It's New Year's Eve...

and what dorks we are...

...no parties...

...no friends over to hang out at the new place...

...no special plans to speak of.

Instead we spent the morning at the doc's office trying to figure out what was wrong with Caleb.  What we thought was a cold handed down to him from his dad and his sister, turned out to be something a little more scary.  The croupy cough.  You know the one that sounds like a seal barking that only little ones get.  Lots of tears. And a feeling like he truly couldn't get in any air.

The pulse ox machine said he was getting plenty of oxygen.  Phew! 

The doc said his lungs sounded nice and clear.  Phew! 

But...she was definitely concerned with the fact that he was feeling like he couldn't get enough air in.  So a script for steroids to relax the throat muscles was ordered.  After sleeping all the way home in the car and taking a 3 hour nap this afternoon, he is doing much better.  Phew!

A visit to the ear/nose/throat specialist next week was also prescribed by the doc today.  She just wants to rule out something else isn't going on, since the croupy cough is not common in 10 year olds.   Doesn't that sound like fun?  I am picturing some kind of large scope going down his throat.  I wish I would have asked what we should expect.  Now I get to sit around and project the worst possible thing for the next week or so!  O.K.  I probably won't think about it again until we get to the office, but it's a bit more dramatic if I let you believe I will be thinking about it until we find out when the office visit will be!

I know...I'm a dork!

Anyway...so we spent the afternoon painting doors that needed to be painted.   We have three  main doors and four closet doors left. Whoohoo!  I am slightly regretting not having this done, but saving the three grand seemed worth it a couple of months ago.  Maybe not so much now!

And this evening...

New Year's Eve...

...well, let me show you what we are doing tonight in preparation for a new year.

 Hanging out in front of the wood burning stove roasting up a few of these bad boys:

 

Wishing you a very Happy New Year and that many good things come your way!

Waiting for Santa to Arrive

In anticipation of the arrival of the Santa Claus this year, and with having a full week off before he is to come, I found a few things at our local dollar store to keep the kids occupied.  I have to admit, the science experiments were kinda cool--for dollar store experiments that is!

We transformed tiny pin head sized beads that turn into marble sized slippery balls when you add water. 

We grew a cardboard tree that adorned colorful crystal ornaments after letting it sit for 24 hours.  (This photo was after about 4 hours.)

 

  We spent an afternoon making cookies.  And of course we must have new aprons to keep ourselves neat and tidy!

Bust mostly, we just spent lots of time just being lazy, lazy, lazy... 

Our favorite thing to do!

Today is Christmas Eve.  It is hard to believe that in just 24 hours our house will be filled with the excitement and joy of our not so little ones, as they find out what is inside the lovely wrapped packages that have been adorning the bottom of our tree for the past week.

It's hard to believe that after weeks of planning, this day will finally arrive and the peace of spending time with family and chatting with loved one who don't live near by will come to fruition.

It's hard to believe that in 24 hours we will be celebrating the miracle of a little baby that was born so many years ago to change our own lives for the better.


Thank you Jesus and Happy Birthday.

A Very Merry Christmas to you all.

A Snowy Day

I just love these kinds of days.  Days when it snows so deep and you are lazy, lazy, lazy!  After all that laziness we decided it was time to test out the new toy Grandpa Mann dropped off on Tuesday when it snowed the first time this week.

Little did we know we'd have to use it so soon. The Altima got stuck at the bottom of the driveway when Craig was coming home from work.

I even helped out and gave Craig a break by  doing the section of the drive where our guests park.

Thanks Grandpa for the very helpful tool.  There is no way we could shovel this driveway by hand.  That is unless we wanted to spend the entire day doing it! 

And then it certainly wouldn't be one of those lazy snowy days!

A White Christmas After All

I prayed the other morning for a White Christmas.  Based on the weather forecast last week, it did not look like it was going to happen.  On Friday, I was chatting with my job-partner and we were both hoping for some beautiful white fluffy stuff on the ground to make the holiday vision complete.  Well, this morning, I awoke to this...

and this

 

 and this

So much for weather forecasts!

It is supposed to be balmy and 40 degrees on Christmas day, but I am delighted as I know living at 7400 feet above sea level that this beautiful white stuff will certainly be hanging around well into next week!

By then I will be ready for 70 and sunny!  I guess I should slow down a bit as we still have three full months before spring arrives!

Dark Mornings

It is still dark, but it is morning.  If I were a coffee drinker, I would probably be drinking a cup right now, but I never grew to enjoy the taste of this hot beverage.  Although, this one looks so cute I should really learn to enjoy it.

Instead of coffee, I wake up and start doing. 

Doing what, you ask?  Well anything that happens to be running through my head at the moment.

