Tap..tap.. tap... Hello? Is this thing on?

I've been a bit... lax. Some might even say lazy. A totally irresponsible blogger. Ok. Fine. You're right. I have been downright irresponsible. I will try to make amends.

Granted, it's not all my fault...well, it is... because it's my blog, but we've had a big change in lifestyle. We're no longer expats. We're repats. Repatriotates. Is that a word? It should be. It is now, and it's appropriate. It's based on real language, but does not quite fit, which is often how I feel even though we've been back in the US for nearly three years now. Maryland is truly beginning to feel like home to me, but at times, I still feel like an alien, and that is very distracting.

Oh well... it just needs more time, and time is something I've got. 

So, let me catch you up! 

Ha! Yeah... right... Not happening... 

Sorry. I'm about two years out of date and catching up isn't going to happen. Instead, I think I shall just blog about random stuff and if flashbacks and stories happen, then good. If not, then there will be new stuff and new photos. I will, at least, try to post new and old photos with each blog, but I'm not promising that there will be any pattern or logic to it.  

What's up with me? Well, today is better than yesterday. Yesterday, my back hurt a lot, it was hot, I could not get much done (because of the stupid back) and there was a dead raccoon in the yard. By afternoon, though I started to feel a bit better, it cooled down, and I was finally able to let go of the frustration of not being very mobile. A good attitude goes a long way and that's really all that changed from morning to afternoon... my perky positivity was simply a little slow to get started yesterday. I recall exactly when it kicked in too. Honor had had a friend stay over last night and the friend's mom had just come to pick her up. I was outside trying to reach the hose to clean the chickens' watering can. (My back is being stupid, but I can still do some small things) As our friend was driving down the driveway, she stopped due to problems with her emergency brake. About this time, another friend, a neighbor, showed up with her hayfork to collect the dead raccoon (for an autopsy) which just happened to be only a few feet away from where the car was stuck. I hobbled down the hill to go check in with both of them, and they were both concerned about me and seeing me on a cane.  That three-way conversation, about the cane, the car, and the dead raccoon was so perfectly absurd! How could I stay in a grouchy mood? It was a reminder that even when life gets a bit... weird... it is what it is. It is what we make of it. My neighbor was cool and helped with the dead animal, my friend got her car fixed, and my back will get better. Life is good. 

One nice thing about being forced to be careful with my back, ie. stay out of trouble in the yard and/or workshop, is that I didn't have to feel guilty about staying inside and working on the computer. I spent hours digging through Ancestry.com and working on my family tree yesterday. I was fine-tuning some work on one branch on my father's side of the family connected to settlers who came to the US in 1634 and settled in Massachusetts.

This guy is my 9th Great Grandfather - Rowland Stebbins:

"Rowland Stebbins - Sarah Whiting

· 23 March 2014 ·

Rowland Stebbins was born in 1592 at Stebbing (English parish-Bocking), Essex County, England, of a "family of great antiquity." He was baptized on November 5, 1592 at St. Mary’s Church in Bocking. He was the son of Thomas Stebbins. He married Sarah Whiting in Bocking on November 30, 1618. In 1634, with his wife and four children (Thomas-14, Sarah-11, Elizabeth-6, and John-8) and a Mary Winch (possibly a niece), Rowland Stebbins sailed in the ship "Francis" from Ipswich, England to the Colonies.

Because of his parentage. Rowland was considered a "person of quality." He is included in "Tile Original Lists of Persons of Quality" (Hotten's List of Emigrants) . The Stebbinses sailed from Ipswich as the nearest major seaport. Coming to the New World would have been an adventurous but not unusual undertaking in 1634. Although the Pilgrims had landed at at Plymouth Rock only 14 years earlier, emigration to Massachusetts was already booming. From 1629 to 1640 nearly 10,000 people were transplanted into the colony.

