1st Grade Christmas

The elementary school Christmas program is a special time. It's fascinating to watch the children and equally fun to hear them sing. 

 Noah told me over and over before his program, "Mom, you're really gonna like the program. We've got some really fun songs to sing!"  And he was right. They had fun songs and it was clear that all the kids enjoyed singing.

 Levi did a fine job of alternating between listening, eating Golfish crackers and drawing on the dry erase board.

 Then Noah gave us a tour of his classroom, starting with his very, very organized desk.  He explained to me that his desk is always clean, just not always this organized.

 He proudly took me around the room to show me every area and every thing he had made.

 Cousin Austin was there, too! He kept Levi busy during part of the classroom tour.

 It was a lovely evening and very fun to see Noah beaming with pride.

Night in the Barn

Saturday was a beautiful day. The boys and I spent time outside in the afternoon playing and then in the evening we went to Night in the Barn. Our family has made going to Night in the Barn (a local event/fundraiser) a tradition. But Ben was gone all day officiating basketball games, so we were short one family member. Thankfully, my dad stepped in to lend a hand and the four of us had a great time. 

 It was a chilly, still and clear night. It had been pretty warm during the day but ended up feeling cold after the sun set. There were lots of people at the event and we had to wait a while before we could get into the barn. Good thing Maynard and Carol have a sand pile at their farm! It kept the boys very busy while we waited.

 Finally, it was our turn to go down to the barn. Noah and Levi watched everything very closely. The story of Jesus' birth was told from the perspective of the Shepherd and the Innkeeper. It was a lovely reminder of why we have this crazy Christmas season. It was good to snuggle up with my boys on a bale of hay in a (smelly) barn and watch animals and high schoolers remind us what happened in Bethlehem so many years ago.

 After the performance, we walked through the barn to see the donkeys, llamas, the mama cow and calf and the mama sheep and her one-day old lamb.

Hot chocolate, family, cookies, warm fires, hay bales, baby Jesus and infant lambs - what more could you ask for?

Just Playing

Levi spent some time playing guitar on Friday morning

 with Braden. I set up the time so Levi could get some casual and basic instruction on guitar playing from my cousin.

 They had a great time and so did I. It was good for my heart to watch Levi connect with music through Braden - to see my "little" cousin teaching my youngest to enjoy playing an instrument.

 We have hopes that the playing will continue but it's hard to know what to do with little Levi's ambition. We're simply trying to encourage, not force, and it's hard to know how to time these things out.

 Levi learned more than he realizes from Braden. He knows he learned the beginning to Jingle Bells (he'll proudly play it for you, too) and that Braden gave him a blue pick. But he doesn't realize that he also learned how notes are played, that your finger has to press the string down all the way, how the guitar can rest on your leg when you're sitting and more.

Levi told Braden he wants to play guitar like Zac Brown does.  And lo and behold, it turns out Braden can play one of the Zac Brown Band songs Levi knows. He watched in awe as Braden played it.

Noah was bummed to miss out on this guitar playing opportunity, so we're hoping to go back next Friday when Noah's on Christmas break and have a jam session.

Paper Chains

I seem to be drawn to paper chains this Christmas. Our church sent home this Advent paper chain for the boys. Each day, we remove a link and read what it says. Sometimes it's instructions to do something simple together, to share with each about a particular question, etc. It's been easy and simple and fun.

 Then when we were at the Christmas tree farm I was really taken by the beautiful paper chain on one of their flocked trees in the shop.

 And this afternoon, when Levi had gotten out more paint then he could use, I decided to use it up by taking white sheets of paper and painting them all over. My plan was to do a couple sheets, let them dry and then cut them into strips for a paper chain.

 Then the boys joined in for was was probably the best thirty minutes of our day. Ben had to leave for more basketball and the three of us sat quietly and painted.

 And now we have a fabulous paper chain hanging from the ceiling fan in our living room!

Christmas Tree Journey

I'm stubborn about having a real Christmas tree. Ben doesn't care - he'd actually prefer to pull a plastic tree out of a box each year. But that just doesn't work for me. Maybe some day when the physical effort of a real tree is too much for us I'll change my ways. 

Our trouble this year was space. I kept going back and forth in my mind about what size, if any tree at all, we should get. The boys made that decision for me. They demanded we have a tree, their excitement was contagious so I decided we'd make it work.

Friday after Noah got home from school I took the boys to find a tree. Ben couldn't come along because he was headed out to some basketball games. So it was just the three of us - my first time cutting a tree down without help from Ben or my dad!

