Traditions

Traditions are an interesting thing to me. Everyone has some sort of tradition for something. It's different from family to family, culture to culture, and heritage to heritage. Come Christmas time, I always look forward to our family traditions, even though they are a little silly/different in comparison to most everyone else's.

Our first tradition starts on Christmas Eve; we will have made oodles of sugary treats during the day time, and then when dusk settles, we all gather in the living room and watch the Muppet's Christmas Carol and then commence to eating the afore mentioned edible goodies. I adore the Muppets Christmas Carol. Always a Dickens fan, I find it hysterical to see the Muppets doing this Classic tale. If you have yet to see this hilarious Christmas flick, you really should look it up. Take my word for it.

Our next traditions often cause some raised eyebrows from outsiders. On Christmas morning, we have a very special breakfast of - um - canned cinnamon rolls. Yep, you read that right. Those pre-made food items that come in a slender tube found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store, and have so many ingredients that you can't pronounce, that it fairly gives you a headache when you try. Those ones. Christmas morning is the only day that we have these, and frankly I like this tradition. It's not Christmas without those canned cinnamon rolls.

Our second, slightly horrifying, tradition is that we always have pizza for Christmas dinner. And that has to be store bought too. It can't be homemade, it has to be from the store. No turkey for us; no ham, no stuffing, no cranberry sauce, no nothing. You'll find us throwing a pizza in the oven as the day wanes. Our logic is simple: None of us want to be in the kitchen on Christmas day. We don't want to be fussing with the oven, or washing dishes. We do that every day. On Christmas, we want a break. So that's why we go for the canned cinnamon rolls and store bought pizza. Fast, easy, yummy. Perhaps we're barbaric, perhaps we just don't know how to appreciate the "real" Christmas experience as we throw the turkey out the window for a box of pizza, or perhaps we're slightly nuts. Whatever it is, so be it. It's not Christmas to me without my canned cinnamon rolls, pizza, and my Muppet's Christmas Carol movie.

I'm curious though, what are your Christmas traditions? Am I the only one who likes prepackaged foods and corny movies on Christmas?

Guess What I Got...

I'm sure you'll never guess. ;)

A rose colored Carhartt coat! I love it! :)

I also got my favorite movie of all time: Miss Potter

(it's an excellent movie, if you have yet to see it!)

What fun things did you get for Christmas? :)

Tomorrow

I hope y'all are having a wonderful day today!!

 Alas, we decided to celebrate Christmas on the 26th this year, since my older brother and his fiance both have to work today. [sad face] But their work shifts end tomorrow morning (both work at a Rural/Metro fire dept.), so we will all get together then and have a grand celebration! So today feels more like Christmas Eve to me... Everyone at church was saying "Merry Christmas!" but it didn't feel like Christmas to me. That's tomorrow. So today feels like an average day. We had pizza for lunch; a quirky holiday tradition we started about five years ago. I don't even remember why we started that, but we don't have ham or turkey for Christmas, we have pizza and whatever goodies we made the day before. Oh and let's not forget the the cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Mmmm. Now, I'm all for healthy eating, and homemade foods, but at Christmas time, I chuck every single one of those rules out the window for the entire day. I will eat healthy for 364 days of the year. Grant me ONE day where I can eat junk food. So our cinnamon rolls are the store bought kind that come in a can. I can't even say half of the ingredients listed on there, and I know its history of its making. But boy do they taste good... ;) And the pizza is from Costo. Hehe. But by the time Christmas is over, I'm ready to go back to homemade foods and my veggies. I think a small bit of junk food is good for everyone. Makes you appreciate the good stuff all the more.

The goats are all outside enjoying their own Christmas. Freshly cut pine branches, molasses water, and some small toys I gave them which consist of a straw bale for their jumping/scrambling/rubbing enjoyment, and a big yellow ball. Poppet adores that ball (it stands taller than her!), and pushes it around the pen in glee. They are such content creatures... A straw bale and  a yellow ball... They are so delighted with these small tokens! An online friend of mine gave her goats a Christmas tree of their own, but she used peanut butter to "glue" candy canes and animal crackers onto the branches. Ingenious!!! Made me wish I had a tree I could give my goats! LOL.

I've been watching some 'Victorian Farm' episodes this afternoon. A nice way, really, to spend a quiet Sunday. These are absolutely delightful to watch!! I love them! I want to live the way they do so badly that it aches... But it is very enjoyable getting to watch these and learn from them. :) 

Again, I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!! You probably won't hear from me again until Tuesday! :)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! 