Because of his parentage. Rowland was considered a "person of quality." He is included in "Tile Original Lists of Persons of Quality" (Hotten's List of Emigrants) . The Stebbinses sailed from Ipswich as the nearest major seaport. Coming to the New World would have been an adventurous but not unusual undertaking in 1634. Although the Pilgrims had landed at at Plymouth Rock only 14 years earlier, emigration to Massachusetts was already booming. From 1629 to 1640 nearly 10,000 people were transplanted into the colony. Rowland Stebbins and his family first settled in Roxbury, Massachusetts. In 1635, he moved to Agawam, Massachusetts (afterward named Springfield), which was a colony founded by William Pyncheon. His wife, Sarah, died Oct. 4, 1649 at Springfield, Hamdon County, Massachusetts, aged 58 years.

Rowland is reported to have been assigned a sitting in the first seat of the church along with four other men. He was a freeman in 1664. Between 1664 and 1669, Rowland moved to Northampton, Massachusetts and was one of the first settlers there.

Rowland is reported to have been assigned a sitting in the first seat of the church along with four other men. He was a freeman in 1664. Between 1664 and 1669, Rowland moved to Northampton, Massachusetts and was one of the first settlers there.

Rowland was a surveyor. His skills would have been very much in demand during this period when dozens of towns and thousands of farms were being carved out of the wilderness. Indeed, he and his immediate children were involved in at least six new settlements ("developments," as we might call them): Roxbury, Springfield, Brimfield,

Longmeadow, Northhampton, and Deerfield. Twenty-four male petitioners founded Northampton in 1653. A 1661 church covenant shows seventy-five men and women in town. By 1674, Northampton held 108 men and the total town population stood at close to 500 persons.

Rowland Stebbins died Dec. 14, 1671 at Northampton. His burial place was found at Northampton in 1850 and marked. His will is recorded in the Will Book of Springfield, dated the first day of the first month of 1669-70."

Possible photo of an old portrait of Rowland...

 His gravestone...

I can't credit the author, for the story above, as s/he is not listed, but here is the original link. (I've copied this here as I don't want to lose the story in case the original poster removes it.)  https://familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/6010964

I was able to find Rowland Stebbin's name and family listed in Volume 1 of "The Great Migration begins - Immigrants to New England 1620-1633", information that was confirmed in other documentation, including FindaGrave.com and Ancestry. https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=20048398

Rowland Stebbin's descendents, children and grand-children, were present in Deerfield during the historic "massacre" that took place in 1704. Some were killed in the village. Others died or were killed along the route to Canada. My 6th Great-Grandmother, Thankful Stebbins, was 13yo at the time of the raid and was one of the 80+ captives to have survived the march to Canada. She was adopted (god-daughter) by the commander of the forces that attacked Deerfield, and she assimilated into society there and was eventually baptised as Therese Louise. At age 19, she married Adrien Charles LeGrain dit Lavelle. She was apparently well liked and respected by her community, and she and her husband had eleven surviving children.

