December News

Tuesday, December 31 - Workin' Cows - The last day of 2013 was spent branding and ear tagging some new cows.

Rusty keeps the newly branded cows at the back of the pen.

 

Monday, December 30 - Impromptu Cowboy Lunch - The guys went down the road to help gather some cattle that we were buying. I was expecting them to come in for lunch and maybe bring a few of the other men that were also there helping. Then Nathan called and said that we should bring the lunch to the location instead. We only had about 40 minutes to get it all together and loaded. We managed to get there and get set up without being too late.

We served taco soup with cheese and blue corn tortilla chips and apple cake.

You can see the helicopter used to gather the cattle parked here.

Mailing Mermaids - We mailed these two lovely ladies off to Louisiana this morning. These are for cousins Maddie and Erin. Desarae Phipps (Gladness of Heart) did a wonderful job crocheting these dolls for me.

Saturday, December 28 - Get Together with Family - We traveled to Halfway to spend some time with

 extended family.

Cousin Linda with her two darling granddaughters.

Isn't it wonderful to see today's generation relating to each other so well?...

Hosts, Inez and Ray with kids Shan and Randy.

On the way home, we stopped by Hale Center to say hi to the Campbells.

Friday, December 27 - Christmas at Wilson - Our annual trip to my sister's house always proves to be very yummy and fun.

On the way there we came upon this cotton module truck that had just tipped over.

The appetizer table...

Macy, Hannah and Carolina

Conversation with Blaine:

(Notice the overturned bricks in the background) "Blaine what are you doing?"

"Worms."

"Oh, you're looking for worms?" (nods his head yes). "Did you find any?"

(shakes his head no and holds his empty palms out) "Any."

The girls made this amazing fort out behind the house.

Beautiful sky whose color contrasts nicely with the rich redish brick of the Pringle house.

Mermaid dolls for all the girls. Desarae Phipps crocheted these gorgeous ladies.

Time to open gifts.

Got swords?

Time for a few family pics. The Tidwells.

The Mayfields.

The Goodwins.

The Shannons.

Thursday, December 26 - Day After Christmas - Sunny, Granny and Hannah came down and spent the day. The kids had so much fun playing with all their new stuff.

Yummy tower of fudge!

Stockton tries out his lizard leash that he got from Aspen.

Wednesday, December 25 - Christmas Morning - Santa came again this year.

Stockton started early assembling the lego sets he received. His goal is to get them all done on Christmas day.

Ever heard of a cuddle pod? It hangs from the tree and is just the right hide out for two.

No, this isn't a Russian invasion. The guys are headed out to try out their new coyote call and decoy.

Here's what they came up with.

Stockton got all his new LEGOS put together before the day was out.

Tuesday, December 24 - Christmas Eve - Everything's ready for the big night. This is when we open our gifts to each other.

A light meal consisting of ham, rolls, sweet potatoes and spinach & dried tomato salad was prepared.

Time to open gifts!

Cimarron and Laredo got these great hats from Atlanta and Jordan.

Earlier in the day...

Monday, December 23 - Early Christmas Gift? - Atlanta got ready to make a call, but couldn't find her phone. When she called it to help locate it, she discovered that it was wrapped under the tree. Little sister, Carolina, had played a funny trick.

However, she made up for being mean by giving Atlanta a nice massage.

Saturday, December 21 - Icy Photos

What is this? A basketball fruit tree?

Friday, December 20 - Gingerbread House - The first order of business was making this "gingerbread" village. Atlanta brought all the supplies. It took her and the kids all day, but it was worth it. It turned out so cute.

Thursday, December 19 - Atlanta and Jordan make it to Northfield for Christmas

...barefoot and pregnant...

Monday, December 16 - A Nice Evening to be Outside - Unseasonably warm and calm weather made for a lovely evening in which to view a large full moon rising.

Sunday, December 15 - Play Room Clean-Up - The kids and I have been working on re-organizing the playroom for a few days. We kind of got to a stopping point today. There's still a lot more to do, but we've made good progress.

