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.

The Neat thing I saw this Morning.

I was just finishing up my morning chores, I do all my chores before the kids wake up, and was walking back to the house from where the pigs are when I heard a funny sound. It sounded like a VW car horn, you know a little Beep Bleep. Sort of. I couldn't place it. It repeated it's self over and over and finally I looked up where the noise was coming from and there, flying over our place, were 20 white swans. 2 different groups but a full 20 in total. I had time to count them twice as they flew over me. I've lived here most of my life and I've never seen that before. Never 20. Usually in groups of 2 or at most 4. I have seen swans grouped together on a field or lake in large numbers but never flying. They call to each other the same way geese do. They also switch up to rest and take turns in the front like geese do. But instead of a honking goose noise they sort of go Beep Bleeepeep. I believe they are trumpeter swans as I looked them up in my bird book and the only other swans we have a lot, the Tundra, of make more of a cooing sound. Now if only I took my camera on chores!! What a picture I could have gotten!!! Beautiful!!

J on our 'big trip'. He'll be 5 in January.

L with his mischievous smile. He is 3 years old and loves trucks and all things with wheels or moving parts. He is the closest thing we have to a 'family clown'.

The little Griggers sitting on our new (to us) 1970 International ambulance.

E, J and L having a tea party with E's new tea set. They had hot chocolate, crackers and chocolate chips. Lots of fun!!

Update!!

Well Papa loves his new job and we are all loving the family time it gives us. We have always tried to do family devotions after supper but it was hard to keep up with Papa gone so much. But now that he is home every night we have finally been able to make it a nightly event. Papa is also getting a lot more sleep which is good as neither of us realized how sleep depraved he really was. Now that we are almost a week in to the new job he is finally starting to feel rested up. Amazingly enough he has only had to do one thing, so far, that he has not done before working on our own rigs or his last bosses trucks. Papa has also been trying to read the 'little house' books to the kids and I before bed and with his new job that has again become a nightly occurrence.

Baby R has found her moving motivation. LOL. She learned to roll back to front a while ago but now she's rolling here and there and scooting backwards and forwards. She gets stuck under the couch, chair or table regularly. This morning she was stuck beside the couch but managed to roll out of it!!! Good Girl Baby R. She has started 'talking' too and loves to 'talk' (little noises that sound like a foreign language) to people, toys or whatever. She started saying "Da Da" a while ago and now will sometimes say it to you if you ask her too. She has also learned how to spit. She is still toothless but is working on her 1st tooth. It is almost through but it doesn't slow down her eating at all. Yesterday I gave her the heel of bread (whole) and she ate almost the entire thing with out help. All that was left was two pieces the size of a quarter. This picture was taken at E's Birthday Party. Baby R is almost 8 months old.

This morning while I was milking the cow one of the kittens, the orange one, drank out of a bucket I was holding. (I almost always milk right into the pig bucket, for those of you who were worrying:). Later on I moved the cat's milk dish closer to me, about 1.5 feet away and both of the kittens still came to drink. Whenever I moved they would either look at me and then run or just run. But they are getting tamer little by little. Soon I hope to pet one.