SLOW MARKET AND WRESTLING MATCH

Brrrr!!!!  20 degrees this morning as I head out with a bucket of hot water to help thaw the water pans for all the chickens, dogs and birds.
This ice makes chores take an extra 10 minutes at least so when I got back inside I had about 15 minutes to get ready for market.
I dropped RL off at pre-school only 10 minutes late so I felt like that was a victory this morning.
I met IR and hubbie and we got things set up . I had a call on the way here this morning for all the caramel cakes I have and I already had an order for 2 caramel cakes so those 2 orders will make for a good day. Both these customers are heading south and don't expect to get back up before Christmas so they are taking their cakes now.
I had a very slow day as expected other than those 2 orders which makes me very thankful for those 2 customers today.
Connie, IR's other g-ma picked her up at 11:00 and hubbie went to the dump and then brought us some lunch before he headed home.  He had to come back to market anyway to load up a load of pumpkins from a neighbor's table to feed to the chickens. These folks are having a challenging time right now with their health and I told them we would clean their tables off .
I left market a few minutes early as it was cold and I needed to get my errands done and get home early so we could get to Brevard Middle school, a 45 minute drive away for the wrestling match.
Hubbie and I hurried through early chores and then picked up daughter and IR on the way. We made it to the school with about 5 minutes to spare and met d-in-love and #1 son there.
We all went in a got a seat on the narrow bleachers which brought back memories for my kids sports activities and the many many hours my butt sat on bleachers in gyms somewhere.
This was g-son's first match this year and he looked stoked in warm-ups.

When his match started it was obvious the boy he was wrestling was a much more seasoned wrestler than g-son. But g-son hung in there and made it through to 20 seconds left in the 2nd round before he was pinned.

He was a very disappointed boy when the match was over as the coaches and other older wrestlers spent time trying to encourage him.

Hopefully this loss will make him more determined to get better and won't discourage him. He will have to remember that after all he is a 6th grader getting to wrestle which hardly ever happens and he is probably wrestling 7th and 8th graders.

We left shortly after his match because IR had all she wanted of the match and daughter wasn't feeling well.

G-son's team won the match 60-35 so his worries of causing his team to lose the match if he lost were unfounded.

We made it home around 7:30 and in the darkness I shut up all the chickens and tried to find my guineas but only found 3 of them roosting on the ground , hopefully the other 3 are in the trees but we couldn't find them by shining lights around.

We had  a late supper then rested and watched the news before heading to bed.

Thankful for the blessings of the day and for the Reason for the Season, Jesus Christ.

God Bless and Good Night.

SNOW STORM PREPARATION

Up to get things going early this morning and get all the grands their breakfast before I went outside to do the chores.
G-son was excited today because he won the wrestle off in his weight class yesterday and will be the starting wrestler in Thursday's match, yea for him !!
I took RL to preschool and then came straight home to have my breakfast. After I ate hubbie, IR and I went to Fletcher feed for chicken feed to make sure I have enough for the duration of the upcoming snow storm. We also decided to do our shopping since the stores are already getting crowded and as the weekend gets closer I'm sure they will get worse.
We made stops at Aldi and Sam's Club and both were crowded and had long lines at the checkouts.
IR did not like to wait in line and her face definitely shows that.

This is the back of the Honda when we finished our shopping , we should be good for a long while !!!

At home we had lunch then I was determined to finish getting the Christmas decorations out of all the containers that are sitting in my sunroom and get the containers back in the shed.IR went down for a long nap so  I turned on a Christmas music CD and spent the entire afternoon in my own little world just me and these trees and the windows .

Daughter came in between her dentist appointment and ball game and stayed in the house with IR while hubbie and I got all the containers hauled back to the shed and got chores done. The air feels really icy this evening after the temperature didn't get out of the mid 30's all day.
I was glad to get inside and get warmed up with a hot cup of green tea.
We watched the news about the impending snow storm that seems to get worse with each update for our area. Now they are saying we could get a record amount of snow fall even more than the 18+ inches we got in the blizzard of 1993.

This is a list of the 12 top amounts of snow we have ever gotten in our area.

We are trying to prepare as best we can and will be fine if the power stays on, we'll be fine also if the power goes off it'll just be much harder and much more work !!!
IR loves purses and carries these 2 around one on each arm !!

Son-in-love picked up IR and they went home to wait for daughter to get home from the basketball game. The varsity beat Hendersonville for their first victory but Hendersonville didn't have a JV team to play.
After they left I put 2 pound cakes in the oven and then did weekly paperwork and paid the bills. I also got the monthly figures for November done and was pleasantly surprised by my sales totals. A lot better than October which had me worried for November.
Hubbie and I watched Survivor on TV then I packed everything up for market. I don't have very much but I'm not expecting much traffic through market tomorrow after a 20 degree morning.
The older president Bush passed away last week and his funeral was today giving #2 son and all government workers a day off work in honor of Mr. Bush.

