The Barns Coming Down!

I grabbed my camera and snapped this picture of the Amish tearing down an old barn along the highway. Don't you love the way the Amish work together? They have a beautiful day to work today, but tomorrow will be cold again.

More family fun...

My son-in-law Steve's sisters came down over the weekend and we all ate supper together at my house. Their mother passed away a few years ago and this is the first time all the siblings have been together for a while. It was fun watching them enjoying being together. When you lose a loved one, you know the importance of spending time together. And I love having more kids to call me "nana."

The Staff of Life...

Doesn't the Bible call bread the "staff of life?" Well, it's time once again to make some bread! I bet if I had to I could live on bread and honey.

Tool Belt Jim rolled out the table that held his "kicked up a notch" flour grinder and ground out some flour. By the way, wheat is sure getting more expensive to find and lots of places have a waiting list, so order yours now instead of waiting until you can't find it or it's too expensive to buy. Best thing to do is find a local farmer and see if he has some stored in those big grain bins. But it has to be the right kind of wheat so know what you are doing.

Notice how easily the flour slides down the shute?

Here's the bread after it rose. Wow! Tool Belt Jim found out that by grinding the flour twice, it made a better texture bread and rose much higher and faster.

Didn't get a picture, but it tasted wonderful with honey dripping down the sides! Trust me in that! My favorite part of the bread is the heels so guess who cuts the ends off first? Yep, you guessed it. Me, Me, Me. Sometimes life is about me!!!

Happy Birthday, Gracie...

My sister sent me these pictures of my great-nieces birthday party. She is one year old! Looks like she got a new set of wheels. Remember those days?

Whoa, those pink cupcakes look heavenly. How I love the color pink! Looks like money to me.

Bet she is laughing for her grandma.

Wow, she's checking out all those presents!

I haven't made one of these albums in years, but I remember the ones that friends made for me when my kids were little. I still cherish them. I thought sparkly pink would be just right for little Gracie. So you know what I was doing at midnight last night! I always start my projects in the middle of the night. Now I'm going to type up scriptures to go inside as well as pictures.

Keep little Gracie in your prayers as she has some medical issues and will be having a MRI done the first week of January.

The storms are coming....

It's a beautiful 68 degrees at 5:00 P.M. but the storm warnings and alerts have been going out all day. That's Missouri weather for you. If you don't like it one day, just wait a few hours because it will change. I've heard we should get high winds, lots of rain, possible tornadoes and then sometime tomorrow the temperatures should drop and have possible freezing rain, light snow. How's that for a temperature swing? Of course , keep in mind two days ago, the pond was frozen.

Relaxing today after yesterdays festivities. My bags and car is packed in case The Red Cross calls us out to set up a shelter somewhere.

What a Wonderful Christmas It Was...

What a wonderful family get-together we had! I made enchiladas which has become our traditional dinner for Christmas. And almost all our kids were able to gather with us today and my brother and his family stopped in which made the day even better. Our house truly did become "the gathering place" as the sign outside the door states.

I made two restaurant size pans just in case... Never want to run out of food!

My oldest son Kevin, explained some scientific concept about terminal velocity to his sister Rachel and his daughter Abbey. Everyone needs to have that knowledge to go through life, don't you know!

The state of the economy and no telling what else was discussed and decided upon.

Superman (alias Luke) even dropped in for a visit. We always welcome "super heroes."

This is my brother's wife Sue and her little grandson. In April she will have a new grand-daughter and Treyton will have a new little sister to share all his toys with. Yeah, we're adding to the family tree!

My son-in-law Steve, with three little boys who are excited about being cousins. And someone has Poppy's attention.

My daughter-in-law Jennifer is trying to convince my son Kevin that he might need to have his eyes checked since it has been 16 years! Can you read that over there on the fireplace was the question we all wanted to know?

Don't know what Luke was telling but I couldn't help enjoying the way he threw himself into the telling of it! You go Luke!

We all admired Yevette's boots and Luke showed off his too! Boots are an important accessory on the farm! Although I'll have to admit I was wondering if I would look as good in them as Yevette does?

My niece Jenni taught her little nephew the wonders of building with legos. Aunts teach you all the important things you need to know as you go through life. Remember that , Jenni!

And aren't these two more precious than words? My grand-daughter Katrina is such a sweetheart. Her and my grandson Koda are special buddies!

Treyton and his daddy Justin. Haven't seen these two for a year. We must do a better job of keeping in touch.

It wasn't cold today but we needed a fire just to take the chill off. And a beautiful fire it was, thanks to Tool Belt Jim.

Justin's wife Yevette and their son Treyton loved the little horses. Baby sister will be here in April!

Here's "daddy's little girl." Nothing better than relaxing on the couch in front of the fireplace after a good meal and enjoying good company!

Here's my oldest grandson Caleb, who'll be driving next year and my youngest son Tim, our future law enforcement protection.

And here's my younger brother Doug and the members of the "roundtable" discussion group. He's the one that tells these stories about me as the mean old baby-sitter when he was little. Even told my kids I use to claw him with my fingernails. Ha. Don't believe all that. I couldn't catch him!

And of course what's a family get-together without someone initiating a wrestling match? It has something to do with the male genes is all I can figure out! But everyone seems to enjoy it but the mothers!

This is my grand-daughter Abbey deep in thought about something. I love seeing her excited about the latest fashions which I try to convince her are the same ones I use to get excited about! The lesson here is to save your old clothes because they will come back in style someday!

There were presents exchanged between the little ones...

and Luke's response to his gift card was " and now I'm going shoppin..!"

And this is my grand-daughter Emmy who loves anything that sparkles and glitters (kinda like me) showing off the necklace she got for Christmas.

Everyone should know how to play "poker" properly. So gather round, my son will be the teacher.

And here's how you shuffle the cards. Notice the girls are taking it all in.

But don't worry, they don't play for money! Here Emmy shows off the booty she won!

I had such a delightful day! I am filled with dismay and wonder when I see my family all growing up and listening to them tell of what is happening in their lives. And the best part of all is that they all like one another and enjoy getting together . What more could a mother ask for? Hope your day was just as wonderful as mine.

Quote for the Day....

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the blood stream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free. Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)

Merry Christmas!!!

Hope you celebrate a wonderful Christmas day with your family and loved ones! And sometime during the day take a few moments to explain the real meaning of Christmas to your little ones. If you don't tell them the Christmas story, who will?

It's Christmas Eve....

All the nutcrackers are lined up in the window....

the pirate is on guard in his spot....

all is quiet in the house....

the horses are waiting until they can jump off their rockers...

the ballerina is poised, waiting for her dance to begin...

the coveted, velvet doll and the caroler is waiting too....

cause when everyone goes to bed and the house gets finally quiet...

the toys come to life and rock the night away!

Oh come on, think like a child....it's Christmas Eve...