More Snow!

The weather predicted for yesterday and today was ICE, ICE, ICE - with a little snow. So, we prepared for the worst, praying that He would protect our powerlines.... And He did and has! We did get a lot of ice but not as much as predicted. Around 9 this morning it starting snowing and it's still coming down (it's 5:30!). We bundled up and took out our new $11 sled and had the BEST time ever! The hill behind the garage was perfect for it.

Papa and Hannah

Gabriel's first sled ride!!!

James decided to try the steeper hill behind the barn. It wasn't as bad as he was expecting. :-)

The view of the house from the barn

Here are our 12 week old chicks. We moved the coops out of the barn a week ago. They are all cozy under the heat lamps...

Reisling ventured out of his shed to see us but didn't spend much time out - he headed right back in!



This picture shows the ice on the fence that we got before the snow - everything is covered with it.



Porsha peeked but wasn't coming out any farther! Here is CC looking for some attention. Misty was too busy with her hay to grace us with her profile for a picture. :-)



The dogs ran too fast through the snow for us to get any good pictures :-) Coming back in we all had a big mug of hot chocolate - mint, vanilla, and dark chocolate and watched Veggietales with the kids. What a wonderful day and great surprise - thinking the worse weather and ending up with lots of playtime and a warm house to come back to. We are thanking God for all His blessings, especially the unexpected ones. We are continuing to pray for the power to stay on through the rest of the "winter weather". Hope you enjoy the pictures! It's now time to go back out and do evening barn chores!

My new addiction...

I'm not a huge pretzel lover but these are very addicting.

Spicy Pretzels

1 pound bag small twisty pretzels
1/2 cup oil
1 tablespoon lemon pepper seasoning
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I only used 1/2 teaspoon and it's enough kick for me)
1 package dry ranch dressing mix

Combine all ingredients except the pretzels and stir.

Put pretzels in a plastic bag that can be closed



Pour the wet mixture over the pretzels and close the bag. Then mix by turning the bag over and over until the pretzels are completed covered.



After about 24 hours the oil becomes more absorbed but you can still eat it right away. Enjoy!!

"Uh oh"

Like I said in an earlier posting, Gabriel doesn't like to perform on demand, however I was able to get this video this afternoon of his newest word - "Uh oh" What a cutie! I will keep trying to get videos of him saying "Up" and "Ball" and signing "more".....

Gabriel - Nine month portraits and more!

At 9 months Gabriel crawls, pulls up, waves, claps, and babbles. He does a lot of shrieking and grunting as well! He can say "mama", "ball", and "up" too. If he would perform on command I would put up a video of it but since he won't you'll have to take my word for it. :-)

Lately he has been very interested in anything that we eat. We've added small pieces of bread and crackers to his veggie/fruit diet. Along with his organic fruit puffs he now eats sweet potatoes, green beans, brown rice, squash, avocados, yogurt, mangoes, peaches, and bananas. But his favorite is the bread, crackers, and puffs.

He continues to be highly entertained by his big sister and wants to play with all of her toys and eat her books!

Happy 9 month birthday to my sweet boy!

I'm including some fun other pictures of him too - here is his first teething cookie

Start 'em young....



Loves anything that crinkles, rattles, bangs, etc.



The first picture is when I first found him sitting up in his bed just before Christmas and then the second one is Christmas morning!



Ready for barn chores! He's playing with a feed scoop :-)

A Christmas Winter Wonderland

Isaiah 9:6 "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Merry CHRISTmas and Happy New Year from snowy Oklahoma!

We were excited for James to be off for 9 days over Christmas and we had a great time as a family just being together celebrating Christ's birth. On Christmas Eve we had Oklahoma's 2nd ever recorded blizzard! It began as rain, then sleet, and then finally the snow came......

We were suppose to go to James' parent's house in Oklahoma City but the turnpike was shut down and the side roads were bad as well. On to plan B for Christmas dinner! It wasn't the "traditional " christmas dinner, but yummy anyway. Playing in the snow made us all hungry and also very grateful for a warm house and hot chocolate.

Gabriel's first snow....

We opened our gifts Christmas Eve morning because we thought we were going to OKC on Christmas day.... but the kids didn't know the difference :-)

Here is Hannah with her new doll house and accessories!

Gabriel was so excited about all the paper and bows!

Hannah's little furry puppy dog.... and both were very interested in the chocolate that mama got!

Making snowflakes..... And Gabriel's new trick - pulling up.

Hannah playing her favorite computer game.... and I threw in a cute pic of her hugging on her papa!

More of Gabriel's new trick.... peekaboo!