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:

Happy Halloween!

I made Mattie's costume for a total of $4. The antenna were on sale for $3.50 and the ladybug wings I made from two pieces of felt for $0.50. I cut into them into the shapes below and sewed just a few inches down the top and a small piece of velcro on the straps in the front to hold it together like a cape. So simple and easy. Then I bought her a black shirt and pants to wear with it.

Here she is on Halloween in her full costume, about to go on the annual hayride in the Grandparent's neighborhood.

For Levi, I cheated and just bought a dinosaur costume from Target. He loved his costume and it fit his personality perfectly. He got to roar to his heart's delight.

This was right after Gram had to take Mattie back to the house because she was COVERED in chocolate. She got into a melted Reese's peanut butter cup and was going to town on it! I put on her antenna that got left behind.

Here are some pictures from earlier in the day, before costumes. I whipped up Mattie's dress on Tuesday night so she could wear it to school on Wednesday. I may or may not have procrastinated on that all month. But hey, I got it done!

And at the end of the night, we had so much candy that I weighed it on a bathroom scale. 18.2 lbs. That's how much candy we collected. I think we'll be bringing some with us to the family Thanksgiving. And Christmas.