in the dark so we have to wait til Papa has a day off. Finally we are about to have our day and it snows. OK. Not a huge deal. Right?? Well the snow was like snot. NASTY. Slipping and sliding. Me pushing and Papa driving, Papa pushing and me driving (and Papa yelling, he hates being stuck). The kids had a great time. They sat in the sled all the way out there (Baby R was sleeping) then sat in the backseat while we pushed and drove, spun and pushed. When Papa did a bit of yelling L very calmly told me and Papa when he got back, that "God doesn't like it when we yell." Puts a whole different spin on it. Our place is pretty flat but we had a very slight incline that the blasted car just could NOT get up. Finally Papa went to the house to get the Scout to pull her up and came back with a set of chains instead. This actually works great and we've done it lots. You don't put the chains on the car (they were for our old Datsun and don't fit anyway) you lay the chains between the tires. It's a rear wheel drive so the chains give it the OOMPH it needs to go. Well 10 chain moves later!! WE ARE OUT!!! Papa pushed the electric fence down and I kept on driving. Got thru Bindy's pen and parked her some place FLAT!! LOL. Then the next morning, hopeful me, is wondering why on earth Papa has taken the Travelall to work again. The car is there, the car is insured. The car needs fixing I find out that night. All and all I think I was with out wheels for almost a month. Last week we went out for the 1 time Thursday, Friday a friend surprised me with a visit and Saturday we had B&B over for supper and games. Sunday we had church here and this week it's been insane!! Monday was a sisters baby quilt giving day, Tuesday was HOME, Wednesday was Bible study in the morning then shopping for a baby gift for tonight's Baby shower, Thursday was Girls Night (and the 1st time I had left Baby R with anyone ever!! Papa watched the kids and had a friend for supper and a movie). Today we went to the neighbors for an hour this morning and we have the Baby shower this evening. And tomorrow I'm suppose to get ready for our belated Thanksgiving on Sunday and we are butchering the one lonely turkey after Papa gets home from work (in the dark). J and I are going to make Pumpkin pie from a pumpkin instead of the normal can:) Today I'm cleaning house and catching you up while mentally steeling myself for bringing all 4 kids to the baby shower. Which would not be a big deal normally but I'm feeling very peopled out and that tends to make us all cranky (OK OK I confess mostly it's just me who gets cranky). We'll go and have tons of fun I'm sure but it's good to be prepared. (if only in your head LOL) Which reminds me I need to check the diaper bag.
Well the baby shower was a blast!! The kids had a great time with my cousins kids, Baby R met a baby 2 days older then her and about 11 lbs heavier and several inches longer (but is not crawling and has no teeth.) Amazing how different kids are. I got to hold new baby Tanner!! Congrat's T &L!! What a little sweetheart. He has great hair!! :)

WOOOMFFAA!!!

I heard the above noise this afternoon, coming from our bedroom. The kids were all suppose to be asleep so it took me a minute to give it a name. Baby R sleeps in a playpen in our room. We have a neat playpen that has a bassinet on the top. She has been pulling up on stuff lately but not enough that I was worried that she'd try and stand up in her bassinet. Well. She did stand up holding on to the edge of the playpen. The WOOOOMFFAAA was her hitting the floor. She didn't even cry. When I ran in and looked her over before picking her up she just gave me a little "ha ha" giggle and smiled at me. She was fine. Needless to say Momma spent a bit of the afternoon taking the bassinet out of the playpen and cleaning out the bottom so she could be in the whole playpen instead of just the top. Crazy kid. Believe it or not she is my 1st child to get out of a playpen. LOL. Ever. And she's only almost 9 months. My heart wonders what else this 4th child will teach me. I find it amazing that each child is so different and each one comes with their own personality, troubles, and strange habits. E for example is a daredevil. This sweet, 20 lb, 2 year old who looks like she should be dainty and feminine totally enjoys climbing way above her head, getting thrown into water and couches, getting swung around hanging upside down, and a number of other bizarre things the boys never did like. She LOVES it. I wonder what Baby R will do next. Kids are so much fun... they sure keep you wondering and praying.

Day out; Christmas Shopping and Date.

