Christmas Update

What a wonderful Christmas we had!

In recap:
Christmas Eve around 5:30 p.m. I found out that the Parsons Movie Theatre wasn't having a 7:00 p.m. showing of Alvin & the Chipmunks so we drove in the sleet/ice to Pittsburg to follow through with a promise that we made to Gage that for Christmas Eve we would go to the movies. When we left the movies it had began snowing and we drove home in a blizzard! I wasn't scared since Allen went with me. And those of you who have road with my husband know when Allen is driving...you just close your eyes and pray, even when the weather is clear!.We got home around 11:00 p.m. that night and put our cookies out for Santa and headed to bed.

Christmas day this year was a little different than the past. Usually we get up and do our Christmas then go to my G&G Hoobler's but they had went to Arizona to be with my Aunt and her family this year since they were unable to come to Kansas.

Christmas Day Gage woke up and ran not to the Christmas tree to look to see if Santa had came but to the front living room to look out the window to see if it had snowed. He came running to our bedroom about 7:15 a.m. saying "Mama wake up it's winter time"! Once entering our bedroom he ran to the window to open the blinds to prove to us it was a white Christmas.
After looking at the snow we went to the Christmas tree to find that Santa had left him a Wii, Cars Race O' Rama Wii game. In his stocking he had left hot wheels an extra Wii remote and some transformer underwear.

Aunt Kelli braved the 4" of snow and 5-6' tall drifts and drove down to enjoy Christmas morning with us. When she arrived we ate homemade cinnamon rolls and opened presents.

The rest of the day was pretty lazy and relaxing. We were to have Christmas at my father's house but that was postponed until Saturday due to the weather. We played, ate, napped and was merry!

Saturday we went to Papa Steve's and enjoyed the company of famiy. Gage enjoyed playing with all his cousin's and I enjoyed talking to my sister and step-sisters.

Coming Soon...

Craft Time at the Library

Last Saturday I took Gage up to the Mound Valley Public Library where they were holding a Christmas Craft hour. Kids ages 3 and up could come make a Christmas ornament and card free of charge. After their crafts were over they enjoyed some cookies and a drink.
The ornament was a clear ornament that they stuffed some shredded plastic stuff inside and then put a bow on.
The Christmas Card had Rudolph on the front where the kids glued and put together the antlers with piping and bells and then put the Merry Christmas on the inside of the card.
He had a lot of fun and I read him a couple books before we left.

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Thanksgiving evening we made a chain so Gage could understand when Santa was coming. He gets to use his scissors everyday and cut 1 piece off and it took about a week for him to understand but he now understands when the chain is gone Santa will have come.
The day after Thanksgiving Gage and I got up bright and early at 7 a.m. not to go join the Black Friday shopping but to put up our Christmas decorations. We got our tree up and Grandma Hoobler came over for a couple hours and helped put the decorations up on the cabinets and helped decorate the tree. We worked all day long on the decorations inside the house.
Right about dark I headed outside to do the house lights outside. I was starting right at dusk but thought it wouldn't take any time to finish any and all Christmas decorations being inside or outside. I had all the lights hung within about 30 minutes. I went to plug the lights in to the extension cord and the wrong end was in one hand with the extension cord in the other. So, I thought that's okay I'll just string the extension cord from the back of the house over to the other side where the Christmas lights ended at. So I went to the garage and hauled out about 50' in extension cords. Good idea except I found the same end at the other. Both sides of the lights ended with the flat plug not the one with the prongs to plug into. By this time I have drug my 8' tall ladder around the house and from end to end a couple times. I finally had to take 1/2 of the lights down I had hung and re-hung them correctly. I had messed the lights up in the middle and plugged them up to each other wrong. Really hard to explain, really irritating while hanging them and really funny now looking back.

Gage's Cardboard House

Allen had a large box that we was going to throw out to the trash the other day so I brought it in the house for Gage to play in. He ended up eating supper in it and playing in it for several days.

Gage

Jenks Oklahoma Aquarium Trip

Back in November we took a small trip down to Jenks Oklahoma to the Oklahoma Aquarium. The aquarium was pretty cool. They had open areas where you could touch star fish, shrimp and other animals. Gage thought that was pretty cool. They also had a really neat area where you walked through a tunnel and there were sharks that swam around and over you. I asked Gage what his favorite was and he liked the turtles. I would have never guessed that would be his answer but then again you never can tell what he's going to think of next!
I have to say we will have to go back again when Gage is older. There was a lot of reading to do and with a 3 year old he wasn't into learning about the different spicies.

Lantern

Aren’t these the cutest little lanterns! My sister had purchased them at IKEA and then decided she didn’t need them and gave them to me. I thought they would be a nice touch to any kind of gathering at our house with a little candle burning in them. I just had to show you! They were very inexpensive too! I think she told me she only paid around $7.00 for them. I have seen some of these that looked very similar in Pottery Barn for $30.00 plus!

Trick-or-Treat

My little CowboyHowdy Kate, Trick-or-Treat!

