When Life Gives You Snow......Make Snowmen!

All this week my kids have done what I think is something strange: they are in the house all day and then when it gets dark they head outside! Are they bats?! Some nights this week they have been out there as late as 10:30pm! We had a bunch of snow that was good for packing and they worked several nights fashioning a fort in the front yard and digging a "cave" into one of the piles from the driveway. Two nights ago, before we got 24 hours of rain, they worked on a snowman. Alas, Mr. Snowman is no more, due to the rain, but it's currently snowing again and we've got a nice new base of fluffy white stuff. Unfortunately for them it won't pack at all. Fortunately for those who have driveways to clean, it will clear easily with a snowblower!



Apparently they got tired before putting the head on this snowman and Mariah improvised!

I think I need a winter hobby so that I'll enjoy the snow more. Cross country skiing perhaps?


I just remembered there is a shovel lying in the back yard that was lost the last time it snowed. I saw it yesterday but didn't go out right then to get it......now I can't find it agian........

Rural Happenings

Welcome to the winter wonderland of the north! We got our first real snow a week ago and managed to get a good 10" out of it. It was a very wet, heavy snow which of course meant the snowblower wouldn't work in it. The kids ended up with a snow day out of it and Josh couldn't get to work so we had many hands here to make light work of clearing our drive, Ken's dad's, paths to the shed, and one of the properties in Beloit. Boy did we sleep good that night!




One of the most important areas of our home to clear after a snow is the deck area to the grill! I grill all season long and we learned quickly the first winter after we put the deck on that if you don't keep a path clear in front of the door, you won't be opening it until spring! I grilled Cajun salmon out there last night. Yum!




Yesterday I saw this house listed online. It's right in the area my parents are looking to move to, has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, is a ranch style, and is priced in their range. Ken and I drove over and looked at the outside and took some pictures. Mom and Dad are going to do a drive by today and see if they are interested in pursuing it and checking out the inside. I'm kind of excited about it and hope this is finally the "one"!




Son number two is home from college for winter break. Thankfully most of his stuff made it right to his room the day after he got home. I think it still looks like this today-four days later....notice his matched set of Wal-mart bag luggage!!

This was the last week of school for the younger kids and both they and I are ready for a little time off. We've got some fun things planned for the beginning of the week and then they are heading to a church winter camp for almost a week and are very excited about that. Now, what will Ken and I do with ourselves while all the kids are gone for a week......?!

The first week of December

This is the inside of Ken's Apple computer. Everything is contained in the monitor. It needed some repairs last week and this is the beginning stage of taking out all the components to get to the bad part. It took the repair man 5 1/2 hours that day and he still has to come back again to fix one more part and repair another part that he broke during this process! It was interesting to see him remove the screen with two big magnets.....



Alex is following in his brother, Ethan's, footsteps! This is the kilt Ethan made several years ago. He wore it a couple times to high school. Alex decided he would like to wear it also and today was the day! He poured over the school handbook last night making sure it wasn't somehow against the dress code ;-) Nice legs, Alex!

No Shave November

For the second year our oldest son, Josh, has been a participant in "No Shave November!" It originated on the internet. Perhaps Josh even invented it! All I know is I am so happy when it's over!




This was Josh on Dec. 1. He did have to do a bit of trimming twice that I know of because of some speeches he had to make at college. It's always a good idea to look nice for your audience!



Ah, yes! A clean face again! As he took off the offending growth he came out of the bathroom with different cuts and styles; think goatee, the "Hitler" look, etc.....Each time we all said to go all the way and get it all off!



Yeah, we know it makes you look younger without the facial adornment, but it also makes you look friendly and not scary! If I'm lucky, this fad will pass before next November, but in the mean time, my wonderful Thanksgiving portrait has Josh displaying full facial hair! Grrr.......

Thanksgiving

Ah yes, the star of Thanksgiving, after the blessing of the meal and for the nation we live in, has got to be the food! Every family has their traditions I suppose and ours is creativity! Other than turkey, dressing, and gravy, you never know what will turn up on the buffet table! There is usually a reason for bringing something to share as in the case of the corn casserole that my sister-in-law, Diane, brought this year. It was requested by her son! It made him happy. It made her happy to make him happy. It made us happy because it tasted good! By the way, Diane, I need the recipe for that!