Papa and I fled the nest the other day. We try and do this atleast 2 times a year. We left the 3 oldest children with a friend, her husband came after work to milk the cow and tell the kids hunting stories, who babysat them in our home and took off to the city for the day. 12 hours later we returned triumphant. All the Christmas shopping is done for the children except the stockings which I will probably do later by myself. Papa got new boot liners, that nasty rat ate his other ones and we both got new gloves, we picked up 5 new movies; The Borne Trilogy, X-men and something called Get Smart Again?? (which Papa picked out and will not tell me about.) Papa got a headlamp for work, he needs hands off light for working under trucks. This light has come in very handy at home as well as it enables him to work outside after dark, about 5pm.

We started a new Griggs Tradition last year, making a Gingerbread house with the children, so we picked up a massive Gingerbread house kit. With 5 pairs of hands it tends to go quickly and we thought the more square inches the better. I put the box where the kids could see it and then sat back and watched their reactions. They were in awe!! LOL. All 3 of them on the floor staring at it. So I grabbed my camera. One year in the future, when the kids are old enough to really build, we plan on forgoing the kit and using graham crackers and making a village.

Papa and I took Baby R with us and she was wonderful all day. We went out to eat at our 'once a year' spot and she sat happily in her car seat and ate bread and crackers while we feasted on Seafood. Scallops and Bacon (Papa's), Crab and shrimp stuffed mushrooms (mine), Seafood linguine(Papa's), and my Seafood mixed grill!!! YUM!!! We almost never order something we can make better at home. So we almost always go for seafood. We can make seafood at home but we do it very rarely as it is pricey. But, for instants, we have only ordered steak 2 times in our marriage that I can think of. And both times it was me and both times was for a Christmas Party where the boss pays the bill and it came with a TON of seafood:):) It was a wonderful meal and a wonderful day. We arrived home late, tired and just about DONE our Christmas to buy list.

The kids had a great time with B&B and talked about it and made momma and Papa moose calls for days afterward. We have been offered a babysitter for the day again and I'm hoping we will go again later in the year and have another day out on the town.

Teeth and Crawling!!!

Well Baby R has finally joined the toothed among us!! Lol. She got her 1st and 2nd teeth today!!! She wasn't fussy or anything I couldn't even tell she was getting teeth. I did my tooth check this evening and there they were. She got the bottom right and the top left. The two don't even meet! Strange child. (normally they get 2 bottoms or tops together; not one of each.) Hopefully she gets the rest of her teeth so easily.

Baby R has been getting places for some time. On her belly going backwards or in circles. But Thursday night she went forwards for the 1st time. B and I both saw it out of the corner of our eye then Friday and Saturday she went several feet forwards several times. She does it half on her knees and half on her feet. Really cute. Looks a bit like she is swimming. She also recently figured out how to sit up after being on her belly and how to pull herself up to stand on her knees. It is amazing how fast these tiny little babies learn and develop. God truly is a miraculous God for creating us so perfectly. Baby R is pretty tiny for her age (almost 9 months) at just 14 lbs and 26 inches long. She has a bit of hair and a wonderful beaming smile. You can tell even at 8.5 months that she puts her heart into things; like her smiles. She is our happiest baby yet and I often wonder if it's her personalitly or just the baby stage. I think it's her personalitly and hope she will always be a happy child/teen/adult.

Anyway Papa and I are going to watch a movie. So goodnight all. Have a great Monday. May God bless you and keep you!!

PIGS!!

This picture is our pigs about 2 months ago. I really should go get a new picture of them in the snow.

We enjoy raising pigs. With proper care and management they don't smell, are fairly friendly and always happy to see you, never mind the hams, bacon, sausage and other wonderful things we make from them. We get our pigs around 6 weeks old and normally train them to electric fence first and then to 1 or 2 wires as they get older. This makes it much easier to get them into the bush as we can circle the whole area without having to try and make paths through the willows, prickle bushes and small poplar trees that make walking through hard. Making electric netting fences though the bush is annoying, frustrating, irritating and often painful. If we HAVE to do this we try and do it as a team, one hauling fence and the other fixing it.

