Inspired by my nephew's amazing and creative Christmas Wish-list, I thought our kids might enjoy making lists of their own.

Mademoiselle -

Make-up. That's all I want.

S.A.M.-

hot chocolate

sing

see Mack

play outside

guns

eat pizza

stoynator (??!)

big truck

Elmo

pencils

I would love a couch. And an entertainment armoire. And a couple sets of curtains and a throw rug. And some wall art.

And all of this makes me wonder, what would YOU like for Christmas this year?

It's Thanksgiving in just a couple of hours.

We are visiting with my side of our family this week. We are all in one big house, cooking and eating and cleaning, playing and laughing and singing. And yes, there is even a bit of crying. There are cousins. Oh, my, there are cousins. Cousins of so many ages and sizes. You couldn't ask for more fun.

Speaking of fun, there have been a few fun happenings. That's what happens when 28 people are under one roof, and more on their way.

Go visit my sister-in-law, and she'll fill you in on some of it.

Today I'm giving you a little view of the world of me. I'm standing just about in the middle of our yard, and turning as I take the picture. This is a third of the view, but it gives you an idea of where our fun is made.

We have had many fires down in the fire pit, and that means many smores. We even had some barbeque rabbit down there once.

The canyon in the back (with a better view in my header) is where we were hiking in August 2006 when we were nearly caught in a flash flood. I know you wish you could have seen my 8 1/2 month pregnant body scrambling up the wall of the wash. I hear it was quite a sight.

The garden is where we grew many things in 2006 and fewer things in 2007, including corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, butternut squash, onions, zuchinni, and pumpkins.

The tire swing was rigged by Tyler in summer 2006, and has gotten a lot of use since then. The kids even use it sometimes.

Neither of the two white buildings are our home. The one on the left was the original stage stop in these parts over 100 years ago. It's been changed a lot since then, but it's still neat. The other house was a bunkhouse for the ranch workers back when this was a running ranch.

You can also see a fig tree, a pear tree, and a walnut tree in this view, plus many others. The trees are one of the biggest reasons I love this place. They are very rare in this area, and we really enjoyed living around them.

This yard has seen teeth lost, knees (and noses) scraped, and lots of pokies in bare feet. It has seen bike riding, tree climbing, baseball, tennis and soccer playing. It has seen weddings. It has seen sea voyages. It has seen mud pies and mud baths. It has seen chicks grow to roosters and hens, puppies to dogs, kittens to cats, and ducks and pig and goats. It has seen snakes and scorpions and bats and frogs, bobcats and coyotes and mountain lions and deer, hawks and javelina and fish and skunks. It has seen us take on many adventures we'll never forget.

People don't seem to believe me when I say that Tyler is always really involved in holidays. Traditions, activities, songs, and especially treats.

Yesterday Tyler stopped at the store to get a few things we needed before coming home. He bought everything I asked him to buy. He's great that way. But there were a few other things, too.

6 cans of pumpkin

4 cans of sweetened condensed milk

2 cans of blueberry pie filling

2 cans of apple pie filling

2 boxes of yellow cake mix

2 boxes of vanilla wafers

3 boxes of graham crackers

1 container of heavy cream

1 container of half and half

1 bag of mini-marshmallows

2 bags of sweetened shredded coconut

1 bag of brown sugar

I think he's ready for the seasonal treat-eating to increase.

I'm just not sure what exactly I'm supposed to be making.

some things I love about this moment today -

bare feet

in tree

dirt and popsicle on face

far-off look in eyes

littlehousebignews edition 1 volume 1 fall 2007

littlehousebignews

edition 1 volume 1 fall 2007

This just in!

Local commissioned officer resigns post, official 14 December, 2007. States a desire to further his education and keep the Sabbath Day holy as his reasons.

Extra! Extra!

Blogger, mother of n i n e, sister of m i n e and all around swell girl turns (Ah-CHOOOOoooo!). She claims to still have energy, sanity, and a waist. Authorities are investigating.

Brave 6 year old Cheats Death!

Mademoiselle, her face disfigured with swelling, her eyes betraying her agony, visited the dentist Monday, and lived to smile another day. She was found to have an infection, which necessitates the removal of one molar. "I'd like to thank my mom, the expectation of a Happy Meal some time in my future, and my fuzzy bunny Lizbet for my success!" Witnesses claim no dentistry was actually performed on this date, but was merely discussed and scheduled for a later date. (namely the morning we leave for our Thanksgiving vacation)

Gravity Defied

Scientists announced today the recent observation of a toddler sitting on a table. The 13 month old seemed to manipulate the very laws of nature in arriving at the destination of the table-top, when he had mere moments before been observed on the floor. Onlookers gasped in shock and wept in fear. The world as we know it has ceased to exist.

History Repeats Itself

Mother of three cooks, cleans, does laundry. If we don't learn from history, we are destined to repeat it.

And Today's Funnies

please note: toddlers pictured in Papa's arms are nly 6 months apart in age.
yikes.

I feel like I have a lot of things on

right now.

And it's not so much compared to you, I realize.

It's just, I don't have that big of an appetite

Last week I got to meet our youngest neice. She was only a few days old. I took lots of pictures of her. I held her as much as I could. I was very selfish. And I smelled her cute, stretchy, little turtle neck a lot.

But I had some stiff competition. It came in the form of all my other neices and nephews. They just HAD to take turns holding her every chance they got.

Check this out. It's amazing.

See how well that works?