Oh my! What an array of desserts this year! I believe that some year we will have to start with dessert first. Again, you never know what will turn up or why. Notice the pies with horses on them! My wonderful mother-in-law brought those. She will be the first to acknowledge that she doesn't cook much so I was SO pleased that she baked pies for us! She even had extra pie crust which she used to decorate the tops with. It was creative, she wanted to do it, and they tasted wonderful!



Each year that I host the Thanksgiving gathering at my house I end up doing the table in different ways. The dynamics of our clan has changed drastically in the last couple years so this year I wanted things to be relaxed and not worry over spills or stains. The disposable table cloth worked out great! Who doesn't want to be able to draw on the table after the meal ends?



I wonder what these guys would have been doing after the meal on the first Thanksgiving? I'm wondering what WE used to do after the meal on previous Thanksgivings!!



And what would football players do on Thanksgiving if there was no football? The obligatory game was on, but no one was really watching it. We are a family of talkers. We like to talk. We spent lots of time talking.



You know what happens when people cook and eat? Yup. Dishes get dirty, and my wonderful husband stepped right in and made it his mission to keep the kitchen free of dirty plates. Did I mention that I never asked him to do this? And he claims he can't read my mind......



Well, this is where it all started! Grandma is the matriarch of the family and at 91 she is still clipping right along! Dad is her only living son and the father of the four boys that make up our extended family. From them has come the wonderful chaos called we call normal life ;-)



This is Ben. He's the very handsome "baby" of all the sons! I've had the pleasure of watching him grow up and he's become a wonderful young man. I'm very proud of his life choices.



This is Todd and his beautiful wife, Diane. Todd is second oldest of the boys. They have opened their home and hearts to some beautiful, funny, thoughtful, and loving children through the foster care system. They have become two amazing parents.



Brother-in-law Matt is next with the newest addition to the family, his sweet and kind wife, Michelle. They too have opened their home and hearts to three beautiful little foster children who have brought us much joy over the last couple years!



Ok. So we look like green martians in the picture, but it's me with my favorite (ok-only) mother-in-law! She still looks happy after raising four boys! One could not ask for a better MIL. She's there when you need her but doesn't butt in and never takes sides or plays favorites. I'm taking notes because some day I too will be a mother-in-law!



So this is all of us. My family, my husband's parents, and grandma. Thanksgiving 2009. I am blessed.

~Ruth

Saturday Morning

When we first got married Ken and I always had a nice breakfast together on Saturday morning. Over the years as the kids came along it was something they always looked forward to. They were right there to help crack the eggs or flip the pancakes. The table was nicely set and we ate together. Then something happened.....the kids got older and began sleeping later and later on the weekends. Breakfast became brunch and eventually the tradition slipped away since starvation crept in and I just didn't want to wait til noon for my food! The kids all know how to cook and they fixed their own breakfast when (or if) they wanted it.




Alex had been talking about something called churros for some time and had asked if I could make it. I stumbled upon a recipe for them this week in a magazine and it jogged my memory about Alex's request so I set it aside to try some time.

Last night we fried fish for dinner and I got to thinking that making the churros this morning would work perfectly since we had the leftover oil from last night to use. I usually don't fry foods and when I do the oil is used once and then discarded since it is so long between uses. At least I could get two uses from the batch of oil!

They turned out pretty good but it is kind of a messy process and takes a bit of time to fry the whole batch. It was a nice treat, though!



I can think of lots of ways to change them and make other varieties, but that would mean we would end up eating too many!

New Neighbors

It doesn't take kids long to scope out anything new in a neighborhood and Mariah soon discovered that the new people moving in two doors down have cats! Actually they have three adorable kittens! Mariah made friends with the kittens first and THEN the neighbors!



The kittens followed her home last night after she had been over there visiting.



They are really pretty and very tame and lovable!



Maybe their presence in the area will keep the rodent population in check.....