Our pigs normally have names. Strange habit I know but everything around here gets some sort of name even if it is just 'the fat one' or 'our lonely turkey'. One year they were Red, Miss piggy and Snarky. Red was well; red. Miss piggy was sweet as can be. Snarky was just that Snarky. You never knew if she was going to leave you be or try and eat you. This year the pigs names are Ham, Bacon, Pork, Chop, Sausage, and Wilbur. (Not that we use these names to call them, it's hard to teach them with 6 of them together.) Wilbur is our dog pig. Acts just like a friendly mutt but is still a pig and will still be eaten. We recently rented "Charlotte's Web" and watched it with the kids. They loved it and it gave me the name I needed for our most irritating pig. Pigs are great, little piggies are cute and sweet, medium pigs are helpful tillers and handy slop eaters, big pigs are annoying big slobs that try and bit me (just me they all love Papa) and they are FOOD. Once they get to be big pigs I'm finished with them. They get to that "I'm bigger then you are and I can push you over and steal all the food you have" stage and they are ready for the oven. I know I'm a terrible person I eat pigs I raise and I LIKE IT. HA. Take that piggers!! Anyway Wilbur loves Papa. He has big floppy ears and he follows him around grunting and begging to be scratched. When Papa stops and scratches him he rolls his eyes back in his head and grunts with pleasure. Sometimes he even rolls over and lifts his legs so Papa can reach his belly. Like I said. Dog Pig. I bring them milk every morning and slop as well and I all I get is bit and chased around while I try and pour over, around and though 6 very healthy happy HUNGRY piggers that all know I have something very good in my bucket. I once, notice I said ONCE, tried to bring them 2 buckets of food at the same time. Note one in each hand. BAD idea. It is very hard to fight off 6 pigs, one who has his head in the bucket that is crammed between your knees so he can't tip it over, pour a bucket of milk in to their dish and keep your balance while trying not to get too close to the electric fence you know is HOT behind you. When they are little and sweet this is not a problem, when they are big and strong and weigh about as much or more as you do this is a very bad idea.

We got our pigs in late July this year and still have them. We are going to feed them for another month or so and then butcher them. They are out in the bush right now in the front by the road and love tilling the ground up, mostly moss where they are at the moment and flattening piles that came from the Cat work Papa did a few years ago. We have pulled most of the trees out of these piles for firewood or burn piles and hopefully the pigs will flatten them enough that we can finish the clean up job next spring. We find they love to eat small this years poplar sprouts which grow very fast and can reach a height of 4 feet in one summer. After the pigs have been in a area we find that they have left about 18 inches of these small trees and bitten off the rest. Either to eat or to make beds with. Between the pigs and the cow, who loves these trees when small, we have no need, yet, for a goat. We'll have to see what happens in the area we cleared this spring this next summer before we'll know for certain. The pigs have one more job to do before the big B day and that is Bindy's undercover area. It is full of bedding and cow mess and we want them to till it up so it can compost better. I bought 2 bags of whole corn the other day and my next job is to take Papa's big pry bar and poke holes in the mess and drop the corn into them. This way Bindy can not get them. The mess is warm because it is composting and the seeds will grow, we hope, enough so the pigs will find them and love them and want more and therefore turn the whole "mess" for us. I'm looking forward to this, though I have to say I'm not sure if it's because then the mess will be turned (it doesn't smell but this will make it more useful next summer) or because that means the pigs will soon be dead and my 'pig freezer' will be full again. Or simply because I enjoy watching pigs till up and this will be right outside the window where we can watch them. Another bonus I just thought of is that then I will not have to go far for water or milk for them. My arms will enjoy the break from hauling 5 gallon buckets of water and feed. And I'm sure the little Griggers will love to watch out the window as well. Speaking of little Griggers, J loves B day and looks forward to it. He loves to help with all sorts of chores and is looking forward to helping with butchering. We will likely have a whole crew of people helping. I have 4 couples who either want to help with butchering or want pork or both so we will hopefully have lots of help. We bought a meat band saw this summer with a grinder and will do it all ourselves. The people who are getting pork can either butcher with us here or bring it in to the local cut and wrap place. We hope to borrow a stuffer and make our own sausage as well. What a blessing it is to have people around us who have some of the same goals we do and are willing to share tools to make life easier!!! And to teach skills to those of us who want/need them.

Meatballs!!

