December 31, 2015

Around Christmas

Some rather random pictures of Christmas. I realized I never actually got out the camera when everyone was together. Ah well.


This is mid December. Can you imagine it being this warm in the frozen north? So warm that our October Pumpkin is still not a frozen/thawed mess? 


Christmas Eve was 70 degrees and windy, so we took a walk to Grandma and Grandpa's


Lily and Gilbert being zombies


Lily and her walking stick 






Clouds scudding across the sky



Hoyt's windblown look.


Gorgeous clouds



Before Cody left, he put a front loader on the Deutz. Which made it rather Christmasey.


Making sugared cranberries


Justin and Dad helped Gilbert put a new toy together. They both had things to say to whoever made the erector set. "You can't even get the wrench in there to tighten the nut up!"


Oranges and pinecones


My sugared cranberry cake. I really liked it actually. 


A blurry picture of Lily and Orianna's wool felting projects being started. Dad says I depend much too heavily on Justin's goodwill when choosing presents for the kids. Which is sort of true--"Well that looks annoying, but Justin could probably figure that out..." It is a good thing I got such a nice Daddy for my kids. 


Mom had some leftover decorations from work, so the kids got to decorate a little and they were quite pleased with themselves. 


December 15, 2015

Various things

Well, we have been off antibiotics for less than a week and we have sore throats, fevers, and headaches again. So back to the doctor's this afternoon. Heavy sigh. I weep for our healthier selves. I have been telling people that I feel like we are the before picture of a healthy living blog--"The moment of clarity came when we were all on antibiotics for the second time in one month. We knew we had to make a change. Then a friend introduced us to...." (fill in with essential oils, gluten free eating, clean eating, veganism, apple cider vinegar, homeopathy) "and it made all the difference."

Except that no one has introduced us to anything miraculous yet. Get on that, you people. Find a cure for what ails us. 

In the meantime, we will keep trying the same old, same old antibiotics and hope for a different outcome. (If the strep test is positive this afternoon, that is.) We had some blood work done on Friday and hopefully we will get some answers soon. Until then, don't expect us to swallow anything with abandon. Strep makes you stop and consider the pros and cons of every swallow you make. And inevitably, the question "Does drooling really look that bad?" comes to mind. So far we are still socially acceptable, non-drooling people. But if this continues, I make no guarantees.

And now that was have some sickness and drool on our minds, onward and upward to cheerier things. Like sunlight, squash, sunsets, and... squidlets. (Ha! I couldn't think of an s word for kids, but I persevered and came up with a Douglas/Uncle Scott word.) 


Tricycle in sunlight


Butternut squash


Mom's Geranium's



Lindsey took a good picture of Mom's geranium windowsill and the Northern New York sky. So I will steal it. It doesn't look like late November does it?


Last month, when we had a dusting of snow. We haven't had snow since. 


Steamy spaghetti squash and my poinsettia. I adore poinsettias. They are so flamboyant. 


Moira sunset


Gilbert being proud of being a bucket filler


Some more geese. I love geese. 


Dad made us all breakfast the morning Lindsey left.


And then, we decided to color. 


The flash washes it out, but Lindsey's was quite vibrant


Coloring is hard work. What if you choose the wrong colors?!? You ruin it, that's what. I am not sure I like these colors all together. But I picked them with confidence, so that is something. 


Orianna took some pictures of the kids in the suburban while we worked cows a week and a half ago


Apparently there was a lot of hugging


Evening



Hoyt sharing little books with Abilene. Hoyt is such a good big brother. He loves Abilene so totally. 

December 14, 2015

A weekend


There was a lot of electronics going on


Collaborative Minecraft


Aunt Livie snuggles


Mom and Fiona having a chit chat


We took a walk late Saturday afternoon

And I don't know what is up with the setting on my camera, but these pictures are all a little off.


Skipping


One, two, three!


Delighted, blurry Lincoln




Elsie getting a piggy back ride





Blurry friends 


Coming home


Purple twilight


Cheyenne's birthday cake


The kids who are too little to take a walk with the big kids wanted to do something. Surprisingly, we went to see cows. And I took some pictures. 



Tori feeding cows


Big girls taking a walk


Little big girls taking a walk 


And then Justin saddled up Beauty and gave the kids rides


Elsie's little clogs


Hoyt was cold and I was holding Elsie's extra jacket, so he got a fur coat for a minute while Ashley got his real jacket


Fiona and Hoyt


General excitement


Hoyt and Aunt Livie








Owen checking the calves




Hoyt loves his Daddy


Some mud






Some late geese flying high




And then, the grown ups had to have a go.