Trimming The Tree

Brent braved the blizzard and brought us the most beautiful tree yet. It smells so good, in fact, I kept smelling my hands as I was wrapping the lights. Hudson was reluctant to go off to school, so I promised to wait until he got home to decorate it. When he walked in the door and saw the tree lit up he threatened "You're going down!" I assured him that wrapping the lights is the boring part.

He quickly forgave me and we got to work decorating.

A Stuffed Thanksgiving

As usual, our Thanksgiving was stuffed full of family traditions. Hudson carved his brown bag turkey at his classroom feast. He was the only pilgrim in his homemade costume.


We got an early start to Thanksgiving at the annual Turkey Trot. The kids had been training for the event the past week on the treadmill.
Never mind that they rode their bikes. I could push Dalanie when she got tired, but then she could pedal when she wanted. Worked tons better than a stroller so they're just not dead weight.
Dad butchered the turkey the day before. It was so fresh it practically gobbled. It was good eating.
A few aunts, uncles, and cousins joined us for dinner. Then more family came in time for the debut of Top Shot, an event put together by my dad (in true Warren fashion.) It was highly anticipated and didn't disappoint. There was everything from nerf guns, rubberbands, spitwads, bb guns, ping pong balls, paintball guns, jousting, potato gun, and bow and arrows. Needless to say, Hudson added a few things to his Christmas list after competing.

The self-proclaimed winners. They were just in it for the trophies.
The men retrieved Christmas trees in a whiteout. The wind was blowing so hard, the women and children decided to wait it out in the Suburban.
A visit with Santa at Christmas in the Nighttime Sky.
And then the Teddy Bear Breakfast where Dalanie worked up enough courage to talk to Santa.
It was a great holiday. We even managed to squeeze in haircuts with Aunt Kandice and some thrifting.

Gratitude

“In our daily lives, we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but the gratefulness that makes us happy.” Albert Clarke

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone, just like those in years past. We reflect and assess, express and internalize those blessing that fill our hearts and lives. And when I do, happiness and contentment warm me through and spill over.

Our lives are richly blessed with people to love and be loved by, a home that is comfortable and safe, healthy bodies that rarely inhibit, and fresh country air with room to roam. But I am most grateful for the perspective and blessings of the Gospel. Where families continue and covenants carry us into eternity.

Pushing Cows

Brent has spent the last week rounding up, weaning, vaccinating, and preg-checking. Lucky for us, the precipitation has held off. They needed help pushing the cows up to a field in the hills, east of our place. And since Hudson didn't have school on Friday, he saddled up and helped out. It turned out to be a cold and windy day, so the girls and I helped from the comforts of the warm pickup. On occasion, Hudson would have to jump in to warm up.

Long Nights

The time change has made evenings really long. Now the kids are requesting to go to bed, where during the summer we'd just be eating alfresco or going on a bike ride. Last night we came up with a fun little activity to help pass the time. The kids absolutely adored it and are begging for 90 hundred more rounds.

Brent generously offered to be the judge of our prestigious pageant. He came up with categories for each round and the kids and I had to dress the part.

Round I: Foreign People - Dalanie took that trophy with her kimono and chopsticks from "Japanda."

Round II: Career Oriented - this round even included a demonstration. Lucky for Ruby, she brought along her own music to dance to. She found some bright red lipstick in a purse and snuck it on just as the judge cast his vote for her. The "tramp-eze" artist (as Hudson innocently called her) had a lively routine of acrobatics.Round III: Summertime Fun - there were swimmers and gardeners but the knicker clad, golfing gent took the honor.

Round IV: Grandpa and Granny Tribute - Oh man! The kids had us in stitches, sipping their cocoa and reading the paper. I don't think a winner was ever declared.

Grown Up

Dalanie started going down to the elementary school for help with her speech on Thursdays. I was glad it worked out that way since she's busy with Joy School and music the other mornings. She gets to ride the bus with Hudson and brings home papers or "her homework." It is hilarious to watch her take the papers, feeling all important. She immediately gets busy coloring, taping, cutting, and gluing. She thinks she's a legitimate student now.

She's loves having places to go and things to learn. She is constantly puffing out her chest and standing real straight to show us how big she it. If she only realized she has an entire life of being grown up! Why are some kids in such a hurry to grow up?
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Tight Season

I found an idea (on Pinterest of course!) about making girls tights out of women's knee socks. But since I don't have a lot of extra ruined tights lying around, the wheels started to turn. By cutting a slit in the two socks, I was able to sew them together to make a complete pair of tights.

Before you get too excited, I must note: The average knee sock will make up to a 24M tight. I found some super long socks and was able to make them into tights for my 4 year old. So if you need bigger tights, the above tutorial would be your best bet.

Here's how it went.
You need to cut a slit in the insides of each sock. I cut my first pair straight down the middle, but shifted the placement forward for the subsequent tights. This just gives a little more space for their bums in the back.
Once the slits are cut, it's time to pin. Now I don't normally pin, but it's quite helpful. I pinned the tops together first and then the bottom (or center) of the slits, pinning occasionally.
I ran a straight stitch with a 1/4" seam and then zigzagged to finish them off.
The last thing was to figure out how big the foot needed to be and trim the sock back. It was easiest to sew first and then do the cutting. Of course if you're using a serger, you could take care of it one pass.Here's the finished product.
And just so there's no confusion hidden under the tutu, they end up as a pair of tights.
Think of the possibilities with a pair of $1.29 socks.Finally a pair of tights to go with this skirt!

Handmade Relief Society Activity

We pulled off our first Relief Society activity with the help of so many great women. It was a mother/daughter craft-fest. We kept things simple, and it was fun to watch the girls help and teach each other.

There were no sew hat instructions.
Ice melt buckets made from re-purposed Chupa Chup cans my SIL donated. They had vinyl "Let It Snow." I couldn't believe how cute they turned out and the fact that you could get one for $2!There were also ric rac rosette rings (a great tutorial from my sister) and fabric flower necklaces.
There are some tutorials floating around blogland, but I came up with my own instruction sheet.

And as always, a quilt to tie.

The Napping House

There is a house, a napping house, where everyone is sleeping.
And in that house there is a bug. Could it be?
A lousy bug? Where everyone is sleeping.
A lousy bug that bites the boy, that catches a sister, and chases the other
in the napping house, where no one now is sleeping.

The End.

You know what they say, "all good things must come to an end." Not just good thing, but all things will eventually come to an end. And we're so happy they do. After all, we finally finished harvesting corn.