Wordless Wednesday

elk hunting

     Today was MLK Day and the kids were off school. They got up at 4:30 AM to drive to Dallas with Jim; the girls to spend the day with Grandma Sharon and cousins, and the guys to elk hunt with Grandpa & Uncle Jeff. Andrew has been wanting to go hunting for awhile now, but here was his first chance. It was neat because it was the first big snow of the season, and so they got to drive around in the mountains (2500-3000 feet elevation) where there was 2 feet of snow. They ended up not finding any elk this day, but have their tags until March and will go out another day. I'm sure they had fun hanging out together, 4-wheeling in the snow, and being out in the forests.

girls basketball game

cousin sleepover during christmas break

     During Christmas break, we switched kids with my brother & SIL, Scott & Charlene, for a sleepover--Jess went to Morgan's, and Grant and Reese came to our house to spend the night with Andrew and Catherine. They had a lot of fun. Our kids match up well. Morgan 13, Jess 12, Grant & Andrew both 10, Catherine 6 & Reese 3. These kids have grown up together and are really close, which is so neat. 

     This was Reese's first sleepover at our house. She was really excited to be here. Here the kids are in a couple photos I took when they were still and eating ice cream! Catherine made Reese the necklace she is wearing. The girls played dolls, colored pictures, and 'pretended' the whole time. The boys played indoor basketball, DS games, and watched movies. 

     I heard Jess & Morgan had a good time to themselves without the younger sibs around. They played with Morgan's new 3-week old goat kids, did some Wii dancing, and downloaded apps for Jess's new ipod touch. We got Jess back the next night when S&C brought her home and came up here for dinner with us. I made soup with leftover Christmas turkey, rolls, salad, and appetizers also left from Christmas. 

christmas elves decorate

Here's my little Christmas elf who follows me around and helps me with my holiday tasks. She is so excited for Christmas. These pics were taken Tuesday night after Mom was up helping decorate. Catherine helped Grandma put together another wreath outside {for our barn}and decorate the deck. Mom had the barn wreath idea, so I will have to get a pic of that in the daylight. She also did all the deck decorating.

With all the effort, I'd say I still only have the house and tree half decorated, as with the cleaning, gift shopping, menu planning. I have 2 more days until the kids are out of school for Christmas, and Saturday is looking like 6 basketball games. I think we may have a free Sunday, though. These next photos are glimpses of the decorating we got started on, but there are still a few more details I want to finish before photographing the wide angle reveal.

In the windows hang two fresh cedar wreaths Mom made for my front windows. She did these for me last year, as well. They smell so good and are really pretty in the daylight. To hang the wreaths, I popped out the removable, sliding window panel and inserted the ribbon ends into the window track. Did you know your these panels can be removed for deep cleaning? {learned that from my mom, too}

I couldn't wait to take a few shots of the tree. Our tree is always rustic, country with natural, homespun garland and ornaments for the most part. We have ornaments made with materials such as wood, twigs, burlap, jute twine, leather, felt and quilting textiles.  Next, I need to stabilize the tree top by wiring in a wooden dowel to support the weight of the rustic, bronze angel that goes at the top. I also have more garland to wrap around. I started with the 4-inch wide burlap ribbon here, but Catherine began hanging ornaments before I got to finishing the garland. One of my faves that I created and have had on the tree for years, is the garland made of 2-inch mini twig wreaths tied together with 2 1/2 foot strips of torn calico fabric.

This is one of my favorite ornaments because it has a hole in the bottom for inserting a light. It really brightens up the tree and I love how the light shines out of the church windows and steeple.

Here is one of Mom's handmade ornaments she gave us this year.

This is another ornament she made using chalkboard paint and red duct tape.

Mom taught a wreath making class at Willamette Valley Fruit Co. and has been selling her 'Creation Inspirations' handmade decorations and ornaments at their store this season. I tore an old, red tablecloth into strips to use for a bow with the burlap piece.

Mom makes and sells these reindeer also. We got this one from her last year. She filled my wire basket with pine cones, fir, cedar, and juniper {from Bend} boughs. I need to paint the rocking chair.

Mom made the chicken wire frame with rustic, gray-weathered wood, and she made the manger ornament. I am painting a 'Merry Christmas' and 'Welcome' sign to hang here.

Here is the fir and cedar garland Mom made and wrapped around two posts at our front entry. The large wreath on the bench is the one for the front of the barn. Jim did a nice job of refinishing our decks this fall. They are normally rich with a shine to them, but our dog tracks dirt and leaves paw prints all over the deck. The only way to keep her off the decks is to keep her penned up all the time. One of these days, maybe we'll do some invisible fencing to keep her in the back. None of our current fencing keeps her in the back because she can dig under with our wet soil--it's a complicated and annoying problem, and just one reason why I like having cows much better than a dog. She also digs holes here in front of the deck trying to find the cat who hides underneath, which is where the dirt is being tracked from. She has also started stealing our shoes and burying them in the flower beds because she is bored with no kids outside to play with, and she chewed holes in my Muck boots. This dog will not be getting any of those ridiculous doggie gifts for Christmas {major pet peeve}, although the neighbor girl brought homemade dog treat cookies over for Kendal the other day.