I have a meatball recipe that I sort of made from 3 other recipes and I promised Di that I would post it. Sorry it took so long Di. I normally use ground pork and make meatballs or loaf or cheese cups out of it. We really love this over rice with the tangy sauce. We like it best with pork but it's great with hamburger too. I never measure anything after the 1st few times I make something. This is great anyway I've ever made it. Except burnt. LOL. That only happened once and we had people over!! ACK. Do not over cook!! LOL.
Meatballs
2lbs pork sausage or hamburger.
2 eggs
1 cup Cracker crumbs or oatmeal. I almost always use oatmeal.
1 tbsp Seasoning Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1 tbsp Italaino seasonings. (or 1 tsp of each powdered onion and dried oregano if you don't have an Italaino)
1 tbsp minced garlic. ( I buy jars of it as it's easier and we go though a lot of it)
Thaw meat and mix everything together. Then form into meat balls or loaf or cheese cups. Cheese cups are muffin tins with a bit of meat mixture on the bottom, then a chunk of Cheddar cheese, then more meat mixture on top. Very good. Grease your tins well and expect to let them soak after. Bakes up in about 20 minutes at 350F. Loaf takes about a hour and meat balls about 35 minutes. Can be done ahead of time and frozen or kept cool until baking.
Sauce.
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup corn syrup or brown sugar
2 tbsp Soy sauce
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp mustard.
Throw everything in a small pot, mix and heat until thin. This keeps really well in the fridge for ages. We eat this meal mixed all together on a plate with rice and kernel corn. Be easy with the sauce as you do not need much. Papa loves this as meatballs as it makes it crunchy. This is making me hungry!! Maybe I'll have to make meatballs this week. The longest part of this meal is the shaping of meatballs. I often grab a melon baller and use that as a measure. Enjoy!!

Nov 16th Update!!

We are blessed here at the Griggs household. No one is sick, everyone is sleeping well, well fed and fairly happy. We have gotten a bit of snow these last few days which makes me think of winter projects and Christmas. The firewood wall is pretty much finished. We need one more big pine and a few boards put up on the side of the addition to hold it up and a tiny bit more poplar brought in from the back which will hopefully get done this week. We brought another hay bale home today so we have enough hay to last til mid January. Papa is loving his job and working great hours. We are having supper together every night and he is still getting 8 or 9 hours of sleep every night!! Praise God!! The boys go outside to play in the snow almost every day now which they love and I love as it gives me time alone with E as we are working on listening and following directions. E is almost fully toilet trained. As much as she can be without doing it all alone and that will come as she gets older. We are working on attitude and obedience and it seems to be sinking in. Baby R is scooting around backwards and getting caught in all sorts of places. She has learned NO and I think she is ready for crawling in that regard. I think she will figure out forward this week as she is on her hands and knees a lot and is really trying to GO GO GO!! But gets very upset that she can only seem to go backwards. L is talking up a storm and I've actually had to tell him to be quiet and eat at meal times which is usually reserved for J. L is also singing which is neat to hear and loves to draw on the chalk board in the living room. He draws very well for his age even if his people are heads with arms and legs (normal for a 3 year old). J is missing the active outdoors life we've had all summer and is finding it hard to be inside, so I'm sending him out weather permitting. I got to go to the library on Thursday and have been happily reading books in my spare time. I want to get yarn for L's big Afghan so I can work on that this winter as well. (I've made them all a baby afghan, Baby R's is the one in the picture, and now am working on twin sized afghans as they get bigger and have bigger beds.) Papa is designing a twin 4 bed bunk bed for the kids room, so we can have even more room in there for things other then beds, which we hope to get done this winter. Baby R needs a cross stitch wall hanging with her name and birthday and teddy bear ( I've made one for each of the kids) and today Millers lent us a cheese press!! Which I'm excited to try out. I rearranged the kids room a bit this week and now we have a bit more room then before. I need to go though the kids clothes and take out too smalls, add bigger stuff and pack up what ever is not needed or too small. What a job that is in such a small space. I'm not looking forward to it but I should just do it and get it over with. It won't be as bad as I'm imagining it to be. I hope. :) It's getting harder and harder to fit all our 'needed' stuff into our small living area (we keep out of season stuff in a shed out back as we simply do not have the room inside). I was recently told that this would make me so much more gratefully for our house when it is finished which I think will be true. All and all we are extremely blessed, loved, cozy, well fed and warm. God is good.