"Thankful STEBBINS at age 13 was brought to Chambly after her capture, probably by one of the HERTEL brothers, and according to Coleman, Thankful lived at the Hertel manor at Chambly. Fournier says that shs was ransomed in 1706 by Hertel. Thankful was baptized 23 April 1707 at Chambly as Louise Therese STEBENE, the godparents were Zacharie-Francois HERTEL, Seigneur of Chambly and Madame de PERIGNY, wife of the commandant of Fort Chambly, Her baptismal record says erroneously that she was from "England". Thankful/Louise Therese was the godmother of Jean Baptiste DENOYON, son of her sister Abigail, In 1708 at Boucherville.
Thankful STEBBENS and Adrien LEGRAIN had a contract of marriage drawn up on 1 Feb 1711 at Notary Tailhandier. Thankful/Theresa Louise STEBENS and Adrien Charles GRAIN dit LAVALLEE were married 4 Feb 1711 at Ste Famille de Boucherville. Jacques DeNOYON was present at the wedding and quite likely Abigail STEBBENS. From her marriage with Adrien LEGRAIN, Thankful/Therese Louise STEBBENS had 13 children. The family lived in the parish of St Joseph de Chambly. Her death on 11 July 1729 at Chambly followed the birth of the least child about one week. The children of Thankful/Therese Louise STEBBINS and Adrien/Charles LEGRAIN were:Francoise-Therese, born 2 & bapt 3 Mar 1713 Chambly; Guillaume, born 28 & bapt 30 Dec 1714 Chambly; Marie-Jeanne, bapt 30 Aug 1716 Chambly; Marie, bapt 5 Feb 1718 Chambly; marr 7 Jan 1738 St Joseph de Chambly Jean-Francols BESSETTE; Marguerite, marr 27 Nov 1738 St Joseph de Chambly Joseph PEPIN dit LAFORCE.; marr 2nd on 8 Oct 1742 St Joseph de Chambly Michel LAGEU dit SANSCARTIER; Charlotte, bapt 6 Jan 1720 Chambly: marr Mar 1742 La Conception de la Pointe Olivier BAPTISTE VIEN: Isabelle/ELISABETH, born 17 Dec 1721 Chambly (mother called Louise THESMEN): as Elisabeth she marr 22 June 1741 La Conception de la Pointe Olivier JEAN BERTRAND; Judith, bapt 3 Jan 1722 Chambly: Antoine. bapt 1 Nov 1723 Chambly; Marie Therese, born & bapt 2 Feb 1725 Chambly (mother called Marie Therese LEBEAU); marr 23 Jan 1736 St Joseph de Chambly Jean Baptiste LARIVIERE; bur 21 July 1753 St Joseph de Chambly. Anonymous, born, bapt at home by "bonne femme" Bessette; died & bur 6 March 1726 Chambly. Charles-Antoine, born & bapt 2 June 1727 Chambly; marr Ist 31 Aug 1751 La Conception de la Pointe Olivier FRANCOISE BESSET; marr 2nd on 3 Nov 1756 Chambly Suzanne VALLIERE; Veronique. born & bapt 4 July 1729 Chambly; Some of the above children likely died in Chambly at a young age. Only 27 burials were listed in Chambly from 1701 to 1730."

I believe that most of the above came from "Baker, C. Alice True Stories of New England Captives 1897". I do not know if there are any other existing photos of Thankful Stebbins/Therese LaGrain, but in the 1880's, the author, Ms Baker, traveled to a burial ground at Fort Pontchartrain in Chambly and one of the few grave markers, slabs of oak, was for Therese.  

Bored yet? Hey, I find this stuff fascinating! One of Thankful's daughters, my 6th Great-Grandmother, married a man with the Pepin dit LaForce surname. He was only the second generation to use this name (my maiden name is LaForce) as his father was the one who adopted it. It's a French Canadian habit. Weird, I know. Anyway, before that, the family name was Pepin. I'd had some difficulty tracing this line of the family until I learned the secret of the 'dit's. 

Have I been up to anything else? Well yes, of course. I'm nearly finished writing a novel. I'm about 47 chapters in and it's looking pretty solid. I have other books outlined to follow it. To be honest, I really have no idea how to be an author, but I've been working on this concept and this world (it is fantasy/scifi) for years now. I've written short stories about it and have tried outlining a book about it before, but I never found the right story to tell with it. Just having this wonderful concept of a world, and a fairly well developed idea about characters, was not enough. I needed a story idea, one story idea(!), and I had to choose what perspective to tell it from. I think that I've finally figured that out. So far so good at any rate. Anyway, do I know what I'm doing? Will it be good enough to publish? Will I be able to figure all of that out in order to even try to get it published? I have no idea. I like it, what I have so far. It's working. I'm having fun with it. For now, that's plenty good enough for me. 

What else? It's summer break. The kids are out of school and we're staying busy. Brian has signed up for an art class through the county summer school program in order to fulfill a graduation requirement (one credit of fine arts). Taking the class in the summer will free up an hour during his schedule next year so that he can fit in another math or technology credit. Honor signed up for a volleyball class.  I don't have any pictures of Honor at volleyball. She's only had one meet so far. Brian seems to be enjoying his art class though. 

We had a friend of Honor's come down from Canada to visit for about ten days, and then Brad's brother Matt and his family came out and had a mini-vacation in the DC area. We did a bit of sightseeing with them, including a short tour of Gettysburg. 

