So Long 2013...

A few highlights from the year that never made it up... Here's to being a better blogger in 2014!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advent Buzzard

As it is the first day of advent, it is time for our advent guest to make his appearance. Allow me to introduce you to our advent buzzard. 

For those of you who find this advent tradition a bit strange, you should….  Though not original to me, you will be hard pressed to find much information on the magical interwebs regarding this unusual, yet awesome advent tradition. Sadly, there isn’t even one pin of my buzzard friend… or should I say frenemy? Don’t let his semi-cute demeanor fool you… he stands for sin. 

As the tale goes, once upon a time, some preacher person (likely fed up with secular holiday traditions) hung up a homemade buzzard (originally constructed from men’s dress socks) in a prominent place in their home.  His purpose was to remind their family of sin, evil, and distractions that surround us every day that draw our attention away from Christ, especially during the season of advent when we should be looking and waiting for Him.  Any time you pass this buzzard, you are supposed to whack him and say something like “I renounce the powers of darkness and look for the coming light!” Thankfully, the children of the family shortened this to “Jesus is coming you old buzzard!”

We have had our buzzard for several years now.  He isn’t a very ugly buzzard, but that’s ok because most of the time sin looks pretty appealing, as do many of the things that distract us from seeking Christ during this season. We don’t have a very good place to hang him up, especially given the 3’ to 6’4” height differential in our household.  So instead, our buzzard finds a place to perch until someone notices him, whacks or throws him (the littlest one prefers the latter), and reminds us all that “Jesus is coming!”  That person then finds a new place for the old buzzard to perch until he surprises someone else.  I find this twist on the original an acceptable change, for evil also hides well, often appearing where we least expect it. 

Come Christmas day, the buzzard will be packed away until next advent as we celebrate Christ’s first coming and look forward to His second coming, but I hope we take the reminders with us… that even things that seem good can distract us from seeking Christ… to be wary of the sin and evil that lurk around us… to remember and be thankful that Christ has already defeated the powers of darkness… and to look forward to His coming again.    

Perhaps you want to go construct your own buzzard now… Perhaps not.  But either way, I hope that this advent you will find some way to remind yourself and your family whom we are waiting and longing for. 

Come thou long expected Jesus born to set thy people free.

Sissy is TWO!!!!

Though many, many “flashbacks” are long overdue, allow me to momentarily skip over the last nine months, because… Sissy is TWO! 

At her two year check-up, Sissy weighed-in at 27 pounds and is 34.5 inches tall.  She has certainly made up for her slim start, putting on three pounds in six weeks over the summer! Unlike the Goose, who has been a string bean from the day she was born, Sissy is built more like a typical toddler… except for her lack of hair.  She finally has enough hair for a bow, and her thin blond locks are starting to curl. 

Though she still has a gluten-free, dairy-free diet, Sissy LOVES to eat!  Her favorite foods are corn, field peas, green beans, limas, rice, beef, chips, and of course… “snack bunnies” (gluten-free snickerdoodle cookies shaped like bunnies), hence the bunny-shaped cake.

Sissy’s favorite activities include swinging, cooking, playing with babies, building with blocks, playing with cups of any kind … and her newest love – coloring.  Unfortunately, she likes to color things other than paper… the table, chairs, floor, and with the sidewalk chalk she enjoys coloring herself and others. 

She loves to play anything with her big sister, and does not like it when she is gone to school.  Though they sometimes aggravate each other, they both prefer each other’s company to playing alone.  The goose doesn’t mind at all… she enjoys instructing Sissy on how to play “the right way,” dressing her up, and playing with all the baby and toddler toys, of which I am daily told… “We SHARE... They used to me mine you know.” This is not always the case… about the ownership or the sharing, but for the most part, they do share and play well together.

 

Speaking of sharing, Sissy doesn’t seem to mind at all that The Goose plays more with her birthday gifts than she does. She was far more interested in the gift bags (aka “purses”), packing peanuts, and musical cards than the gifts.  Though she loves her new babies, tractor, chalk, stickers, and even her own tiny doll house, we were all amused at her excitement over the little things. 

 

 

 

The Goose very sweetly came up with her own gift for Sissy… a blue fuzzy “ball” that she earned at school last year.  Sissy has had her eye on the “warm and fuzzy” and the Goose noticed.   She put it in a box made from a toilet paper tube, wrapped it carefully with fabric scraps, decorated it with feathers, and wrote/drew a card to go with it.  I believe it was the most thoughtful gift Sissy received… and I think she understood that too… She would have been content to stop with the gift opening then and just “play ball.” It really is the little things in life…

 

 

This little thing has grown up so quickly… She is a feisty girl, much like her mother I’m afraid.  But she is a joy! 

 

 

Just to make matters confusing for blog readers… Sissy calls the goose, “Sissy” which has recently changed to “Sassy,” appropriately enough.  Although, truth be told, I think the original Sissy is going to be the sassier of the two.  (Don’t worry… for blog purposes, they will remain Sissy & The Goose.)

FLASHBACK... Winter 2013

In the spirit of recording these pearls for posterity, here we continue our stroll through the last nine months of unblogged life with our winter highlights...

Baby cow feeding, petting, and naming...
Dressing up.... and Cabinet peek-a-boo...
Sissy's first snow... Hide-out making...
and a little mess making too! 

The Goose LOVED checking on the baby cows, petting them, and even getting to feed them a bottle.
I think her favorite part was naming them... Here she is feeding "Dusty"

As much as Sissy LOVES the cows... she does NOT love seeing them up close!
She wouldn't get near the mamas or the babies without Bobby holding her, and she didn't dare pet them.

Anxiously awaiting feeding time at the barn...

Though she didn't like giving REAL cows a bottle, Sissy did enjoy giving feeding her stuffed cow a bottle...
her methods are a little unorthodox, but oh well!

 

 

 

The Goose had to dress up like a one-hundred-year-old for the 100th day of school...
We all thought she was spot-on, and though she approved the outfit the night before
the morning of, she was none too happy with her attire... oh well!  It was hilarious!

 

 

We did not expect snow, and certainly didn't think it would last,
so when the flakes started coming down, we rushed outside to let Sissy feel her first snow!  
Little did we know... we ended up with 3" in less than two hours...

Poor Sissy had no mittens... but she didn't care a bit!

rabbit tracks!

Evidently, it's never too cold to swing...

Since the snow stuck around another day,
Mommy had time to make some mittens for cold-hands-Sissy

The Goose's newfound favorite activity is creating "hide-outs" ...
Since there was daily drama at the disassembly of these structures,
we created a permanent hide-out space in her closet... safe from pugs and little sisters.
She liked it so much, she even fell asleep there...

Nothing beats bathroom supplies for a little toddler fun...

Ah well... at least she was entertained while I got a shower!