More Pictures of the Snow Family.

J and his Snow boy and the Baby R Snow Baby.
E and her Snow Girl.

L and his Snow Boy with ears!!

Days Off!!

Papa had 3 days off in a row this week. Sunday was the 1st day and we home churched with 3 couples at Millers and grabbed a hay bale for the cow on the way home. Papa was telling everyone about his hand and how he stuck a screwdriver in it at work on Saturday. OUCH!!! It went in about 1/2 an inch below the place where your 1st and 2nd finger join on your palm and nearly all the way though. It really hurt him for the 1st few days but I just had to tease him and say that he did it on purpose so he wouldn't have to milk the cow. As of yesterday it was much better and he milked last night and tonight. Great timing as he goes back to work tomorrow. We spent the rest of Sunday visiting with my Aunt and Uncle on my Dad's side who were in town. I found out that there is 114 grandchildren on my fathers side. So take off my 5 sisters and brothers and me and that leaves 108 1st cousins on my fathers side. Not bad hey?? My dad has 8 brothers and 8 sisters so it's no wonder. There are 28 grands on my moms side, from 8 children, so I have 130 1st cousins. Crazy. LOL. Age wise I'm right in the middle of them all. It's amazing how many of them are getting married these days. 5 on my moms side this summer and I have no idea how many on my dad's side.. LOTS is my guess.
Monday it snowed again and we went to the back of our 5 acres and pushed and shoved our little Toyota station wagon out of the wet slimy mess of snow. I pushed and Papa drove, I drove and Papa pushed and the kids laughed and had a great time in the back seat. We finally remembered an old trick and got some tire chains to lay in front of the tires. (they were to big to fit the little tires) It has winter tires on it but the snow was wet and slick and great for snowmen which is what we did after we got the car out. The car is going to be Papa's work rig as it makes more $$ sense. Well we changed our snowman habits. Instead of making one huge snow man we made a snow man family. J and L both made 'themselfs" and Papa and I both made 'ourselves'. L made Baby R and Papa shaped her up a bit. J made the bottom of E's snow girl, L made the middle and E herself made the head. Papa cut some willow for arms and noses and we all raided the carport for eyes and smiles.We found out that L is a snow genius and can stack up little snow men all over the yard without any help at all. We had a great time. And I took pictures which I will hopefully get to post. That evening my bulk food order was in so we drove out to get that and then we headed to the 'city' to do some shopping for Papa for work.The moon was full and we had a great ride home. The moonlight reflected off the snow and made for great driving. Even I, who am just about blind in the dark, could see almost as well as I could during the day. It was a bit foggy in the bottoms but the ride was pretty and we didn't see any Moose which is always nice. Moose have a nasty habit of stepping out right in front of you in the dark so we really rather not see them at all. They can do a lot of damage in short order. We got home late, thirsty and tired and I whipped up some quick Mac and Cheese and feed the little people and Papa milked. Then we all fell into bed and slept in Tuesday morning.
Tuesday morning when I got up I went out and yelled for Bindy like I do every morning. I open the window behind the wood stove, right by the milking area, and yell BBBBBINNNNNNDDDDYYYY. I normally yell 3 times then I can either see her or she'll moo at me to let me know she heard me and is coming. Well this morning she didn't. Didn't come in at all. I hollered some more and still nothing. So I left her. Ha so there cow. Really I did. I figured if she wasn't going to come in that was now her problem. Of course I also realized that she'd been milked late and that she really didn't feel like it was time to milk. We had breakfast and bundled all the kids up, put the baby to bed, and headed outside. We got up late and breakfast took awhile so we got outside at about 11:30 and here is Bindy!! Standing with her head over the fence, staring at me. Her big brown eyes saying 'milk me please'. Blasted cow. So I milked her. Milking the cow at noon. Crazy.
Tuesday was also our 'firewood' day. We had about 4/6Th (so 4 out of 6 months worth is done) of our wood in but we wanted to finish a bit more today. I was hoping we would finish it but life intervened. We did get 2 pickup bed loads done so that's not so bad. We decided to move the piggers so we built fence for them and moved them as well. That took some time, but that is likely their 2nd last move as we plan on putting them in Bindy's area for a month or so and then butcher them, so it was worth it to get done. It's a royal pain to move pigs alone so it was nice to be able to do it together. In the evening we had lots of fun putting the bulk food order in buckets, jars, and whatever else we could find for it and stacked it up in our pantry/back bathroom. Then we ate supper and watched "The Apple Dumpling Gang" with the small people before standing under a hot shower trying to remember that tomorrow our backs would feel worse but the day after that they should be feeling a bit back to normal.
All and all we had a great few days. We got quite a bit of winter ready stuff finished or close to it, had some nice family times, relaxed a bit, ate good food and J and I had a great snowball fight that had him giggling continuously while I tried to hit him as he ran around. It is raining tonight so the snow family is likely gone, this afternoon it got so warm that Snow Papa lost his head and Snow J melted almost gone. Tomorrow Papa goes back to work and the kids and I are going to take a day to recover from the short naps, late nights and hard work. Bible study is not happening this week so there will be no rushing here tomorrow morning. I made yogurt last night and so breakfast is made. And the only thing I really have to do tomorrow is milk that cow. Hopefully she'll behave herself and come when I call her!! Our snow family. Mamma Snow, L Snow boy, Papa Snow, J Snow boy, E Snow girl, and Baby R Snow Baby. L's snow boy even had ears!!

