Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year! I've been thinking about motto for 2009. The one I have so far :

Gonna let my little light shine in 2009!

Has anyone else thought of catchy phrase for the New Year? Any to share?

Soon

Sweet-tart, our Nubian goat, is close to having her kid(s).

I'm excited and I hope to attend the birth (goat midwife). Michael just finished the milking/birthing room yesterday which I'm thankful for. I'll keep you posted... :) Any suggestions for names? I'm thinking about candy names like Kit- Kat, Skittles, etc.

Love Me Tender

Mikey's wearing Jonathan's sunglasses and reminding me of Elvis with that little curled lip :)

Spinach/Feta Quiche

This is what I made tonight to bring to our friend's house for dinner. I was real happy with how it turned out. It wasn't watery but creamy and rich. I love Greek food so I'll have to make this one again.

We had a wonderful time with our friends... singing Christmas songs,feasting and fellowshipping.

The Woodhouse Band

I went downtown today to hear this talented family from our parish. We really enjoyed all their Christmas songs today.
In the Catholic church we celebrate Christmas for weeks which is refreshing in a culture that has already moved on to Valentine's Day.

Here's a few clips from their 1st CD. I listen to it all the time while driving and find it happy music.

http://cdbaby.com/cd/woodhouseband

Still, Still, Still

Still, still, still,One can hear the falling snow.For all is hushed,The world is sleeping,Holy Star its vigil keeping.Still, still, still,One can hear the falling snow.Sleep, sleep, sleep,'Tis the eve of our Saviour's birth.The night is peaceful all around you,Close your eyes,Let sleep surround you.Sleep, sleep, sleep,'Tis the eve of our Saviour's birth.Dream, dream, dream,Of the joyous day to come.While guardian angels without number,Watch you as you sweetly slumber.Dream, dream, dream,Of the joyous day to come. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o454Yo-EZEw&feature=related

This beautiful, Austrian Christmas song was sung at the Midnight Mass . It was so peaceful and in front of me were children who were falling asleep. The song sounded vaguely familiar to me. I think the Von Trapp family sang this song in German.

We had a wonderful Christmas Day and the weather was so nice that we spent a lot of time outside. I didn't take many photos but here's one of the sunset from our house (on Christmas Day) and a couple of Mikey.

Merry Christmas!

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

We'll soon be off to Midnight Mass which is beautiful (especially at St. John's!). The choir is so good that I sometimes feel transported to some majestic cathedral in Europe. I feel so blessed to be in this parish.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Carol of the Bells

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JYrOMK1aDA&feature=related
Here's a video of Carol of the Bells with some nice bird photos in the middle.

Hark how the bells, sweet silver bells, all seem to say, throw cares away Christmas is here,bringing good cheer, to young and old,meek and the bold, Oh how they pound, raising the sound, o'er hill and dale, telling their tale, Gaily they ring while people sing songs of good cheer, Christmas is here, Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas, Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas, On on they send , on without end, their joyful tone to every home Dong Ding dong ding, dong Dong

The Carol of the Bells lyrics were added to the original folk music from the Ukraine by Peter Wilhousky. The lyrics and words to this popular Christmas song celebrate the festive season and its traditions such as the pealing of church bells at Christmas and of the singing of Christmas Carols - caroling. The original lyrics to the song was entitled Shchedryk meaning bountiful and were traditionally sang to celebrate the New Year.

Sugar Cookies

Michael makes sugar cookies at Christmas time just like his mom did. His mom's sugar cookie recipe is very good and I think the special ingredient is the sour cream.

The girls decorated cookies yesterday at Rebecca's 11th birthday party. As you can see, the girls like sprinkles! They all had a good time!

Down in Yon Forest

Here's our front window with our Christmas tree and lights and a bird feeder (of course!).

Here's a beautiful Christmas song which I first heard Joan Baez sing. It's very pretty with the harp.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIBTfr7r-SY&feature=channel

Warm Day

Mikey is feeding the chickens here. The chickens are outside now and we put a light in the chicken tractor on cold nights. A couple of days ago, it was 63 degrees and the following day the high was 36 degrees!

More pics of the Birthday Girl

Here's a few more photos of Rebecca when she was about a year old with her good friend Emmy. :)

The cute outfit that she was wearing was from her loving Godparents. The top said "Little Flower" and Becca's middle name is Therese after St. Therese (The Little Flower).

Happy Birthday, Becca!

Rebecca is 11 today! She is off to Atrium this morning which is a Montessori Catechism program. She loves it! Happy Birthday, Becca! We love you!!

Many thanks to her dear Godmother, Robin Sobrak-Seaton, for the beautiful birthday greetings!

Thumbprint cookies

I went to a very fun cookie exchange party last night!

