Ready, Set, Go!

The stocking have been hung by the chimney with care (Tyler did it)

The large majority of sweets and treats have been baked. A box of homemade treats has even been sent to Alaska my daughter. I really miss her this time of year, she was my baking buddy. Tonight we will make gingerbread houses and sugar cookies.


Everything is wrapped and put under the tree. Now its time to relax and actually enjoy the holiday. No more running around, no more shelling out copious amounts of money. Now its time to enjoy my kids, love on my husband and enjoy the company of family and friends. Oh, and eat wayyyy too much.


I have been swapping on Craftster again. This week I received this tree of life pendant. I love it! So cute.


And because you all are my vertual friends I thought you should enjoy the perks of being real life friends. So here is the picture I used as out Christmas card this year. Tree girls mouth make me laugh so hard and the man cubs face was also too funny to me. Underneath the picture is my annual Christmas letter (altered for internet security). Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays and all that good stuff! I hope this letter finds everyone surviving the economy, happy and without the flu (we weren’t so lucky). We are alive and almost well and still very much enjoying country living on the Dirt Ranch in the middle of nowhere. It seems our quest of simple living and self sufficiency is still “what we do”. As we keep going about our daily lives we are still learning some powerful lessons along the way.

Sarge is now a watch commander in the ghetto of San *&&^$#. Here are some things I noticed he has learned this past year. First, there is nothing on the dirt ranch that can’t be fixed with chicken wire, duct tape and zip ties. Second, sometimes the people who are supposed to be protecting us from the stupid people are stupid themselves. What I have learned about his job is if you take your time getting to a shooting, everything is dead by the time you get there resulting in a less conflict but more paperwork (he would never say that, but I know).

I am FINALLY done with school and after 12 very long years I have my bachelors. I learned exactly why it is called a B.S. I also learned a few other random things through the year. If you step on a lego on your way to the bathroom in the middle of the night you will actually get a bruise on the arch of your foot and your child will repeat the colorful language you said while acquiring said bruise. No matter how careful I am, at some point I will track chicken crap on my beige carpet resulting in more colorful language. No matter how hard I try I cannot keep my turkeys from committing suicide in their 4 inch water dish when all they have to do to prevent drowning is stand up. While at work I learned that I cannot keep a strait face when an old lady with a New York accent tells me as I approach her home to “take my pants off and stay awhile”.

Tree Girl is now 13 and in 8^th grade. She has learned how to put the angel on top of the tree without using a step stool (she’s 5’10”). Next year I’m going to make her put up the lights without a ladder just for entertainment purposes. She has also learned that asking your parents geometry questions is totally useless because we just laugh at her. She actually took in 2 orphaned piglets and learned that they really stink and aren’t as fun as they looked in Charlotte’s Web.

Man Cub, our little Jedi warrior is 8 and in second grade. He is full of all kinds of chaos and fun. He has learned if he yells in the middle of Wal-Mart with a Star Wars helmet on because I won’t buy him legos “that is why Dad is number one and you are number two!” that everyone in the surrounding isles will laugh and I will continually tell him to go ask number one for lunch or to help him. He has also learned if he dumps 4,642 legos in a full bathtub the water will be freezing and it will take 2 hours before you can pick them all back up.

Between all these learning experiences we kept busy. We went to Catalina, on a cruise, to Knott’s, the aquarium, the zoo, museums, the snow, camping, Las Vegas and tons of other places I can’t remember. Alaska Daughter who was in the Army got married and had a baby (I’d like to hear what she learned this year). I learned being a 33 year old grandma isn’t so bad. Oldest son joined the Army and learned that they don’t always station you were they said they would. All in all it was a great year. Here’s to hoping your holiday season was everything you hoped for and more.

Happy Holidays,

The H Family