laughlin family christmas 2008 was survived enjoyed by all...we ate, we merried, we slept well. :) if you're on facebook, you've already seen most of these photos. but i'm posting them mainly for grammy and grampy who we wished could have been with us!

laura (andrew's wife), mom, kenny and i, and jonathan and rachel cooked all the dinners. this is the only one that was captured on film...coq a vin, ala jonathan:

we also enjoyed a homemade chicken and dumpling soup, white chili, and leg of lamb. after our leg of lamb meal, we lit a traditional english pudding on fire and subsequently devoured it with it's amazing hard sauce (butter, sugar, spices, and brandy=heaven!). the video of the figgy pudding:

this past weekend was warm so we spent a few hours at lake arthur one afternoon. we were very surprised to see a bald eagle family hunting on the half-frozen lake!

what follows are familiy and kid photos...the large family photo, the kids sitting in front of the christmas tree, and the older grandkids showing off some fake mustaches:

rowan and i are nursing some sort of head cold/low-grade fever thing. it's been ongoing since sunday. this has happened for the past 3 out of 4 new year's. i think i need to plan and implement christmas in june of this year, so i can sit back, enjoy the holiday, and not get sick!

we brought in the new year quietly this year...wakened by another sick boy to cradle and soothe.

happy new year to you all!

we had our own family christmas this morning before the rest of my family joins us over the next few days. it's so mean of parents to snap pictures of kids when they just wake up isn't it? in the following picture, adam's the most chipper since he was the one up the longest. sawyer's not so sure about smiling first thing in the morning.

i snapped this picture of the living room last night. i'm not a photographer, and i don't know how to get good lighting with our ancient digital camera (hey, the pixels might be big, but it still works! we bought it when i was pregnant with rowan - 6 years ago. digital cameras have come a long way since then).

this is also a night-time photo. i wanted to show off the new concrete slab that is the new hearth...i love how this room has come together. the pictures don't really do these rooms justice. they're warmer when you're in them. also, notice the basket under the spinning wheel in the corner? that's pure alpaca and sheep wool ready to be spun. kenny's been working on the wheel to perfect it's condition so that i can do more and more spinning as i learn. mom and i had a spinning lesson the other day which was fascinating, but i think i've already forgotten 60% of what we learned. i gotta get back on the wheel! maybe i'll have time again after new year's...

i love this next picture. rowan and sawyer have been best friends since they were babies. this picture was taken from inside the house, by me. adam was with me inside, kenny was working, and my grown-up 4- and 5-year-olds were outside sled-riding BY THEMSELVES. this is a turning point in our parenting: sending the older two boys outside without one of us with them. (the snow convinced me that the bear are all hibernating. apparently, i should never assume that...) they spent a good hour outside icing up that hill so that the next day it was pure ice, and kenny had to stand at the bottom of the hill to "catch" them.

this is our christmas card picture this year. tomorrow is christmas eve, and the pile of christmas cards is staring at me on my desk here. so perhaps this is our "new year's" card. :) they're late this year folks...so here's your sneak-preview online christmas photo.

a friend of mine told me about a worldwide candle lighting ceremony that is taking place this sunday, december 14, 2008 for families who have lost a child. if you have a chance, please visit the web site, sign the guest book, tell a loved one of yours who may have lost a child that they are loved, and their child will always be remembered.

i have three friends who lost children in 2007, and one who lost a son in 2002. this post is for them: isaac, evan, sarah, and joshua.

chickens
there's been a little too much talk of sheep in here, that i think the chickens are beginning to protest.

for over a month now, the ten chickens have been producing (on average) one egg every other day. we haven't seen a blue egg in over two months. this means our over-flowing basket-o-eggs on our kitchen hutch has been empty. because when an egg is discovered in the nest boxes, it is used or eaten right away. this is normal for chickens as the days are shorter, the air frigid, and the fact that they're cooped up (so THAT'S where that phrase comes from!) more now than in the spring, summer, and fall.

i even bought eggs last week. rowan was shocked at the whiteness of their shell. i was shocked at what the grocery store considers "large" eggs.

with all this in mind, and the fact that we're sharing our eggs with my parents, we decided it was time to light the coop. kenny dragged an extension cord from the garage to the coop yesterday and as the sun went down, the little coop glowed. it looked so cozy in there...chickens walking about. i envisioned them all huddled around the warm light, but i think they roosted as normal, away from the light.

the more light they have, and the more consistent that light is, they'll begin to lay again. we hope.
i'll let you know if it works.

bees
the bees take care of themselves this time of year. kenny wintered the hives (i'm not sure what this entails...reducing or closing the entrance size?). when he checked on them a few days ago, there was activity in the larger hive (buzzing), but no buzzing was heard in the smaller of the hives. this is the hive that was attacked by the killer bear this past spring. it was also the hive that we used to "house" the swarm kenny captured this summer. it's smaller than the larger hive, and the honey wasn't a-flowin' in it by fall. we're worried they've already frozen.

we already plan on ordering another "batch-o-bees" in the spring. maybe two. we'd love to have our own honey in the fall, and several healthy hives are good for our gardens (and the surrounding farms).

bear
we had several inches of snow last week, so were able to spot lots of bear tracks around our pear trees. and a lot of missing pears (that were already frozen or rotted). the branches have been snapped off as well. the snow has since melted, and there aren't any more pears. perhaps the bear can hibernate until spring? the bees are protected - the fence seems to be doing it's job.