I made Thumbprint Cookies (I got the recipe from the Samantha, the American Girl, cookbook) to share and thankfully, I was the only one who made these.

There were 75 ladies there and we also did a white elephant gift exchange. This was hilarious! You get to take from others what you want but people can also take from you. I ended up with a nice handmade scarf. I almost got a Pampered Chef casserole dish but it was a h0t item.

Anyway, I came home with 2 dozen (plus) homemade cookies of various kinds. My favorite so far has been a Cappuccino Crisp! Wow! These taste and smell yummy!

Downy Woodpecker

I think these birds are so cute! They come to my suet feeder. The male has a little red mark on him.

We are setting up the Christmas tree today. I got my wish for a small tree and we're putting it in the front window this year. I hope to get the outside lights up today also.

Mikey is talking more and he had a little friend over yesterday to play. They didn't really"play"much but they didn't fight either! Mikey will be starting preschool on January 5th. I think this will be good for him but I'm as nervous as anything! (Overprotective mother!)

Bird-in-Hand, PA

We just returned from our anniversary get away to Bird-in-Hand, Pa. It was a great trip and I was so happy to be around the Amish again. We visited Miller's Natural Foods (so fun!) and took a long drive on the back roads and stopped at my favorite Amish goat's milk farm.

The clothes are hung out to dry...rain or shine!

I didn't take many photos because the Amish don't want people taking pictures of them and I don't want to be an annoying tourist.. Here's some of pics that I did take...

We returned to find the house clean, dishes done, a cake made for us and cards and a banner for our anniversary! Thanks to all the Turner kids! Special thanks to Marianna for all her help while we were away.

20th Wedding Anniversary

Then and Now (twenty years later!)

Bringing Home the Bacon (or sausage)

I saw this in the news today. I thought it was funny but...My question: "What is she complaining about?"

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A "nagging" wife who pushed her husband to buy a lottery ticket helped scoop the $4.2 million first prize — with only minutes to spare. The man from New Zealand's biggest city, Auckland, bought his ticket just two minutes before ticket sales closed Saturday night.
"My wife had been nagging me all week to get a ticket, so I when saw the Lotto sign ... I sprinted in to get the ticket before they closed," said the man, who asked not to be identified — normal practice among lottery winners in New Zealand .
"I must have been their last customer of the night," he said, adding that the young married couple had had a "rough" couple of years, reduced to one income after having children.
"I have never been so glad to listen to my wife's nagging," the man said Tuesday.
He discovered their newly won fortune Sunday thanks to his wife's request for a barbecued sausage.
Out shopping for bargains, the man said he didn't have enough money to buy his wife the sausage she'd asked him for. So he decided to check his Saturday lottery ticket in case he'd won a small prize.
"I could not believe it when they said I was actually the big winner," he said.

When he showed the printout to his wife, she initially thought they had won $4,200.
"When she realized how much it really was, she fell to the floor, and then said: 'but all I wanted was a sausage .'"

Christmas Photos

Here are a few attempts at a Christmas photo. Mikey didn't want to do pictures at all and it was freezing cold outside so we didn't do many outdoor photos. We decided to use some of these for our Christmas cards anyway because it's hard to gather everyone together!

Harp Music

We have been listening to beautiful Christmas music on the harp. This is so relaxing and perfect for slowing down to appreciate this season of Jesus' birth.

I received my first Christmas harp tape from my older sister, Caryl, over 20 years ago and enjoyed it so much. This is still my favorite music for the Advent and Christmas season.

http://www.heavenlyharpist.com/christmas-music-cd.htm Just click on the highlighted ones to listen.

Getting bigger

The chicks are bigger now. We've taken them outside on warmer days and they are already trying to fly around. They're getting closer to laying those wonderful eggs.

Our goats are back home! Apparently Sweettart was bred before because she's big now . It looks like we'll have some goat's milk sooner than later! We're hoping Assisi is pregnant too.

I'm really enjoying having them back. I visit them and take them scraps throughout the day.

Michael finished the barn/run-in-shed. The kids are having fun playing on the round bales of hay.

This morning

This morning there are a pair of red cardinals, white crowned sparrows, a tufted titmouse and chickadees at my feeder. This is totally worth the $5 I spent on the bag of bird seed!

It's really cold and frosty, it almost looks like snow. A perfect day for birds at the feeder :)

Orchard Inn

Michael and I will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary next week! Lord willing, we'll be staying at Orchard Inn near Bird in Hand, Pa. http://www.orchardinnpa.com/

It's off the beaten path and on the same road as a favorite Amish farm which sells good food. We haven't stayed there before but I can tell I'm going to love it.

We are hoping for good traveling weather and that the kids will be well so we can go! We have had a stomach bug in the house lately.

I can't wait to visit Miller's Natural Foods again! One of my very favorite places ever!