Finding a Christmas Tree in Near Dark

 Our family has several Christmas traditions.  One is that we write a brief Christmas letter to our friends updating them on what is going on in our lives.  Another is that we take a picture of the kids all together, and we also go to a tree farm and pick out our Christmas tree.

Today, we took the pictures and we  went and got the tree. By the time we got to going for the tree it was pushing towards dusk. We go to the same tree farm every year, but this year the trip was a lot shorter, as we now live a lot closer.  Good thing, as the roads were very snowy.

Our family tradition is to wander all over the 10 acres or so of trees and spend an hour or more picking out the tree.  However, this year, this was not an option as it was getting dark quickly.  The snow had stopped at least.  After a couple minute hike we saw this tree and as it was so late we decided it was a good option.  But we couldn't settle that quickly.  We took a quick 15 minute hike around and looked at a few other trees and then came back to our first choice.  It was a Mango record setting event.  We had found and hauled our tree out of the lot in less than 30 minutes.

Elizabeth, DH, T-Bob and Thomas.
Note: The camera makes it appear lighter than it was.

 One of the reasons we were able to accomplish it so quickly was because there were only five of us that needed to come to an agreement.  When you have eight people trying to come to an agreement on a tree, it takes a LOT longer!  Especially if one of them is Michelle!! The older three children were away at a christmas party.

While the tree was being cut down, Thomas posed on a nearby tree stump.

More poses...

My DH did the final cuts to harvest the tree.  We were expediting as much as possible as the light faded.

Meanwhile, Thomas was still trying different poses on his stump.

We stuffed the tree into the van,

and took our tree home to be thawed out.  Another successful trip to the tree farm.

Planning the Farm

 I am feeling a little stressed.  I have so many decisions to make and not enough time to figure things out.  Our goal is to use our farm so that it is recreational and fun for our children and visitors yet is a still a small working farm.  We want to have a soccer field or kickball area as well as room to play volleyball and other sports.  We want the pond and fire pit to stay quiet and peaceful.

 So what changes do we need to make?  What trees need to come down and what should stay?  Where will we plant the orchard and where will the garden go?  What will stay grassy and what will we let grow into pasture?  Where should we put the fences?

 Did I mention that we are trying to transplant a lot of the smaller fruit trees and bushes from our yard?  As they come out they need to go somewhere.  Where to put them?????  The Junior Boss (aka Paul) wants to know by tomorrow morning.  He has dug some out and they need to go back into the ground!  How does one decide?  I know the basics.  They need sunshine and moisture, but not too much.

Michelle has raspberries on the brain.  Where can she plant hers?  We don't want them to near the chickens....  What about the blueberries.  They need to be separate as they require acidic soil.  I don't want to do this willy-nilly I need a plan!  and by tomorrow morning.  No pressure.  I have been thinking about this but I have trouble making decisions especially if I don't have any definite criteria to base the decision on.  Ask me about your sleep issues, and I can, after a few quick questions tell you what herbs you need to take to help.  But where to put the rhubarb?  I don't know.  I have so much input from the children, but they know less than I do.  Haha!  I need some experienced farmer to come along side and give us advice.  Any volunteers?

Tree Removal, Manly Man Style

Today as Paul and I wandered the farm making plans, we were trying to decide which trees need to be removed and which can stay.  We were working down a tree line and came to this little tree the end and observed that it needed to go.  Paul decided to take care of it right away!

He pushed!

He pulled!

Finally, Over it went!

He tore it out of the ground!

Knocked the dirt off!

He carried off his trophy!

How do YOU take trees down?

Catching up!!

Merry Christmas ans a Happy New Year Dear Friends!

I am going to update the blog for the fall and holiday season. I tried to download the pictures in chronological order, but that was a fail! Thanks for being patient with me and now see what has been going on in our lives. Fasten your seat belts we are going to move fast!!!

I love snow on Christmas lights. This is a house that is close to our home that really does a bang up job with their lights.

Some of the children and I went over to admire them when we had a spontaneous snow storm. Why do I use the term spontaneous? Well, the rest of the area only had a scant one inch of snow, but the cloud parked over our town and deposited about 7 inches of beautiful snow.

We did have a green Christmas this year. We had to select and fetch our tree in deep puddles and a lot of mud. Do you know how hard it is to get eight people to agree that we had found the 'perfect' tree? Well, this tree may not have had the perfect tree, but it was at least acceptable.

Elizabeth enjoyed her seventh birthday! She is growing up into a fine young lady. She enjoys helping out in the kitchen and has learned to love reading. She is getting a grasp on multiplication and doing very well with her homeschooling. She is a lot of fun. She will be doing the poem 'The Highwayman" for her poetic Interpretation for tournament. She has it memorized, we just need to polish her presentation.

In Octorber the girls and I went to a camp in NC for Home-schooled teenage girls called 'Daughters of Destiny' JoAn was a counselor this year, Michelle was a camper and Elizabeth was my helper. I taught classes in Herbs and Nutrition as well as one on Building a Heritage Library. We had a great time. This picture was taken at the banquet on the last day.