Folks around her are remembering his visit to Hendersonville Apple Festival in 1992.

Thankful for all the blessings of this day and for the Reason for the Season, Jesus Christ.
God Bless and Good Night.

NEW CHICKEN COOP

Up to greet a colder morning today but thankfully not cold enough to freeze all the animal waterers.
The kids all had breakfast while I did chores then RL and I headed out to preschool. She was in another good mood this morning and went bouncing into her classroom.
I came home and had my breakfast then did some more decorating. I have changed my mind more times this year than any in the past I think about where I want what . Today I moved the new tree I had beside my computer to the end of the hallway and moved the big tree that normally sits on the old wood cook stove in the kitchen there and put a smaller ceramic tree with my village setting on the old stove.

I got all the handmade ornaments on the tree by the computer before we left to go get the chicken coop from Georgia.
As I locked the back door I noticed the guineas have taken over my firepit patio !!!

We left early to go get the new wheels on the coop and get it rolled down to the truck. By this time it was time to pick up RL so I left  to pick her up then picked up #1 son from his job site very close to the preschool. IR was still sleeping through all this and finally woke up when we got back to Georgia's. Both girls walked down with me to watch hubbie and son lift the coop into hubbie's truck and get it tied down.

Georgia's property borders Highland Lake and she has a beautiful place but the wind coming off that water today was very icy.

Hubbie fixed Georgia's garden cart wheel while I was gone to pick up RL and son.

The girls and son and I got back in my Honda and I dropped son back at his work site then we met hubbie at Burger King since it was a little late and I knew they would be really hungry by the time we got home.
I called them the "Burger Queens"!!!!!

After we ate the girls chatted all the way home, it was really sweet to hear RL say you can put both your feet on my seat if you want instead of whining about her touching her carseat with anything !!!
The girls had a dessert snack while hubbie and I had our lunch when we got home then we sat in the living room and watched them play together wonderfully all afternoon.
D-in-love came after RL and then hubbie and I took turns getting chores done and watching IR until I got finished then we took IR with us up to the barn and unloaded the chicken coop from the back of hubbie's truck. You never know when he will need his truck plus there is some snow chances around our area so we decided it would be better to get it unloaded tonight.
Daughter made it to pick up IR around 6:00 and she was eating her supper of a left over hamburger and an ear of corn so daughter waited on her to finish before they went home because with only about a one hour nap all day she will be fast asleep before she gets her home probably.
The forecast keeps changing for the snow storm this weekend but the snow prediction stays the same it's just the amount and the time that appears to be a guessing game.

This is what this same weatherman said in his 5:00 forecast .....

And this is what the same weatherman said in his 6:00 forecast !!!!  Snow totals more than doubled in our location !!!

Guess we will restock our animal feed and get some groceries tomorrow just to be ready for whatever comes !
We rested the evening away and had an early bedtime.
Thankful for the blessings of this day and for the Reason for the Season, Jesus Christ.
God Bless and Good Night

FUNDAY MONDAY

Monday morning seems to roll around more often with each passing week !!  This Monday morning is feeling rough already since I only slept about 6 hours last night because of a painful knee and my foot started hurting again for some reason, guess I must have turned it wrong.
After the kids had breakfast and I did the morning chores I took RL to pre-school. She was in a  surprisingly good mood for a Monday morning.
I came home and had my breakfast then got weekly laundry started while hubbie entertained IR.
While the laundry washed I did a little more decorating . I only got one load done before we headed out to check out a chicken tractor a lady offered to give me. It was located near RL's preschool so hubbie took a tape to measure and to see what all we needed to load it with.
It is a nice coupe, small but in good shape but it doesn't have any fencing with it. Georgia came out when we got there and said she almost changed her mind about letting it go but wanted chickens in a different spot if she decided to get anymore in the future.
The tires to move the coupe were both flat so hubbie took them off and brought the axel home to see if a couple tires he had here would fit. He also told Georgia he would replace the tube in an old garden cart tire she was trying to fix.
We picked up RL and then stopped at Burger King for their lunch.

We had to make a stop at Ingles for more "go-gurt" for the girl's breakfast so they got to entertain everyone in the store again with their happy driving around skills.  Hubbie said we should come here for our exercise and just push them around the store !!

