Rainy Day Farm Tradition

We are crazy about every holiday around Rainy Day Farm. We LOVE to put up lots of decorations and really get our home in the spirit of all the major holidays. My kids love and beg early for decorations and such. One tradition we love is Christmas music, it is our favorite thing about the holiday (besides all the goodies).

So we all agree (except my husband, who gets overruled) that one month is not nearly long enough for Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, and Nat King Cole to croon out there holiday melodies. So, at our house we start listening to all our favorites November 1st. You could call it open season for the music.

What is your favorite Christmas artist?

Look What I Found

I was doing my usual grocery shopping last week and behold, there it was. My favorite holiday drink ever, EGGNOG! Yummy, I was so excited I snatched up the last one and we savored it for several days, even though we could drink it in one sitting. We are all big eggnog lovers on Rainy Day Farm. I may even get brave and make my own this year.

What is your opinion? Are you a nog drinker or not? Do you like it plain, cold, warm or with 7-up in it? Let's have your opinion. Happy Holidays.

Independance Day

I am so thankful to live in this great country, The United States of America. We have many problems and issues to work on, but it is truly still the greatest country to live in.

Where would we be without these great men who risked their lives so that we could have the freedoms that we enjoy today? I am truly grateful for their sacrifice for me and my family.

I love the 4th of July and all the fun, food, and fireworks. What would our country be without them. Hope you all have a wonderful Independance day!

God Bless America!

Valentines Day

I better get these pictures posted before Valentines day passes me by completely. I have not had a ton of time lately to blog, so I have been putting this one off a bit, because it is so big. You know, the big posts take a ton of time. So here we go.
This is a project that I saw on The Idea Room. I am sure you are beginning to think that the only blogs I got to are the Idea Room and Grocery Cart Challenge, but I just can' get enough of their ideas.
While I was at my Mom's house last time we decided to do a craft and this was the one we chose. My Dad was good enough to keep the kids at home so we could have a little girl time without fits and meltdowns. Thanks Dad!

So here's what you need for this topiary project.
1/4 yd. felt
Styrofoam ball(you choose the size) I used 3"
Ribbon
Berries
Straight pins
container to put it in
Glass that measures 3" across
pen

ribbon for hanging (if you make a kissing ball)

Dowel (if you make a topiary)

Use the glass to trace circles (or make a cardstock pattern) on the felt. I doubled the felt to cut two circles out at a time. Cut out ALOT of circles. You will need them. Depending on how close together you place the circles is the number of circles to cut.

Put on a good chick flick and start cutting. It is therapeutic work.

Then fold the circle in 1/2 then in 1/2 again. Using the pin in the bottom tip of the felt square, poke it into the styrofoam ball. Continue until the ball is covered completely.

Hang the ribbon, with a pin or hot glue, and place beads from garland into ball. Enjoy this simple and elegant craft. We made quite a few of these in just a few hours.


I also thought I had better post a few pics of my Valentines decorations. I don't have a lot, but they get the job done for the season. Here are two of the balls that I made and I sat them on these buckets that my mom gave my kids last year with their treats in.

I decided to put this tree out of my bathroom(I have very rustic decor in my bathroom, hence the tree) and decorate it with some clearance Christmas balls that I bought when we were getting the felt. I intended to make some felt ornaments for the tree, but just have not gotten to it yet. I hung a kissing ball from a hook on the mirror, and brought out the glass topiary that my mom made me for the fairy garden (I brought it inside for the winter).

This is a closeup of the topiary that I made. I added the beads to the ball and a few branches of beads on the bottom. I must give my mom credit for this, because she is the one who embellished hers first. I am just a copy cat!

I bought some of the garden stones and put them in a small vase I had for a stable base for my topiary. I have a hard time keeping the kids out of those rocks though. They think they are so fun to play with.

I hope you have a very wonderful Valentines Day, and enjoy your chocolate!

New Year's Eve Fun

We had a blast at my parents house for New Year's Eve. We had a food, game and Wii fest. We had two Wii's going and lots of games and fun. We had lots of good party food. If you can believe it there were even Christmas Cookies for everyone. My mom must have hidden them way in the back of the freezer for there to be any left.


Of course we had to play a little Leggo Rock Band and test out the new tunes. Landon love to play the drums.

Landon was getting to have some special "juice" for New Years. He discovered that he LOVES pop!

We even got in a little game playing. We played turbo Skipbo (everyone playing at once), Golf (super fun card game), and the funnest game of The Game of Things. This game was a hoot. You have topics that you write answer too(such as What do not like about family gatherings), then you put the things you wrote in a pile and you have to guess who said what. It was hilarious. I can't wait to play it again.

We decided to have a Wii fest, because so many of us got new games this year. This is my Brother-in-law, Jason, playing Wii resort. They were showing their bow hunting skills. I believe I even heard some grunting going on!

We finished the night off watching the ball drop in Times Square and plotting all kinds of mean things to do to my sister who wimped out on us at 10:30. All in all it was a fun night.