Vintage suitcases holding toys and games fit nicely on these shelves made by Cim and Laredo for just this purpose.

Like I said...we've still got more organizing to do...

Christmas Treat - Enjoy this awesome video.

 

Wyman Meinzer and Doug Smith present: "We Three Kings" from Wyman Meinzer on Vimeo.

Saturday, December 14 - New Hobbit Movie - This is a day the kids, especially Aspen, has been looking forward to for weeks now. Tonight they have tickets to go see the new Hobbit movie in Amarillo. They decided to dress up in costumes similar to the ones that the characters in the movie wear. They are meeting several friends in Amarillo, but I think they are the only ones brave enough (or crazy enough) to don costumes. Before they left this morning, I made of few pictures of them in their costumes.

 

                      

Thursday, December 12 - Coloring Fun - Some friends of ours in Tennessee sent the kids each a copy of their new coloring book. They jumped in to it right away and have had lots of fun coloring the darling drawings by Vicki West. The book is filled with old-fashioned pictures of simple day to day country living. There are pictures to interest boys and girls alike. Animals, chores, cooking and gardens are just a few of the subjects represented in the book. Kids can learn good stewardship just by coloring and having fun. Now, I know about now you're saying to yourself, "Those Shannons, they have all the fun"...but this time, you and your kids can experience the same fun as Stockton and Carolina. Visit Homestead Blessings website and grab some of these for yourself! They would make great Christmas gifts.

Ladder-back Woodpecker - Seen out the kitchen window hopping about today.

Lazy Dog and Others - No names will be mentioned.

Knock Your Socks Off Sunrise

Wednesday, December 11 - Notes to Herself - I noticed this note taped to the wall. Carolina is an obsessive note-writer. I find little pieces of paper all over the floor where she's been sitting. Each one has some message scribbled on it.

...and yet another one on the bathroom door...

 

Tuesday, December 10 -  Christmas Nap - Look who I found snoozing under the tree?

Sunday, December 8 - Staying Warm - What's everybody up to around the ranch today? How is everyone staying warm?

The kids are keeping their blood pumping with a very loud and exciting game of "Splash". It's like "spoons", except that you grab dolphins instead.

Coconut by the woodstove in the school room.

Gypsy on the couch by the woodstove.

The lizards have two heat lamps and an "under sand" heater.

The turtle also has an aquarium heater.

You can see the fish aquarium heater on the inside of the tank.

Fenton the finch is by the woodstove in the kitchen.

Unfortunately, he lost his mate a couple of weeks ago.

Aspen and Rusty don't seem to mind the cold as they head out to milk.

Saturday, December 7 - Cozy Critters - This was the early morning scene from my kitchen sink window looking out into the school room. Carolina, Coconut and Rusty were enjoying the warm fire that Nathan had started.

Friday, December 6 - Crisp Evening - Expecting an overnight temperature of only five degrees, the guys are out doing chores and checking stock, and (shocker) I'm out taking pictures of the sky.

Check out the icicles on Uncle Chris' pickup.

Bright Morning - Some lovely sparkly scenes this morning.

Thursday, December 5 - Snow Day - Snow and sleet fell intermittently all day.

 

Wednesday, December 4 - Preparing for Bad Weather - Today the guys cut loads of firewood, watered the stock, drained the hoses and covered the faucets in preparation for several days of extremely cold weather headed our way. In this picture they're moving Aspen's peafowl pen around to the south side of the house behind our front yard fence so as to enjoy more sunshine and have a wind block. Cim is in the tree cutting off some low hanging limbs that are keeping the enclosure from being scooted all the way against the fence.

Tuesday, December 3 - We've had some beautiful weather this last week. This allowed me to finally clean out my storage building. This meant pulling out tons of stuff and having it set outside for several days while I went through it. I'm so glad to have it done. Now, I can clean/organize several other spaces, since I'll have a place to go with items that don't belong in the house, but don't need to be discarded either. Tonight the weather was so pleasant and the sky so appealing, I tried out several filter effects as I wondered around the ranch.