Yesterday the kids asked me to come to work with them. The neighbors have an extremely friendly barn cat named Paul. Mark says the cat acts like a dog! Adrian and Paul enjoyed playing together by the heat lamp for a little while before I went out to watch how the kids walk the alpacas.
Between what we share and what we use, we needed more soap. We decided to experiment this year.
Most everyone liked the orange and the peppermint soaps last year but we wanted to make them prettier. Josh requested a soap using bacon grease, beer and coffee. So we learned how to use lard in a few of our recipes. We know that pumpkin is great for the skin, so we tried adding pumpkin. Mark wanted more licorice mint because that is his favorite, but he requested a few changes.
Some of the soaps turned out great! Others we do not plan on making again. It is fun being able to take what we have learned from our friend Mrs. Klaussen, improve on it and be able to share.
Daddy’s band has been practicing the song Espana Cani. They thought it would be fun to have a bull come and entertain some students at a school they were giving a concert at.
Daddy volunteered the kids. We said sure. Mark was supposed to be the bull, but he was too tall and could not see out of the eye holes very well and the outfit pulled and looked funny while he walked. So Andrea became our bull.
We kept playing with ideas and finally decided to portray “Ferdinand”. Megan was a baby bull who kept trying to get Ferdinand and the Matador to fight. It never worked. After a temper tantrum from our matador, Ferdinand apologized, gave the matador the flowers she loved and the new friends skipped happily away with the little bull following.
The students seemed to really watching the girls’ performance. The band was slightly distracted and Daddy said that they made a few mistakes–I doubt anyone else heard!
I have heard many rumors that you can not trust Punxsutawney Phil (PA), General Beauregard Lee (GA), Staten Island Chuck (NY), T-boy –a nutria at the Audobon Zoo– (LA) or Shubenacadie Sam (Nova Scotia, Canada) who all predicted that we are in for an early spring this year.
So, we decided to try the lesser known Fabulous Five. They voted (3-2) with Buckeye Chuck (OH) who predicted more winter.
The weather was perfect for making ice candles this afternoon! Adrian filled balloons up with water and we let them sit outside all afternoon. After dinner, we dumped the water that did not freeze and then lit candles inside the hollow ice ball.
When all the kids were little, we taught them Luke 2:1-21 in December. Every night before bed, we would read the true Christmas story.
Megan struggled with it last year. While she still can not say every single word, she learned most of it this year.
While watching her play with her baby recently, I heard her saying, “And she gave birth to her first born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:7 ESV)
The snow was very light and fluffy this morning when we went sledding. As the kids flew down the hills, a bunch of snow would fly over them and the kids would be covered in white.
After one trip down, Mark completely lost control. He was fine, even giggling over the ride. But after, he stood still a few seconds, giving me a chance to take one of my favorite pictures of the day.
It snowed last night and we decided to go to the park to go sledding for a little while. We knew it was very cold so we dressed warm and planned to stay for a short while. Judging by the laughter and all the different ways the kids went down the hills, I think it was the best morning of sledding we have had in a long time.
Yesterday the kids asked me to come to work with them. The neighbors have an extremely friendly barn cat named Paul. Mark says the cat acts like a dog! Adrian and Paul enjoyed playing together by the heat lamp for a little while before I went out to watch how the kids walk the alpacas.
Daddy volunteered the kids. We said sure. Mark was supposed to be the bull, but he was too tall and could not see out of the eye holes very well and the outfit pulled and looked funny while he walked. So Andrea became our bull.
We kept playing with ideas and finally decided to portray “Ferdinand”. Megan was a baby bull who kept trying to get Ferdinand and the Matador to fight. It never worked. After a temper tantrum from our matador, Ferdinand apologized, gave the matador the flowers she loved and the new friends skipped happily away with the little bull following.
The weather was perfect for making ice candles this afternoon! Adrian filled balloons up with water and we let them sit outside all afternoon. After dinner, we dumped the water that did not freeze and then lit candles inside the hollow ice ball.
When all the kids were little, we taught them Luke 2:1-21 in December. Every night before bed, we would read the true Christmas story.
The snow was very light and fluffy this morning when we went sledding. As the kids flew down the hills, a bunch of snow would fly over them and the kids would be covered in white.