Thanksgiving 2022

We had Thanksgiving at our place this year. My mom went to visit some family in the Seattle area, so instead of having it at her place like we usually do, we hosted. Grandpa Chris, Grandma Cathy, and our neighbor Leonard came over. It was nice to have people over. 

We had an overall nice day, but Molly woke up super ill, so she couldn't participate in the day at all and had to quarantine herself in our room. This completely bummed me out, and I feel like I couldn't get over the disappointment of the day not going as planned. But I tried. Anthony and Tim enjoyed some shooting time with Grandpa, and the rest of us YouTube'd the parade so we could watch some of it.

I always have fun setting the Thanksgiving day table, so I enjoyed doing that. I even made the kiddos goody bags. Sam and I spent a great deal of the day in the kitchen together cooking, which was also a good time! 

We had smoked turkey, green beans & bacon, stuffing, cranberry sauce, honey and mint roasted carrots, loaded mashed potatoes, and biscuits with various toppings. For dessert we had chocolate pie and I made jello and my seriously divine homemade carrot cake. 

I greatly missed having Molly out with us, it truly wasn't the same without her. But we did enjoy the day and our delicious meal. Leo enjoyed the meal as well! lol 

With love,                                                                                                        Mama Hauck

Molly the Cheerleader!

After Molly wrapped up her Middle School volleyball season, she decided she wanted to try out for cheer! She made the team and has been having a blast so far. They have practice daily after school and cheer about 1-2 times per week for the Middle School boy's basketball team when they have home games. 

Isn't she seriously just the cutest!? I have a lot of fun watching her and the other gals cheer during halftime and other breaks in the game. I'm glad she's enjoying her last year in Middle School by doing everything she wants to do. 

Way to go, hunny bunny! 

With love,

Mama Hauck

Frosty Morning

Once November hits, you know the freezing fog and frost are on their way. Mother Nature was so kind to wait until after we wrapped up our yard work to grace us with our first heavy frost.

I hate the cold.....but I love the beauty of frost. I couldn't help but stop on my way back from the bus stop to take these photos. It reminds me of something you'd see in a Dr. Seuss book.

I guess that means winter is coming. 

With love,                                                                                                      Mama Hauck

Fall Work Day

Sam works 6 days a week. He only has Saturdays off. Being so, it makes it incredibly hard to find the time to do all the things we want to do. Do we spend our Saturday doing much needed errands like grocery shopping, etc.? Do we get caught up on a million little to-do's that we've been putting off? Do we wrap up that project we're only halfway done on? Do we spend the day doing yard work? Or do we say fuck it and go do something fun as a family? 

Our decision always varies on our mood, if there is anything extremely pressing and time sensitive, the weather, the kids....

This past Saturday there was no denying that we HAD to get our Fall yard work day. We had to get everything wrapped up and ready for winter. We'd been chipping away at it for weeks, doing a little here and a little there, and it was time to just finish it up. We needed to finish stacking and tarping hay, weed whacking and raking the extended yard, clean out the back dog run, pick up all the trash and scrap behind the shop, split and stack firewood and clean up the fire pit area, and last but certainly not least, burn our debris pile! It's not all work and no fun over here, lol. 

It was all hands on deck for our Fall work day.  Everyone pitched in. I didn't get photos of all our work, and somehow I managed to not get a single photo of Molly doing anything, lol, but I did of the boys working on the wood pile and of Tim and I enjoying the bonfire. 

The kids worked hard. I love it when everyone (mostly happily) chips in and contributes as needed. We work all year to build up our debris pile so we can have a large bonfire in the Fall and it definitely didn't disappoint this year! It feels good to have all of that work done for the year. All set for winter! 

With love,                                                                                                      Mama Hauck

Veterans Day Dinner

This evening Anthony volunteered, as part of FFA, to work the Veteran's Day Dinner at the Legion. He worked two hours clearing tables, fetching waters and coffees, and helping people out in general. I am very proud that he steps up and helps out when he can. 

Sam, Gma Cathy, and I went and enjoyed a delicious prime rib meal with a baked potato, green beans, salad and a roll. At the end of the evening, Anthony was able to sit down and enjoy a free meal for his help! 

It was nice to get out of the house and be a part of the Legion's Veteran's Day Dinner. It was a packed house! Awesome that so many people came out. 

With love,

Mama Hauck

Homestead's New Flock

It's been on my bucket list to have my own flock of chickens for years now, but with so many other things going on and money being spent elsewhere, we just never made it a point to take that step. 

So you can imagine my surprise and delight when our neighbor, Ted, decided he wanted to retire from chicken care and gift us his flock! I was speechless and ohhhhh so thankful!! Only problem was we definitely weren't set up to accept chickens! 

So Sam, being the amazing handy man that he is, got to work! Over the course of a month or so, we steadily worked on the fencing for the run and the coop itself. We placed it next to the garden....one side of fencing was already preexisting, there were trees that would offer shade for the run, and there was already an electrical hookup nearby. It literally was the perfect spot to build. 

Fencing was done, concrete was poured, our gravel path was widened and updated, and the coop was built. This coop is perfection. Seriously. It far exceeds any expectations I had and I am beyond amazed and thankful for Sam's building skills! Come Spring/Summer I'd like to perhaps paint the coop and make name signs for my chickens. 

 

Meet the flock!! I was gifted a rooster and 6 hens. 

Our sweet and caring rooster, Sal-Monella 

Chikira

Eggwina

Eggatha

Hennifer

Henrietta

Lorhen

I am greatly looking forward to spending time with my flock. It's been so much fun running down there each morning to feed them their scratch and dried worms, fruit and veggie scraps, and check for eggs! I love that as soon as I lift the metal lid, I hear them start to make noise and they come out of the coop to see what I have for them that morning! 

We started getting eggs right away and I am just over the moon! 

It feels so so good to check off another goal from my bucket list.

With love,

Mama Hauck