Weekend Happenings

The weekend is over already?!!!! 

Wow that went by fast! Only two more Saturday's and then it's Christmas!

On Friday I went over to a friends house for a Pinterest party. It was so much fun. I was a bad blogger and just had too much fun hanging out to take pictures. Our host is totally adorable and went all out Pinterest style with all the food!! It was so cute!

On Saturday we got to have a lazy day in the morning just hanging around the house and getting a few things done.  Oh and our Elf finally made an appearance!! She still has no name - waiting for Ellie to get a little bit bigger - maybe next year.  Our Elf is a good Elf.  She doesn't get into any mischief and seems to find a pretty 'safe' spot to hang out for the day.

In the afternoon I had family portraits scheduled and of course Ellie refused her nap until an hour before we had to leave!! (despite our many attempts).  Luckily though she was in good spirits when we got to the studio and totally hammed it up for the camera.  I love our proofs and while I don't have any to show you I can't wait to get them next week!  We just went through JCPenney because 1. they are local 2. they are relatively cheap ($3.99 a photo sheet and with signing up for their membership we have free sitting fee's for 2 years!) and 3. I didn't think we were going to get as lucky this year having Ellie stare at an empty camera!!  (though I am totally going to make sure we go out and do "real" photos next year!)

Ellie also got to do a Christmas craft! Super cute gingerbread house from Hoblob!

After our photos we made a stop at Target to pick up a few snack items.  While we were there I saw a $5 iPhone speaker in the Dollar Spot (can't seem to find it online).  I have been on the search for one and while the toilet paper tube works just fine, I think something a little more attractive would be better.  Have you seen it? Or tried it? I guess for $5 it might just be worth it to try it out.
Then after Ellie went to bed we got to watch "A White Christmas" which is our Engagementiversary tradition!  I can't believe it's been 8 years since Thomas proposed!!!

There have been a ton of commercials in our area lately about these two events that are combined at our local fairgrounds "A Victorian Country Christmas" and "Christmas at the Northpole"  We checked them out online and they sounded like it might be a fun thing to take Ellie to.  It was a total bust!  Basically the Victorian part was just a craft-fair with many of the same vendors you see at the county fairs but the vendors were dressed up in Victorian era clothes!! LAME.  Then we got to check out the Northpole which was supposed to be a "Santa's Workshop" and a chance to get pictures the "the best Santa in town".  I would say it was even more of a disappointment than the Victorian part.  While they had a few activities for the kids (like coloring a Santa picture and then writing a letter to Santa) it was just a glorified waiting area for Santa pictures.  I guess it was better than waiting in line but our Santa that we went to last week was WAY better and more competitively priced! If you live in the area - save yourself some money and just go to a mall.

♥ Ashley

Friday Five

Its Friday already??? We have had an incredibly fun week and I feel like this month is going by so quickly already!!  I had all sorts of plans on doing another Toddler Outfit Challenge for the 25 days of Christmas, while I have dressed Ellie up each day I haven't been very good about taking her daily photo.  I have captured a couple of them and I am just loving all the festiveness that is out there right now!  I am really drawn to wearing Red this season and I am sure you will see that in Ellie's clothes! 

This time of year is really so special (and difficult at the same time) for us and we try to focus on all our happy memories together.  Tomorrow (Dec 6th) is our 8 year Engagementiversary!!  (as well as the day we officially lost our first baby in 2010) We got engaged at my parents house, in the presence of all four of our parents.  My mom was crying (happy tears) our dad's were smiling, and his mom was happy too.  We were all meeting to go on our annual Christmas season outing to the 5th Ave to see "A White Christmas" when he got down on one knee and popped the question.  I was in shock and a little embarrassed to have my parents watching that I just kind of stood there.  My mom was crying and yelling at me and answered "YES YES YES YES YES" for me and then proceeded to hit me in the shoulder and ask me what my problem was! So, since my mom already committed me to the acceptance of his proposal, I answered "Yes, I will marry you" and then I couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the night!!  So we have a tradition of watching "A White Christmas" on DVD every year on December 6th to commemorate this day!  We even watched it together in the hospital after my ectopic pregnancy surgery in 2010.  Additionally two weeks after our baby loss my mom was admitted to the hospital with a large brain tumor which turned out to be Stage IV Glioblastoma brain cancer, she fought for 15 months before going to be home with the Lord. 

okay, now lets get onto this week's FIVE!!!

ONE

First up, I think that some of these PJ separates are just TOO cute to save for just the bedroom. So Ellie is rocking them during the day as we are out and about!! 