I've spent the majority of my day listening to this song. Good King Wenceslas, by Loreena McKennit. :)

Guardians of the Winter Home

"Don't be afraid. My beard is long, my head is large, my look is grim, but that matters not. I won't bite you. In spite of my big mouth and grim appearance, I look with my heart for your happiness." 

~Steinbach Nutcracker history~

If there is one thing in life that I love collecting, it's nutcrackers. 

We have somewhere around 37 or 38 nutcrackers right now; all ranging from 3 inches to 18 inches. Soldiers to bakers. Snowmen to Spaniards with guitars. Moose to US Marines. Seamstresses to Hockey players. Policemen to penguins. 

They stand guard in the house, baring their teeth at strangers and grimly keeping their post. Well, now that I think about it, the penguin nutcracker might be smiling... Hmm, I'll have to go have a chat with him about that later. But setting out the nutcrackers is my favorite part of Christmas. It's like seeing old friends as we unwrap their wooden faces from the newspaper that has protected them for the last eleven months. 

Their wood is cold as we fish them out from the Christmas box... They've been hibernating in the shop since last December. They smell faintly of dampness, but it wears off as they warm up inside. We discuss where to put each one, so that it can show off it's uniqueness to its best advantage. The candy striped baker somehow ends up standing next to the camouflage Army soldier, the penguin is next to the cowboy. The Spaniard strums his instrument next to the drummers, and the seamstress smiles next to the snowman. 

Each year, we try to add two or three new nutcrackers to the growing collection. This is no ordinary search, though. It's a hunt. Not just any nutcracker will do; it has to be the most unique one we can find that year. Something needs to make it stand out from the rest of his nutcracking mates before we will consider him. We scour the local shops, finding the perfect "him", and oh the glory when we succeed in our quest! Our newest addition is carefully brought home, and then proudly displayed with the rest.

Yet another guardian of the winter home.

Best Places to Hide Christmas Presents

Christmas is almost here! But where to hide those presents so no one finds them?!?! Here are a few places that should work, should you need some ideas...

1. In the oven. But please remember to take the gift our before baking!

2. Up the chimney. This is an especially good spot if you don't mind a bit of soot on the wrapping paper...

3. Inside the turkey. C'mon, who on earth would think to look for their present inside the Christmas turkey!?

4. Underneath the cat. You can't go wrong on this one.

5. On top of the mantle. No one looks there because it's too easy.

6. Underneath the car hood. Excellent spot, that one is... Guys, this is probably the best place to hide gifts for the gal in your life! She'll never look there! 

7. Inside the piano. See? Those monstrous instruments do have a use!

8. Inside a tissue box. Genius... Pure genius...

9. In the animal's feed bin. Who wouldn't love a gift that smells faintly of grain, and has a slight tack from molasses?

10. In the lawnmower bag. I think this is your best bet if secrecy is vital.

11. Glued to the bottom of a dining room chair. You might try the guerrilla glue... Super glue has a tendency to stop working at odd moments. 

And Number 12. Beneath the Christmas tree. Because, after all, who on earth would look there for a hidden present...? 

Today's The Day!

Happy Thanksgiving from Goat Song Farm!!!

Yeah, that's how good of a mood I'm in right now. You actually get to see a mug shot of your elusive author here at 'To Sing With Goats'! LOL. I'm camera shy, what can I say??

Pictures aside, today's the day!!! We smoked our turkey last night (oh dearie me... I do enjoy smoked meats...), and it will find its way to the oven in a few hours to finish cooking. Cornbread is on the verge of being made for our special cornbread stuffing/dressing (call it what you want), and I do believe there is a pumpkin pie awaiting forks in the fridge. This place will soon be hopping, as we clean, cook, and decorate before guests come (hehe, in this family, we procrastinate and everything gets done the day of). Delicious morsels of food will be set on the counter, just begging for some underhanded snitching, and who would I be to refuse such a tantalizing offer? LOL. I'll try not to take too much. 

The goats are outside now, munching on some broken up pumpkin that I gave them as a special, holiday treat, and the rabbits are contentedly chewing on hay. They declined the offer of Thanksgiving festivities. 

I hope y'all have a great day today! 'Tis a day to look back and really remember what we're thankful for. Our nation ain't perfect by a long shot, but we are blessed nevertheless. Let's celebrate.

What Everyone Else Has Already Said

But I'll say it here anyway: Happy Thanksgiving!!