Cantrell Christmas

Yes...it IS February and yes, I am just now posting about Christmas. Now that that's out of the way, here's a recap about Christmas.

I figured the Christmas holiday probably needed it's own post. It seems like there was so much goin on yet we managed to make a lot of time for family and making memories.

At the very beginning of December, Ellie made her return this year. Ellie is our elf that Santa sent Hayden last year.   Her job was to teach Ellie how to listen and be a good girl elf.  This year, Ellie just wanted to come back and visit. She behaved most of the time but still had a little fun, creating chaos a whole lot less than last year (quite possibly because Ethan and I were more busy this year??? ) Hayden enjoyed waking up each morning to see if Ellie had moved though, and did her best to teach Abbie to leave Ellie alone. Abbie just wanted to hold and snuggle with Ellie.

We ended up having a few snow days, too, before our winter break!

Christmas events started with the McReynolds coming over on Christmas Eve to share presents.  Hayden got to help hand out the gifts and Abbie quickly learned about the excitement of opening presents.  The McReynolds are soo good to us and we are sooo thankful that they have adopted us (even if it IS only for our girls, haha) and have treated us like family. Papa Ronnie and Grandma Rhonda are definitely a big part of our lives.

The girls got matching Hello Kitty pajamas

We managed to get Hayden to sleep, still excited about Santa coming. We had made reindeer food and cookies. Set out the magic key for Santa and made sure Ellie was ready to catch a ride with Santa back to the North Pole.   After she fell asleep, we did what I'm am hoping most parents do....we stayed up wrapping presents.  Thankfully most of the gifts were already wrapped but it still seemed to be never ending.  Ethan arranged the girls' gifts and we finally made it to sleep, wondering how early Hayden would wake up. Thankfully, her eagerness for Santa's gifts didn't overcome her desire to sleep. Hopefully we have at least one more year.  Christmas morning Abbie woke us up so we then worked to get Hayden up (she's not a morning person) but once she was up and realized what day it was she was ecstatic.

This was the first year we got to spend all of Christmas Day at home and it truly was wonderful.  The girls got to spend time sharing their new toys and we stayed in our pajamas all day, keeping it as low key as we could.   Hayden's favorite gifts were: Doc McStuffins Clinic, Disney Princess stuffed dolls, a LalaLoopsy doll set.   Abbie seemed to love everything, especially if Hayden had it!  Really though, some of her favorites were a ride on car, a light-up musical phone, and some new plates and forks.

Not quite sure she saw how fun plates could be

Her Disney princesses were a HUGE hit

Hayden and Daddy got girl LEGOs!

The girls got an addition to their pop-up castle

The next day we packed everyone up and headed to the farm. Well the dogs got to stay at the kennel, they're 2nd favorite home.  This was possibly the first year that we were the last of "the girls" to make it to the farm.  It would be an understatement to say all the grand-kids were excited to see each other.  Mom had made lunch and it was good to just hang out with everyone.  Of course we opened presents, the kids were chomping at the bit to get to the presents.   Gabriel and Abbie played and played (kinda together? hah) with Abbie's new big red car with music and shapes and balls.  it really was too small for the both of them but they made it work.  Hayden and Talyn, as usual, were off together playing for the rest of the day.







The kids stayed at the farm while Ethan and I made the trip up to the KC area to visit with the Naylor's. It was great to have a couple of days with no agenda but we were excited to get back to the girls and make our way home again.   Thankfully, we had already cleaned up all the Christmas decor before we left so it was nice to come home to a clean house.  Of course, it didn't take long for the evidence of our Christmas trip to explode all over the house -- the kids needing to reexamine all their new gifts, laundry x4 and dogs that were looking for attention.

So I'd call Christmas 2013 a great success.  A lot of family time and memories.  That's what it's all about, right?

Five for Friday..on Saturday

So it's Saturday...Saturday night at that and I'm just now doing a 5 for Friday post :) I'm determined to get it posted while it's still Saturday and it's getting pretty close but I think we'll be okay, haha.  I realized I hadn't posted in a while and figured this was the best way to just download what we've been up to.  I definitely don't think I'll be able to keep up this frequency when school starts (which is coming WAY too fast for me and not soon enough for Hayden).

And here we go -- why not make it Six for Saturday...

1.  Speaking of school and Hayden, I saw her school supply list this past week.  She'll be going to the Fair Grove Preschool program 2 days a week this year. She is soooo excited. Not sure she knows exactly what she's in for but I know she'll do great!  We're going to take her tomorrow to get some of her supplies.  I'm kinda thinking we're asking for trouble though because she has to hang onto them until the 15th of Aug when she starts.  Kinda like telling her that her birthday is in 2 weeks...every day at least twice a day we'll hear "Is it almost time?"  :)  Love her!

