Christmas pictures...

Christmas decoration made years ago by my crafty sister-in-law. 

I always hang it in the back porch entry where everyone can see it!

It's a tough life to be 2 1/2 months old!

"Grandma great" with baby M....checking out the Christmas tree.

Momma... I LOVE my new teddy bear... and it is even
better that it plays music and talks to me!

A very large horned owl spent Christmas eve morning
in one of our birch trees!

Sunrise.

Christmas lovin's

Has been GREAT having kids and grandkids here for Christmas.... Just think, last Christmas one daughter was pregnant, and this Christmas we have two sweet, sweet granddaughters to snuggle!  Lucky lucky us!

The house is quiet again....no burb cloths or flannel blankies on the back of the couch.... no toys repeating the same silly song again and again. No babies to hug or trade high fives with..... No dogs underfoot...no early morning baby hand-off so mama can get some more sleep.  bummer!!  


I need to look at January's calendar and figure out when we can make the trip over to see kids again :)


I am blessed!

A frosty few days...

 We have had cold, frosty weather for a while. Almost no difference between day and night temps!

 

Christmas lights are even prettier with the white frost magnifying the light!

The tree goes up....

Pretty sad looking bare trunk....

Partway there..

Tree is finished and the skirt is in place.

Little lights all over!

Love it!

Christmas past.. Christmas future

Here are the felt Christmas stockings that my mom made (Dan, Melinda, Meghan, Erin) and the ones I made. (Mark, Nick, Makenna, Ada)  Sad to think of the family milestones my mom was not with us to celebrate.

My stocking is over 60 years old; Dan's was made in 1979, the year we got married.

I used trees and a campfire for Nick's, partly because they went backpacking on their first date, and they still camp and hike as often as they can. 
Ada's tree - decorated for Christmas - kind of matches her dad's.

Mark loves to snowboard, so the mittens and snowflakes seemed appropriate on his.  Makenna has a snowflake like her dad, and glittery Christmas ornaments.

Getting ready for Christmas!

Yesterday we went to the first of hopefully a number of Christmas-themed gatherings.  Spent the day with my hubby's side of the family, at a lodge on the way to Snoqualmie Pass.  Always lots of little kids, and always lots of noise and commotion.  This year one of my two grandbabies was there... albeit too little to participate much in the commotion. 

Ate too much, and enjoyed watching the little kids - my MIL's great grandkids - open gifts.  She always finds a fun gift that the kids immediately start playing with.

Our Christmas lights are on outside. I put them up in the snow two weeks ago... and of course now the snow is gone and it is much warmer.  Oh well... I was glad to get them up to enjoy!  Tree is ready to assemble.... hope to get it up and lights on it tonight.

Here is a project I finished up recently... Warren-family stockings for the two new granddaughters.  YAY!!

Ready or not.... snow!

This weekend was my target for getting the outside lights in the trees, bushes and along the fence.  I wanted to get them up before it snowed.....but didn't make it.

I guess mid-November is as good a time as any for our first snow.  It was really coming down this morning, but we headed off to town, with a number of stops to make.  We were snow-covered by the time we reached the door of each store.  There were fewer shoppers out than I expected, which I appreciated!

We came home to three or so inches... had to push the shovel ahead of us on the walk to get to the door.  Later the sun came out and I got some pics of the bushes in back.

Looking south toward the pasture... .blue sky and snow.

A light-weight shovel makes cleaning the walk and parking pad a lot easier!

Here is a huge snowy tumbleweed, wedged up against the pasture fence.

Later today I hung icicle lights on the top barbed wire on the fence, and as the light faded and the sun went down, my white Christmas lights were reflecting off the snow.  Love it!

Sew fun!

Now that I have two granddaughters, sewing has become even more fun!  I created some fun things for their rooms, and have been working on a few little projects. 


Here is M's quilt, nearing completion, with notes from family and friends.



A sweet sweet message from Auntie M.



Here is a dolly that E. made as a school project in 5th grade....
now dressed to match her daughter's nursery!

Been making some diaper/burp cloths.... kinda fun!!



 

Fun print!!  I found the tutorial on Prudent Baby.





Seasons.....

Spent most of today doing our "summer is over" thing in the yard.  A beautiful sunny day... warm enough that I shed my jacket within a few minutes. 

Looking south  - trees still have lots of leaves left!

Such a pretty day! 
Interesting that the one birch on the left and the one behind the weeping birch are still green!

Here is a "before" shot, taken on the walkway to our back door, the end of June.



Here is the "after" shot - four months later - as I load the cart on the right
with the frosted and dying plants from the containers.



Empty and ready to wait through the winter to be replanted.

Nice.

Cousins...

I LOVE these pictures....what fun times are ahead!

Gra-a-a-ndpa.... Let me play with her!

Look... I can pat her head!

Hmmm.... she is still pretty little .... I wonder when we can play?

Sweet sweet grandbaby has arrived!

Has been a rocky few weeks for me, and I am just the grandma! 

Daughter M's high risk pregnancy ended with her spending 2 1/2 weeks on bed rest in the hospital, battling high blood pressure and a number of health issues, all related to her pregnancy.  Docs were stymied more than once....not a comfortable feeling!

She was a rock star, and went into labor just shy of 37 weeks. Baby A was born healthy and much faster than expected, and with no anesthetic for mom, which was M's desire. 

We were on our way over to the west side, expecting the "several days" of labor that had been predicted.  What a SURPRISE to get a text message and picture - "Meet your granddaugher!"

Then the drama picked up, as mama lost a LOT of blood, and was hustled off to surgery for an hour and a half. 

The PROUD new daddy bonded with baby A, holding her skin-to-skin against his bare chest, and making phone calls to let family know what was happening. 



Brand new!



Little A is a doll.... big enough and healthy enough to not need any special care. 



One week old already!



Recovery continues to be difficult for mama... as the pre-pregnancy health concerns are lingering longer than expected.  Add in some hormones, and little sleep.....yikes. 

Eventually they willl look back on this time... and realize they survived.  Baby A will be bigger, smiling at them, and capturing their hearts even more.

I am one proud, happy grandma!

Still looks like summer...

Last year on Sept. 24 the daytime high temp was 60 and the low 38.  This year is got to nearly 90. Missed setting a new record high by one degree!  Zinnias are happy to keep growing!



I am preserving summer by freezing tomato soup...yum!  Found the recipe on SouleMama's blog.

It's hard to tell, but there is a fence in the background.  The birdhouse gourds have taken over half the garden.

They start right behing the zinnias, and have gone up and over the fence, and across the woodpile.  Some of the gourds are as big as basketballls...

WHAT are you going to do with them, you might ask.... hmmm.. not real sure!

Sunrise...sunset

Beautiful day!!

The beginning....

...and the end of a beautiful day.