J's Snowman!!

Yesterday when I sent the kids outside they wanted me to come out and build a snow man with them. Because I couldn't I told J to make his own snow man. "I can't do it by myself" He whined. " TRY and make just a little one" I said. He did and he did a great job!!! Normally snow men are made with the whole family and Papa in charge of operations:) With me in charge of pictures. We end up with a such a HUGE snowman that Papa has to put J on his shoulders to put the eyes, nose, and smile on. Hopefully our next snow will be perfect snowman material and we'll be able to build our monster man. When and if we do, don't worry, you'll see pictures :)

E's Surprise!!

This morning I bundled up the kids, it's not that cold just wet, and sent them outside to play in the snow. We got another inch or so in the night and it's beautiful out there. I put E in her purple snow suit, boots and gloves and sent her out. I worked in the kitchen for a bit, feed Baby R some oatmeal, then went and sat in our bed, where I could hear the kids outside, to nurse her. Papa borrowed a western from Grandma F and as there is nothing else to read in the house that I've not read at least once before I grabbed it and set down to nurse. A few minutes later I heard E scream. High pitched 'I'm hurt' scream. My 1st thought was that she'd fallen off the porch. She did this legs 1st this summer and scared herself silly. Baby R was beside me on the bed, screaming mad at being interrupted, and I was to the front door before I could think. There she was standing at the bottom of the stairs her hands by her face. Nothing was bleeding or bruised or anything that I could see. When I looked closely though she was WET. Her face was soaked in line down the middle. The front of her snowsuit was wet as well in a line down the front. It took me about 30 seconds to figure out what had happened. The weather warmed up a bit this morning and the snow on our tin roof was warming up and falling off. She must have been standing under the drip line and got a dump of wet melting snow right on her face. It hit her face, slid down her neck and all the way through her snow suit to her legs. Because it was so warm out, just wet, I'd not put pants on her and she got cold wet snow from the top of her head, her hair was wet, all the way to her boots. She had a shirt on and it was soaked down the front as well. I laughed so hard. Poor kid. What a surprise!!! I opened her suit and got as much of it as I could but most of it was water by then. Then I gave her a little talk about walking around the drip line but it didn't take long though and she was done outside. Baby R was playing happily with my book cover when I got back to the bed and when I picked her up to finish nursing I could tell she'd forgiven me.

Baby R watching her siblings and the snow falling.

J's snow angel.

SNOW!!!