This morning I woke up and started sewing.  Each year I make the kids a homemade gift and this year, I decided to make Caleb his own flag football set--complete with adjustable waist belts and flags.  Of course I had to make more than one set, since you can't play this game by yourself. So I made four.  Two orange and two blue.  I would insert a picture here, but I can't.  First, because I don't want Caleb to accidentally come across this page and see a picture of it before next week.  No worries that he will actually take the time to read this entry.  Why would he do that?!! Second because I can't seem to find my camera.  It's not where I usually leave it and I don't have the energy to go searching for it.  After all, I just made 4 flag football belts and 8 flags--I'm exhausted!

After making the flag football set, which turned out way better that I ever imagined, I was perusing the web in search of a great homemade gift for Emaleigh.  She is getting a little more difficult now that she is officially a teenager.  I had one idea, but now that I have made Caleb's gift, I'm not too keen on it.  Here's what I found on a couple different blogs.

A hanging organizer for her bed

 

http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/2008/09/sewing-for-the-home-hanging-bed-organizer/

&

binder/journal covers

http://whipup.net/2007/08/10/beat-up-binder-makeover/

I am thinking I might try these, but not sure I have enough time with Christmas being just a week away and the kids out for winter break. 

Oh wait...I still have 6 more dark mornings before Christmas arrives!

306

That's how many steps it takes to get from my entry to my mailbox.

Not sure how many steps it took from any of my previous homes, but I am certain it was not 306!

Today's first appreciation-

Seeing the sun getting ready to rise in the horizon










153 steps later

Today's 2nd appreciation-

Seeing the moon getting ready to set beyond the opposite horizon.

A New Toy

Yesterday Craig bought himself a new toy!  And all of the kids enjoyed trying it out!

 Including Mom!

Hey Baby wanna ride on my tractor?!

What's life without a little humor?!

Party On!

How excited I am that our lives are finally calming down now that  we are getting settled into our new home.  Last night, our sweet daughter got to celebrate her 13th birthday with friends.  It was a month overdue, but she was so excited and it was such a blast!  How amazed I am with this child.  She practically planned the party all by herself.  She knew she wanted a theme, so she decided on a cupcake party.  She planned two scavenger hunts--which her brother willingly helped with by hiding all of the supplies. And what a great job he did!  The girls ended up needing help finding 3 of the items.  She planned two crafts--making jewelry centered around a cupcake charm she found at Hobby Lobby,  and decorating cupcakes using fancy decorating tips.  She even found many cupcake related gifts to enclose in gift bags wrapped for each of the girls.  All her dad and I had to do was provide dinner and snacks. How great it is to have children that do the work for you!

 The Hunt

 

Stringing some beads

Such beautiful creations!

The Morning After

So Much To Be Thankful For...

So it has been quite some time since the last posting, but life has been somewhat busy...moving and all!

This year I am so very thankful for the simple things...

...no longer wondering if our house will sell or not...

...no longer having to keep my living space perfectly neat and tidy just in case the call comes that someone wants to come into your home and criticize it...

...no longer having to think where will I be calling home next.

You see after a full year of unknowns, God has finally shared His plans with us! 

 

We are now living in the country!  Five glorious acres all our own.  I will be the first to admit, that this was not my dream.  But after talking about it for about a year and then preparing for it for another year, I am completely on board!  Of course the idea of owning horses is still a bit scary to me.  But living in the country was equally as scary. And now I am really getting the hang of it!  I know more about wells, expansion tanks, and septic systems than I ever thought possible.  I understand the value of being able to finally find someone at the phone company who realizes where you live and is able to say yes, we can provide service to your area!  I am delighted that after seven phone calls to seven different utility companies one was able to turn on the lights!  But most importantly I am truly enjoying the solitude.  The quietness that exists that I never knew was possible.  In fact, the other day Ema and I were unpacking a few boxes, when we heard something we hadn't heard since we moved in.  A siren.  I know...crazy!  It made us both stop and pray that the people that needed help were okay. 

So I am sure you are wondering what this country living might look like.  You know we bought a dump!  Complete without a working heating system, very little overhead lighting, flooring that was a bit grungy, bathrooms that left little to be desired, and a smell that was--well let's just say it was almost worth walking out and never coming back.  But we did come back.  Several times.  And we did buy this dump.  And we are delighted with how it turned out.  Even though the past 3 months have felt like an eternity, we are so glad we waited it out! Of course there are many projects to complete, like caulking and painting all of the doors and trim, building shelves throughout, so we have some space to store all of the things we've collected throughout the years, and decorating galore!  Not too mention all of the outdoor projects that exist--repairing the barn, tending the garden, painting the outside of the home, repairing/replacing the barbed wire fence, pruning the trees, repairing and extending the deck, landscaping..the list goes on and on!!

It's a good thing we love projects!!

Anyhoo... here's a few pictures for you to enjoy.

the entry...

 before

after

the gathering room...

before

after

the grand hall...

before

after

the main bath...

before

 after

our room...

before

 after

The house is just under 2000 square feet and it's great for our family.  All one level living.  Just enough space for everyone to have a place whether together or alone!  It's a great home for hanging out and making some new memories!  LOVE IT!  Not too grand.  Not to small.  And of course, room to grow!

And one last photo of what we are greeted with each morning!