Dec 23, 2014 | Family, Farm |
Gabe and I attended a Christmas Party last night and were out until the wee hours of the morning (okay, fine, we were home by 10:00PM), thus we had limited energy today. During Ellie’s morning nap we decided to take a walk through our woods. It’s pretty wet this time of year but warm, with day temperature reaching the mid-fifties. It’s perfect walking weather, when it’s not raining.
We spent a few hours exploring the woods and walking though the pasture. With all the rain we’ve been having, it’s apparent we will have to do something to resolve the drainage issues we have in the middle of the pasture. Gabe thinks a man-made pond will solve the problem but I’m skeptical. A man-made pond is the equivalent to a large muddy hole in my mind. Plus, don’t they attract snakes?
After lunch, Sam took a long four hour nap, and Gabe, Ellie and I slept for a few hours in the afternoon. It was dark when I woke up and instead of scrambling to make dinner, Gabe picked up some Mexican food and we lit the Chanukah candles for the seventh night. Mexican take out is probably not the most traditional of Jewish meals but it was good and I didn’t have to do dishes. That’s a Chanukah miracle in itself.
Dec 19, 2014 | Family, Farm |
We are having a Chanukah party tomorrow evening and I am trying to get the house ready tonight because I’ll be too busy cooking tomorrow and won’t have time to clean or decorate. The night before a gathering I always regret inviting so many people due to the large amount of prep work. Still, I know once everyone arrives I’ll be glad I invited as many friends as I did, and I won’t care that my bathroom sink is covered in toothpaste or that my house is still littered with unpacked boxes. Friends don’t care what my house looks like, so I shouldn’t either.
That doesn’t mean I won’t scrub the toilet and sweep the floors. A girl’s gotta have standards, after all.
And yes, that is a level and a toolbox resting smack dab in the middle of my Chanukah decor. Ugh.
Dec 18, 2014 | DIY, Family, Farm |
Because this is the first Chanukah that Sam will remember (I think), I wanted to put more effort into decorating than I have the previous years. I made chains out of pretty blue and silver scrap paper. Foam snowflakes pulled from the bottom of the clearance bin at Michael’s were taped to the wall and I added “Happy Chanukah” bunting to a wreath that I made last year. It’s a simple branch wreath from Michael’s and I hot glued rosettes and flowers made from muslin and burlap. I inserted leftover pearl pins form my wedding bouquet into the rosettes for a little extra flair. The great thing about the wreath is that after Chanukah is over, I can remove the bunting and leave the wreath up all Winter/Spring if I want to. That’s my kind of decorating! Low maintenance at it’s finest. The table runner is new; we had a silver one but the dry cleaners ruined it. Gabe found this one on sale at Pottery Barn Kids and ordered it along with a leather chair, which was Sam’s big gift this year. I have decided to continue the tradition of gift giving that my parents started with us. The first night is the big gift, and the gifts become progressively smaller each night, with the smallest present opened on the last night.
Sam loves the chair. At first he seemed confused; his little two year old mind knew he was going to find a present in his room , but he was not expecting a chair. After he walked into his room and saw it, he said “Oh…chair. But where’s my present?” Gabe and I had to explain to him that the chair was indeed his present. I expected a fit, but he seemed more than fine with the explanation and proceeded to jump up and down in the chair and of course, made his Mama sit in it. It was fun watching him enjoy his first Big Boy piece of furniture
