I'm Exhausted

Erik didn't go to work today either, they found mold in the house they are remodeling so his boss is figuring out if it would be more cost effective to just bulldoze the entire house or try and remodel all the mold out and until this is figured out the job is at a stand still but Erik did work hard today, we all did (after we played at MOB). Erik re-fenced the backyard last night and today he built two gates so now my backyard is enclosed. I took down the remainder of the chicken fence and stacked fire-wood. I also found the perfect place for next year's garden. Our backyard looks huge now and the entire thing isn't even fenced, we still have about 25-30 feet of backyard past the back of the fence. I miss looking out and seeing my stupid chickens running around but I really like the space more. Again I have no pictures, but maybe soon.

It has come to pass.

We no longer have chickens, well we have them but they are in the freezer awaiting their time to be eaten. Erik butchered them tonight. Hannah and Ivan once again thought it was fascinating to watch and also that Erik found the starting of an egg inside one of them when he was cleaning them out. The backyard is on it's way to being fenced and I look forward to the day that I can send the kids and the dog into the backyard to play and not have to worry too much that they have gone wandering down the road.
In other dog news Quincy is doing well, acting a little more puppy-ish today and a little more sure of us though he does bark and whine through the night. Hopefully he'll be a smart dog and realize soon that it doesn't get him anywhere. He likes to hide under my chair instead of in his kennel and is sleeping there right now. He played pretty hard with the kids in the backyard during the chicken butchering.

Pictures

You get pictures and multiple blogs tonight because I finally uploaded pictures from my camera. I did get a picture of our stockings hanging from the framing right before we moved them to put the fireplace in, the stockings are now hanging from the bookcase. The fireplace did come on Friday and is partly installed. It is only partly installed because though the fireplace came, all of the parts did not. Erik did though cut the hole in the roof for the chimney which at this moment has plastic over it to keep the rain out. We are still hoping and praying to have a roaring fire by Christmas.

Our Newest Addition

Well, we did it. We have joined the community of dog owners. Today we drove to Astoria to pick out and pick up our newest addition. His name is Quincy (Hannah named him and we have no idea where the name came from). He's a blue heeler/lab mix and he's about 10 weeks old and right now he's sleeping peacefully in his kennel in the laundry room. Hannah is upset in the picture because she wanted Quincy to stand by her.

Stockings were hung by the chimney?

Our fireplace comes in today! Or rather it's suppose to. Erik and Hannah are going to go pick it up when he gets off work tonight, then we have to actually install it. Hopefully we'll have a fire by Christmas but Erik told me not to get my hopes up for a mantle by then. Right now our stockings are hanging from the framing. I was going to take a picture because it does look quite comical but once I finally found the camera it wouldn't turn on because of dead batteries. Too bad for you.

Black Friday

So, I did succumb to the temptation of cheap flannel and went shopping at 6am yesterday morning. I must say though that it was actually fun this year. Instead of a tiny JoAnn's in Astoria I moved up this year to the larger JoAnn's in McMinnville. There were plenty of carts for everyone that wanted one, the staff was efficient and friendly, there was plently of room to move around and there was no one frantically grabbing at the flannel trying to get all they could. People actually spent their time looking at the flannel and deciding what they wanted instead of grabbing like crazy. It was a civilized shopping experience. At the most I waited 30 minutes in the cutting line and 5 minutes in the checkout line! I also branched out this year and looked at and bought more than just flannel because I had time to look around without worrying that I needed to save a place in one of the lines. I was impressed that I spent $80 and saved $180 by buying everything on sale. Erik wasn't so impressed, he always says I could have saved more money by staying home and not spending any....
Erik and I did brave Wal-Mart yesterday afternoon and it wasn't bad but I don't think you could have paid me to be there at 5am. My in-laws went, walked in and turned around and came out (and that took them 20 minutes), they said it was a nightmere. I'm excited because even though I still have a few things to make for Christmas I think we have all the shopping done. And as we were leaving Wal-Mart there were two adorable husky puppies for sale so Erik and I spent some time petting them...we think we might get rid of (or eat) our chickens and get a dog. We did pass up the husky puppies but it was really hard.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year has been good. I've felt tired and out of it all day but I'm so very thankful for family that loves to play with my kiddos and lets me take a nap and says that I don't have to make anything for Thanksgiving dinner. I was suppose to make breakfast this morning but Erik took charge and finished that up for me and let me sleep, I'm definitely thankful for the wonderful husband I've been blessed with. As long as I'm listing things I'm thankful for I can't forget my kiddos. They amaze me every day with what comes out of their mouths (or in the case of Clayton, what goes in...). I'm so very thankful that they are excited to "have Jesus in my heart." Ivan has taken to saying that "Jesus is mine. And Jesus is daddy's." I just love it.
This morning my mom called to say that Grandma Dorothy died. She's my dad's mom. I find though that I have more to be thankful and grateful for than I have to be sad about. It's hard to be sad when I know she's in Heaven and that she was really ready to go home. I spent a week up at my parents' house and we got to see and talk with Grandma and she was more coherent than usual while we were visiting, asking how old my kiddos are and commenting on how cute they are. It was good to say goodbye that way and I have to admit that when we left I thought maybe it might be the last time I saw her alive. I am so thankful for her love for God and the legacy that has left in our family, first in hers and then tickling down into ours now. I'll miss her but I am so very thankful that I will see her again someday.
So it has been a good Thanksgiving and I hope yours was wonderful too.