 We did great! Noah was in charge of the map and telling us how much each tree cost (according to the tag on the tree and the chart on the map).  Levi measured how big the trees were.  See, before we left home we stood in the corner of our house where the tree would go and held our arms out to see how wide it could be.

 And then we found it! The perfect tree! I didn't really tell them to get together to pose for this picture - but suddenly they were ready. Noah was prepared to be helpful with his work gloves. Levi, not so much.

 While I sawed the tree down, Noah helped to steady it and Levi made sure my camera was out of harms way. Then it was time to haul it back to the barn. During our journey, in which I carried the trunk end of the tree and Noah carried the top of the tree, I had to take a couple of breaks. My arms were shot from sawing and so I needed to rest two times. After the second break, Noah told me that I was weak because I am old and he hadn't needed a break because he young and strong. Thanks Noah, thanks a lot. I feel so, so much better.

 After a good long shake, our tree was put in our truck ready to come home with us.

 Except for last year (when I got a tiny -yet real- table top tree from Dillons), I've gotten all my Christmas trees from Pine Creek Farms just outside of Goessel. This barn always looks this way and I love it.

 Today we took the tree from naked to decorated. Levi helped me unwrap the ornaments and it was wonderful to hear him explain each one with excitement.

 We had to move a piece of furniture out of the way to make room for this big tree, but I'm glad we did. It's good to have a real tree glowing in our house. It was fun to go out with the boys to find it and bring it home to enjoy.

The Christmas tree tradition is growing at our house. This is the first year I remember the boys having such distinct opinions about it. It's lovely that it worked out.

In the Jar

I almost didn't blog about this. It seems kind of dumb. But, from a personal perspective it was a big deal and I'm proud of it. For years, literally, I've said, "I'm going to have a garden and can whatever grows." People around me heard this over and over again. Well, this year we did it. We grew a garden! It was wonderful and addicting and fun. The hurt I put on the Squash Bugs that tried to eat my pumpkin vines was nothing short of a daily/weekly massacre.

 Our jars live in a space that seems to have once been a porch, but no one can remember it being a porch. It's dark, but has a window with heavy drapes covering it. Kind of weird, but it works. I had to hold the curtain back with one leg while I snapped these photos. :-) Not all of these items come from our garden. But once you start canning it's hard to stop! The peaches are from Dillons. The pears and cherries (made into jelly) are from my cousin Megan. The cucumbers, tomatoes and green beans were grown outside our back door.

 I think spring will be fun. We'll see if garden number two is as much fun as garden number one was.

Cat drama

Our mama cat, Chuckles (the boys named her when she showed up at the farm last Winter) has had three litters of kittens in less than 12 months. Her first litter didn't survive more than 24 hours. But she did a great job raising litter's two and three. Although, she took litter three up to the hayloft of the barn and hid them down in a stack of bales where we couldn't reach them. Now that they're old enough to climb all over the hayloft we have spent more and more time with them trying to become friends. It's fascinating to watch how they interact with us, which ones instantly find us and which ones always stay further away. 

 On Friday, when Levi and I went to visit the kitties we were struck by how much they were meowing. Usually when that happens Chuckles appears pretty quick;y to check out what's going on. But she didn't show up. And then I realized I hadn't seen her all day and that's really, really unusual. I figured she might be shut in one of the sheds or a garage. So we went on a search and didn't find her.

 Just when we were about ready to write her off as our latest cat casualty, she came limping from the field to the south of us. Great, an injured mama cat. It didn't seem too bad at first. We left her in our mudroom with some food and water while we went out for a birthday dinner with my mom. When we came back home, her injury was pretty clear. One of her legs had been caught in something - we're guessing a live trap somewhere - but we could be wrong. The paw on her injured leg was very swollen and just looking at it made my stomach turn. (Have no fear, I didn't take any photos - gross!) 

She seems to have instantly weened her kittens from her. She's been leaking milk today, but it doesn't seem like she has the strength to get all the way up to the hayloft. So we took her up there and she hissed the kittens away - perhaps conserving her own strength and energy to heal her wounds. I keep telling myself that Chuckles is just a farm cat. But, we really like her....and thankfully she's continued to clean her wound and is eating, drinking and resting a lot.
So, sure, we'll take on the task of making sure five two-month old kittens have enough food and water....sure.  How did we become such cat people?!?!!?!