I love the scarf and seriously how cute is this reindeer top?

and these bottoms are right up my reindeer alley!!  I think that with the vest they totally look like leggings!

TWO

Second up, I am really enjoying my new job/career as a Nanny.  The best part is getting to be with Ellie all day and the bonuses are her getting to socialize and interact with other kiddos similar to her age and that she gets to play with all sorts of toys (and we don't have to junk up our house with all of them!!)

one of the houses has this awesome train table!  Ellie rarely gets the trains on the tracks but she has a blast nonetheless! and can we also please talk about these pigtails?  I posted a few weeks back a picture of her in "pigtails" but we needed three rubberbands to keep them in and they still fell out.  Her hair is now completely long enough to make it into two!! LOVE

and then the other house has the best floors!! oh how I dream of wood floors in my home!!  They have this super fun tricycle.  Ellie is loving this thing. She doesn't use the pedals but does skootch herself around using her feet.  Luckily she hasn't been daredevil enough to try and stand on this one like her little push car at home! 

THREE

Third up, I finally decided to rearrange a few things in the kitchen so that Ellie can have her own drawer and have access to it.  Before her dishes were in an upper cabinet and all her sippy's were on the counter.  I am loving the extra space on our counter (we haven't seen that in over 18 months!) and more importantly SHE LOVES being able to get into at least on drawer in the kitchen without getting in trouble.  This is pure novelty right now and is her new fave hangout! (I run a tight ship at our house and there are many things that are "Off Limits", we do have locks on all the cabinet doors, many things in the living room, no bathroom visits unattended, and she definitely is NOT ALLOWED to touch our tree!!)

She is so incredibly happy to get to play in here and I am so glad that I made a fun little space for her!

FOUR

Fourth up, we finally made it into the doctor for Ellie's 18 month check up.  I can't believe that the next time (fingers crossed) we see the doctor my little gingerbread will be 2 years old!!!  Girlfriend was a total champ in the waiting room, sitting like an angel on the chair next to me (and following my directions pretty well), she smiled and waved at the nurse when we got called back but then it all went downhill when she wanted Ellie to stand on the scale!!! Lu started having a meltdown, I guess somewhere along the line someone told Ellie that she should never disclose her weight and the nurse checking her weight was a clear violation of her rights! For the rest of the visit the nurse only got a sideways glance with the "hairy eyeball"!!  Of course Lu hammed it up for the doctor and he said that all is well.  I didn't get a print up of E's percentiles but her weight was in the 40th and her head in the 75th, I am assuming she is still around the 10th for her height - my little shortcake!

FIVE

Fifth and last, Thomas and I went on a date night on Wednesday.  We have only had two other date nights since bringing our babe home.  We went out to dinner at The Rock Bottom, walked around our favorite Hotel to look at all the decorated Christmas trees, and then to see "A Christmas Story" at The 5th Ave Theatre.  We saw this musical when it originally premiered 4 years ago and it was so good.  Super Cool fact: Thomas went to high school with the actress who played Ralphie's mom!!  We had such a great time talking and enjoying each other's company.  We talked a lot about possibly home schooling Ellie, something I am seriously interested in doing, about how much we love Ellie and plan on taking her on 98% of the vacations we plan to go on - we just want to share everything with her,  about the adoption process and how different it is going to be the second time around, and just about our life together! I truly see so much value in date nights and believe they are important but we just love our little family and we missed our little Ellie so much!

♥ Ashley

linking up:

Man in Red

Holiday Traditions are something that I look at pretty fondly from my childhood.  When Thomas and I first got married, we started talking about what sorts of traditions we wanted to create as a family.  Santa pictures were at the top of our list!! Funnily enough we both grew up going to see Santa at Frederick & Nelson (RIP) and its so much fun looking back at all our old pictures - with the same Santa!

Lucky for us we have the BEST Santa near us!

So I mentioned the other day that we went to go visit Santa.  

Ellie had the time of her life last year meeting the "Man in Red" that I was really hoping that with her friendly demeanor and constant need to wave at everyone we would have a repeat of last year.  

The mall we go to for our Santa Pictures really has it down to a science.  You can go around to the front and get a good look at Santa but the whole line is behind him.  I think this is great because then kids in line can't see how upset the child is in front of them and then decide to get scared of the man. The line was relatively short (just about 10 groups in front of us) which gave Ellie ample time to sneak peeks at the big guy.  We took her around the front to take a look and wave and blow kisses.  She was a total ham, so much so that Santa got distracted by blowing her kisses and waving to her!!!

When it was finally our turn, Ellie got a little bit shy, but after some tickling and secret telling she warmed right up and I think we got the best picture with Santa in the history of Santa pictures. She also told him "Ho, ho, ho"!! the cutest thing ever!!  #mombrag

Last year's iPhone photo:

this year's iPhone photo: The Best amiright?

I am so happy that we get to make these memories with Ellie and for the selflessness of her birthmom in giving us the most wonderful gift!  We love our Ellie!

So, how did your Santa pictures come out?

♥ Ashley

Weekending-post Thanksgiving

We had the best Thanksgiving this year. I though last year was pretty good since it was our first one with Ellie, but I was mistaken. It was so much more fun this year with Ellie being more interactive and really able to enjoy the meal!!!

I think she liked the mashed potatoes this year!

Ellie was such a little ham and was quite the entertainer for our get together!!  

I'm not much into the Black Friday shopping. I used to work in retail (jewelry) and had to be at work at 4:30 in the morning for the one customer who showed up a half hour after we opened. I think it put a bad taste in my mouth. People are just crazy. However, since I signed up for Ebates and there were some killer deals and cash back options I took advantage from the comfort of my home (actually my Inlaws home) and got a number of people crossed off my list!!  Ebates is the best. Basically you sign up and the shop through their site to the actual store site and get cash back on your purchase. What!???!?  You get paid to shop and it's free!!!

***if you haven't finished your shopping they are having some killer deals for Cyber Monday today!!! please use my referral code linked above to sign up and I can get a bonus!***

On Saturday we went in for Ellie's 18 month photos and she did GREAT. She loved the photographer (he was the best yet) and was full of smiles. Everyone loved her and I cannot wait to get the photos back!  

After her photo shoot we stopped by the mall to check out the Santa line - it was pretty short - so we saw the "Man in Red".  Ellie loved him last year and loved him even more this year!!

I mean how cute?  We seriously have the best Santa. He spends a ton of time with each kiddo and totally looks like the real deal. If you want to get him at his finest then show up on the weekends, that's when Mrs. Claus does his hair and makeup!!

The rest of the weekend we finished getting all of our Christmas decor out and up. 

Ellie loved helping, mainly by checking out the sturdiness of our storage bins. 

And I even got some of our presents wrapped!!!

I still need to make the tags but I'm pretty excited!

How was your weekend?

♥ Ashley

DIY Christmas Advent

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving!! I feel like we just had Halloween last week (but it also feels like it was a year ago...)

I just love this time of year and I am so grateful to have the best little girl to share this with.  It really is the little things that make life special!  So making the holiday's just that for Ellie is what I am most looking forward to!

I thought I would share a quick little DIY with you all today!  Its our Advent Calendar.  I saw something similar to it at Pottery Barn (similar) a few years ago, but was not going to pay that and figured it would be simple enough to recreate. 

Here is what you are going to need:

an over the door shoe organizer (similar here) 

number stencils (similar here)

paint (here choose whichever colors you like)

stencil/pouncer brush (here)

scrap paper

Directions:

first you are going to want a level surface to lay your shoe organizer on (preferably one you aren't worried about spilling paint on). Then with your scrap paper, place a piece in each shoe compartment. This will help with any bleed through.

second you are going to want to determine your color pattern (if using multiple colors) and squeeze out your paint onto a paper plate or other surface, pounce your brush in to coat and then begin stenciling.  What I found to work best was to do all the 1's and 2's in a single color first, then fill in with the remaining numbers in the same color.  Once all the white was done I moved onto the red and repeated the process.  I had to wait a while for drying when I got to the double digits since my stencil overlapped.  Once all your numbers are painted let dry overnight and then hang up!

third thing I did was come up with a list of activities for us to do on various days.  This year I finally made "permanent" ones that fit into envelopes that fit in each compartment.  I didn't number the envelopes so that we could switch up the days in the coming years.  This was the most time consuming part but still only took me about 45 minutes.  I used cardstock, colored pencils, and Pinterest to help me come up with text/fonts and decorations on each.  I am so looking forward to enjoying this with Ellie in the years to come!

Examples of Advent Activities:

go ice skating

visit Santa

watch a Christmas Movie

bake cookies

sit by the fire

do a Christmas craft

go on a sleigh ride

visit a tree farm

read a Christmas book

host a holiday party
go to a holiday play/musical
drive around to look at Christmas lights

And then what Advent Calendar is complete without some chocolate?  I like to wrap up a few small presents to put in various day pockets just to keep things fresh!