We came home and the girls played while hubbie and I had lunch and I got more laundry done. I got one of the kitchen trees decorated between playing with the girls and doing laundry this afternoon.
G-son has a wrestling match this afternoon at Rugby and he said this morning that he might get to wrestle so hubbie and I are heading over there as soon as RL gets picked up.
RL's other g-ma came up to stay with her while we all went to the match. Hubbie, IR and I stopped by Walmart to pick up the tube for the garden cart tire on the way. D-in-love is going to text me when she gets there if g-son is dressed out ready to wrestle. Just as we were leaving Walmart #1 son called and said he didn't get to wrestle. He was dressed out and supposed to wrestle in a preliminary match but seems he had a runny nose and went into the bathroom to get some tissue when he was called up to wrestle and missed his turn.
We came back home with a sleeping IR and layed her on the couch while I did more laundry and hubbie went out to get his part of the chores done.
Daughter came by before she went to her late basketball practice but IR slept through her visit.
Hubbie came in and I went out to get my chores done just before darkness fell. The sky was a pretty color this evening.

This image popped up on my Instagram today of the place we stayed in Montana this past summer. Our little cabin was the end one on the far right. It looks really beautiful in the snow .

Snow is still in the forecast for the weekend although now the weathermen are back pedaling a bit on the amounts. So I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. Carter the winter storm of the past weekend passed to the north of us ushering in some very cold air and now there is another storm poised to come up from the gulf with a lot of moisture and moving very slow so that is where the snow is supposed to come from when it meets the cold air from the north.

Thankful for the blessings of this day and the Reason for the Season, Jesus Christ.
God Bless and Good Night.

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT=HOPE and HANGING OF THE GREENS

At least it's not raining this morning but the fog is so dense we can't see across the yard. A Fed-ex truck made a delivery at 8am today and I feel so sorry for these guys as I know how they feel with all the extra package deliveries from listening to #2 son and Tif as they are facing the same 7 day a week long hour workdays.
We got all the chores done and had breakfast then got ready for church. We had a roast beef in the crock pot and corn on the stove to keep warm until we get home from church.
We had a young lady baptized today to begin our service. Brenlee and her family moved to the middle of the state a couple years ago but she wanted to come back in be baptized here as she considers this her home church.

A great way to start the Advent season !!!  All the glory to God !! 

We lit the "hope" candle today to begin the season.

We came home to have the roast beef, oven fried potatoes, green beans, corn and biscuits with Aa's family, daughter , IR and daughter's niece Addie.

I loved some of the kids comments about my Christmas decorations, that's what makes all the work worth it.

After everyone left today hubbie helped me and we got out all the outside decorations while it is 70 degrees outside. I still like getting cords run to everything but hopefully tomorrow I can get that done in tomorrow's 60 degree temps. After that I will be staying inside decorating due to the forecast cold that is moving back in Tuesday.

Hubbie and I did chores a little early and then got ready to go back to church for the "Hanging of the Greens Service at  6pm.

This is always a special service and the kids love helping to decorate the church. RL is held high by her dad to put her ornament on the tree while g-son chooses a lower limb for his.

BB and EL also choose higher spots for their ornaments.

G-son also had a job placing the wreaths in the windows.

There was a fellowship after the service that all the kids stayed for but hubbie and I came home to rest after our busy afternoon.

The weather forecast may get very interesting this weekend as some of the models are saying we are going to get slammed with a snow storm that might drop over 2 feet of snow on our area. All the weathermen are saying this is too early and things probably will change in one or the other model but they all agree that we are very likely to get some snow.

Brings back memories of last years December 8th and 9th snowfall that dropped 12 inches on us. Funny that it is the exact same dates this year that they are predicting the snow to begin on.

Thankful for the blessings of this day and for the Reason for the Season, Jesus Christ.

RAINY MARKET AND PARADE DAY

December  came in wet and nasty this morning as a cold rain has fallen all day. I got chores done and we got the Honda loaded with all the baked goods before the heavier rain began thankfully.
We got to market on time and the parking lot was almost filled with cars but the Christmas Parade is today so I am sure most of these cars are parade goers.
We got set up about the time daughter arrived after an early morning basketball practice.  She brought this picture of IR stretching with the team.

Unfortunately for all those who were marching in the parade it rained the entire time but the parade went on and Santa Clause made his way into town .

We had a decent day today even with the cold rain falling all morning. Daughter left a little before lunch to go meet son-in-love for lunch. It got really cold in market and I was glad when 2:00 came and it was time to pack up as I didn't wear my long handle underwear today thinking it was going to be warmer than it has been.

I came straight home and hubbie helped me unload and then I got to warm up for the first time today as hubbie had a fire in the wood stove to knock off the dampness in the house and it sure felt good.

After a short rest we did chores a little early before the heavier predicted rain began. I forgot to check the rain gauge this evening but the airport had .39 inches since midnight.

Back inside I had some of the butternut squash / apple soup I bought from the soup vendor today.

It hit the spot on the rainy cold evening. The temperature is in the upper 40's but it really feels colder.

It has rained hard all evening and has actually warmed up.

Hubbie and I have relaxed all evening and watched a detective show on TV which we never do but we both got interested in it and had to see "who done it"  !!!

Thankful for the blessings of the day and for the Reason for the Season, Jesus Christ.

God Bless and Good Night.