snowy day.

The weather waited until after school was out for our first big snowfall this year. (We did get a 2 hour late start on Friday, though, because of icy roads. One thing about having a school district that is 550 square miles... lots of buses and bus routes out on these country roads.)

The kids were so excited when they went and opened the back door before they went to bed last night...

{This was right about the time that Corey got called out to work, too. He got there at 9:30 pm and got home at 11:30 this morning. I think his night was spent in a dump truck and a snowplow. He's headed in again at 2 am. I put on Facebook last night, "Not sure I like my guy being one of the guys that gets called out to work in weather like this..." I was pretty worried about him making the 14 mile drive into town.}

The kids were really impressed to wake up to a 10 inch drift of snow in front of the door this morning! 

They headed out to feed Abe and then played around in the big drifts for awhile.

I was a good little farm wife this morning and headed out to check on all the cows. Or at least, their water. Both tanks have water heaters, but Corey still checks them to make sure they are full. (Lawson might have had to show me where one tank is...) I broke the ice in Abe's water bucket (no heater for him), and put up with him chewing on any article of clothing he could (my pants, my scarf, my coat...) and loved on him a little bit. (I might have asked Corey several times last night if he was *sure* Abe would be okay.)

Lawson and I stopped at the shed to get the snow shovels and then got a good workout for about an hour.

Guess I should have waited. My brother-in-law showed up later in the day with this...

The kids were in and out a few times during the day. They found the pile from the hay grinder to be the best sledding. See that red on the top of the pile? That's their sled.

I did lots of picking up... addressing Christmas cards... laundry... and got a little crafty and finished a project I started a couple weekends ago...

Next on the list is to do something fun with those JOY letters. Any suggestions?

more multi-tasking.

My multi-tasking skills were back tonight. Thank goodness.
Birthday dinner for my mother-in-law.

Got my brother-in-law to finish the puzzle I've been working on for a couple weeks. Yay! I can finally put it away!

Made two pies for Corey to take to work tomorrow... baked and decorated 18 gingerbread men...

2 dozen cookies for Sophie's class cookie exchange tomorrow... 

Two teacher gifts made... (Just remembered these last night. What is wrong with me?! Thank goodness I had all the supplies on hand.)

Homemade hot chocolate...

Now that's what multi-tasking should look like! 

One more day with kiddos tomorrow, then it is home for 2 full weeks of Christmas break! 

So excited! 

Happy Birthday, Jeanette! 

Every time I hear "crazy mother-in-law stories," I am always so thankful for you!
Everyone should be lucky enough to have a mother-in-law like you! =)

fyi... there were only two casualties in my crazy multi-tasking. My first batch of cookies got a little too crispy when I completely missed the timer. No idea how long they cooked. Then my finger got burned when Sophie laid the plastic lid of my ribbon box on top of a candle. I touched the melted plastic when I was trying to move it off. So I have a tiny little blister on my finger. And, I guess my ribbon box has a hole melted through the lid now. So, 3 casualties. Still not bad, though. =)

decorating the tree.

It's always so fun to pull out the boxes of ornaments and "remember them..." 

The kids each have their own box of ornaments, too. The big kids were nice and let Gretchen do some of theirs, since she doesn't have that many yet.

We were playing the "Straight, No Chaser" Christmas cd. (I love it!) The kids just can't help but dance (aka... run around crazy) to "The Christmas Can-Can." 

And everyone always gets a turn to put on the angel...

Like the pajamas? Stripes go with stripes, right? =)

A perfectly decorated, magazine worthy Christmas tree, it is not.
It is a complete hodge podge of decorations and working and not working lights.
There are ornaments everywhere.
It kind of looks like the tree that Christmas threw up on.
But I love it.
It's the perfect tree for us.

multi-tasking.

Is it any wonder my house is a wreck right now?
My brain is multi-tasking a little too much.
This was last weekend...

Decorating for Christmas. Painting a project. Making BBQ Meatballs. Unloading the dishwasher.
All at the same time.
And those are just the things I can think of from looking at the picture.
I'm sure there was laundry and other things thrown in there, too. (Except cleaning... obviously.)

Plus, stopping occasionally to add a few pieces to the Rudolph puzzle 1/2 way put together in the breakfast nook. 

I really need to focus.
And get some things crossed off this constant to-do list that is running through my brain.
Usually I can multi-task pretty well. Lately, it's gotten a little out of control.
Seriously not sure how I would function without my handy notebook/planner for writing things down in.

(And maybe, just maybe... I am really looking forward to two weeks off of school!)

tractor ride.

We finally got out Christmas decorations last weekend. 

Gretchen was super excited about our Little People nativity set. 

In no time, Baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the wise men and the camel (and a little Barbie...) were all going for a tractor ride together... 

new commute.

Corey's commute has changed. 

Instead of the bottom one, he now drives to the top one... 

We're pretty excited about it.
Less driving... less gas... less worry about him on the road.
It's comforting knowing that he's only 10 minutes away, instead of 70.

So thankful for all the ways that He continues to direct our paths.

(Although... his first week of work, he ending up helping fix a broken water pipe in 6* weather and didn't get home until 1:30 am. Then he got called out Sunday morning to go treat icy streets.

So I'm also thankful for a brother-in-law willing to come over and do chores for him. Feeding the calf I can handle... the bigger cows I don't quite have figured out yet.)  =)

abe love.

This little guy is still pretty popular around here... 

Gretchen finally worked up the nerve to touch him...

Sweet little guy...

This little guy is pretty happy out here on the farm...