2. And then there's my school.  This coming week is the last week the girls will be here at the house with me :'(  The following week they'll be at the sitter's house full time as I'm back in the classroom, officially starting my time on the 9th with meetings all day. Yuck.  I've been going into the classroom at least once a week to start unpacking boxes and putting everything back where ti goes.  I'm soo ready for the routine and rhythm of the school year and to be with my new students, just not looking forward to the fewer hours with my girls and feeling pulled in every direction.  But, I always manage.  I'm very lucky to love what I do and have an amazing school to be at so that makes those downsides sooo much easier.

3.  Hayden had a huge achievement this week.  We met mom in Bolivar on Wed for Hay to go back with her and stay the night at the farm.  What surprised us was that she ended up staying THREE nights!! Willingly (according to mom).  I knew she would have a great time but really surprised that she managed 3 nights without having meltdowns missing me.  Seriously.  She really did have a great time. Sounds like she spent it just like I did growing up...playing outside with the kittens, adventures with Grandma, running around naked, swimming, and being outside all the time.  I loved that Dad would send me picture texts and videos.

4. Sweet Abbie sure showed her personality while Hay was at the farm. It was really great to have lots of one-on-one time with her and do some bonding.  She is a lovey little one with a determination like something fierce!  She is sooo stinkin smart too.  We've realized that she's able to follow simple one-step directions (put it in the trash, give to daddy, put it in the box, get your diaper, etc) and is excited to do them.  She wants to be involved with everything and so we still hear a lot of squeals and hollering when we don't realize soon enough what it is that she's wanting.  She also LOVES music.  Here's a video of her new dance moves, spinning as well as a video of her singing.  Again, so sweet.

5. Canada... Ethan is gearing up for his last week long trip to Canada for work.  He hasn't been there since last fall which was awful planning...he left my first full week of school, and I had a 10 week old Abbie, and the girls were starting at a new sitters.  We survived. But this year it won't be as bad. It definitely helps that I'll not be at work yet and wont have to have any schedules or routines (although I neeeed to be getting everyone up 2 hours earlier than we currently are, ouch).  This should be his last trip up there so he is going to do a lot more sight-seeing and exploring.

6. And lastly -- we went up to Aunt Shirley's today for a Cantrell get together. Shirley and Bill had been down to Alabama to see Brad and Missy and then had brought Laine back with them. We hadn't seen her since she was little bitty!  It was a great afternoon with the Minichs, Hagers, Mildred & John, and then Brian and Haddie (who is super cute!).  Hayden enjoyed playing with the girls and Abbie was content to wander and explore and do her best to do it all on her own.  We actually were able to get a picture of all the great grandkids that were there with John & Mildred.  NINE great grandkids (all girls) and we were only missing one...Morgan.  Pretty impressive!

Whew...it's almost midnight. I think I just might get this posted while it's still Saturday!

Thanks for keeping up with us! And if you haven't "followed" us yet, put your email in the "Follow By Email" box on the right to get email updates or click on the Bloglovin button on the side to get daily updates as well. :)   And we always love comments (I say we....Ethan I think doesn't notice them and the girls could care less...so I guess I'm the one that loves the comments, haha.)

Rufenacht Annual Camping Weekend

First off, we survived. Whew! There were some points where I second guessed our choice in going but we survived.

Lemme back up and start at the beginning. Back in 1999 (2000?) we started teh Rufenacht family reunion.  Being as there are just a few "Rufenachts" and we all lived within a few miles of each other, the term reunion was kind of a predictive term for what we hoped it would become.  And it has.  You see, on the Rufenacht side, it's my dad, Uncle Dean and Uncle Frank.  Grandma used to come visit but it's been years since she last made it out to the reunion.

We used to all meet up at the family homestead farm in Wheatland and do real camping...think middle of nowhere.  The old house was there but actually pretty creepy with it not having anyone living in it for several several years and had been broken into a time or two.  Trust me, it was creepy. As much as dad and the uncles would go down to mow and debug and clean  up, it was still creepy.  Usually we'd camp out on Fri and Sat night...roughing it with just the camp fire and a water hydrant that came straight from a stream fed well (think ice cold). Saturday we'd take the boats, jet skis and kids (actually I'm not sure there were kids for a while...) to Pomme de Terre lake and spend the day there...hanging out at the beach and riding the boats.  We'd often head in town and go to the races as well on Saturday nights.  So hot. So dusty and dirty. After a few years, we moved the site closer to the Mt Zion area, at a nearby campsite.  One year we were even under tornado warning while we were out camping. Talk about scary.  Another year we were back in the fields between Uncle Dean's and dad's farm.

