Thankful for Christmas!

I am terrible! I skipped the Thanksgiving pics and went straight to the cutting down the Christmas Tree pics! I guess I will work backwards! Today, as with tradition, we went and cut down a Christmas Tree! We aren't on the mountain somewhere in Utah, but we are on Mr. Palmer's property cutting down a farmed tree on his property.

Shylee shed a few tears, remembering all the fond memories of driving up on the mountain with Grandma and Grandpa and all the Aunts and Uncles and cousins and hot cocoa, and Lane shooting a tree down with his shotgun! Oh! The memories!!
She had her sweet friend, Jules to comfort her:)

The wonderful thing was that Santa knew we were there and dropped some candy down from his sleigh, while flying over to let the boys know they were on the "Nice" list and to keep up the good work:)
Lance Albern was our saw man and cut down our tree this year. He is quite an amazing young man and at 5' 10 1/2" and 160 pounds he is a young man!

Lonely Mom, Nice Boys, & Paper Friends

I have been substitute teaching to bring in some extra dough. I have been pretty darn busy the last few weeks, working more than I want to be, but Chris Cringles Closet must be stocked with a few important items, and we need help getting there:)

I get home anywhere from a few minutes to an hour after the boys get off of the bus, and Rider is home with Shylee (online school this year).

I was mentioning how I missed them and thought of them often during the day.

Fisher felt bad that I felt lonely and missed my kids during the day, so he made me a paper friend to take to school with me.

I keep it in my planner and look at it a few times during the day.

This morning as he was leaving for school he turned and asked me if I was going to miss him today. I told him~ "yes, I am going to miss you."

He told me "But mom, you don't have to miss me, you have your paper friend."

I was torn, I wanted to bawl and giggle at the same time.

Why are they so much more well adjusted than me?

I love my girl and boys. I love my paper friend:)

My Marionettes

Trapper~ "mom, why do you need a bra?"
Me~ "To keep them up."
Fisher~ "And if you pulled it (the bra) really tight it would pull them waaay up.....and if you took it(the bra) off they would go waaaay down."

I laugh for two reasons: First that he has noticed how a bra works (for me:), and second, that his statement is entirely true!!!

They go where I pull or let down, it's like having my own little puppets on a string, AKA: adjustable shoulder straps:)

Leaves Glorious Leaves!!!!

I have mentioned before the amount of leaves that have fallen here at our home. But to clarify, my children and husband have been raking for about 2 weeks and burning piles upon piles of leaves.

It smells delicious,the burning leaves, it's a fall smell...

I am so thankful for their hard work. Our yard is ready for winter. We won't be raking gooey leaves and pulling up half of our fresh grass this spring, because we didn't get around to it. That's what happened last year:)

I made quiche for them to come in and smell and eat. It was a perfect evening to end all their hard work. I am sure they will be back out there, but I have to say, it's worth it, to have all these glorious majestic trees in our yard. Don't you like how I said that? I, being the one that hasn't been raking! But someone has to cook and clean, and take all the pictures!!

Me~"I am mopping the floor, so don't come in unless you want to intentionally slip and crack your heads open." "...and if you fall down and crack your heads open I will still swat your bottom for not listening..."
Fisher~ "Mom, we wouldn't even be able to feel the swat on our bottom because we would be dead from our getting our heads cracked open."
Me~"Good point, Fisher."
Feeling extremely proud with his thoughtful comment and with a big smile on his face, happy as a ray of sunshine he says...."Thanks Mom!"

It's the little things in life!

The pics below are of "Nelson Cliffs." Which compared to the fact the Ohio is flat they are a grand site. They are very beautiful. Shylee is gaining my love for photography, so together I bet we took hundreds of pics! So, just be glad I didn't post all of them:) The waterfall pooled under this cliff. We could crawl way back under the rock, I was waiting to see some creature living under there. But it was just my little creatures playing under there!
Shylee had them take silly pics of throwing leaves in the air! It was hilarious!
We let the kids play at the park across the street and there are some pics from that. Enjoy...