Who says you can't go home

Home is where the heart is...

This summer has been full of events that have made me think of "home."  And not just where I live today, but where my heart has been over the years.

The summer started with a major focus on 4-H at this pigpen.  Big Sissy is a 4th generation 4-Her as this was her second year of 4-H.  With our county fair the last week of June, Big Sissy spent the majority of her time the month of June working on her many 4-H projects.  As I've said before, 4-H has always played a big part in the lives of The Farmer and me and it is such a joy to watch Big Sissy love 4-H.  Now I'm not quite sure how we will make it when all 3 kids are in 4-H, but we will find a way just like The Farmer and I's moms did.

 



Any way, Big Sissy had a pretty amazing second year of 4-H that will continue into the State Fair next week.  I'm so glad that she is enjoying carrying on this tradition that was started many years before her and is even seeing some success in the show ring like my mom did many years ago which was  lot of fun as my mom and Aunt S were there to share in the fun that night along with The Farmer's parents and Uncle K. 

 



I even got to visit my "home" county fair this year.  This was my youngest cousin's last year of 4-H.  He was the last of my generation to finish 4-H in our county.  There had been someone in 4-H in my home county since I started 4-H more years ago than I'd like to admit... 1987.  That is a lot of years of family picnics, traditions, and fun at the fair.  Hopefully next year, my niece will start 4-H and start the tradition of the next generation of 4-Hers in my home county. 

Some things have changed but many have stayed the same including many of the faces.  It was great to visit my home fair even if I do like my own recipe for Beef and Noodles better than theirs now, but this is where my love of Beef and Noodles started. 

This past weekend I really did get to go to one of my past "homes." 

 



Several of my sorority sisters and I converged on Purdue University for the weekend to relive our college years.

 



It was amazing to see so many women that had an impact on my life and to visit one of the houses that really built me. 

So I don't know who says you can't go home, because I've been going "home" all summer long. 

And although this summer has gone by in the blink of an eye and isn't officially over, the start of school is coming sooner rather than later at this pigpen as Big Sissy and Bubby head back to school on July 31st.  This just may or may not be the same day Big Sissy's pigs and muffins go to the State Fair for judging later in the week.  (No pressure on The Farmer or I.)  That being said hopefully we can still squeeze in a few trips "home" either down memory lane or making new memories with what is left of the summer of 2013. 


Thanks to Indiana's Family of Farmers for getting me to return to my "home" of blogging.  Although this is a sponsored post as I'm a Table Talk Contributor this month for Indiana's Family of Farmers, my love of my "homes" and the traditions and recipes of them are all my own opinions and thoughts. That being said, be sure to check out Indiana's Family of Farmers on Facebook, Twitter, or their blog as they have a lot of fun stuff happening especially with the upcoming Indiana State Fair. 

5 Easter traditions from the pigpen

It is hard to believe that we are only a few weeks away from Easter.  Personally, it seems hard to believe that it is already the middle of March, let alone almost time for Easter.

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to attend Blissdom and visit with the awesome folks from Hershey's Bunny Trail.  In fact in a few days, a special Easter basket will be arriving filled with a few of this peigpen's favorite Hershey's Easter candies like Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs and Cadbury Creme Eggs and Mini Eggs.  Thanks Hershey!!

In anticipation of this special Easter basket, I thought I would share a few of our family's Easter traditions. 

In the afternoon on the Friday before Easter, Good Friday, the kids decorate Easter eggs with my mother-in-law. 

The kids look forward to this each year as my mother-in-law goes all out in making sure they each of plenty of eggs to decorate with all sorts of colors and such. 

This year will be Little Sissy's first year to color eggs and I can't wait to see the smiles on her face.

On the Saturday of Easter, my in-laws host our family Easter complete with an egg hunt for all of the grandkids.

This usually involves the whole family in some manner whether it be helping the kids or hiding the eggs.

I can't believe how much Little Sissy has changed in a year. 

On Easter morning, the kid wake up to find their Easter baskets have been filled by the Easter bunny.  

Big Sissy, Bubby, and Little Sissy each have their own unique Easter basket.  Thanks to an idea from a former co-worker, they each have the Longaberger Easter basket from the year of their first Easter.  I hope they will each treasure their special Easter basket as they get older and have a similar tradition with their own children. 