Eventually we moved the camping site onto the back field at mom and dad's farm. Dad had built an 11 acre lake with several fishing docks and a beach.
 It has proven to be a great move!  The kids love the beach and the fishing. It's close enough to the house that we can run to the house if necessary (think: Abbie naps) and mom can hang out there when it's too hot or her allergies are acting up. There were a few years though where we used the house as the campsite because it was raining too much too.

This year was probably the best yet. We got to the farm on Friday afternoon and set up our tent.  Dad had really made it beautiful down there. Heather and I decorated with some festive 4th of July flags and banner while the guys did guy things, as usual. Eventually more people showed up: Uncle Frank came in his RV, Uncle Dean stopped by, mom and dad rode down to visit and the Naylors set up camp.  That first night was pretty mellow.

Saturday brought the people: Cheri and her crew, Mindy and her pack, Heather's friends the Hankins, and Uncle Dean set up his camper.  Even with our campsite population almost tripled from Fri night we still had lots of room.

We spent the morning slowly waking up and then mom made breakfast, scrambled eggs.  The whole day had everyone just kinda hanging around, swimming, fishing, eating, and then doing more of it all.  Saturday night we had a fireworks show. Hayden actually sat and watched the whole time - Abbie slept in the tent and wasn't bothered at all.  Wait - have I mentioned that this was Hay's first time camping, successfully?  No? Let me back up a bit.

This was Hayden's first successful camping trip.  Oh we'd taken her to the reunion camping trip twice before but this was her first REAL camping trip.  The first year, she was almost one and refused to sleep in the tent...she and I ended up at the house for naps and bedtimes.  The second year I remember her being terrified of fireworks so we watched from inside the car and then she went went Grandma to sleep up at the farm.  Last year we didn't go but she and Ethan had set up camp in the backyard one day.  All was fine and dandy until it was bedtime and she realized that I wasn't going to sleep out there with them (someone had to stay inside with newborn Abbie, I got the lucky straw).  So the tent sat outside for probably a week (yes it even rained) and no one slept in it.

Fast forward to this year.  Abbie napped in the tent and slept like a champ!  We did nap at the house once, that was just because it was too hot though.  And Hayden? Wow, she just had a blast at the lake and loved sleeping in the tent.  She stayed up late and slept hard, woke the next morning all excited to do it again. She caught 2 fish.  The second one she did it all by herself! She was super proud, as she should be. The first night I made a little pallet next to our mattress (we need to buy another mattress...2 is plenty on the queen blow-up) but the 2nd night she made her way onto our mattress and  was quite snuggly.

Overall it was a great weekend, the best camping yet. After this trip we decided that we ought to take Hayden on a camping trip, just the 3 of us.  Thinking she would love it. Love that we can make these memories with our little family and hopefully continue the tradition, down at Grands' Lake.

Memorial Weekend

This was another beautiful weekend. It was Memorial Weekend and we spent it back home with family.

Saturday we trekked back to the farm. It will be nice when Hayden understands how far it actually is to Grandma Diddle's and not ask every ten minutes if we are closer. Although her sense of time and distance IS pretty good.  :-)

Flowers for Grandma Rufenacht and Aunt Lena

Heather, Chad and the kids were there and then Dana and Aliza a little later.  Hayden instantly took off to play with her buddy Talyn and Abbie had no choice but to be held by Grandpa, Aunt Heather and Grandma.  She's learning to be content with that...as long as you're moving she's fine with anyone  holding her ;-) . 

Late night campfire included bat chasing

We had a cookout with some of mom and dad's friends. Beautiful weather: windows open, shade, breeze, no swarms of flies, and good food. Then to finish off the night there was   a bonfire with banana s'mores (Pinterest recipe fail, although we have some good modifications in mind for next time).

Sunday we visited Nana and Papa John in Clinton.  Its always great to just be at their house and spend the day with them.  The girls of course passed out on the short trip to Clinton, which was a good thing.  Aunt Shirley stopped by for a bit as well and got to see the girls and we got to hear how cousins Haddie, Laine, and Morgan are doing.  

The girls were more than ready to head back home and fell asleep before we left Clinton.  

 

She LOVES the baby kittens

Playing some baseball

   

Photo Upload....Part 1

Photo uploading as promised.... I'm trying to post older ones first, starting with Mother's Day. Most of these haven't been on Facebook or Instagram but if you've seen them already, woohoo, you get to see them again ;-)