(Have you ever thought of it that way, Christmas means More Christ?) Amen!!
I decided to send my end of the year greetings via blogland. I haven't done a letter in years nor have we had family pics taken since Austin was born. Sooooo, with a couple of posts back, having shared our family pics (that I was very reluctant to take/share) I am now taking/finding the time to post and say, "HEY! We're still here!" and "Merry Christmas, may your New Year be filled with More Christ!"
JANUARY~~
The kids enjoy their sledding with cousins. Their sled is a VW bug hood which works awesome because it has a lip in the front to cut through the snow. 
Joe hooks it to the backhoe and makes 'speed bumps' with the bucket to add to the excitement. They LOVE it!!FEBRUARY~~(not many pics from this month of the kiddos so I'll fill in with this)
I am still doing my sewing 'thing'. I do craft shows, sell on ebay and do custom work for clients as well. 
My business is called Adam's Harvest, Vintage Gifts Celebrating Bountiful Blessings!
It keeps me busy, especially my mind!!MARCH~~
Rain, Rain, Go Away! This has been the wettest year since I've lived here. We got major rains in March and several times since. Everything was saturated, bumping back planting/harvesting times, flooding the rivers/roads, and many homes in the area were damaged.
Luckily ours sits up on a hill and we're far enough away from a creek/river/stream that even though we couldn't get to town by any means, at least we didn't get any damage. I remember when we were little playing in the ditches by the ball diamonds and the kids had such a blast playing in the road, too. 
It was warm enough for them to spend about 30-45 minutes in it. APRIL~~
When Joe's cousin, Barry, 'retired' from the Navy he thought it would be awesome to take a bike trip to Florida with all the guys. They planned the trip a month before the show WILD HOGS! came out. It was perfect timing. I think they saw the movie 3 times. So, 4 of them headed out and picked up 3 more along the way and eventually made it to Daytona. 
They hit every Harley Davidson dealership and every Hooters they came to. It was a great time for them to just get out and be young and dumb again. They are all pushing 50 so it really was great for them to go. They talk about it becoming an annual 'tour', I honestly hope it does because they really had a great time!
Austin especially liked Uncle Loulie's new bike!!MAY~~
School ends, Summer begins. Oh, how I loved summer when I was teaching. Now that the girls are in 4-H, full-time, summer means lotsa work/chores. We purchased two heifers for their bucket calf project. 
Audra made a gathered skirt and a pillow for her clothing project. 
Adi made a dress and a pair of pajamas for her clothing project. Adi made salsa and green beans in food preservation. Audra received a blue on her skirt which was sent to district fair, and a red on her pillow. Adi received a blue on her dress as well as a plaque for "Best use of Pattern and Material" and a blue at district fair. She also received a blue on her salsa and beans, which both went on to district fair. Her salsa received Reserve Grand Champion and went on to Missouri State Fair where all items exhibited received a blue. They both received blue ribbons on their calves.
Austin got to show Adi's calf at the Pee Wee Bucket Calf Show and did great. Audra won a plaque for "Best First Year in Beef Project, Girl" at our county fair. I was so proud of them all!! This was our 3rd year in 4-H but the first year we got to exhibit at the fair. 
Oh yeah, they both were enrolled in poultry but figured out they really wanted nothing to do with the birds, and didn't like gathering the eggs daily. Needless to say, we didn't take any to the fair. JUNE~~
Our past 2 years have been full of summer softball. Two years ago, Adi played on a summer league and a traveling team. Audra played only summer league. This past year they both played only traveling team. This coming summer I believe we'll go back to doing both summer and travel league. Audra just needs to play on her level more to build her skills. 
She is the designated runner for our pitcher on travel league but just doesn't get what she needs to practice her skills on the field. We love the competition of the travel league but the play time for Audra in the summer league. (Audra was playing 14 and under league when she is only 9.) She does get to play left field occasionally. Adi plays first base and does a wonderful job.JULY~~
Mama got a girls out weekend. We went up to KC and stayed at Harrah's. We went to the Verizon outside theater and saw Toby Keith and Miranda Lambert. A good time was had by all I believe.AUGUST~~
After a long day of school shopping, we hit one of our fav spots.
Adi is in 6th grade this year, Audra is in 4th and Austin started preschool. He could have gone into kindygarten, but with him being a June bday, I know from experience, it is best for him to wait. 
Adi and Audra enjoy going, not that they particularly enjoy 'school' but they do enjoy their friends. Austin started fussing about having to get up in the mornings so I yanked him out in November. I told him he could go back after Christmas, so he'll start back the 2nd week of Jan. He learned his lesson. SEPTEMBER~~
We traveled up to northeast Kansas to celebrate Granny's 98th birthday. 
We got to spend time with mom's side of the family which is always a joy---thinking back to the times we spent at Granny's house with cousins, aunts, uncles, etc..... 
My aunt and uncle's house is like a museum. He goes hunting, big time hunting, and displays his prizes. 
Aunt Linda collects dolls and her display case is beautiful.OCTOBER~~Not many pictures from this month. Adi turned 12 and I turned 38. We had the annual bonfire for Man-of-Mine's Aunt Toots that she puts on for all the doctors and nursing staff at the hospital where she works. I think the numbers were down but there were still at least 80 people here that night. The girls played volleyball again this year. We had baby chicks. Austin went to the pumpkin patch with his preschool. We stayed busy, I just can't imagine why I don't have pictures of all these things, sorry!
NOVEMBER~~
Finally, after being rescheduled two times, we got to go see Austin's favorite------yep, you guessed it, 
WILLIE NELSON!!
We had great seats and he did a wonderful job.
Austin fell asleep toward the end but he woke back up to go see him sign autographs. We were hoping for a signed cowboy hat, but we were just too far back. Next time, maybe.DECEMBER~~
It seems as though we've had a month long Christmas break. 
We went to KS for Thanksgiving, came home for 10 or so days, got an enormous amount of ice that knocked out our power for 8 days so went home again, came home for 5 or so days, went back out to KS for Christmas for 10 days. 
We were living like back in the days of Laura Ingalls, cookin over the open fire (fireplace, carrying around the oil lamp room to room, going to bed early, etc... 
We even found time to go out and cut down the annual cedar tree from Uncle Loulie's pasture. We think it grew in the back of the truck on the way home. As you can see, it was a good 12 feet tall and I had to move furniture to find it a place. Thank goodness for the cathedral ceiling.
I found (made) the time to make 4 dozen or more sugar cookies for teachers, friends and Joe. (I received a new recipe from a 'neighbor' and he prefers it over the one I've used the past several years.) 
Christmas was extra special this year as my big bro returned from Iraq mid November. He and his family drove from VA and so we were all together in the same town for the holidays. 
I believe everyone was grateful and thankful for their gifts and received all and more that they asked for. Now to get the "Thank Yous!" done and mailed out.XOXO
No comments:
Post a Comment