Farewall 2017!

It was nice knowing you, but I am very ready to move on.  Farewell!

 

Goodbye 2017!

" 'Cause Christmas Is All In The Heart..."

"...That's where the feeling starts, 

And like a fire inside, it touches every part, 

Christmas is all in the heart."

Merry Christmas!!!

May the love of Jesus bless you today and always.

  

"Christmas Bells Ring Out Their Chimes..."

  "...I hear them echo, through the night.  

And moonlight shines upon the road, and trembles on the falling snow."

Merry Christmas Eve!

May your day be full of Joy, Love and Laughter.

"If you don't come what will I do,

Who shall I tell my secrets to."

 

 

Five Weeks Old...And Merry Christmas Adam!

  Merry Christmas Adam, Everyone!! 

We have snow!!!!  Lots of it!!  The puppies are spending more time outside now, and when we took them out this morning, we found that the shed door had been left open so one corner was full of snow.  They dove right into it and got their first experience of snow without floundering around in the 6 in. outside.  They've also discovered that sinking their teeth in and pulling on your clothing is fun.  Thankfully they haven't ripped my skirt yet.  And then, right after Sam and I finished taking their pictures, Bilbo crawled under Sam (who was sitting on a timber-tie) and bit his backside.  Now, Sam was wearing snowpants over his jeans, so Bilbo didn't hurt him, but he rocketed off that tie scolding the dog.  It was funny.

Their pile of snow.

Mommy stands on top of their hut to get some peace.

Little Rosie

Rosie is OBSESSED with the snow.

Bungo.  The red-brown on his legs is adorable.

Esmeralda.  She's so pristine.

Bilbo getting into mischief.

Bullroarer surveying his domain.

Diamond snuggling Sam.  Just before and just after, she was chewing on his mitten.

Elanor.  I love their little tails.

And there are their pictures for another week!  See ya!

Winter Wonderland Tag

Tag Rules:

• Link back to The Storybook Journal
• Answer the Questions, think Winter-y thoughts!  Include pictures, if you like.
• Tag at least 3 bloggers or more if you're feeling ambitious.

1. Name a few things you love about Winter, and a few things you don't love so much about it.

Well, I love the way the sun sparkles on powder snow, the gentle stillness of slowly falling flakes, cozy-ing up by the woodstove with a warm blanket and a good book.  Listening to Christmas music (my family won't allow me to until at least November.), the sharp frosty bite and clear pure smell of the winter air.  Driving through town and seeing everything lit up.

Don't like?  That I can't go barefoot (I hate wearing shoes), the mess that kids wet clothes creates, the way the sun can glare on the snow hurts my eyes, when someone leaves the door open and freezes up the house.  :)

2. When you were a child, did you "believe" in Santa Claus?

Nope!!  When I was just a wee girl I was told that he was fake.  However I do find the Catholic priest, St. Nicholas, from who Santa Claus is loosely derived, very interesting.  He not only was beloved by children and their patron saint, but he was also the patron saint of thieves...well, repentant thieves...the Leverage crew wasn't very repentant.  I guess it actually really depends on how you classify 'repentant'.

3. Is there a book or movie that you really love to read/watch in the Winter as opposed to other times of the year?

There are quite a few Christmas stories that I only read in the winter, and I usually only watch Christmas movies in the winter.

4. Is there a particular Christmas movie you watch EVERY year as tradition? 

Yes.  White Christmas and The Mistle-tones!

 5. Do you usually get a real tree or a fake tree for Christmas? Who's in charge of decorating it at your house? 

We usually don't get any tree (our house is way too small).  And Mom is usually in charge.

6. Does your family usually stay home or go visiting (relatives, friends, etc.) on Christmas Day?

Stay at home.  It's my brother's birthday, so we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve and his birthday on Christmas Day.

7. What does your family usually do on New Years Eve? Any traditions? Do you ever stay up till midnight?

Well, we have lots of good food, certain dishes are a tradition, and then we stay up til midnight and then sleep in.

8. Do you get snow where you live? If so, have you ever built a snowman and named him Olaf?

Yes, we do get snow, and last night I would have been complaining about how we had barely any, but we got TONS last night!  Yippee!  And no, I've never built a snowman and named him Olaf.

9. If it's snowing outside, would you prefer to go outside and build snowmen and enjoy it, or would you rather stay inside with a blanket and something hot to drink and maybe a movie or a book?
It depends on the wind and the temperature.  If it's really windy, I would prefer to be inside, but when the wind is still (and my warm clothes are clean and dry) I would prefer to be outside.

10. When do you start looking forward to or getting excited about Spring? 

Usually about the middle of January.

While looking for 'wintery' pictures, I ran across this poem.

It cracks me up because, while I was born in Wisconsin and lived there for 6 years, I never knew weather like this.  However, if I just exchanged the names of the states, this poem accurately describes almost every winter where I now live.

So there are my answers.  Thank you, Cordy for tagging me, and I tag:

Lydia
MovieCritic
Rebekah

Why I Dislike Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (the song)

  ...well besides the fact that it's Santa and I don't agree with Santa (or 'The Fat Old Christmas Grandpa' as a brother styled him at the age of five).  Now yes, it's a cute little song, and a lot of fun to sing not to mention highly contagious (i.e. very catchy).  I mean, the only reason I've been thinking over it was because it's been stuck in my head since our caroling neighbors sung it a few nights ago, but I have a bit of a problem with it.  Just look at these lyrics.

  "All of the other reindeer, used to laugh and call him names, and they never let poor Rudolph, join in any reindeer games.  (de da de da de da)  Santa came to say, 'Rudolph with your nose so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight.'  Then all the reindeer loved him, as they shouted out with glee, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer you'll go down in history."

