Happy New Year! It's 2012!

The new year aftermath - indoors. Ha ha ha ha ha!

The new year aftermath - outdoors......I'm sure the barn cats are trying to figure out what that funny string stuff is. Ha ha ha!

Despite one daughter having to work at 4am the morning of New Year's Eve, and my son working New Year's Eve and this morning, I think they all had a good time last night.

We added more healthier foods to our festive night this year - a fruit tray.  

Growing up, Mom always had tables full of snacks she baked for Christmas, Chex mix was a must, and punch in the punch bowl.  As a tradition, we would all sleep underneath and around the Christmas tree.  In the morning it would come down.  It was a real tree every year.  I look forward to putting up a real tree here (once the cats learn not to climb it).

When we took down the tree, and after the ornaments came off and were put away, we would take down (what we called) the tinsel.  You know, those tiny slivers of silver that you can decorate your tree with?

We used something very similar, if not the same brand, as the one above - Icicles.

Not only would we put these on one at a time, but we'd take them off one at a time, and put them back in the box for the next Christmas.  We still laugh about that.

We didn't keep that tradition in my home today, but we do take our tree down January 1st.  It's a struggle to get it all back in the boxes they came out of, but we some how get it all put away.

It's a happy-sad day - January 1st.  It's the start of a new year, the start to start over, and the end of the holidays.  


Here's to a great start with the new year!

Bringing in the New Year ~ Out with the Old

As I sit here and reflect on this year, I think about all the experiences I had, as well as my family.

 I fed my family weeds. 

 I learned to stock up more of my garden and invested in a dehydrator. 

Took one weekend getaway with hubby and no kids.

 Took some kids camping. 

Glamped the camper for the first time.

Completed many craft/handiwork projects. 

 Built things with the family.  

 Took a Hearthside cooking class with my oldest daughter. 

 Learn to shoot a gun.

 Bought dairy goats.

Bought more goats.

Watched my daughter buy her horse.

Added more layers to our chicken coop.

Raised our own meat chickens.

Got snowed in and had fun in the snow.

Sent one daughter to see Washington, D.C. for the her first time.

Added new flowers to my flower beds.

Built my first scarecrow.

Baked homemade bread.

Watched many sunrises.

Watched many sunsets.

Watched the moon.

Made the garden larger this year.

Taught myself how to knit.

Taught myself how to do needle tatting.

Participated in National Novel Writing Month for the second year.

Planted redbud trees from a seed.

Thanks for reading this long blog post of reflections.  There was a lot more too!  Happy New Year!