Christmas Card 2014

Our 2014 Christmas Card for anybody we missed mailing one to.

Parades and Pet Deer

The kids and I visited Pop and Gram this weekend so Justin could have a quiet cabin and try to hunt. Plus, the Weinachts Fest Parade was on Saturday night in Boerne and I wanted to take Levi. I knew Mattie wouldn't last that long past her normal bedtime so she stayed home with the Grandparents while Levi, Aunt Hannah, her friend and old roommate Jordan and boyfriend Steven, and I went to the parade. In the past years, the parade was followed by Dickens on Main where the main street is shut down to traffic and all the stores stay open and activities are going on for the kids. Unbeknownst to us, that was not happening this year. Bewilderment and shock are an understatement to how we felt when we discovered that. Apparently, they only did it one weekend this year and it was the weekend prior. We still had a good time and visited a few of the stores that did stay open.

He really liked Steven. Thank you, Steven!

Another great thing about going home are the "pet" deer that my parents feed. They are so used to humans that a few of them you can feed right from your hand. Make no mistake, they do not have names and if they look just right, they could become dinner.

Apparently, this is the first time anybody hand fed this little buck!

Even Levi managed to be quiet and still enough to feed the deer!

Getting Ready for a Country Christmas

Due to our limited space, I didn't put up too many Christmas decorations. The front fence was the first thing I decorated right after Thanksgiving. I also put lights on the cabin (that nobody can see). I found a tall but skinny Christmas tree plus a couple of items on the mantle and I was done. I didn't want to get all the ornaments out of storage, so I used a few that we missed putting away last year or were ones I have bought recently at craft fairs. Then to complete our minimalist Christmas, the kids helped me make some cinnamon ornaments yesterday. I used the McCormick brand recipe and they turned out perfect!

I was so happy to get this yard sign from a craft fair this year. I saw them last year and wanted one but the guy had already sold out of them!

There were more presents under the tree, but I already took them to my parent's house when I visited this past weekend. We will have Christmas there this year.

Levi helped me pick out which shapes to use and both kids helped press the cookie cutters into the dough.

I let the kids play with the small piece of dough left. It kept Mattie entertained for about 15 minutes, Levi about 1 1/2 minutes.

Burn Baby Burn

This weekend provided the perfect weather (cold, rainy/drizzly, and not too windy) for Justin to finally burn our humongous burn pile. We've been adding to it all year. And when 12 of your acres are heavily wooded, we have no shortage of dead trees and limbs to annihilate. This was just the tip of the iceberg of future bonfires.

Justin dug a deep hole on Saturday in preparation for burning it on Sunday while it rained and drizzled. Unfortunately, I did not get an opportunity to take a picture of the burn pile before Justin had already burned a majority of it, but it was massive!

To the left is some of the dirt from the hole he dug out with the tractor.

Adding more fuel as it burns down

Once there was a tree...

Or 14 trees. We extended the tree line along our road fence with alternating live oak and water oak trees. We bought twelve 5 gallon size trees and two 15 gallon size. The bigger ones are on either side of the front gate. They are 20 feet apart as instructed by our neighbor, who was our hook-up for a great deal on all of the trees. Our neighbor works at a local tree farm, and although they are a wholesaler and don't sell to the public, we were able to score these trees below wholesale prices. They are considered second rate, unsellable trees. Due to growing crooked (supposedly) or the buds weren't up to par or whatever, these trees had been picked over by the buyers for the different retail outlets (nurseries and such). With that in mind, when we saw the trees for the first time, they looked like perfectly good trees to us. As long as they grow, they look good to me!

Unfortunately we don't have a post hole digger, so Justin did it all by hand. It took him awhile but they are finally all in. I filled up the 35 gallon tank and helped water them. :)

Daddy's helper

Just chewing on this deer rib bone I found.

Little helpers: