Merry Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve day...  No one had to work and we could sit around, chill, and just spend time together.  Obviously, due to our recent COVID outbreak in the house, we were restricted from seeing any of our family, which really STUNK.  Our plans had shifted from traveling up north to see Nana, Bumpa, Uncle Cory, Auntie Sarah, Uncle Troy, Sadie, Isaac, and the pups.

Once again, Eric wins the prize for giving the biggest gift (it was to ME!).  The box had been in the garage for weeks, just waiting to be wrapped.   Eric enlisted Ramsey's help.  They did a magnificent job on the corners and matching up all of the lines.  Nice work!  ;-)

The oversized box got center stage that day.  

The boys were good for pictures.  :-)  No complaints!

Jango wanted in the pics also.  The Marmaduke-like baby sat right on my lap and awaited his mug shot with us.

And, my three boys.  :-)

I found my reindeer headband.  Love that thing!  It matches my Christmas leggings very nicely.

Throughout the afternoon and evening, Ramsey intermittently focused on where Santa and his reindeer were in the sky.  The Santa Tracker app was put to use.

And... this is what happens when Ramsey takes pics... and when Connor is in the background.  Nice.

After supper (as per usual tradition, pizza!), we sat down to open presents.

First present for the boys: The Christmas Pickle:

Tomorrow, we shall see who finds the pickle and has good fortune (and some chocolate candy).

First present for Ramsey: 

Legos are always a hit.  

Here he is with more Nerf-like guns.  Cuz... a kid can never have enough Nerf guns... even though we have a hundred.  :-)

Here's Connor's first present.  Shoes.  That is more my speed.  ha!

As the boys doled out the rest of the gifts, Connor found one that had an EXCESSIVE AMOUNT of weight.

Ramsey panicked under the excessive amount of weight!!  

Eric received, among other things, some humorous (and perhaps mildly inappropriate) T-shirts.

There were presents, presents, and more presents opened, as we listened to Christmas music on YouTube. 

The big present was a compound bow and arrow that I had been wanting.  Cuz... you know... who doesn't want to try archery?!?!

The heavy one was a practice target that could be set up anywhere (with no chance to tip over).

Jango wanted to help too.

He did NOT, however, want antyhing to do with my decorative reindeer headband.

Afterwards, we ate cookies and drank hot cocoa.

And, before bed, we took pictures of Ramsey on the hearth, wondering when Santa would be coming to his house to bring more presents.

Ho Ho Ho!

Our Weird Dog

 We love our pup... he's sweet and loving and smart.  He's also weird; he smells EVERYTHING... all.... the.... time (it gets a little annoying - haha!).  And he's a follower; in the kitchen, to the bathroom (nothing is sacred!), to the bedroom, downstairs, upstairs, outside.  He's a happy clingy creature who doesn't want to be left behind!  

When he wants something from me, he just jumps up on the couch (or bed), leans on me, and flops down on my lap.   He's even gone so far as to sit on my head (while I was laying down)!   When he wants something from Eric... up goes the paw. 

And, then he stares.  And if the one paw doesn't work, he switches to the other paw.  He stares some more until he gets what he wants - albeit attention, to be let outisde, to play, etc.

When he's super happy, excited, or especially when he's mad, he is vocal; he yowls and gnarls and barks loudly.  He doesn't bark to go outside (or be let inside), which seems a bit odd - for as audible as he is.

And, he still loves to [attentively] watch TV.  He seems to like football, home movies/videos, and Alaska shows (that have animals).   The other day, we were watching a scary show with monsters.  I was afraid the poor pup would have nightmares.  

Funny little fella, our buddy, Jango.

Two Goofballs

 Not even much I need to say here... these little clowns are a couple of goofballs!  Love them!

Also, throwing in a "cute dog" picture.  This is Jango, as he hangs out in my office with me while I work.  It's either under my desk or on the daybed - those are the perfect spots.  Aww!

Connor's Home!!! + Injured Puppy

 Connor's home!!  Yay!  Connor came home to visit us for a few days.   Geez, we hadn't seen him since school started, so the visit was a pleasure!   His good buddy Brayden came over for a while too, to see him.

