Shhhh!! It's a Secret!

Ethan is getting a big box of Christmas gifts - one for each day up until Christmas!  It was a lot of fun putting these gifts together.  

Holy Moly - it's Cold!!

This past Saturday and Sunday, Dallin's team played in the Lake Norman Classic Tournament.  Saturday was cloudy and about 60 degrees.  They tied the morning game 0-0 and won the afternoon game 4-0.  The clouds left and IT GOT COLD!!  Sunday morning's game was FREEZING! - like 20 degrees in the sun! with wind!  They won 2-0 and made it to the final.  The 3:30 game was even colder!  Tim and I gave up, found a different parking space, and watched the game from the car.

TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS 2 YEARS IN A ROW!

It was so cold, everyone thought soup was a great idea for dinner - this is all that was left of a potful of homemade tortellini soup.

Signs of Fall Around the Farm

I actually located the "Thanksgiving Village" this year BEFORE Thanksgiving!  

The candle blocks were a project from a craft day we recently hosted here.  Each guest was to make a craft and then bring enough supplies for everyone else to make the same craft.  It was a really fun day!  (and yes!  That's a ladder in the background - there's some prep work going on to finish painting the walls - yay!!)

"The Ledge" - always have to decorate the ledge for holidays!

Most of the leaves are gone from the trees, but this guy in the front yard is apparently wanting to hold onto his!

I'm sure this lacy-feathery stuff is something that most people are allergic to, but it looks pretty anyway.

Hay's done been put up in the barn.  Yup.  

Teenage male cows aren't all that much different from teenage male humans.  He does this because he can.  The cattle are all getting fuzzy for winter!     

Doesn't that mouthful of dried whatever look yummy??

My Home's Love Story??

I just saw a pin over on Pinterest that said something like 'Your Home's Love Story' and it got me to thinking....I have such a like/hate relationship with the house I live in now. It's hard to love it at this moment.

This photo is the house that we had in Pennsylvania.  I took it the last time I was in PA in 2005.  

Yes, we planted those trees!  They were NOT that big!  Yikes!

It was such a big change when we moved here to NC.  We went from that little lot and not much to take care of to 73 acres and cows and lots of lawn to mow and barns to take care of.  I had a new kitchen and new carpet.  I had a route that I walked ON SIDEWALKS every day.  I had neighbors that were besties and just like family.  I had a fancy grocery store with childcare and I had dozens of cute shops and craft shows that I could go to within minutes.  Starting in September, I could take a short drive and find any number of barns with signs that read "Craft Show today" - filled to the brim with gorgeous stuff!  I could call the butcher and ask for a half side of beef and have it in a week with cuts of meat like "eye roast" and "flank steak". I was organized in PA and had my kids on a schedule and I baked every other day or so.  In our branch, the Relief Society met every month for Homemaking meeting and I learned and I made so many things!

Then we decided to move to NC.  Being on a 73 acre farm has its ups and downs.  The house is constantly under construction and changing.  The driveway is a muddy mess when it rains.  Heck, sometimes it's muddy and it didn't rain!  There's a creature called a 'skink' that gets into my house frequently.  I sometimes have to go in or out a different door because of a snake, or a little something the cat caught and brought to the door. There's always fence to fix and cows to monitor; chickens to check; and ducks to throw bread crusts too.  I don't have a new kitchen here.  In fact, the person that built this house picked out a kitchen design that might have been popular in the 60s even though the house was built in the 80s.  It's blazing hot in the summer and not cold long enough in the winter.  Something called bermuda grass takes over my flower beds (I only have one right now because the outside of the house still needs stucco!) and my vegetable garden.

Maybe in a couple of years I will be able to write a love story about this house.  I have some strong likes that might turn in to loves.  I like that we have 73 acres and no one complains about the drums being played (well, actually, I complain a little) and I can hang up my laundry in my pajamas because no one can see the back porch from the road.  I like that I can see the stars and the meteor showers without city lights interfering.  I like that we have a cat and cows and chickens and a duck.  I like being able to dream about what my kitchen and bathroom will look like some year when they are done.  I like that the summer is long and hot and we can ride the Harley from the beginning of May until the end of October.  I like that we have cattle that we can take to the butcher and have our own meat to put in the freezer even though the butchers here have no earthly idea what an eye roast or flank steak is.

I still miss the craft shows.  And being organized.  And walking on sidewalks.  And having Relief Society meetings every month.  And having an eye roast.  And having neighbors pop in the back door and sharing a bit of their day with me.  

Yep, the jury is still out on this house's love story.

Senior Night

Awesome poster for Dallin!  All of the seniors had one.

The Coaches

Running out to the team for the last time.

AND WE WON THE GAME!