No new toy or gadget entertains this child as much as three little kittens and a string or leaf! Simple pleasures in life are the greatest!

Rise and Shine

Good morning! Check out what is parked a block from my house this morning!



My neighbor drives a semi and apparently this was his load for the week.



No real identifying markings on this.



Ok all you military people reading this.....what branch of the service uses this type vehicle?



I guess it's time to pay a visit to my neighbor for a little chat!

It hasn't been too terribly exciting around here this week. Ken and I went down to my parents house Monday and changed their screens on the second story to the storm windows for the winter. It was finally a beautiful day with no rain. Ken also plugged a hole by their chimney where it is possible the bat flying around their living room got in!

Tuesday I worked on our house cleaning all the windows on the first floor and getting the storm windows put in place. This coming week I'll do the second floor. It takes about 20 minutes per window. Thankfully they all tilt inwards so I don't have to be on a ladder.

I picked up one day of work this week in the office at school. I learned a couple new things in regards to updating info in the computer so it was an interesting day.

Ethan has come home for the weekend, thanks to his girlfriend driving from Madison to Platteville to get him and then to our house! That's about 3 hours. For the first time this year he brought laundry home! Three load worth! He said it is too expensive to do it there. Welcome to real life......At least he is doing it and he didn't ask me to do it for him, LOL!

That's about it. Praying for those who are having health issues right now, some with the flu and others with more serious conditions. Never take good health for granted!

Well finally! After many weeks of absence from this blog I'm getting something posted! Our annual fall church convention was in October and this year we traveled to our second favorite local, Panama City Beach, FL. Our favorite being Hawaii, but our trip there last year was a once in a lifetime visit since we had free airfare! I don't expect to be there again any time soon!! We love the beach and the relaxed lifestyle that comes with it....coffee while watching the sun rise in the morning, the sound of the waves, the warmth of the air, sea shells in the surf, and a sunset over the water......


On our last night in FL a friend took some family pictures of us on the beach. It's hard to get the hair to look right if you want the sunset in the background cause the wind is blowing from behind!



Mariah loves the beach and it shows on her face!



Son number three enjoying his solitary moment for the camera.....



There is just something so calming about watching the sun set on the horizon.



Mariah had the opportunity to go para sailing one afternoon. To get to the boat they were taken out on a banana boat which I think she had just about as much fun on!



Eventually this parachute got up to 1200 feet! I've done it once and once was enough!




Mariah's autograph in the sand lasted about 45 seconds before it was erased by a wave.....



The view from our condo looking west. We had a wonderful vantage point for watching the sunset.



While we were gone a good friend celebrated a birthday so they had a little party in their condo. Can you ever have enough cake?!



Ken was challenged to a game of backgammon by a young man who was pretty confident in his skills!



It was wonderful to meet up with a dear friend and see her interact with her grand baby. Yes she is a grandma-two times already! I want to look this good when I'm a granny!



Love the moments on the deck enjoying the sun and each others companionship!



Alex and a couple friends did a service project for the complex where we were staying....there was a channel where water came from a pipe and used to go to the gulf. Over time it had changed course and was running parallel to the shore. Birds would congregate in this standing water and then little children were playing in it. Gross! These guys decided to redig the channel and get rid of the stagnant water and they did so, one bucket of sand at a time!



Redirecting the water meant first building a dam and then digging out the channel deep enough to get the water flowing the proper way. It took a couple days and lots of sweat, but they got the job done!



Any time we are at the beach Ken takes his metal detector. There is always that hope of finding something really interesting. This year's haul was about $1.73 in change and lots of beer tabs!



The seagulls loved to eat whatever was offered them and Mariah loved to feed them! This was one of our first mornings there. Mariah and our good friend, Bonnie, took bread out, sat quietly on the sand and fed a couple dozen seagulls! It was quite a sight to see them surrounded by birds!



Mariah went out nearly every morning to feed the birds! It just isn't the same feeding birds here at home as it is on a beautiful beach at sunrise!

We had a great time with friends while in FL and all too soon it was time to return to reality which means work, school, etc.....Time to start planning NEXT year's trip!