Do you do an advent calendar in your home? I would love to know how you do yours!!

♥ Ashley

This Weekend

What a weekend!! We braved ikea on a Saturday during the "holidays" crazy for sure. I think we spent more time in line that walking through the store!!!  The good thing is is that ikea has some great stuff right now!  

I picked up a some pillow covers for our living room at $6 each you really can't go wrong, not to mention I can use some pillows I already have as inserts which helps with the clutter!!  We also got Ellie her easel for Christmas and I will be making it over to go with my home decor!  Can't wait to show you the DIY. 

plaid and plain green from ikea. 

Since we got a few things for Christmas decor and we aren't having anyone over for Thanksgiving we have started the decor change. We are blending Thanksgiving and  Christmas to make "Christgiving" in our house!

I just love the festiveness that a tree does for a home and Ellie was so excited to see it lit up she screamed and danced for joy!! I cannot wait to put her tree in her room again this year! (But we need some child friendly ornaments to go on it - suggestions please!!!)

 My plan is to get most of the Christmas decor up this week and then we can trim the tree on Friday. 

A few years ago I made an advent calendar that was inspired by Pottery Barn but at a fraction of the price. Up until this year I just wrote activities on an index card or stuffed some chocolates into the days I couldn't come up with something.  But I finally got my act together to make our "permanent" activity cards. I love them so much and it's going to be so fun to switch up the days every year!

 

I think this is going to be so much more fun and meaningful than the chocolate adverts you see everywhere! I'll post a DIY on this soon too!

♥ Ashley

Some Favorite Things

Y'all I can't even get over that its Friday, not only that but that Thanksgiving is one week away!  

Thomas and I tossed around the idea of hosting but decided that we would take a break this year and enjoy a "stress free" holiday season at his parents house and my family's homes.  I can't tell you the relief that actually gives me! As much as I love hosting holidays it's really fun to just be a guest!

one

I have been craving these so much lately.  I absolutely love them and totally hit the spot in the morning.  If you haven't tried them - do yourself a favor and pick one up today!

two

we just picked up these pajamas and they are my 

favorite ones for her so far.  I love the fleece 

because its so nice and warm and you can't

beat the footies to keep your little's toes warm

at night while they are sleeping!  These are the 

perfect combination of my favorite colors for Ellie

and I love how they can transition into all of winter.

three

I feel like I have been keeping a secret from you guys.  I recently found this blog and she has the best style sense ever.  She is also amazing at DIY and I want to be her best friend.  If you haven't already checked out her blog - you are going to want to do that! It is pretty top notch.

four

I love baking and bringing desserts to family dinners is one of my favorite things to do!  If you are in charge of dessert this year for Thanksgiving and are in search of some inspiration look no further.  I have three recipes that are delish and totally go with the theme for Thanksgiving.  First up is my fool proof Pumpkin Crunch Cake it takes very few ingredients and is sure to please!  If Pie is more your thing then this is the recipe for you, this is my favorite Pumpkin Pie because it is nice and thick and dense - just the way I like it. And if Pumpkin isn't really your thing then you have to try my Applesauce Cake, oh yum!

five

We are heading out for a day of Christmas shopping on Saturday.  Our plan is to brave IKEA on the weekend (eek!) to pick up a few things for Ellie, I am meeting someone to pick up a few more cloth diaper items and then we are headed to the old spaghetti factory and I love the Garlic Mizithra with a side of meat sauce!! Oh I cannot wait to get that in my belly!

six

somehow my little muffin turned 1 1/2 today and I am just loving this age!! check out her monthdate here!

♥ Ashley

{monthdate} half

Little Miss Luella is 18 months today!! I can't believe it!!!!

scarf, pants, moccs, bow, sweater from Ireland.

It's incredible how much out little nuggets change each month!  Life seriously cannot get much better with our little love in it!

Here is what Ellie has been up to this month:

• she started nodding her head "yes" and it's the cutest thing. 

• her vocabulary has increased so much:  baa, moo, woof, hiss, neigh, meh, caw, bawk are her go to animal noises and then she just makes up sounds for other animals that have nothing to do with their name or sound. 

Mama, Dada, Nana, Papa, Gaga, Sata (Santa), ah (all done), huhuh (yes), Tuka (tucker), Appah (apple), cah (car) kaka (and points to our dogs), bo (bowl), ba (ball), and bah (bath). 