We got our 1st snow fall of the year today. When I last looked it was still falling. I wasn't sure how long it was going to last so we bundled everyone up, even Baby R, and headed outside. The kids made snow angels and played for about half an hour. Here they are on our 'redneck' trampoline. Works great when you have little kids. Can be raised or lowered at will. L did have gloves on when I sent him out but he shed them as he normally does. He dislikes gloves and would rather have cold hands. Then we came inside and did a tradition I started last year. Watch a Christmas cartoon and eat lunch. Great way to greet the winter!! It's been snowing most of the day on and off and now we have about 2 inches. This snow will probably stay as it is late for our 1st snow. 6 days late.

The 2 kittens after milking this morning. When I went in to get the camera, I may have to start carrying it during chores:), they were both balenced on the edge of the bucket drinking milk. I always milk in to the plastic pig bucket so I don't really care if they drink out of it. They can't climb the stainless bucket :) This morning both of them looked hard at my hand before running for cover and the black and white one tried to climb the bucket while I was milking.

Here is a J funny for you!!

Last Sunday during Church J had a battle with himself. After lunch he told Papa about it. J is 4 and we have often told him that there is a good person and a bad person inside of him and that he needs to work at bringing the good person out into his life. Here is what he told Papa "When I was sitting in Church the bad boy wanted to wiggle and play, so I flicked myself on the head and told him to go away!!" It must have worked as he was quite good during Church.

Why we do not 'do' the easter bunny, santa cause, or the tooth fairy.

Well it's rather simple actually. Our job here on earth as Christian parents is to teach our children about Christ. First and foremost. It's not to make enough money so that we can send them to the best christian schools or to find them a great mentor so that they can learn to be like Christ though another person. Those things are good things. But they are NOT our principle job as parents who love Jesus Christ and have a personal relationship with him. Our job is to teach, preach and LIVE the example that Christ left us. Not that we are perfect as He is perfect but with Him living in us He helps us to do our very best. God isn't finished with any of us yet, and won't be until the 2nd coming of Christ. Therefore we do not believe that teaching our children about imaginary 'people' who steal in to our homes in the dead of the night (to leave presents or not). Have you seen God?? You may have seen his works or his hand moving in areas of you life. But the Bible tells us that NO ONE has seen God. Have you ever seen the tooth fairy??? No?? What about the easter bunny?? Now keep in mind. We do celebrate Easter, when Christ died and rose from the dead. We do celebrate Christmas as Christ's Birthday. We do have gifts and trees and lights and all that other fun jazz. But we do not 'do' santa. And we will not. Our children know about santa of course, it would be very hard to keep him from them as he is pasted everywhere for several months. And they know about saint nick. The wonderful man who started the tradition. But they also know that there is no such thing as santa and that saint nick is a story that happened a long time ago. They also know that other kids are told, by their parents that santa, the tooth fairy and the easter bunny are real. But we've chosen not to lie to our children. That's what it is. You can paint a pretty picture around it and make it all fun. But your lying to them. And if you lie to them about the easter bunny, santa claus and the tooth fairy why do you think they will believe you when you tell them about the One True God who loves them and died on a horrible cross and rose on the 3rd day for THEM. They've never seen the real santa (everyone knows those men in suits aren't him.), they've never seen the tooth fairy or the easter bunny. They'll never see God either, not unless they're alive for the 2nd coming or dead. And believing in Him after their dead will do them no good. They need to repent and believe in Him here on earth. There will be no 'changing your mind' when your dead!! Even if they do believe you when you tell them about God maybe they'll believe He is like the easter bunny, santa, and the tooth fairy... and they'll out grow Him as well with out ever having that life changing belief in Jesus. There is only 1 person who is invisible, who loves them and brings them wonderful gifts and He is not found in stores a Christmas wearing a funny hat and shaking bells. Or in some far away fairy land where they 'somehow' know when you've lost a tooth and fly into your home, your very room, and leave you money under your pillow. Or in some hopped up huge bunny world where they make eggs of all colors all year then hide them for you to find one morning. He is here on this earth. The Bible says He is everywhere and He knows everything. And the fact that He loves us should make us grateful that He is here and He does know everything. Because someone who loves us does the BEST for us. Not the worst. And that is why we do not lie to our children. Because we love them and we believe we are doing what is best for them. Even if they feel left out (which they don't) or even if it makes them oddballs or even if it means they come to believe in The One True God and go though tribulations their entire lives!! That is my greatest wish for my children and as a Jesus loving parent that is my calling, my job.