The take-away from Gettysburg was, from Brian, that we needed to go back and do more as there was a lot to see and we'd barely scratched the surface. Honor was reminded of the open fields of green grass and stones from photos she's seen of Scotland. Now, she wants to go to Scotland.

Has this blog post been random enough for you yet? I hope so. I'm trying. And I will continue to try and write more often. No rules or promises! I'll wrap up by saying that my stupid back is less stupid today than yesterday, it's not as hot out today, and our yard is free of dead animals. Hopefully I will be able to go out and do some easy work this weekend. One day at a time. For the rest of today, I plan on taking it easy. Some indoor chores and laundry will be plenty, and maybe some more writing this evening. We've got a storm building up outside now, and I'm looking forward to the rain.

Love and hugs! - Connie

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 !!BONUS!!

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As I've been such a wayward and undependable blogger and have not posted in a very long time, I'll try to do a bit of random flashbacking on a regular basis to atone for my misdeeds (missed deeds?). 

Today is 14 July, 2017, so I'm bouncing back to share some of July 2004 when Brian was about 3yo and Honor was about 1.5yo.

Beanbags ... one of the best toys ever invented! You can sit in them too, or so I've heard. 

Brian taught his baby sister to take flying leaps off of a chair, landing in the beanbags. It was hilarious. A little nerve-wracking, but we survived. 

 

Fourth of July!

 Amazingly enough, I still have this laundry basket. Despite years of play and abuse and work, it's still alive. 

Brian went to a Montessori school and Honor loved to visit!

Playing in the wading pool, or, you know, not playing in the pool and choosing to sit on mom and dad and get us all wet too. 

Brian's first room. He helped choose the decoration. 

Honor with one of her favorite toys. 

 Brian in his favorite tree at our old Columbia house. 

Honor, NOT allowed in Brian's favorite tree... 

Remember the 2004 cicada invasion? We do!

Looking for cicadas. 

Modding Minecraft 1.6.4

For Honor and Carmen and anyone else who likes mods!

This is for modding Minecraft 1.6.4, but can also work for earlier versions of Minecraft 1.6 and may still work well for the newer 1.7 versions. However, a lot was changed with 1.7, and other large changes are in the works, so many modders are not updating their code yet.

1. Read this all the way through before starting any steps. I might jump around. Also, I am not a programmer/coder/expert, so please comment and ask questions or offer suggestions.

2. Create a folder to store stuff. For the sake of keeping my desktop clean, I have created a “Minecraft stuff” folder. I use it for downloads and copying my ‘saves’ folder (good to do before you start modding).

3. Make a copy of your saved games folder (saves)  now. If you have favorite worlds that you want to keep, otherwise don’t bother. Modding may not affect them, but it’s always better to be safe and take the time to do this. 

4. (ooh ..let’s back up…) How do you FIND your Minecraft files? You can search for .minecraft, but it’s handy to know how to get there manually too. Here’s how mine works, yours will likely be very similar:

WIN7 -  (OS)C: Users\Connie\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft
WinXP – (OS)C: Document and Settings\Connie\Application Data\.minecraft

5. FORGE – this is a tool that allows mods to work with the Minecraft game, so your first step will be installing this tool. Satscape, author of Sim-U-Kraft, has made a very clear and detailed video tutorial on this at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqzaj6en12E He also goes on to explain how to add his mod too, and talks about config files as well. Definitely a good one to watch. However, I prefer to add another step, that allows me to maintain different sets of mods in different profiles, before adding any mods.

Watch his video, and/or follow these steps to install Forge. It is an easy process!

