Operation Christmas Child!

It's that time of year again!  Time to go shopping and fill up those boxes for children elsewhere that may not otherwise receive anything for Christmas this year.  Collection week is November 14-21 (I believe, it is here).  Look up your local drop points and give them a call to verify dates and times.

In years past we've matched funds with the kids to do 2-3 shoeboxes per child in our family.  This year it became evident that they've got this.  They'd been quietly stuffing their jar all year long.  They earned this money.  They paid for all of it; plus had some cash left over to donate to other needs.  I'm so thankful that the Holy Spirit has been working in their hearts to cultivate and attitude of cheerful giving.

I do not share to brag, but to spur others on to love and good deeds.  "....and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near."  Hebrews 10:24-25   

Another blizzard!

It started slowly on Sunday afternoon.  On Monday there was a fair bit of snow and schools were closed, mostly because they knew much more was coming.  My kids did not get a snow day.  We had a make-up day after being sick for a week.  Some school was done and a fair bit of cleaning too.

On Tuesday even Daddy got a snow day.  There was so much snow.  Walkways and driveways were hidden under snow drifts.  The wind was blowing and the snow was coming down steadily.  It didn't stop coming down until evening.

This is Mr. S way out a the neighbor's driveway helping him dig out.  He had to get into work.

Snug and warm inside we played games and well....Daddy and Mr. M had a twinkie eating contest.  Mr. M had challenged his daddy; he may be growing up (and it was close) but daddy was the winner!

Wednesday morning brought a slow start to our day and sweet morning snuggles in bed.  Daddy was able to make it in to work with the 4wd truck that had chains on it.  He left the kids with the encouragement that IF he could get the minivan down the driveway that evening there'd be $20 in it for each kid that worked on that project.  They got that driveway cleared!

Mr. R and Miss J can be seen on either side of this picture digging.  Mr. M had just been there moments before the picture was taken.

Miss E made doughnuts for everyone.  While we usually just do the homemade doughnuts for the first good snow, this one was so big we thought it deserved doughnuts too. :)

Now that the sun is back out we've been enjoying our wonderful view.  We've enjoyed the slower pace that the storm brought, but we're ready to get back to our regularly scheduled activities!

A stinky pest

Our first sign of our smelly pest was losing 5 chickens the night we brought them to the new house.   After fortifying their home our remaining 2 chickens stayed safe, but we were seeing signs of that persistent pest trying to get to them too.  Despite all of our best efforts of deterring the thing, it kept coming back.  Our poor girls were stressed.  We needed a more permanent solution.  Mr. M helped with that.

Moving!

We've been busy packing up, moving out, moving in, and settling in.  I'll post more about the house and how we ended up moving but for now here are some pictures of what we've been up to....

I had lots of helpers packing up at the old house.

This guy was a HUGE help, and loved every minute of it.

By the last day he had injured his finger...playing basket ball.  No, this was not all "all work and no play" sort of move. :)

No, it wasn't that bad.  We just decided to give that finger some extra protection knowing he was not likely to want to slow down.  It's fine now. 

Taking a break in the afternoon.  The freezer was loaded with frozen treats in hopes of good moving weather.

Of course the cat decided to have her kittens on our big moving day.  Under the dining room table. 

Everyone pulled together to finish up ahead of schedule at the old house.  We've got some great workers!  We were also greatly blessed by friends showing up to help in big ways and small ways.

EVERYBODY helps!

Signs of spring

While I don't believe for a minute that we're done with snow for the winter, it is so nice to see (and feel) the temperatures rising, the snow in our yard is (nearly) all melted and the first bulbs are already blooming!  We've been enjoying this past week's warmer weather by heading out to work in the yard.

The older kids are working the ground to get it ready to plant our garden and preparing the little hen house for new chicks.

The little kids are enjoying some play time, but are also helping out quite a bit as well.

Our chickens are loving the warmer weather.

I loved enjoying our view while sipping my coffee the other morning.

One of the most exciting signs of spring?  New chicks!  Just a few; more will be coming later in the summer.

A snow day!

It snowed over night.  My big boys have been getting up every snowy morning and not only shoveling our walkways, but our neighbors' too.  They do this because they are sweet, but sometimes the neighbors pay them. ;) Little kids liked watching their big brothers shovel this morning when they got up.

This morning Miss A sweet talked Mr. S into taking her out to play in the snow for a bit.  This afternoon she gathered her snow gear and tried to talk anyone and everyone into taking her out.  Here she is trying to sweet talk Mr. R who had other jobs he needed to be doing.

Mommy, will you take me out?

As I was bundling her up to take her out myself, Mr. M came up ready to take her out to play for a bit before he went sledding.

Winter work day

Saturdays are work days around here, though they tend to be fun work.  The girls spent the day in the kitchen doing some Christmas baking.  Miss A was so excited to see all of the candy canes being crushed for cookies, she wanted in on the action.

crushing candy canes may be fun, but eating them is better!

Outside the guys were working on the new hen house and a dog house.  No, we don't have a dog.  No, we are not planning on getting one.  Mr. S just wanted to make one and daddy figured it was a good project for him.

Ah, a sweet reward at the end of the day.

Operation Christmas Child Boxes

My kids look forward to this all year.  They save all year.  They plan all year.  This last Friday was the packing day!  The kids sorted and organized.

They cut up wrapping paper to line their clear plastic shoe boxes.

All but Miss A packed up their boxes.  Each child did 3 for their age group/gender (I helped Miss A with hers).

The boxes waiting to be delivered.

*Yes, THEY saved.  They have a big jar that they put their $$$ in all year.  They work for this money.  They even put Christmas and birthday money in here, on their own, no prompting from us!

collecting fire wood

We have a fireplace (with stove insert) at this house.  We're all looking forward to some cozy fires this winter and even heating with wood most of the winter.   The base has a spot where they put all of the trees/logs they had to cut down (for various reasons) that we can go to to collect fire wood!

The catch?  They are full sized logs.  They have to be cut up before loading them up.  Daddy cut them up....

...while the kids loaded.

We've made 2 trips so far.  We will make a few more before splitting the wood.