Merry Christmas

Christmas time here has been a simple one this year.  This is the first year we have not had to go to a thousand places and it has been nice.  We had a simple Christmas here, just us and the kids.  We didn't do Santa this year and that seemed to have made the difference too.  JC told us he knew daddy ate the cookies and put out the presents so we decided to make things simple and just give each of the kidos just a couple of gifts.  I cooked some goodies and we had a really good supper.  The kids spent the day playing and just having a free day.  This time of year seems to bring on a roller coaster of emotions for me.  I miss family that could not be here and remember Christmas's of days past.  Sometimes I would give anything to just go back in time to see my pappaw again. This year has been kinda crazy for us.  The birth of a new baby can bring on so many emotions.  You are excited yet new worries arise.  We also have had a bunch of other crazy stuff go on that we have just had to hand over to the Good Lord.  I don't know why it has taken so many years to learn this but roots are important and so is having a home, a place to call your own and a place you can go to when the world seems to be after you.  We focused on those things this year more than anything.  We realized the blessings that we have and even though we didn't have the finances to have a big Christmas like we normally do we had a Christmas of simplicity, love, and blessings.

 Sweet Cora Mae's first Christmas!

 These reindeer are a hand me down from my mom and I love them.

 We made salt dough ornaments and they turned out great~

~ Look at those little toe prints~

 ~These are my toilet paper snow flakes, can't get much cheaper than these~

It's amazing what some glue, paint and glitter can do!

 The old wood stove has been cranking the last few weeks!

 Some of the goodies I made!

 This is my apple nut cake, it just would not be Christmas if we didn't have it.  This

is my pappaw's recipe.  I even still have the pan he used and that is what I use to make it.

 Sweet cheeks Cora Mae in her Christmas pj's!

 This is a tree skirt that I made.  I still have a few things I want to add, but I thought it turned out great. 

I made it out of felt scraps and of course some hot glue!

IN farm news everyone is doing well, we are just putting hay out and trying to keep everyone warm.  We did discover something that we have never seen before though.  Josh caught this years show heifers nursing on our Mary Moo Cow.  I could not believe it.  I kept wondering why the jersey was loosing weight and heifers were still holding onto some of their show fatness.  Josh said his heifer had milk all over her face and running out of her mouth.  I still can't believe it.   We had two bull calves born and they are doing well.  Now since Christmas is over, I am ready for the garden!LOL... I did not get to can alot of stuff this year and am looking forward to stocking the canning closet this year. 

God Bless,
Tara