• Download the latest version of Forge (or the version that matches the version of Minecraft and mods that you wish to use). Look for the recommended latest version. You will note that there are several download links. Choose “Installer”. It will bring you to an ad.fly page (this is how these coders get a little pay for the work they do). Don’t click on anything on the page… just wait five seconds, you’ll see it count down in the top right, and then you get a ‘Skip Ad’ yellow button. Click on that and a download should start.
• Go to your Downloads folder and find the Forge file. At this point, I make a copy of it to my “Minecraft Stuff” folder on my desktop. Right click on the file and “Open With” the “Java (TM) Platform SE Binary” option. This will bring up a Mod System Installer.
• Click OK. There isn’t much need to adjust anything else. After a few seconds, you should get another pop-up informing you of a successful install.
• Open Minecraft with the launcher. You should have a new profile named “Forge”. You may have to select it with the pull-down menu
• Hit the PLAY button to launch the game. You will notice that you now have a new button labeled “mods” and that there will be information in the lower left hand corner that will tell you how many mods are loaded. (I believe Forge shows as 3 mods).

That’s it. Forge is loaded. Now quit the game and we will get some mods!

5.5  What version of Minecraft do I need? You might notice that when you launch the game, the Launcher will often tell you what the updated version of Minecraft is. Currently we are at 1.7.4. Obviously, this changes. Which one do you want? For playing the 'vanilla' (no mods) game. Go ahead and update to the latest. Why not? But if you want to play mods, then you will need to match the version of Minecraft with the version of the mods that you want to add. For this, you can make a separate profile to run an older version of the base game, and this is what I'll show you now.

6. Making separate sets of mods – Mods really add a lot of fun to the basic Minecraft game, but there’s a problem. Not everyone will have the same mods installed, and not all mods function well with other mods. Sometimes they have to be separated so there will be no conflicts! A very easy way to manage this is to create separate profile folders for each set of mods that you want to use. For example, you may wish to have a basic profile, no mods, with the latest version of Minecraft. You might want to have a set of mods to match that of one of your friends’ sets of mods, say, only 5 mods, and ones that use Minecraft 1.6.2. And then, you also have your favorite mods that use Minecraft 1.6.4. How do you keep all that straight? Without having to move files in and out of the “mods” folder in your .minecraft file every time you want to play?

I’ll show you! Say that you want to load the three mods: Sim-U-Kraft, Mo’Creatures, and Treecapitator with Minecraft version 1.6.4  (technically, Mo’ Creatures is only updated to version 1.6.2, but luckily, it works!) We will make a new profile and do just that!

• Go to your .minecraft folder, right click, and add a new folder. Let’s name it “mods164”.
• Open your Minecraft launcher. With “Forge” profile selected, click (lower left) “New Profile”. A pop-up menu will appear.
• It should give “Copy of Forge” as the name. Rename it. It doesn’t have to match the folder you just created, but you should be able to connect them easily. So, name it “mods164” or “Mods 164 with SUK” or “164 plus three mods”, etc.
• Next, we’ll change the game directory to point at the new folder that we just created. As default, it should look like this: “C:\Users\Connie\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft  but we want to do our own thing, so change the “.minecraft” to “mods164”.
• In the Version Selection, you should see “release 1.6.4-Forge 9.11.1.953” (or whatever version number is the most recent). If not, scroll down and select the proper one.
• Save the new profile.
• Open the launcher, ensure that you select your new profile, and hit Play. Start a new game, and it should launch with the ‘mods’ button and the information about your loaded mods showing. At this point, the only mod that you have loaded is Forge.
• Close the game. We are now ready to load the three mods!

If you go to your .minecraft folder now and look inside the “mods164” folder, you’ll find that it is now loaded with it’s own sub-folders, “config” “saves” “mods” etc.

You can create many profile ‘copies’ like this, although you’ll probably only need a handful. You’ll just have to remember that, when installing your mods, rather than loading the mods into the “mods” folder under .minecraft\mods, you have to go one layer deeper and load them in .minecraft\mods164\mods.

7. Now for the fun stuff! Mods! It has become quite easy to add most mods. Some require that you unzip files. Some require other mods (dependencies) to help them function. For example, Treecapitator requires bspkrsCore. When you go to a modder’s website, you need to carefully read the site and find out about these requirements. Often they explain them well and give you a link to go get the latest version.

It also, while slow, makes good sense to add new mods one at a time. Opening the game and playing a little bit each time, to make sure each new addition works properly before adding the next.