  If you ask me, those lyrics can foster in children the attitude of bullying those you are different, and only accepting the you think they have done something you earn your acceptance.  Now, I'm pretty sure the song is trying to say the opposite, that everyone, no matter how different has a role to play, but it still bothers me.  And some people are probably going to say "It's just a fun kids song, it's no big deal", but you never know what kids are going to pick up on.  Like seriously, kids are really smart!!  Sometimes, they are so smart it's almost scary.  Even Jesus said "Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings".  And I know that in the grand scheme of things, it's probably not very important, but I just wanted to share this.

Four Weeks Old and Little Terrors

  Sheesh!!  I'd forgotten how exhausting puppies were at this stage!  Man those little ones can sure get into trouble!  They kept climbing out of their box and getting into trouble inside, but thankfully it has warmed up enough that we can begin to move them outside to the shed I fixed up.  They spent most of today out there and it is hilarious to watch them.  They are all growing like weeds and each has such an adorable personality.  Today, Rosie lay in the opening of the little hut I fixed for them in the shed and when any of her siblings tried to come in, she growled at them.  Little rascal.  But they all understand the command of 'Come', and I was practicing 'Sit' with Rosie.  The first three times, I had to show her what 'Sit' meant, but the fourth time, she sat by herself.  (Yes, I'm quite proud of my baby.)  And sorry these are late, but here are the pictures.  A huge thank you to the brother and sister who managed to keep each squiggle-bug still for a few seconds while I snapped the pictures.

Diamond.  This girl is the smallest of the bunch, but what she lacks in size, she makes up for with attitude!

Bilbo.  How cute are those little black specks?  He's a real sweetheart.

Bullroarer.  He NEVER holds still!

Esmeralda.  She's a darling.

Elanor.  She'll make a very good watch dog!  As soon as she hears your voice, she starts barking...if you can call it that.  Right now it's more like yipping.

Awww!!  It's my Rosie baby!!

And Bungo, who abhors the idea of holding still!  You literally have a 3 seconds time frame to snap the picture.

  And there you go!  No, I still don't know if I'll be able to keep Rosie.

Three Weeks Old and Into Trouble...

  With a capital T!  I had hoped to have these little monsters living outside by now, but the weather all the sudden realized that it's December and began acting accordingly!  Confounded weather.

Bilbo.  I love the look on his face.

Diamond

It's my Rosie baby!  She tried to lick the tree.

Bullroarer.  This kid is a bully.

Bungo.

Esmeralda

Elanor.  She was scared of the tree.

I'm Officially in Love...

  I totally love this song.  I'm officially in love with Musical Theatre.  It's sooooooo cool!! 

  So, as you may have guessed by now, my first real musical was the 2017 Disney's Newsies the Broadway Musical.  Oh man!  I first learned about Newsies about 2 years ago I think.  A friend and I were trying to find something for a movie night (the kind where you're 4 hours apart so you watch the same thing at that the same time) and she asked if I had Newsies so I looked it up and thought it looked interesting.  Then somewhere here in the blogging world, I read a post where someone and her sister (sorry, I don't remember who) had gone to see the musical live and was raving about how Jeremy Jordan makes the best Jack Kelly (AMEN girl!!) and her post upped my interest a bit.  Then when I saw it was coming to Netflix, I was pretty excited but other things showed up that I was finding more interesting so I kept pushing it further down the 'To Watch' line.

  Then.....I'd been watching the CW show Supergirl and Winn is just a hoot.  And I also have a bad habit of skipping around and watching random episodes of the CW superhero shows, so I watched the Flash/Supergirl crossover where Kara and Barry are in a musical.  And I noticed and commented on Winn/Grady's amazing voice.  Then I was watching a 'behind the scenes' for that episode and saw that Winn is played by Jeremy Jordan.  I think I knew that, but I just wasn't remembering, anyway, the next day I went straight for Newsies and completely ADORED it!!

  So now I'm totally in love with musicals and I need to find another one to watch.  I mean, I've seen several musical movies, but it's not the same. 

  What are some musicals you all recommend?  Please tell me!!  I need more!!

  And some sad news, Belladonna died yesterday. 

Let it Snow and Two Weeks Old

  Happy December!!  We woke up to snow this morning, FINALLY!!  We had the warmest November I can remember and the fact that we didn't have any snow was annoying!  And the puppies eyes are open!!!  They are so cute and snugly and adorable!  I didn't stage their pictures this time, the kids had them upstairs on a blanket for cuddling, so I just snapped pictures there.

Sandy holding Diamond and rubbing her belly.

Bungo on Joni's lap.

Esmeralda on Joni's lap.

Bilbo on Sandy's lap.

Belladonna snuggled up with Jill.

Jenni cuddling Elanor.

Bullroarer and Sam.  Bully is Sam's favorite puppy and you should hear their conversations.

And Jill cuddling my little Rosie girl.

Age: One Week

  Hey all of my friends who love my puppies, here are their One Week pictures!  Sorry 'bout the bad lightning.

Bungo

Elanor

The patches of white on the belly is the only way to tell Elanor, Belladonna and Diamond apart.  Elanor has the biggest white patch.

Bilbo

Esmeralda

Belladonna

Bella just has a eeny weeny white patch.  Actually two, but she didn't like being on her back for pictures.

Diamond

Di loves being on her back and having her belly rubbed.

She grunts like a little pig when you rub her belly.

My Rosie

Bullroarer.  He tried to eat my dress yesterday when he smelled bacon on it.