Squirrel Hunting

Season's greetings!

We had a wonderful Christmas, spending the time at home and visiting with family. On Christmas eve, we saw both sides of Pete's family and then had his older cousins (and uncle) over for games -- so much fun and many laughs! On Christmas day, we had lunch at Pete's parents and went over to his aunt & uncle's for some more visiting. Always fun to catch up with everyone! :) I thought that I would share a few photos of our Christmas decor before I dismantle them tonight/this next week:

Cup cupboard

Decor on top of the living room cabinet filled with Christmas lights...

Stockings hung by the chimney with care...

We did not have a Christmas tree... so clean-up is really easy! :)

Today, 1 day after the Christmas festivities... it's snowing (we have had a rain mixture for the last day or two), and looks like winter outside! We have spent today more or less relaxing... sleeping in until late, going out for breakfast, putting the Christmas cards in the photo album, and then... declaring war on the squirrels. This past week, we heard the squirrels in the ceiling of the second floor. So, after breakfast, we bought a BB gun, a few live traps, and a squirrel feeder. The squirrel feeder has been mounted to a tree outside this window -- the plan is: see squirrel, open window, shoot squirrel (who then becomes cat food). After the squirrels are no longer in the house, we plan to re-side the house and repair the trim and thus prevent more squirrels from entering our domicile...

I hope that you had a very Merry Christmas! Best wishes for a lovely 2010!

A week before Christmas and all through the house...

I am admittedly a Christmas slacker this year. I have procrastinated throughout the season to get the Christmas things done that are supposed to get done.

I got Christmas cards out last week, finally.

Made my first batch of Christmas "cookies" today (carmels & peanut butter truffles).

And have finally decided that its too close to Christmas to put up a tree (sounds like a lot of work for 1 week)....

Somehow, it still feels like Christmas to me. We've went to a few parties, and enjoyed the Christmas trees at other people's homes. This season has been quite relaxing... since I have slacked on the decorating and baking, I somehow have been able to enjoy the seasonal gatherings and others cookies a bit more. But... I am still wondering, is it wrong to enjoy the season without putting up a tree?

(Don't get me wrong -- I hope not to make an annual habit of being a Christmas slacker... but for this year, it sure feels nice.)

Merry Christmasl!

Winter is finally here!

Alright... so life has been busy here at home, so I missed writing something entirely in November! :)

We had the privilege of watching Beth during the end of October/beginning of November, while her parents were travelling. It was so much fun to have her around, with all of her busy activities! We carved pumpkins, and she had friends over here. She kept us entertained with the stories of her school days! :) I would post a photo or two... but these are on my "old" computer!

Which brings me to my next item... We had a major computer breakdown last month. Both Pete & I lost our computer monitors. So, Pete decided to improve our computer set-up. I was without a computer for a few weeks last month while the necessary parts were ordered, and assembled. Pete built a new computer for himself and set-up network storage. He was so excited to complete his new computer -- it's a solid state hard drive, for those techies reading! I now have his old computer... and it runs much quicker than the last relic I was using...

Shortly after the computer upgrades were completed, we journeyed to Minnesota. We celebrated Christmas as a family on Tuesday -- complete with a fantastic prime rib dinner, trade names, and Christmas decor. A good time was had by all!

On Thursday (Thanksgiving) my mom's side of the family got together to celebrate Thanksgiving -- most of the family was around, and it was fun to see most of my aunts, uncles, and cousins at this dinner.

Black Friday, my sisters, mom, and I went shopping. We were on the morning news (but can not seem to find the clip any where online). Later that day while we were still shopping, a lady came up to us and exclaimed, "I saw you on the news this morning -- you're famous! You all look like so much fun.". It would be fun to see this clip and what exactly was shown... only my mom looked put together; the rest of us were a conglomeration of messy ponytails, and sweatshirts. But shopping with my mom and sisters is always a good time!

I would post photos of our trip to Minnesota, however... I neglected to use my camera.

We arrived home from Minnesota on Sunday morning at 3 AM. As much fun as it is to be away, it always feels good to return home. We picked up our dog, and settled back into our routine. I was happy to find that we still have a cat.

Last Tuesday, however, I came down with the flu. As an adult, this bug certainly packs a punch! I was down for the count through the weekend... today, is my first day out of pajamas and vertical for any length of time.

Sometime during this last week, we had our first snow fall... winter is finally here!

So, tonight... I am updating this long neglected blog, and trying to teach myself to play a few guitar chords by the fireplace. My hope is that someday, maybe... I will be able to play a song in its entirety... but for tonight, I am happy to learn finger placement for the A, C, and G chords.

Happy December to all! I hope to update this more often.