I will walk you through three of our favorite mods in this post. I will try to add a list of other favorites later, as well as a tutorial on what to do if you ever get BlockID conflicts. (which is a common error to receive when combining multiple mods).

SIM-U-KRAFT – This is a mod that adds people to your game. From Satscape’s website:

“It extends and changes the Single player game-play by adding aspects of ‘Sim city’ and ‘The Sims’ to the game. As the player, you’ll employ “Sim-U-Folks” (NPCs) to do the following: Builder, Lumberjack, Miner, Wheat, Pumpkin, Melon, Potato, Carrot, Sugar cane, and Cactus Farmers, Baker, Soldier, Shepherd, Grocer, Courier, Builder’s merchant, Butcher, Pig farmer, Cattle farmer, Chicken farmer, Terraformer, Glass maker, Dairy farmer, Cheesemaker…more added with each update!”

I will direct you again to Satscape’s video tutorial for this! It is very helpful, but here are the basics:

• Go to the mod website: http://satscape.wordpress.com/sim-u-kraft/ Read on down the page to learn more about the game. Near the center of the page, you will see the requirement to load Forge. We’ve already done that!
• Next we will see “Recommended Version”. Click on the latest version to start the download. Satscape is currently using Mediafire to host his files. Click on the green download button. When the download is complete, copy it to your “Minecraft Stuff” folder.
• Double-click the folder to unzip it. Inside the unzipped folder, you will find a folder (Simukraft), a .zip file (should be the same name and version as the zipped file, but without UNZIP in front of it) and a Readme folder.
• Drag and drop (or copy and paste) the .zip file and the Simukraft folder into your “\mods164\mods” folder in .minecraft.

That’s all! Go play and try it out. When you start a new world, or open an existing world, it will ask you if you wish to run Sim-U-Kraft.

TREECAPITATOR – This is a small mod, but one of my favorites because it is convenient and adds more ‘realism’ to the game. In vanilla minecraft, you have to climb up a tree to chop it down block by block… what’s up with gravity?? With Treecapitator, you just have to chop the bottom tree block (more times than a single block.. a lot if it is a large tree) but the entire tree with come down in an exciting rain of logs, apples, and saplings!

• Go to the mod website - http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/1009577-164-daftpvfs-mods-treecapitator-ingameinfo-crystalwing-startinginv-floatingruins/ This author has a number of mods. Again, it pays to read the page.
• This mod requires an additional tool to run. Under “Downloads”, it the first thing you will come to “bspkrsCore”. As with most mods, it’s best to look for the “Latest version” or “recommended” links.
  
  It directs you to: “Drop the downloaded .zip file into the mods folder under .minecraft.” but we are using our \mods164\mods folder under .minecraft. It works the same.
• Next, go down to the Treecapitator section, read that, and download the Latest Release. NOTE: There are two latest releases, and you will see this with some mods. We do not use ModLoader. Always grab the Forge version.
• Drop this file into the \mods164\mods folder too.

Yep. You are done! Start your game and test it out. You should now have Forge,  Sim-U-Kraft and Treecapitator.

Mo’ CREATURES -  This is the one likely to cause trouble as it is a big mod and it, technically, is not the proper version. If you are running Minecraft 1.6.4, all of your mods, and their required (dependencies) mods, should also be 1.6.4. However, there is nothing wrong with trying older mods out to see if they might work anyway. If there has not been a huge change (1.6.2. to 1.6.4 is not major) then you might get lucky and it will work!

Mo’ Creatures is a mod that will add a lot of very cool animals to your game! Everything from insects to werewolves… most are harmless, but some will add a lot of danger to your survival skills too. Polar bears are NOT your friends!

• Go to the website and read. You’ll especially want to do this for Mo’Creatures as the website explains the animals that you will find.
• Download – Mo’ Creatures from here: http://www.minecraftprojects.net/mo-creatures-1-6-2 
• Download - GUI Api 0.15.7-1.6.2 from here: http://www.mediafire.com/download/7db3uy6h93dpvh8/GuiAPI-0.15.7-1.6.2.jar (make sure your file is downloaded as a .jar file, some browsers will add a .zip on the end. Erase that)
• Download - -CustomMobSpawner 2.3.1 from here: http://www.minecraftprojects.net/custom-mob-spawner-mod
• Drag and drop these files into your \mods164\mods folder. I would also suggest keeping a copy on your desktop “Minecraft stuff” folder.
• Play! When your game loads now, you should have Forge, Sim-U-Kraft, Treecapitator, and Mo’ Creatures loaded. (9 ‘mods’ total, counting dependencies – I think.)