And then lots of toddler rambling. 

• she is becoming pretty opinionated in her food choices but is doing well with keeping her plate on the tray, using utensils is getting better, and is a pretty clean eater (thank God!!). Some favorite foods are: cheese, puffs, crackers, apples, hamburgers, fries, pasta (mac'n'cheese), bread, corn flakes, Cheerios, fishies, rice and broccoli. 

• Lu has been pretty rock star in her napping.  She sleeps well in the pack'n'plays at work and still does pretty good at home too. Nighttime sleep is another story. She is on about a 3 hour cycle. I finally have weaned her middle of the night feeding and we are working really hard at making her stay in her crib/room until at least 5am (sometimes that means I am crawling into her crib to sleep/cuddle with her).  It's a struggle but bad habits die hard!!!

• some of her favorite things to do: climb anything is at the top of her list (especially those that are off limits), reading books (looking for sheep on every page!),  dancing, running, pushing her baby stroller, and trying to pet the dogs. 

turning a cardboard box into a slide

• tantrums: we have kinda entered this territory. She is not too bad just has the occasional scream/cry/throw herself on the floor for 1/2 a second and then gets over it. I also tell her that that type of behavior is not necessary and she better get it together. These outbursts usually happen when I tell her that she cannot do something or take something away from her. Such is the life with toddlers I understand. 

headwrap, top 

• some of my favorite things this month: Lu pointing to things when I ask her where they are, her helping to clean up her toys and messes, her enjoyment of independent time, and her excitement of seeing her Daddy come home from work. 

This is by far the most fun age and I am so grateful that I get to spend everyday with her! I wouldn't change my decision to leave teaching for anything!!

♥ Ashley 

see all her Monthdate's HERE

Christmas Wishlist

Christmas truly is my favorite time of year.  I love all the joy that gets spread around and the season of giving.  They say that the best gift is the one given - but lets not kid around here, I love receiving gifts! Its always fun to get a surprise here and there but I think that providing a list of things you would like really helps out the giver to narrow things down!!

For me a Christmas Wishlist is a list of things that you would love to have but wouldn't necessarily buy for yourself.  Plus I view it more of a guideline than a must have.

Christmas Wishlist by lifeonthefarm 

One thing I have noticed is that when you become a mom you tend to buy more things for your children than yourself, hence Ellie's awesome, fashionable wardrobe and I'm still wearing clothes from High School and College.  A girl can never have too many pairs of jeans.  I am not too picky (I usually pick mine up for less than $15 at Ross) but know that a pair of good quality denim can last a really long time!  I grabbed a pair of my mom's 7 For All Mankind after she passed away and they are one of my favorite pairs of jeans but recently I wore holes in the knees....
Also I need a new pair of my mom uniform - leggings.  I know some don't think these are appropriate for wearing out of the house or gym but I love these types of pants.  Most of mine are pretty old and I have one long pair left that have become quite faded.  I love me some pockets and when I saw that these were available I knew they had to make an appearance on my list!! Black on black please!!

For some reason the past few years I have had shoes on my list.  Toms have fast become one of my favorite types of shoes to wear.  They are so versatile and super easy to slip on and off.  I have worn holes in one of my pairs so I am desperately needing to get a new pair!!  I think I am brave enough to try something NOT neutral and I think these plaid ones are so cool - though you can never go wrong with anything green in my book!! (plus they are on sale)
I know I am a little late to the Riding Boot trend.  I thought I could get by with my Cowboy Boot collection and other tall heeled boots from years ago but I am really wanting a pair of tall flat boots and I love what Target has!  I have also seen a lot of the lace up riding boots around and since I haven't gotten a pair of these since I was showing horses back in High School I think these would be a great addition! Plus you just can't go wrong with Target's prices.

Back when we first were married I thought it would be fun to get all sorts of patterned sheet sets.  What I have learned over the years is that the Classic White sheet set can go with EVERYTHING!! the last set we got has been through the washer/dryer a few too many times and don't quite fit anymore. I would love a new set.  Besides who doesn't love a fresh new set of sheets to sleep on?  And I have been doing a lot of reading on how to help my hair grow stronger and stop breaking, the answer I have found are silk pillow cases.  So I would love a pair of those, they help to reduce any breakage from tossing and turning all night!  I will take all the help I can get to ensure my locks can get as long as the Duggars!!

