A Quiet Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving a few weeks early this year, so that we could have Gramma Patty join us. She's going through some therapy right now that makes it difficult to join us for dinner, and we are really glad we got to see her then.

She came out to the house a few times for dinner, and of course brought special little gifts for the girls and sit and entertained them.

 

So, the "actual" Thanksgiving this year was a little subdued and quiet. Not that that's bad - it's always good to have a little calmness and a break from the usual chaos.

 

It was a chilly morning, but so beautiful.

There was ice on the pond!

MammaLlamma has taken to laying just under one of the feeders, so she's completely covered with hay.

She's very affectionate and has to have a hug and kiss everyday!

 

If there's pie dough to be made, there are 2 little girls clamoring to help.

 

Very fun.

Egg wash applied just a little too heavily made for a lovely way to glue the tidbits forever to the baking sheet. Good thing daddy has chisels and such.

 

With the easier pace of this holiday, it was really nice to be able to make some pies from scratch. Pumpkin isn't on daddy's favorites list, so he was spoiled with a couple of "One-Apple Pies".

 

Harvest Lunch

 

It was our last opportunity for a Harvest Lunch at the daycare center where we have had a child (or two!) enrolled for the last 7 years. We were happy to be able to sit with Miri, enjoy a nice lunch, and be thankful for all we have. 

 

For fun, here are pics from years passed....

 

Here in 2008, when Aleaha was in Pre-School,

And another here

 

And a post here from 2009 with both girls

 

Missed out on pics from 2010 and 2012 for some reason, but here are the ones from 2011.

 

Cat Antics

Juice likes to sit on boxes.

 

Got a box? Need it held down? He's your man.

He's also available to help wake up sleeping children. Miri was asleep unusually late one naptime, and we had to rouse her. Juicy-on-the-spot!

He can hold down a railing or banister too. He's so multifunctional that way. 

Smokey was allowed in for a little while, to practice becoming an indoor cat. He was very curious about the exceptionally quiet and still black-and-white cat. (Ahem, "stuffed animal" might sound a little harsh and even morbid in this household).

Cinder has the process down pat.....come in, lay down, and sleep for awhile. Try not to make too much trouble or be too obvious. Cuteness helps get the door opened more often. Orneriness and jumping on the table doesn't.

One Last Swinging

It was time to say goodbye to the old house, so on the last visit, the girls took the chance to swing one last time.

It's good to be fully moved now, but it's bittersweet to think about having brought our babies home to that house.

The day we build the swingset. It was a present for Aleaha's 2nd birthday.

Daddy and Miri Silliness

I don't know why he looks pink and she looks green, but it's a cute shot anyway.

Of course, they had to make funny faces to really ham it up.

Kitty Catch-up

Juicy BearCat has been a good boy lately. He slimmed down, doesn't have the bathroom problem he once did, and has even taken to sleeping on our bed at night. He still has to do a few tricks to earn extra attention, such as climbing into open boxes.

Smokey and Cinder are shop cats for sure. They aren't allowed in the house very much, but they smartly learned that the shop is a nice warm place with people.

When Quigly Met MammLlama

The first day that we brought Quigly home, we were curious to see what he would think of Mama. He was brave and went right up to her, checking out the fuzzy babe of the barn.

And then she let him have it! That mist you see is llama spit. Take it from me, it's YUCKY! And Quigly made a fast exit from that hallotosis-dragon-camel-cousin creature.

But they are buddies now. No grudges, no issues. She's not a DramaLlama, after all.

Barn Harmony at Last

We needed to install more feeders in the barn wall, so that we can conveniently, quickly, and safely pitch hay to all its inhabitants twice a day. The metal feeder that Chris designed years ago has been wonderful, ensuring that the animals aren't wasteful and they are eating in a natural heads-down position. We had only three of these in our barn at the new place, and they were centered in the stalls. So we needed to remove one, patch the hole, and put two feeders into that stall. The above picture shows the patch in the center (see how clean the fresh couregated metal looks) and the new feeder holes on either side.

Teensie was quite the helper. I think she was amazed to realize what was behind the holes -- the inside of the barn looked pretty fun to explore.

Harmonious eating arrangement! We weren't sure when we first got Quigly how things would really pan out in terms of friendships and feed management. It turns out that Jake is a barn bully who won't let Quigly eat, so we need to separate him. He's fine with Arby however. So, on the left are two stalls with three feeders, and in those spaces we feed Quigly, Shorty, and MamaLlama and the goats. On the right are Arby and Jake. They are currently eating from one feeder (there's also a spare feeder of a different style hanging on the wall out of view, but it's harder to use because it requires either pitching the hay around the corner of the barn and over a hot wire fence, or tromping through the barnyard twice a day - neither of which is a nice/safe alternative). Feeding from within the barn ROCKS. (And here's a bonus -- children can even manage it!! :) )

Because Jake and Arby are good buddies, they will stay together in their own bachelor pad, with a run that extends out a ways. It took a little while to determine the best configuration, but it looks like we've got it down now.

Halloween

They both wanted to wanted to wear the same costumes as last year. YES - love the re-use idea! Miri had 2 days worth of Halloween-related activities at school, so she had plenty of dress-up opportunities. Under her costume, she was a black cat.

Aleaha went to mommy's workplace for some creepy fun and more candy-gathering.

Once again, as country kids without a neighborhood, we were able to raid our friend Holly's neighborhood. Very fun! (and we did some pay-it-forward candy drop-off to offset our take of loot)

She was a little miffed that people would tell her that her dress was "pretty", because she was going for "scary".

We chose not to wear any face paint this year, because last year their faces scared a small child answering the door. (That, and it's a total mess to deal with! ;) )

Successful haul! She was asleep within two block's of leaving Holly's house for the ride home. Still has a grip on that candy, though!