You can go find more mods and add them in much the same way as I explained above. Make sure they are FORGE games, not ModLoader. If you have another mod that asks for the CustomMobSpawner, there is no need to add it again, as you’ve already got it for Mo’ Creatures. Same with bspkrsCore.

There is a very good list of mods with links, organized by Minecraft version, here:
http://modlist.mcf.li/version/1.6.4/

Have fun, and don’t forget to comment with suggestions and questions!

Christmas Fun 2012

We hope that all of our friends and family had a lovely and love filled Christmas day, and that you are all continuing to enjoy your winter break with friends and loved ones.

Our Christmas morning started with a wild slo-mo run to the tree… because slo-mo is more dramatic…

and the first prezzie was discovered. A poor orphaned fox cub who needed a new home.

And Ninja got to open the giant box of goodies that Aunt Nancy, Uncle Jim, and cousins Kira and Nick, sent to her.

She was very generous and shared some of the boxes inside with the kids. Thanks to you all :D !!

We haven’t tried the game you sent yet, it’s been raining!, but it looks like fun. <3 !! Although they did get the trucks out for a test drive.

 
And what about us? What do we get a kid who wants to know everything? Why, books, of course, including one that is supposed to be a Short History of Everything. (Looks interesting… I may read it too!)

Both kids got a ton of books, and Kindles too… books and more books! (ebooks are lighter to pack!) and we really are that desperate to keep Brian, in particular, in reading material! Honor still has Brian’s stash to go through…

Ninja liked the wrapping paper.

There was Minecraft loot. The favorite new tee? The Minecraft periodic table. Yea, this boy likes science!

Girls play Minecraft too!

(Sad Creeper just wants a hug)

New software for our little artist. Kid Pix is a program Honor learned about at school and she really has fun with it.

And speaking of being creative, we got a new Wii game that looked like a lot of fun – CREATE. Well, we’re hoping it is fun. It had good and bad reviews, so we’ll just have to see for ourselves.

Grandma and Grandpa sent a very interesting Lego set for Brian (which he is setting up right this very moment) Thank you!! :) !! We love and miss you very much!!
Oh, and what you can’t tell by this photo, is Honor is making off with the yummy homemade cinnamon popcorn that Aunt Christine and Uncle John sent. (she eventually let us have some too) We very much enjoyed reading all of the nice letters too!!

 

Brad and I got ourselves more practical things, like needed clothes and cookware, but one indulgence was a pair of fleece rugs for our room (this tile gets chilly!). Fleece is so warm soft!

How soft? The cats loved the rugs. LOVED them. Ninja loved them so much that she wanted to have both of them all to herself. It was really tough for one small cat to try and hog two large rugs, but she tried.

 

There was a whole bunch of goofing off too.

 

Honor had an argument with a parrot. I think she won, but I’m not sure.

 

And the kitties were not left out. I got them a toilet training set (not kidding, these guys are smart, I figure I’ll give it a try… ) Pixie did not seem impressed.

But they really loved the gift that Honor made for them. A box with holes in it and a treat hidden inside.

 

We spent our day goofing off, being lazy, playing games, and staying inside… it was wet all day! I made a slow roasted lamb shoulder that turned out perfectly! The meat was so tender that it just fell apart, and it was wonderfully tasty. Not a hint of gaminess. I served it with mint yogurt sauce, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, bread and green bean casserole. Pineapple upside-down cake for dessert. With plenty leftover too, so I don’t have to cook tonight – whoop! :) ! Speaking of which, I better go get stuff warmed up. Honor is putting another holiday movie in and we’re going to picnic around the tv.

Merry Christmas and Happiest of Holidays to everyone!