It's time to turn in my cheap con-air curling iron from 1995 and get something that will be a little nicer on my hair and a better quality curling iron.  I have watched lots of tutorials and practiced on how to get the best curl in my hair (hides the breakage a little better) and I have come to the conclusion - your hair stylist will agree - that you get great results from quality products.

I'm getting older and I am tired of putting my concealer and foundation on with my fingers.  A brush is much more forgiving and kind to aging skin.  I have been using a cheapo one from Kmart for the last two years but I think now is the time to really splurge and get something good.  Like the curling iron above, if you don't have quality products you aren't going to get the best results or come close to recreating what they do for you in the salon.

So these are a few things that I would LOVE to open under the tree in 6 short weeks.  I would be happy with just one of these items!!

What's on your list?

♥ Ashley

{Toddler Tuesday} 12 to 15 Month Faves

12 to 15 Month Faves by lifeonthefarm on Polyvore

I just love sharing what some of our favorites were for the different stages in Ellie's life. I also really enjoy reading others favorites so it can help guide me in some gift ideas. 

I finally put together Ellie's 12-15 month faves. Most of the items really have to do with sleep since that was a big part of our focus during this life stage with "sleep training". 

Ellie got this wagon for her birthday and we got so much use out of it during the summer. She rode in it almost everyday for farm chores. She also loved to try and pull it around the yard - so cute. 

Blankets are a huge hit for sleep time whether it's for naps or bed time sleep. Ellie usually gets two blankets, a thin swaddle type blanket and then a warmer knit blanket. She loves to snuggle with them as well as throw them over the side of her crib. 

Jelly Cats are the cutest stuffed animals. Ellie got the bunny for Christmas and I am so happy that she has taken a liking to it. I had/have a bunny from when I was little (confession I still sleep with it) and I love that we can share that!

The only pacifiers she will take. Her favorite one is the orange that we got from the hospital but she's chewed it a little too much so she only gets it on special occasions. Thankfully she has accepted the pink and purple ones. Used only for sleep time. 

We transitioned Lu into a convertible car seat and I love how easy this was is to instal into each of our cars. It's also super comfy for her and she enjoys being a little bit more upright. Not to mention how much I love grey and this fit the bill!

These sippy cups are awesome. They have a great valve to help prevent leaking (except when your babe chews on them. You can buy just the spouts but I find the whole thing so much cheaper at TJ 
 or Marshalls. 

Books. Lu loves books. Dear Zoo is so much fun because it has flaps in it and she has so much fun participating in reading. Most of her books are at her level for easy access and she will disappear into her room for at least 10 minutes to "read" all by herself. 

Moccs are hands down my favorite shoe for her. They come in all sorts of colors which are a great accessory, they're super easy to take on and off (but stay put) and protect her feet when we are out and about. They also mimic bare feet which is the ideal way for new walkers to learn - they really learn to balance so much better with bare feet. 

What are some of your favorites for this age?

♥ Ashley

Weekending on the Farm

We had a great weekend on the Farm. We got some much needed chores and improvements completed. 

Girlfriend got the hookup from her Nanny and Papa this week with getting her ready for the cold winter months ahead. I feel so much better letting her run around outside on the farm now knowing that she is warm!

On Saturday we got up early and had coffee on the couch together. Then I got ready to head out to a junk show with my MIL but before we could meet up I dropped my car off to get new tires. The junk show had a lot of really cool things but I didn't buy anything - is it just me or are prices inflating?

After the junk show my MIL dropped me off to pick up my car and I drove it home (and it wobbled several times on the trip...not good). 

It's been freezing overnight here and we finally decided that after 4 years we would get a water heater for the chickens so we won't have to go out and de-ice everyday. 

I called around to all the local farm stores and found the best deal. One store was $20 higher than the rest!!! I don't know why we haven't got one of these before, but now it's a huge relief. Speaking of the chickens. When we built their coop a few years ago we fully encased it in hardware cloth to keep out vermin. Well I guess over the years we got a gap in the door and they found their way in a couple weeks ago. We've set traps but no luck, so we finally fixed the hole and haven't seen them. 

We finally put a new draft stopper/weather strip on our front door. Something that's been on our to do list for far too long. Gone are the days of laying a towel against the door to keep the draft out and up went our heating efficiency!! We also installed them on the door into our laundry room and then out to garage so hopefully that will keep us a little warmer this winter!!

Oh and about my car. We took it back in this evening and turns out the tie-rod is shot! We got a great discount on the repair since the guy who "cashed me out" on Saturday failed to inform me of the safety issue. So we are getting that fixed too. 

♥ Ashley