Bumpkins at the Boutique

I have some exciting news!

I was offered a booth at one of our local shops,The Bargain Boutique, to sell our Goldendale Country Bumpkins items! After talking things over for a bit with the shop owner, and figuring out all the logistics, I decided I should give it a go! It will be nice to have our items out in the public eye instead of just collecting dust in the shop waiting for a day when we feel up to doing the farmers market or a bazaar. 

I started setting up this past Friday, but quickly realized I didn't bring enough items to fill the booth space like I wanted, lol. So Saturday morning I got some more items ready, and got those added to the booth. (The photos below are from Friday, not after completing the booth on Saturday. I'll have to get some updated photos!).

It took a lot of work to get things ready. We had to order paneling to display my signs. So that was an investment. I spent a lot of time in the shop freezing my butt off looking over all my items, repackaging, repricing, writing our booth number on the tags, etc. etc. I also hopped on the computer and designed new business cards, as well as information cards to go along with my soap. Unfortunately I don't have any soap ready to sell right now, but I do have 3 different batches curing, and they should be ready to put in the booth around Valentines Day! 

I am very excited about this new adventure! I really hope things go smoothly and I can make a bit of money! If after a a handful of months I'm struggling to make the booth fee and not making any money for myself, I will readdress the booth idea. But for now, I'm thankful to have this opportunity and looking forward to the upkeep of my booth! 

With love,
Mama Hauck

Molly's 1st Volleyball Tournament - Hood River

Molly has been attending volleyball practice for about a month and a half now. She is a part of a lovely group of young ladies! 

On the 4th, Molly and the rest of the Purple Team participated in their first tournament in Hood River, OR! Unfortunately, I was still recovering from a sickness that took hold the day after Christmas, so I was unable to go.  

I heard all about it though! They had to arrive at 8:30. Games started at 9. If it wasn't their turn to play, they helped ref. They won 3 and lost 2 (at least I think that's what I remember Molly saying). Coach said Molly played amazing, which makes my smile. She is really loving volleyball and I've been impressed with her skills! She does so well at her practices. 

Great work, team Purple! Next tournament is on the 19th in White Salmon, WA. 

With love,
Mama Hauck

Christmas Shenanigans

Christmas Eve is usually spent over at Grandma Cathy's house, but this year, with her still in recovery from hip surgery, we decided to make it easy on her and do Christmas Eve at our place. This way all she had to do was sit back and relax and spend the night for Christmas instead of having to do the drive Christmas morning. 

As our Christmas Eve traditions dictate, we made lots of finger foods and enjoyed a full day of various Christmas movies. 

Poor Timothy was sick, so most of Christmas Eve for him was spent in his bed, but he did managed to crawl out long enough to play our annual Christmas Eve dice game! If you roll a double, you pick a gift from the pile! The kids look forward to this game every year. I had a lot of fun shopping for the gifts this year. 

After the kiddos went off to bed, Santa worked his magic. It's true only Timothy believes in Santa still, but Anth and Mols know the meaning behind Santa, and so they don't say a word. I love our home at Christmas time! (Yes....we had a light malfunction on the tree the day before Christmas! Ugh!) 

Rise and shine! The kiddos do Santa's gifts, then we eat and get cleaned up before digging under the tree. This year Anthony said, "All I want for Christmas is an apple pie and a subway gift card." sooooo Santa brought him a tasty caramel apple pie from Bake My Day (because his secret santa, aka Papa, already got him the subway gift card!) Molly requested a few new items for her American girl doll. And Timothy wanted.....a lot, haha! Santa read his list and settled on adding to his felt food collection. Sweet!! 

Present time! Anthony received p.j.'s, tons of new books, a gaming headset, some clothing, cash, a blanket from The Office, and some funny inspirational posters. Molly received items for her doll, p.j.'s, new bedding, lots of wanted clothing items, sandals, and cash. Timothy received legos, p.j.'s, a light saber, picasso tiles, clothing, books, and cash. The kids also received gift cards and CD's they wanted from extended family.  Thank you to everyone who sent gifts to the our family! Even Mama and Papa got some treats in the mail! 

Stockings are always last on Christmas! The kiddos enjoyed lots of little treats, fun stickers, gift cards, CD's, little toys, etc. Even the pups had stockings full of toys and treats! haha! 

The rest of the day was filled with much playing, eating, and relaxing. Anthony even made a fire outside for us to enjoy!

This year I decided to set a festive table. Sammy climbed up in the loft and got down some china my mom and dad gave me when I moved out of the house. I hadn't ever used it before because I guess I just kept forgetting it was stored up there! Now everything is in the house, so I won't forget to break it out for special occasions! 

Christmas dinner was delicious! Sam made prime rib and loaded mashed potatoes, I made biscuits and honey glazed carrots. We had coconut clusters, double chocolate chip cookies, and brownies for dessert. Lots of leftovers of course! 

Another Christmas in the books. I the the kids' only disappointment was not having any snow. We did last year, but only because we were in Sunriver for Christmas last year! I have to admit, though I'm not a huge snow fan, it is nice to have it on Christmas. Maybe next time. 

With love,
Mama Hauck