Christmas Eve on the farm

These are the last 48 of 192 crescent rolls that have come from our kitchen this week. That is not counting the rolls I've made for my baker friend who asked if I'd like to try selling some at her space in a local store. (Those were an additional 144.) It's a good thing they are easy to make. The kids were afraid we wouldn't have any, but I put some aside for Christmas dinner. The cake in the foreground is part of our traditional Christmas trifle.
I love this picture of our eldest and youngest resting after a very busy day. Matt worked all day--extra hard so the store would be all set and stocked for the day after Christmas. Ian played hard all day--tromping around the field with
Dad and playing with the rest of the kids.
I'm making our traditional Christmas morning cinnamon rolls with Matt's "help" (harassment!) That's Nathanial coming through the doorway.
The cinnamon rolls are from a recipe in MISERLY MOMS and taste just like TJCinnamons rolls that I used to love getting at the mall when we lived in Maryland. They are so addictive we only have them on Christmas and Easter. I did break down and double the batch this year.
Katelyn enjoying a Boxcar Children Mystery that she opened for her Christmas Eve gift. The sweatshirt was a surprise from Rachael and Dad who found it in a thrift store this a.m. while out doing errands.


Jonathan eager to tackle the presents...actually he's had a very busy day. I was interrupted while wrapping presents so I shut the door to our bedroom and went downstairs. Later I noticed that Jonathan hadn't been heard from in a while. I asked Nathanial to check on him...he was in our room playing with one of his new toys! I finished wrapping later this afternoon and was doing dishes this evening. Jonathan disappeared again. Katelyn went to find him...he had opened the biggest box in the pile and was examining a new globe. He finally got to open one gift without getting into trouble just before bedtime...a book which will hopefully keep him occupied until he falls asleep!

Speaking of sleep...I have a feeling it'll be a very early morning so I'll close for now. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It's beginning to look like Christmas...

This morning we woke up to a beautiful coating of white. Ian was watching the snowflakes fall from the sky and told me the birds must be having a party. I wasn't sure what he meant and then I realized he saw the snowflakes as confetti.

I love seeing ordinary things through the eyes of our little guys.

Wayne got up early with Jonathan and took these pictures. We spent yesterday afternoon hanging the wreaths and ribbons--just in time for a real winter scene. This is a view of the house without the front porch and with our new door and sidelights.

Wayne has been working on painting the dining room--the last of the flowered wallpaper that came with the house is now covered. He did one wall at a time as his back allowed. Shortly after getting up with Jonathan and after taking pictures of the outside, Jonathan decided he needed more sleep. Wayne got to finish the last wall of the dining room without any help. (Though later in the afternoon one of the window sills did end up having a bit of yellow added... thanks to Jonathan!) (I'll try to get a picture of the newly painted dining room next time.)

I didn't do much with our alpaca fleece this week. I did spin some of the Babydoll wool and the merino top which I bought at Rhinebeck. I got another order for some gray yarn so yesterday I carded Mystifier's fleece and started spinning today. Hopefully, by the end of the evening I'll have another skein done and ready to wash/dry. I want to get it to the customer asap since she's making a scarf for her husband for Christmas. Maybe next year I'll have enough spun so I can make Christmas gifts with our yarn!

Ian loves to sing Christmas carols. His favorite is "pa rum pa pa pum" (The Little Drummer Boy). Tonight at the dinner table he insisted that we should pray "pa rum pa pa pum" before eating. He was quite put out that we did a non-singing prayer. He also goes around the house humming the music to Away in the Manger. When he gets to the words he knows, he belts out "The Little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay!!!" (then returns to humming the rest of the song).

Until next time...