These are our friends Chrissi and Steve. They have eleven children and our families really enjoy getting together and playing. The kids play soccer and Kick the can and other traditional kids games. I love watching them all play together. They returned the favor and came and visited us in December. Chrissi has her own blog at www.sewsowso.wordpress.com and you would probably enjoy her writing. She and her older girls have a business of custom sewing. Actually, they make most of Michelle's clothing for us, since she is so tall. She writes about how to do different sewing projects and technics, about their family and also Chrissi's thoughts. I love Chrissi because she is so 'real'.

Thomas loves to read on the roof whenever the weather permits. I think it is because it is so quiet out there and he doesn't get as distracted. This spot is the warmest in the early spring and late fall than any other outdoor spot. It is protected from the north and west from the wind, and it gets the morning sunshine. My children all love to be on roofs. Their daddy takes them up from the time they are little. There is no fear of heights among our children. Mommy does get a little nervous, but I try to not interfere.

This is our latest wall of books. The family room has floor to ceiling bookshelves. The upstairs hallway is lined with bookshelves, and all the bedrooms have multiple bookshelves - all full. These shelves are filling in too fast. There is no such thing as too many books, just insufficient bookshelves. We did buy three tall bookshelves when Boarders went out of business this fall, but alas, those too are almost full. I don't know where I am going to put the books I bought on Saturday from the last book sale I went to. Hmmmm. There's got to be room for another bookshelf somewhere.

We cleaned out our garden in late October and we found this melon hiding in the weeds. We cut it up and it was still sweet and good. It was a bit overripe, but still very edible. The garden is empty now except for some turnips, parsnips, red cabbage, kale and brussel sprouts. We had a good garden this year.

Michelle has been doing art classes with T-Bob and Elizabeth. This is Elizabeth's still life in pastels. I am glad that Elizabeth will help me out with this. It is not my strength, and she is quite artistic.

This infamous moment was captured by the children on the camera. Please note that it is 11/11/11 at 11:11:11. They captured it right to the second on the atomic clock. Way to go!!

Michelle made caramel apples this fall for a party. They look so yummy and good. We had to document it with a picture!

We enjoyed our traditional thanksgiving brunch at church. THis tradition has been ongoing for over 40 years! We all gather together for a big breakfast about 9:30 we eat and fellowship and then about 10:15 we gather together for a time of prayer, singing and reflection of things we are thankful for. It is always special.

My family and our friends the Morrises joined together for a big Thanksgiving dinner at our house. The little girls enjoyed mothering their babies.

Dad did his traditional job if official turkey carver. He always does a nice job.

In the very beginning of December I did the official family photo shoot. It is always a challenge to get everybody looking the same way and smiling simultaneously. There were a couple good ones. I also got the family Christmas letter written. If you would like a copy let me know and I will get it to you.
JoAn decided to get about 12 inches cut off her hair. She donated it to Locks of Love. It really does still come below her shoulders, but it looks a lot shorter when it is all 'sproinged'. up.

It is hard for me to believe, but our first baby is now 21 years old! Where has the time gone? I look around our table and it seems like only a short time ago that toddlers once sat where there are now adults. I thank the Lord for His faithfulness to us in blessing us with these children.

New Years Day was again another big party at the Mangos. It was good to see our friends again. Mom and Dad enjoyed the grandchildren before they left to go spend some time in Florida. Isaiah is getting so big. He is starting to crawl all over.

These babies don't belong to our family, they are some of the children that JoAn watches in her work as a mother's helper. They came over to our house so she could watch them so their Mom and Dad could go out and have a date alone. The children ALL really enjoyed having babies around to hold and love on. I love the way even my boys really love to take care of babies. They will be good Daddies some day.

Well, that's our fall and winter wrap up. I hope you enjoyed it and feel like you are caught up on the news. I'll try and do a better job of keeping up to date.

~Mom

Fetching the Christmas Tree

The Mangos have along tradition of fetching our Christmas tree from Red's Tree Farm about a half hour from our home. This year was getting near dusk when we got to the farm.

This year Mr. Boots had constructed a new very cool sled. He was tired of the ones he bought breaking. This sled was made from a 55 gallon plastic drum. It works great and is nearly indestructible. Even Dallas the dog can't chew this one up. The price is nearly free, too. He has also refined the harness for Dallas and Dallas has grown and filled out. He can easily pull the sled now.

This is our traditional 'pose the children in front of the selected tree' picture. It is a beautiful blue spruce. It cost $25 for any blue spruce on the lot. Big or small.

Elizabeth is no longer a little girl. She has transitioned into the big girl state ever since she lost that first tooth!

T-Bob is the 'king of layers'. At any moment he has 5-9 layers on. He will often have 2 hoodies a couple long sleeve shirts and a couple short sleeve shirts all at once. It makes him look chubby, but he still needs slim jeans. He likes it that he can just walk outside and not need a coat on. I don't know how he stands it in the warmer areas of the house. He also likes the fact that when one shirt gets dirty, he can just remove it and be clean again. Not so nice for the laundry lady, but I guess there is a certain 'boy' logic to it.

On Facebook I posted a video of Dallas pulling the tree out of the woods. He did all the work. In fact the children were asked several times if he wouldn't help someone else get their tree out too. Mr. Boots is sure that he could make quite a bit of money offering that service there, come another year.

This is one tradition that the children really seem to enjoy.
~Mom