We hung out inside for a bit, but then took Jango outside to play fetch.  He ran and played til he was all tuckered out.   

Somewhere in the midst of all of the playing, he must have injured his leg.  When he came inside, he was limping.  We suspect it has to do with his growth plates.   When he plays, sometimes he returns with a limp.  Hopefully he will grow out of this, but time will tell.

In the meantime, he got a lot of love, hugs, and pets from his favorite little person.

Just Reading to His Puppy

Since football started, I like to [try to] take naps on Sunday afternoons.  After all, long and busy weeks, having to get up EARLY every day, plus soccer, weekend events, home projects, church, and Sunday School all take a lot out of a person - we need to recharge the ol' batteries!

And, usually, my naps are cut short by my two favorite little guys; one blonde, one grey.  I had to take a few pictures I thought were precious; Ramsey reading to Jango and Jango seeming to very much enjoy it.

Take joy in the little things.  ;-)

Project: Shoreline Clean-Up

 To say that our shoreline needs to be cleaned up is a bit of an understatement.  Since we moved to this home, we've wanted to remove all (or 99%) of the trees from the southern-most part of the shoreline (about 75' of sucker trees, bushes, weeds, and crazy whatever-the-heck else nature allowed to grow there).    The north side of the lot is clear of brush and has rip rap rocks to keep the shoreline in check and safe from erosion.  The south side... well... needs WORK.

Since the water levels are VERY low this year, we actually have a beach and access to the trees and other unkempt green and woody living organisms.  And, after receiving a rather hefty quote from a few tree trimmers, we decided we could do this project ourselves (*groan*).   What were "we" thinking?!?! ha!

I didn't start taking pictures right away.  The picture below is AFTER we actually spent two days cutting out trees.

Eric cuts the tangled mess out and chucks it to where I can reach it.  Then, I haul it up the hill.  Ramsey has been a really good helper too (I was shocked really).  

Then, we cut the brush/wood up even further or rip off the branches and start burning.  It's all a very tedious process and we don't cut down more than we can burn in one day.  We do keep some of the nicer-sized branches for future campfires.

Jango loves it, as he access to a plethora of sticks to gnaw on.  He doesn't get to be outside during the tree chopping process - he had a tree nearly fall on him early on, so that was the end of THAT!

Not all of the chainsaw practices are safe.  Eric freely admits this!  Hopefully we don't have an upcoming post about missing [body] limbs!  Seriously, no pun intended!

Here's a view from the shoreline.  It's seriously an insane mess and looks much crazier from the shore than it does from the house.  It's a bit overwhelming, but slow and steady wins the race, so we're playing by The Hare's rules.

This is during Day 3.  Eric cuts down at the shoreline, and I lug it up.  It's like hiking and a burning glute workout all in one, dragging branches up what is literally a 12 ft CLIFF.

And up up up to the burn pit we go again.  I wish my FitBit would calculate the INCLUDE with the number of steps!

After Day 4, this is the view.  You can notice just a little bit of a gap between the bigger Willow and [whatever it is] tree and the next bunch of wild trees. We need to cut just past the very far right edge of this picture, which is the line of demarcation between our property and our neighbors (they also need to chop trees from their shoreline).

Shockingly, a high percentage of the trees on the shoreline have extremely long thornes - usually around 1" or 1.5" long.  Gloves are a MUST.  Even then, they leave scratches and scrapes on arms and legs.

During this process, Eric taught me how to use the chainsaw.  I've always been deathly afraid of them and feared I would impale or disembowel myself (disturbing, I know!).   On Day 3 and 4, I cut up branches near the fire pit, prior to burning.  I will continue to leave the actually cutting DOWN of trees to Eric!  He is the expert!

We still have a very long ways to go for this process.  When the lake has frozen over, we will utilize the ice to drop the trees onto, as they will need to fall Eastbound vs onto the cliff/shoreline.   It will be an interesting Fall and Winter for us.  It may take us a bit of time, but we'll get through it.   Then, maybe next year, I will be posting pictures of a nicely manicured and landscaped shoreline.  :-)  

Afterwards, our view will be much better!