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other than that, our yard is quiet. the house is cozy, i'm ready to start all that christmas baking and decorating while the outside goes to sleep for a few months. after a very busy few seasons, we're ready for a season of rest. afterall, all that work awaits us again come the last frost. i'm already looking forward to it...

for "before" pictures, please refer to this dining room post and this living room post.

it occurred to me that i hadn't updated the blog on the color choice of the dining room. it's two shades of a smokey-blue. i absolutely love it, and can't wait to have big dinners and parties in it.

this hutch was our second antique purchase - we found it on our honeymoon:

as we were beginning to light the first candle in our advent wreath this past sunday, kenny and i were reviewing (or hoping to review, but you never know what sticks in the head of a 4- and 5-year old) what christmas and advent were about. here were the answers we got when we asked the boys, "what is christmas about?"

sawyer (with a dreamy, wispy sort-of voice): "je-sus!"
rowan: "yeah. his birthday!"

i was impressed...although sawyer's answer to anything we talk about seriously is "jesus!" but then he continued...

sawyer: "yeah. and it's also about GIVING."
rowan: "giving...not GETTIN'!"

they were doing so well at impressing me. they were onto something, weren't they?

sawyer: "right. and NOT beggin' for more presents."

we sang a verse of "o come, o come, emmanuel" (they know only the "rejoice, rejoice!" part by heart) and as we left the room to begin dinner, sawyer leaned over to me and said, "mommy? is it okay for me to still want presents from my friends?"

sweet, little heart of his.

i first made these when i lived on my own in an apartment and i remember how well they made my entire apartment smell even when they were dried. the ornaments lasted until last year (and two moves!), so it's time we replenish our stash.

this is a really kid-friendly, fun activity and it kept all three of my boys occupied for about an hour (with my help, naturally!).

*this calls for a LOT of cinnamon...find yours at a dollar store for about 50 cents a bottle. 2 cups cinnamon=4 bottles.

mix together in a bowl until firm:
2 cups applesauce
2 cups cinnamon

knead with your hands for a few minutes. between two pieces of wax paper, roll out dough and cut out shapes with cookie cutters. place on cookie sheet.

poke a hole with a toothpick near the top (for hanging ornaments...skip this step if you dont plan on hanging them).

let dry 4-5 days in sunshine (or if you live in western PA, and the sun hibernates along with the animals until spring...you can dry in a low oven for a few hours, or overnight. just make sure they're about 1/4" thickness. i recommend this method as this creates a lovely aroma throughout your home).

i want to begin blogging again. i miss sitting down with a laptop and typing out what is going on in my head, my house and family, my world. i miss reading comments and suggestions from all of you. so hopefully december will find me blogging more.

today is the beginning of the new year in the church calendar. advent: a slow-paced time of waiting. for the past few mornings, kenny and i have been sitting in our new living room, fire lit, books (or knitting for me) in hand. the skies have been dark outside, but the air inside cozy, as is the case as i write this. soon the boys will tumble (not literally, i hope!) down the stairs and climb up in our laps for a snuggle before breakfast and our fast paced life will be underfoot until bedtime tonight.

november was all about painting and staining and staying out of our house. we were very fortunate to have been able to stay at my parents' house across the street for five nights (rowan kept the sleep-over count for us saying one morning, "wow! five sleep-overs! we're so lucky!") while the stain dried and the finishing was applied.

we traveled to kenny's parents' house for thanksgiving, and finally moved into our home, new furniture (new to us, any way) and all. yesterday, we pulled out the advent wreath and hung some twinkle lights. we set up the nativity scene to await the arrival of the Christ child on christmas morning. and the kings on epiphany.

i like the church calendar. maybe because being raised orthodox presbyterian, there was no church calendar. i like the cyclical waiting for Christ's birth (and return), celebrating His arrival, suffering with Him in Lent, rejoicing at His resurrection at Easter, and living in "ordinary time" until we start again. i like liturgical church worship, and look forward to advent every year. this year is no different, except that i'm wondering for the first time if i'll be in a liturgical church for advent a year from now.

i know some of you are waiting for pictures of our newly finished rooms, and i can't wait to share them with you. the rooms are cozy and comfortable...perfect for feasts and gatherings. we hope to be doing much of that in the coming weeks. i will be baking up a storm for friends and family and plan to share the christmas baking recipes as part of my december blogging. i think recipe sharing is more beneficial to you than picture-sharing. (and we still have to install the quarter-round and thresholds on the floor...).

stay tuned, and blessed advent to you!

you know the times you go to the salon and you leave with a style or color that you weren't planning on, and it just doesn't feel right? and you tell yourself, "it's only hair...it'll grow back, and the color will fade...."  well that's the experience i had with our dining room this past weekend.

i've had a "muted mustard" color in my mind for a few weeks now (it's been red or orange in the past for the dining room, but i wanted something that wouldn't be too similar to the living room, even though these rooms aren't next to each other). the problem with yellow is that it's hard to translate to a wall. the little color swatches don't look at all the same once you put a few coats of it on a wall. and after the walls were painted and the trim was started on saturday, i just couldn't take it anymore.

"i HATE it!" i yelled. kenny shrugged his shoulders and said, "that's fine, we'll go back to lowes and get another shade. or even another color." i wish i had his personality. to me, i just just wasted two perfectly good cans of paint, and a whole day of painting was wasted as well. my life was all but ruined.

why am i so dramatic?

so we spent some time looking through our farmhouse/victorian/colonial style books, did some online research and i found another color series to go with in the dining room. half of it is currently on the walls (the rest will go up tonight) and then we can finally start the floor work.

here are some before and during pictures of the dining room. before:

i thought i'd give just a sneak peak of our living room work...to refresh your memory, here are our front living room windows before the project (but after i tore down two thick layers of drapes!):