WINTER

I finally got my cow. She came with a bull. They're both pretty friendly, however, they have knocked down everything in the barn. They even knocked down the steps I used to feed them. I think one of them tried to climb up to feed themself and the whole stairs crashed down. I am just glad I wasn't on them at the time. I wish I could post some pictures, but I'm having trouble finding them. My cow is named Daisy and she looks just like the Daisy sour cream cow on tv. She is a Guernsey and is pregnant and due this spring. The bull's name is Sirloin and he will probably end up in our freezer this fall. He is a Jersey. I am planning to have fresh milk soon. I'm really excited about it, but Mike doesn't think it is a good idea. He is sure the kids won't drink it, because they're used to 2%. I think if I put it in a plastic gallon without them seeing, they won't notice.

Mike put up a small fence in front of half of the barn for them to go outside a little during the winter. One day right after he put it up, Daisy put her neck over it and pushed it down and proceeded to walk right out of it while he was standing beside it. So, Mike put up some boards so she couldn't do that anymore. The man who sold them to me said he rents his farm and the renters kept complaining because they kept getting out of the fence. We will be putting up an electric fence before we let them out for the spring. Hopefully, that will keep them in.

My guineas are all still alive. I made the mistake of letting them out last Monday morning and they hated the snow so much they wouldn't walk on it to go back in the coop. There was supposed to be a lot of snow coming the next day, so I tried and tried to get them back home, but they all huddled together in a big pine tree through the storm. The next night, they moved to the tree above the coop and one brave guinea went in to get food and water, so I locked him in by himself while the others huddled together in the icy tree. It wasn't until Thursday when Thomas went up to feed them that they came down and went right in to get food and water. I even put cat food on the ground Wednesday which they love to eat and they wouldn't come down. I guess they had to wait until they were almost starving to go home.

The kids are all doing good. We haven't reallly been too sick since the new year. Just colds and coughs. Nathan and Hannah got all A's at school and Thomas is learning to read. Thomas also has been in speech therapy since August and he has really improved. I'm hoping he will only need it for a year. Samantha loves going to preschool and Madeleine has been getting into everything. She got into the flour about 5 times this week until I realized I should move it. She also threw salt and pepper shakers into the fishtank and numerous other things. I can't wait until she is a little older. She reminds me of Thomas who was my worst behaved child at this age.

I facilitated a Women of Grace class at my house in the fall and am having another one starting in a couple of weeks. My small group and I went to the Columbus Catholic Women's Conference on Saturday and we all had a really good time. We want to keep meeting, because we really have enjoyed each other's company, so we will probably start getting together soon.

I will post my winter pictures as soon as I can figure out how to.

Marco Island, Florida

Christmas Vacation

Thomas relaxing in our pool. We had a pool at the house we stayed at and it was wonderful.

Samantha at the beach at sunset. We went almost every day to watch the sunset. Hannah and Thomas are in the background. Hannah was probably looking for shells.

Nathan jumping into the pool.

Nathan, Hannah and Madeleine in front of the sunset. This beach didn't have as nice of sunsets as Alabama, but the water was blue and there were tons of shells everywhere. We brought home bucketfulls.

We drove to Everglades National Park which was close to where we stayed. Mike and I wanted to take an airboat ride, but Thomas was the only kid who said he wanted to go and Samantha was screaming and wouldn't get out of the van, so we didn't go.

Christmas card pictures

We took lots of pictures to try and find the perfect one for our Christmas cards this year. We tried out lots of different poses. We finally found one that worked, but I didn't publish it. You'll have to wait for our card to see it.

The top right picture is the first day of school. Nathan, Hannah and Thomas all ride the bus this year.

These are my guinneas. I have 7. And Madeleine with our 2 cats. The one with white on it decided to adopt us a couple of months ago. I call her Patches and the kids all call her Socks. She was really thin when she started living here. She catches lots of mice, so we will keep her.

OUR VACATION 8/1/07

Thomas and Samantha in the pool.

Madeleine playing in the sand. She really loved the beach.

Hannah and Madeleine at Stone Mountain inside the big barn.

Mike at the beach

Nathan in front of Lambert's Cafe in Foley, AL

We love to eat there. They throw your rolls to you and play other tricks. We always have a good time.

Tami holding Madeleine, Hannah, Nathan, Thomas and Samantha on top of Stone Mountain in Atlanta, Georgia. We like to ride the transit to the top and walk down. It was really hot the day we went.