"If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day." — E.B. White

Monday, December 24, 2012

Busy little feet of all shapes n sizes

Wow, it's been a busy month.
As usual on the farm we've enjoyed overwhelming blessings and fun
and a wee bit of stress n drama as we prepared for Christmas... 
Our Elf Clayton has continued to keep us entertained...

He brought us Elf Pillows,

And roasted marshmallows n made s'mores on our fake fire!

He even made a tire swing in our tree!

Clayton delivered a letter and special seeds from Santa!
We followed directions, planting them (looking suspiciously like TicTacks) in sugar and sprinkling with salt til they grew into Santa gumdrops!!!

Our little riders on little reindeer ponies rode in a BIG parade in Lisbon!
Sadly I was "behind the scenes" so got no great pics this year.
Mostly I snapped pretty things from behind or after...





We enjoyed a dinner with "Santa?" at our favorite family restaurant, Baughers...

And went to Christmas at The Kennedy Center for my gift followed by an early Christmas at my Aunts!


We've also been torturing small animals in the name of seasonal silliness.



Now it's Christmas Eve and we've been VeRy JoYoUs!!!
We began by foxhunting as a family this morning! ! ! ! 
Use your imagination as although we were dressed festively, these are the only pics I got.



You see, we're having a WHITE CHRISTMAS!!!!




We've exchanged some gifts - the highlight for me being when Jack gave Sarah a mirrored mug with cocoa so that "she could see how beautiful she is in the morning even with bedhead."
She gave him his dream - a box FULL of hotwheels!
Nanny brought fun toys and laughter as usual!
But sadly we had to abort our trip to church tonight after much dangerous sliding in the VW.


Still, we've left out cookies n thank you note for Santa and will be reading Twas The Night Before Christmas with visions of sugarplums soon to follow.

And as always, Clayton reminds us of the true meaning of the season.

God Bless you all dear friends.
Merry Christmas!!!


Friday, December 7, 2012

Even Elves get sick

Aww, I feel even worse now...
Not only do I have the flu (last in the family)
but it seems our Elf Clayton is sick in bed(Kleenex box?!) too!
Good thing he found everything he needed to get comfy
~ I see he brought Little Noses decongestant drops!


We were supposed to ride in a horse parade tomorrow but between the weather n the flu I'm doubtful.
Hope you're all well and tucked in snug!

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

It's Dec - that means Elf mischief!

 We are officially in the Christmas spirit. How 'bout you?
Our Elf, "Clayton," has returned!

And he brought many Elf buddies...






And what's an Elf without ToYs?!

 On Dec 1st the men went out hunting and Sarah slept late while battling the flu...
Clayton snuck in quietly on a reindeer.
Later we went and cut our tree at our local farm


Grandma JoJo came out afterwards and showed her support by going out hunting with the boys!

We decorated the tree ...

and then we all hunkered down together in our bed to watch...  

ELF!!!!  of course
We came down Sunday morning to find a special surprise Elf breakfast!
Sarah was FULL of drama!



All things Elf or SnOw prevailed ~
powdered doughnuts, elf cups of milk, snow caps, elf lollipops, elf paddle boards, white warm socks, white popcorn, a Santa movie, cookie mix and, of course, syrup! 
Also included; cotton balls (snow???) scattered all over the table and an Elf voice recording toy.

This morning Clayton himself went from my nice list to naughty... We think he's unhappy with our glorious above normal temps and was asking for weather more like his home... 

He wrote out "Let It Snow" in cocoa mix on our counter and 
hung around on a snowflake to watch our reactions.

He also cut out snowflakes (leaving the mess)

And taped them to the back door around our countdown calendar.

Hope you all are counting your days full of fun!