The best part came the next day when we all stayed in our pj's until 1:00. I have not had a lazy day like that in a very, very long time!

Happy New Year 2010!

I just wanted to take a minute and wish everyone a very Happy New Year in 2010. I can't believe the year is over already. It sure whizzed by. I ran across a wonderful post from Dena at Sweet Pickles and Chocolate that pretty much sums up what I want out of 2010. My goal this year is to enjoy life and live everyday with joy and purpose. I want 2010 to be a fun year and a restful year.

I also want to thank all of you out there for making my life a little sweeter. There are so many wonderful women out in blog land and I have been touched by many of you. I wish you the very best this year as well. Make 2010 the best year yet!

Thanksgiving Gratitude

Well, Thanksgiving is here again. I am sitting in my parents house with the pumpkin pies baked and kids in bed. Sigh!

I am thankful for so many things this year. I am grateful for my family, for loving me even though I am crazy sometimes. For my dear Husband who is such a good man and takes such good care of all of us. I am thankful for and my kids, who keep me humble everyday and can make my heart melt with one little smile. I am also thankful for my friends who keep me grounded and sane when life gets to be too much. I am truly blessed and am grateful for all I have!

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. -Melody Beattie

A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness. . . . It is a foundation for the development of such virtues as prayer, faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love, and well-being. -James E. Faust

May your Thanksgiving be peaceful and filled with love, joy and no weight gain or indigestion.

Veteran's Parade

For our November Youth Service Club we attended our local Veteran's Day parade. We bought flags for the kids to wave and they had so much fun with those. Nothing is better in the world that a small town parade. We know so many people that it was fun to visit and wave to friends in the parade. We had a little party going on around our little bench on the corner. We loved seeing all the Boy Scouts, Soldiers, and Veterans.

This is the local Police Chief, who happens to be a good friend of ours. My kids love it when he and his wife come a babysit. They have lots of fun with him. I think he was having a little to much fun with the siren though. I am pretty sure all my kids need a hearing test now.

This was the Grand Marshall of the parade with the VFW Ladies Axillary, handing out cute flag key chains. They were so sweet with the kids.


Who can't help but love the horses. No parade is complete without horses! This is the local High School Equestrian Team. All of their horses were so well mannered.

This was the most touching thing I have ever seen. It was soldiers from our local area carrying banners for fallen soldiers. Many of them were family and friends of the fallen soldiers. It brought tears to my eyes, and my heart about burst with pride when the whole street started clapping as they past by. I just love this country! A big thanks to all of those who have given the greatest sacrifice so that my children may be free.

After the parade we all went and got an ice cream cone. What could be more American than a small town parade and ice cream. It was so much fun and we lucked out that is was so sunny and beautiful, because we have had nothing but rain for quite a while!

Veteran's Day

A big thank-you to all those who have served this great country! Your efforts and sacrifices are so appreciated. Even with all our problems this is still the greatest country in the world!

Happy Halloween!

The time is here! Kids 2nd favorite holiday! Who doesn't love getting free candy for dressing up and being cute! I thought I would share some fun photos of the crazy holiday fun. With the kids being home sick this week with the swine flu Halloween has been a bit down played around here. We did finally get around to carving pumpkins with the kids, and on Halloween I am going to make Candy Corn Cookies with them, but other than that we have not done much.

Here is Logan with his masterpiece! He (I) worked very hard on it. We ended up carving the little sugar pumpkins because the warty pumpkins we got from our neighbors were like trying to cut through steel. I called to ask if they had problems carving and she said her husband had to use a saw and drill to carve his. He said he was afraid he was going to cut himself, so we opted to paint ours. I was in no mood for a broken knife and trip to the ER.

Being Silly

Addison with her work of art. She actually did most of hers by herself. I had to do the mouth, but she did everything else by herself. She is such a big girl!


I found this great picture of a front porch on Better Homes and Gardens. Isn't is a fun front porch. If we got any tricker treaters I would want to do this on my front porch. I just love the trees, so spooky.

This pumpkin terrifies me. I wouldn't put my hand anywhere near that bowl, except if I had PMS and REALLY needed some high fructose corn syrup. But other than that, hands off!

This one just creeped me out. I am still having shivers from it. I am pretty sure this one is going to find its way into my dreams tonight! Yuck!

Only a guy would do something like this! No woman in her right mind would have this hideous thing in front of her house. Can you imagine Martha having her people make something like this up? I think she would rather go back to jail!

Hope you have a very fun Halloween! Trick or Treat!

One last thing-Go check out this blog for some really fun Halloween ideas.

Happy Fall!

This is my happy little pumpkin growing in my garden. I have been watching this little guy all summer. We even made a little bed of straw for it . We don't want it to get yucky on one side. I think I will name this one Burt!

Burt says Happy Fall Y'all!

Join the fall fun with Rhondi at Rose Colored Glasses

Christmas is July Fun!

