One Big Christmas Post

Christmas, for us, is a time to travel to a colder place (NW Missouri) and visit relatives.

Here are most of the relatives (not pictured is one additional set of grandparents, one great-grandma, and the uncle who took the picture):

It also usually snows.  This year there was enough to play in, but not too much to get around (unlike last year).

There are, of course, cookies to eat.

And presents to open.

And birds to feed

And martial arts moves to practice with Papa.

We <3 Christmas.

Band Hero!

Here's our big gift for the year:

Ember mostly just danced (but did play a little too)

Lunar Eclipse

It was cloudy here up until the eclipse began, but the sky opened up a patch just wide enough that we could view the entire event, stars and all. It was pretty cool and i'm glad we woke the kids because i doubt any photos or video can show what we saw with our own eyes.

My young astronomers

Ryvre toughed it out til the end.

Unfortunately, none of my photographs of the moon turned out well.  But we have our memories.

Gamer Kid

The boy has reached the 'up later than Mom, playing video games' stage. Time for an intervention?

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

Adventures in Rural Living

Who says it's boring to live out in the middle of nowhere?  Just the other day, we had six horses wander into the yard. 

Isaac looked at them hungrily for a minute, but when they got a bit closer, he decided it would be prudent to watch from under a patio chair instead.

Meanwhile, i made sure they were friendly!

Sweet Dreams

"Sleep tight; don't let any bedbugs bite--or crawl in your ear and lay eggs in your brain!" -Ember

Gingerbread Houses

I'll be honest.  I HATE gingerbread houses!  Such a pain.  I even cheat and use a kit.  But the kids love them, so here we go:

Parade Day

This is how we wait for a parade

My favorite is the fire trucks

Only in SW MO (i hope) does Santa and Mrs. Clause ride into town on a bass boat...

Catching Up

Between moving, birthdays, holidays, internet outages, and life in general, i''m finding myself really behind on blogging!  The great thing about blogger though, is that i can post in the past.  So if things look a little wonky and out of order for awhile, that's why!

The Tree is Up!

Goodbye O'Melays!

Yesterday, i saw my best friend before she and her family start their new life in California.  It was bittersweet, watching our children play together for the last time in what may well be as many years as some of them have been alive (but i hope it's much shorter!).  We both thought they'd grow up together, but it just wasn't meant to be at this point in time.  We will stay in touch, of course, and hope to find excuses to drive across the country and visit!

Me and my bestie



The big guys



Girls



I can't imagine how big this little guy will be the next time i see him--i'm sure he'll always be just as charming though









 They are all just the perfect friends.  What will we do?

This is Angel, favorite kitty of the daughter.  They can't take any of the cats with them, so we took this one home with us (so much for swearing not to take any more kittens!).  So far he's a little scared of the change, but i think he knows he's loved here.

Walk to the Lake

Today we found where the road ends

Home Improvement

My helpers

Me, in what's become my usual attire

 

Primer

Blue room

 

Pink Room (which is really, really pink

And the best part, in my opinion:

The fridge and range are brand new, bought with credit, ironically enough, to help our credit 

(yeah, it doesn't amuse me really)

HallowBirthdayPalooza

Today we celebrated two birthdays and Halloween, all at once!

My oldest is 9 now



And my youngest is 5.



They decorated their own cakes



Ryvre's



Ember's











This year's Trick-or-Treat lineup: Black Kitty (Rome), Percy Jackson (Ryvre), Prairie Girl (Willow), Ariel (Ember), Orange Kitty (Kassi), Prince Zuko (Tristan), and a Christmas Tree (Toly)



I loved how they ran to each house