Neewollah 2009

This morning we all got up and around and headed to Independence to Neewollah. Every year since Gage was born I have taken him over to their huge parade. The bad thing is you have to get there the night before and put out your chairs to have a good spot. And this year we got there too late to even find a decent spot until Ronnie & Cindy called and told us to sit with them. It was a gorgeous day and the parade was great!

Demo & Car Show

I just found this post wasn't ever posted...It's back from September 20th!! Better late then never i guess...

This weekend we went to Topeka Friday afternoon to go to the Heartland Park Demolition Derby. Allen, Gage, Mickey, Miranda, Maddy & I all hoped in the Imperial and drove up. Then we spent the night in Topeka and drove over Saturday morning to Ottawa. Ottawa was having their Annual Car Show called the Ol'Marais River Run Car Show http://www.olmarais.com/. It had over 1500 cars entered and we walked around and looked at them all. Gage fell esleep so him and I hung out in the shade next to the Imperial while the others still went and checked out all the awesome old cars. Gage woke up and it wasn't long until we headed downtown to their "Cruise night". All the cars that were in the car show were able to drive up and down main street and there were thousands of people on the sidewalks sitting and standing watching all evening long. We made one pass down mainstreet then parked and went and watched. Gage loved watching all the old cars. He didn't move the entire time! It was a nice getaway but I think we were all glad to be home.

Branson Getaway

Thursday, October 15, Allen, Gage, Uncle Curt, Aunt Vicki, Trevor, Darci, Amy (Trevors friend), Grandma & Grandpa Hoobler, my mom Penny, Quin and I all headed down to Branson. We went to the Dixie Stampede and road go-carts Thursday evening and went to Silver Dollar City Friday.

Grandma (Nana) & Grandpa (Papa) Hoobler

My son never fails to amaze me. We started for Branson Thursday morning around 11:00 a.m. I thought this would be perfect timing for him so he could get a good nap in before being busy that evening. Boy did he prove me wrong. Everyone except Allen who was driving and Gage took naps! He was quite for everyone else but he never fell asleep! He was good all evening and absolutely loved the Stampede.

After riding go-carts we went back to the hotel Lodge of the Ozarks (which by the way that was a great hotel and would recommend to anyone!!) and went swimming till 10 that night in their indoor heated pool.

We then went to Silver Dollar City Friday and Gage road most of the little kid rides and also got to ride Fire in the Hole. This was the first time he was tall enough to do it. We went and watched a show at the Saloon and also got an old time family picture taken. Gage got to get his pictures taken with the Saloon Girls after their show Allen and Gage getting ready to go on Fire in the Hole Amy (Trevors friend), Trevor, Darci and Gage riding the Flooded Mine.

Darci & Gage riding the elephants

All in all I think it was an enjoyable trip. All that really matters when the day is done is that my son had a great time and we all returned home safe.

Mission accomplished.

Allen in the Grandfather's Mansion

JAG Farms

We decided on a name for our "operation" a couple weeks ago. JAG Farms (Jennifer, Allen & Gage).

Sunday October 18, we purchased our first big purchase of cows for our land we purchased a couple months ago. Okay, so for some this isn't big at all but for us it is. I absolutely love going to the cow sale. I like trying to guess what they will sale for, I guess its just a stupid game you play while waiting. I like the thought that this may or may not be your last chance to bid, this may or may not be the cow that goes home with you and has baby's for you. I love driving by our land and everyday patiently waiting to see if there is a new baby. I'm so excited. The heifers we purchased are due in February and March so I guess I'll have some waiting to do hugh?

The picture I took isn't the best and I've been trying to get better ones but the cows are either sniffing my camera (they aren't scared of me AT ALL) or I don't see them out in the pasture. I'm sure you'll see more pictures especially as they have babies!

Weekend Recap

This weekend was a first for me. The first time to help build fence that is. We set t-post and corner post last week in the evenings after work and tried getting everything ready for this weekend. Saturday, which was a beautiful day, we strung the wire and clipped it. With the help of Bo, Papa Steve, and Chuck we were able to get a little over ½ a mile of 5 wire barb wire completed. The only injuries were:
*Barb wire to back of head-Allen
*Barb wire hit tooth-Allen
*Barb wire hit right eye-Allen
*Barb Wire sliced neck-Allen

Are you seeing a trend? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…I’m married to an accident prone! Regardless, all injuries were minor and no emergency room visits…yet…we still have a little bit left to do this year. Cross your fingers for me!!!

Sunday was a much colder day! I didn’t want to go outside let alone build more fences! So we only had to go out there to set a couple hedge posts. After that I made Chili! It was so nice to have the aroma of Chili in the house on a cold windy day! We haven’t had it for so long it seems. I love how there are certain meals you have in the winter and certain meals in the summer. Just when you’re getting tired and bored with one seasons foods the weather changes and you’re excited to cook again.

The Farm

Before

After

Before

After

As of August 17th Allen and I purchased 160 acres just a couple miles East of our house. We have some work to do on it before we can put cows out to pasture. Mainly we just have to build fence. To build the fence we had to do some clearing out of trees. Now that it has stopped raining for a few days we are going to try to get the fence completed this week. I took a few pictures of the place just off of Hwy 160 where the majority of trees were and last night Gage and I drove the Ranger out and took more pictures with the trees out of the way now.