This super fun idea came from Maggi over at Just Add Glitter and Stir. I thought I would participate, even though I am off at the fair this weekend. I love all things Christmas, so I could not pass up on this fun. Head on over and check out all the Christmas cheer.
As for me I wanted to get inspired for this Christmas. Yes, I am one of those annoying people who start in September. My goal is to be done with everything but the baking before Thanksgiving. I know it sounds crazy to most of you, but I do this so that I can Enjoy the holidays, instead of running around crazy, stressed and very grumpy. Shopping is not my most favorite thing to do, so you can see why I don't have any desire to be at the mall at 5:00 am with 5 million other people. This would be me...

(borrowed from pearlsoftruth.wordpress.com)

Ok, so here are some of my favorite things about Christmas, and hopefully you will take away a few good ideas to use on your own Christmas.

Christmas Trees

I love the lights, decorations and all around ambiance that the tree gives a room. I use a fake tree, and have since having kids, so they don't eat the needles or scream when they see a spider, but that's just me!Here are my two oldest in front of our tree.

I use the same theme each year, but add something new. So The snowflakes are from our first Christmas 16 years ago. The reindeer ornaments I made by hand one year, and the snow angel is from a craft bazaar I went to at my good friends Grandfather's farm. So many memories are attached to each item on the tree. My theme is always based on red.

Here are some adorable trees that I found while out searching for fun Christmas stuff. I just love the snowmen.

I thought this one was so elegant, and I just love the carolers in front.

Christmas Music

I love, love, love Christmas music. We start listening to Christmas music the day after Halloween. That is all the longer we can hold out. Four weeks is just not enough time around our house. So we start early. Our favorites are Bing Crosby

We also love O Holy Night by Martina McBride, and Christmas Cookies by George Strait. It wouldn't be Christmas without all the great music.

Christmas Stockings

I love stockings! I love all the different kinds of stockings, because each one has such a unique personality. I ran across this super cute and easy idea from the Queen of crafts Martha Stewart. These adorable Scarf Stockings are so cute, and there is even a template to make the project easy. Love that Martha Stewart. I searched hi and low for pictures of our stockings but couldn't find any. That will give you something to look forward to in December.

Christmas Trains

I love the sound of a train whistle going around the tree. I love that my boys come running from the other side of the house when I turn it on. I even love the smell of burning oil as it chugs around the track.

What would Christmas be without the cat napping next to the train after a long hard morning of playing with Christmas wrap. We got this train from Orvis a few years ago. It was the best price train that I could find at the time. It has held up well even with boys and cats.

Christmas Baking

I love to bake goodies at Christmas time. All the Girls in our family get together and have a mass baking day. It is so much fun. We get to chat, bake and of course eat. It is such a great tradition that I hope to pass on with my daughter one day. Here are a couple of my absolute, can't live without, Christmas goody recipes.

These are a lovely little cookie my Great-Grandmother used to make and send to our house each year. They were the first to go, because my entire family loved them. I still use the handwritten recipe she gave to me years ago.

Creme Wafers

1 c. soft butter

1/3 c. whipping cream

2 c. flour

Granulated sugar

Creamy Frosting(see below)

Mix thoroughly butter, cream and flour. Cover and chill for 1 hour. Heat oven to 375. Roll out 1/3 of dough at a time 1/8" thick. Cut into 1 1/2 inch circles. Transfer rounds to piece of wax paper that is heavily covered with sugar. Turn each round so both sides are coated with sugar. Place on ungreased baking sheet-prick with for 4 times. Bake 7 to 9 minutes or just until set, but not brown; cool. Put cookies into pairs with creamy filling. Enjoy!

Creamy Filling

1/4 c. soft butter

3/4 c. Confectioners sugar

1 t. mint extract

Food coloring

Cream together until smooth and fluffy.(I usually double this recipe to make enough for everyone to enjoy)

This recipe if from the Quick Cooking magazine. I love this magazine because everything is easy and yummy. This recipe if from Janice Brightwell of Jeffersonville, Indiana. It is a yummy one that I look forward to all year long!

Crunchy Peanut Butter Balls
1c. peanut better
1 jar marshmallow creme
1 1/2 c. rice crispy cereal

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (I use milk chocolate)

4 t. shortening

In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter and marshmallow creme; add cereal and stir until well coated. In a small bowl combine chocolate chips and shortening. Microwave for 1 to 2 minutes or until chips are melted. Stir until smooth. Roll cereal mixture into 1" balls; dip in chocolate. Place on waxed paper. Refrigerate until set. (Again I double this recipe, because they are my favorite)

This is how they look in the magazine...

...and this is how they look when we do them. I am sure they all taste the same!

Christmas snow

What would Christmas be without snow. We don't always have it, but when we do, it makes this so much more magical. Snow makes the world so quiet and peaceful.

The smiles on their faces says it all.


The reason for the season?

Christs Birth

I love that the world becomes a little more soft, and a little more kind. We all look at little harder to make someones life a little better. That is what the season is truly about, being and example of Christ. Merry Christmas in July!