Emily and lambs

If you need a gift idea this winter, you may like this one! The boys made these as Christmas tree ornaments, but they would be cute on a mantle or shelf. I think it would be neat to have a picture of the whole family on a sled. :)

Mittens

These adorable mittens were given to me by a very creative friend of mine. :) They are hand-made from recycled wool sweaters. Aren't they cute? She has all kinds of them on her Etsy site. Check it out!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/merchantships

Update on the Lambies :) (by Emily)

The lambs will be 4 weeks old this Wednesday! Wow, the time has gone fast, and they have grown fast! Unfortunately the littlest one, the girl, didn't make it. But the three boys are getting huge, and good grief can they ever eat! :) The biggest one hit 17 1/2 pounds tonight, and the others are just about caught up to him. As for their names.... well, I had named them Prancer, Rudolph, and Dasher... but then someone (not me!) came up with the idea of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh... and to be honest I'm not exactly in favor of the idea. Anyone out there wanna be named Frankincense!?!?!?! Anyways, that's just my opinion. Of course me and Dad, their caretakers, have our own "pet" names for them... Big Boy, Pretty Boy, and Floppy Ear. :) So obviously I'm sure those lambs don't have a clue what their names are! :)

This afternoon we had a Christmas Program for the elderly people at Dassel Lakeside Apartments with some friends, and we brought along Big Boy/Prancer/Gggggooolllldddd, complete with a red ribbon and silver bell. I was a little worried he might be upset or wild, but quite to the contrary he was calm and cute and sure seemed to enjoy all the spoiling attention... everyone just loved him. :)


Mary Christmas, the most recent lamb, born about a week ago, is also doing very well..... nursing well, frisky, and oh, so cute. And as for me???? ..... I'm "in my element", as Aunty would say.... lovin' every minute of it!!!! Me and Daddy go out morning and evening every day and have our "milk date" as I call it. I milk while he bottle feeds, then he feeds and waters while I finish bottle feeding. :) Life is good. :)

Mother and Daughter Christmas Tea

Here is a picture of the tea Emily and I hosted for some friends. We had a time of sharing, some food and tea, and then the girls went ice skating while the moms visited. It was a great day!

The Christmas Recital

After many hour of practice, the dreaded Christmas recital arrived, and not without much emotion on the home front!! The kids were so nervous and were trying to convince us, on the way to the recital, that they were coming down with the flu. :) Of course they all did great, as they always do!


Jonny had been working particularly hard on his song. He was having a lot of trouble with it, and Emily was spending lots of time helping him. He really wanted to give up, but he kept plugging away at it (with lots of incentives from Emily). :) I think his piano teacher was a little concerned, but when he finished his piece at the recital, his teacher turned around and looked at us and said (with a big smile), "He nailed it!" :)



Jonny went to bed tonight with a sigh and said, "Well, I guess all that hard work paid off!" , to which I replied, "Yep, you're learning how life works, Jonny!" :)


(the kids and their piano teacher)

Lamentations 3:17 says that "It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth." In other words, it is good for young men to learn to work hard! :)

Hunting with Grandpa

Here's a picture of Mike and the boys going pheasant hunting with Mike's Dad. They had beautiful weather for hunting! Ben is the only one that got a pheasant, but they were not able to find it......Jackson is a guard dog, not a hunting dog. :)

Us girls escaped to do some Christmas shopping while they tromped around in the slough. When we got back, we all enjoyed some white chili made with Housman Farm chicken, of course. And any time Grandpa is over, the kids cannot let him leave without either playing some games with him or listening to some of his hunting stories.......or both! :)

P.S. For those of you who are wondering where Brandon went......He is currently living on his own and working full time. That's why you don't see him in the pictures.