One of our favorite traditions is going on a tree hunt in the forest. We're grateful to live where we do so that such a trip is relatively brief and very fun for all of us.

As "luck" would have it we found one right away.

The help abandoned soon after the process began.

The snow was pretty deep for the tiny one

Heading out

The guy in the front there--he does most of the work as you can see.

While we love this tradition having both grown up in the Northwest there are things about it that aren't quite as much fun--but make it quite comical.

Like tying it on the top of the car.

OK it might not look amusing, but trust me--we have a small vehicle.

Being stuck in the car while everyone else is outside

We still have a good time over all

(And the above sadness only lasted a few moments, truly.)

Here is my shadow to prove I was there.

The battery died before I could hand the camera off.

(not bad since I haven't charged it since October)

Did you wonder if we'd frozen to death? We managed to avoid it. We've been:

Shoveling

Tree collecting and sledding (more on that later)

Discussing the finer points of wearing mittens

Granny and Grandad sent us a package quite a while ago and we loved everything in it.

This is for them:

Tiny loved her new doll.

She also loves rocks as much as her mom does

We rediscovered this as we were setting up our tree last night. The kids found a box of rocks I had tucked away. We love rocks! I collected some pretty cools ones and it was fun to look through them and do a little remembering. Rocks just rock. Green, white and black, black and white, cool shapes, cool impressions, neat layers, even some asphalt I think I picked up in Scotland.....thinking it was a really unusual rock. Perhaps not so much.

See you soon!

It's COLD!

Batten down the hatches!

That's all.

I learned yesterday that my husband really, really loves me. It's true. I haven't fully appreciated that love before. How do I know? What marvelous thing occurred to bring me my epiphany?

For the first time since I've known him (Okay, probably in my entire life--because before he loved me--there was my MOM who loved me just as much, but that's different.) I picked the meat off of the boiled turkey. I love soup made by boiling turkey and chicken down. That Man among men has always gotten rid of the yuck for me. The yuck is of course the guck, the slimy disgusting stuff, and the bones. Yesterday, in a gesture of nonchalant goodwill I picked the bones clean. The funny thing was as I was sorting through the primordial goo (Or is it post-mordial?) I kept smelling this delightful citrusy smell. I wondered if someone had put some lemon juice in the pot when I wasn't looking. It was a delightful smell. Delightful is not something I normally connect to boiled turkey. Cold slime does not elicit delight. Yet there was this unmistakable smell--a favorite among smells for me--that got me through having my hands covered in cold slime. The I realized my children were eating oranges directly behind me. Eating may be a stretch--taking a bite or too and then putting them wherever they felt like it would be more acurate. The bliss of that smell. I can't describe how it makes me feel. That smell not only got me through the slimy hands, but the distinct feeling I have that my children think that I am a piece of playground equipment that can be molded at will into anything from a bridge to a post around which a lively game of peek-a-boo can be played. This is true even when I'm wrist deep in slime.

Thank you oranges.

Thank you babe.

Now I know like never before that you love me.

By the way, you're welcome.

See, I love you too.

One of the things I've learned this year is how much fun a project is when you set it up the night before (thanks to Soule Mama). That way the morning starts with the project. It's like giving a christmas present. The response is much like getting one. We had such a morning just the other day. We painted for almost 2 hours. I even got to participate. I don't have a lot of water color paper around but I wanted them to be able to use some. I gave them each a piece and they were done with it in a very short time. In an effort to conserve paper I tore it into little squares. We painted and painted. We now have a "swag" of hole punched squares of paper hanging in our living room. It's so fun to see.

Here's the happy kids at work:

Such fun colors!

Can you imagine? Two hours!

Two really quick thanksgiving pictures and them I might move on. Maybe.

I made pilgrim hats out of what I had, which was mostly fabric. I scorched this one terribly, but you can't tell, nor can you tell it ever had any starch in it. At least the warm up "feast" is cute to see.

This is my 2nd bucket had failure. He's holding it on his head because it won't stay without the help of his hands. Then when we went to take it off the electrical tape stuck to his hair. I don't think he'll allow it near his head again. Sigh. Maybe next year.

Did I mention I used vinyl that I'd cut off a chair we just got rid of? I starched some fabric and attempted to use it for the "bucket" part of the hat, but when it didn't fit we abadoned it for the THANKFULLY found piece of poster board that I saved from a sign when I was part of storytelling club LONG ago. Hmmm maybe I shouldn't bother next year. We'll see.

I did spend way too much time on this hat. Thank goodness for my models!

We did this before Thanksgiving, but so much fun I have to share.

First we mixed beans (pinto, black, white), popcorn,

split peas, and some left over pumpkin seeds together.

There was lots of hands on mixing that spread to the floor.

It was easy to sweep up, so everyone truly had fun.We filled some clear empty pop bottles with seeds.

Then I made a candle fit into the top.

Wala! Candle ready to be lit and blown out.

Then we added glue to a small bit of beans and stirred.

We pressed this mixture into some "molds" of an empty sour cream container, and a small ice cream cup (empty as well). Then we pressed a candle into the center. We used birthday candles for the small ones (we were after all already planning to blow them out) and a taper candle for the bigger one. Here's the lovely result:

Note: The glue hadn't completely dried on the "big" candle--when it did the white glue effect went completely away. It was really quite pretty.