Merry Christmas!

A few Clayton stories to brighten your Christmas:

Earlier this week, I asked him what kind of cake we should bake for Baby Jesus' birthday. He thought for a few seconds then replied by asking, "Will the mailman take it to the stable?"

As we were getting everything ready for Santa (setting out the cookies and the reindeer food) Clayton looked up at Cyle and asked, "But how does Santa see in the night?" Cyle told him he had a flashlight. Then Clayton asked, "Does he bring it into the dark, scary chimney, too?"

After we had set everything out for Santa and checked his status on Norad's site, Clayton proclaimed, "Let's get to bed! And quick!" Never have we heard those words out of his mouth!

We wish you a very Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Crafts

These are a couple of the crafts I done for Christmas. I made the holly wreath for my friend Angie. And the Rudolph shirts are made with the boys' handprints.

Snow, Snow, Snow!

If I didn't know any better, I'd still think we were living in Ottawa! So far we've gotten well over 2 feet of snow this year. The snow we got this past weekend was record setting! Truly, we are in a winter wonderland. Clayton is loving the snow. He just can't get enough of it. Levi is starting to warm up to it...a little bit. It sure will make for a pretty Christmas if it lasts!

Great Missouri Visit

We spent two and a half weeks in Missouri to celebrate deer season and Thanksgiving. We had a great time visiting all of our friends and family!

Happy Halloween!

On Friday, we went to the library for Halloween Story Time. The kids got to dress up, dance to some spooky music and listen to some Halloween tales. Then they got to trick-or-treat around the library! They had a lot of fun.





So, the good news is---they actually wore their costumes!! I started sewing them in August and as of October 28, neither child would willing try them on. Though, when candy is an incentive, my boys will do just about anything.
Just after supper and before the rain started pouring down, they happily dressed up as little owls. I did not anticipate -never in a million years would I have even considered- that they would peck each other with the beaks on their hats...But they seemed to enjoy it and seemed to forget that they were in costumes. I loaded them up in the wagon and carted them around the neighborhood. We hit quite a few houses and got a pretty good candy haul. Cyle stayed home and handed out candy to all of 2 trick-or-treaters while we were out. Later in the evening, we got a few more...The boys really enjoyed themselves and were so excited about all of the candy. We had a great Halloween!

Dashing Dinosaurs Halloween Party

This past Thursday I visited Clayton's class for their Halloween Party! After they made some apple muffins, Levi and I helped them make a craft. Then all the kids put on their costumes and went trick-or-treating around the school. They visited Father Leo in the church office and even sang him a few songs. We returned to their classroom for some Halloween treats!
We LOVE Mrs. Klagges, Mrs. Pories and the Dashing Dinosaurs. It's such a warm, caring classroom filled with singing and laughter. I'm so glad I've been able to spend so much time with them lately!

Cows N Corn

On October 22, I got to take a field trip with Clayton's class to Cows-N-Corn. (Yes, this is the SAME place that we visited for All You Can Eat Ice Cream Day...only we did not get to all we could eat ice cream this time around...) We did get to take a hayride, learn about milking cows, we shook some cream into butter and went through the corn maze. When we were done with all of those activities, we DID get to eat a little bowl of ice cream. It was a lot of fun to see Clayton interact with the kids in his class and hang out with the other moms that went along.

Graves Mountain Apple Harvest Festival

Earlier this month, one Saturday while Cyle was deer hunting, the boys and I took a short road trip to Graves Mountain for the Apple Harvest Festival. It was a drizzly day, but we still had a good time picking out pumpkins and eating fresh, fresh apples!

Chocolate Pudding and Winter Clothes

The weather has gotten cooler here, so we've traded out the shorts and short-sleeves for the pants and sweaters. (Of course, now it's in the mid-70s...) The boys played in their room while I was changing out the clothes. For a long time they looked at books. Clayton looked up at me and said, "I sure could use a pair of reading glasses." "What? Reading glasses?" I said. "Well," he replied, "how else am I going to know what all of these words are?"
That evening we made home-made chocolate pudding. And boy oh boy did the kids enjoy it...the bits of it that made it into their mouths, anyway.
Happy October!

Our State Fair is a Great State Fair...

Don't miss it! Don't even be late!
It's dollars to donuts that our state fair
is the best state fair in our state!

Yes, I did sing the song on the way. And, yes, I did get looks from my family. Apparently they haven't enjoyed the musical...or seen it, for that matter.

On Sunday, we took a drive to the Virginia State Fair. Our neighbors invited us and we had a great time. Cyle and Clayton were able to ride all kinds of rides and Levi and I took in all of the sites.


We can't go to a fair without enjoying the fair food. Clayton couldn't get enough of a turkey leg!


Cyle and Clayton rode the Ferris Wheel 200 feet in the air. From the top, Clayton said, "The world is just so small."



After a while, the kiddie rides just weren't cutting it (for Cyle or Clayton) so they hopped on a roller coaster and then the Himalaya. Clayton loved them both and, as an added bonus, didn't get sick.

In one of the animal tents a baby bull had just been born that afternoon and they gave him a really great name - Levi!

Levi didn't mind that he wasn't big enough to ride any of the rides. He was content to sit on this lawn mower. I almost couldn't get him off.
We had a great day and are so thankful Rob and Karen invited us along.