If you look closely, you will see Little Sissy's chocolate moustache thanks to the Easter bunny.

The biggest part of our Easter weekend is being able to attend mass to celebrate the reason for the season.  We don't often hear this saying during the Easter season, but it applies just like it does at Christmas.

 And my last tradition is one we also have at Christmas and was started by my mom... a new Easter outfit for each of the kids to wear on Easter morning.  However, I must admit I often space getting a picture of the kids in their special outfit so hopefully I will remember this year as I'm excited about their coordinating outfits.

This picture was taken on Mother's Day 2011 as I spaced taking the picture on Easter. 

What Easter traditions does your family have?

Back to reality with the end of 2011 and the start of 2012

Well as hard as it is to believe, the Christmas season has come and gone even though my Christmas tree is still in the process of coming down this weekend.  It wasn't my intent to stay away the last few weeks, but I was trying to balance being a working mom and spending as much time as possible with my kids as Big Sissy and Bubby don't go back to school until Monday.  I don't know if I succeeded really well with either one, but during my unintentional boycott of social media, I did have some great work appointments and some fun with the kids. 

So I thought I would just share some of the highlights...

Thanks to Pinterest and B. jane brewing and her Hot Moma Makeovers, Big Sissy made matching shirts for herself, Little Sissy, my mother-in-law, and Cousins L, B, A, and E. 

Big Sissy made some yummy cookies for Santa with some special Hershey kisses.

Little Sissy got to place Baby Jesus in the manger as Big Sissy read us The Christmas Story from the bible. 

The Farmer read "Twas the Night Before Christmas before the kids went to bed on Christmas Eve in their coordinating Christmas pajamas. 

My in-laws came over for our traditional Christmas breakfast on Christmas morning. 

Big Sissy went from this

to this after donating four 8 inch pony tails to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths program and a cute new haircut from Aunt L.

We rung in the New Year complete with a pork crown roast decorated by Big Sissy and a special 2012 cake made by my mother-in-law, Big Sissy, and Bubby. 

We saw Alvin and The Chipmunks:  Chipwrecked

and we cheered on the Lady Boilers to victory!

Now it is back to reality for all of us this week as Big Sissy and Bubby head to school on Monday and I have a lot of work travel to do during January and February that starts on Monday.  So as much as we love breaks from our normal schedule; hopefully, the return of our routine will bring some regularity to our lives. 

So what have you been up to while I've been away?

Christmas Tradition #7 from the pigpen

It's here.... well almost.  It is hard to believe that it is Christmas Eve.  I've said it numerous times already, but I absolutely love this time of year and our family has built many traditions over the years that make the Christmas season very special for us.  Today I will share tradition #7 and although I have more to share, they will have to wait until another year as I think it is appropriate to end with tradition #7 this year as it just might be my favorite.

When we decorate our house for Christmas soon after Thanksgiving, we love to set up our nativity as I'm sure many of you do.  The nativity itself is not the tradition, the tradition is when Baby Jesus and the 3 kings arrive.

Baby Jesus does not arrive in our manger scene  until Christmas Eve when we gather around as a family before going to bed to read the Christmas story from the bible.  So since Thanksgiving weekend, we have been patiently waiting for tonight when we can celebrate the birth of Jesus and the real reason for the season.

Our 3 kings have also been waiting patiently since Thanksgiving weekend.  You see they are making their journey to visit Baby Jesus on the Epiphany, January 6th.  January 6th is my mom's birthday so growing up we always made a big deal of the 3 kings arrival on the 6th.  So until they arrive on Epiphany, our 3 kings are "traveling" to our manger.

Merry Christmas to you and your family!!!!!

Christmas Tradition #6 from the pigpen

I started sending Christmas cards after I graduated college.  After we had Big Sissy, we included a photo with our Christmas card or sent a photo card of the kids.  5 years ago we started the tradition of taking our annual Christmas card photo with the kids thanks to a suggestion from Ice Tea.  This year, Big Sissy, Bubby, and Little Sissy all wanted to old a pig so we were quite literally 3 kids and lots of pigs.

I thought I'd share some of our outtakes  as there are a lot of them because if taking a picture with 3 kids isn't hard enough only someone like me would add not one, but three live pigs to the mix.  As usual, after about 20 pictures, we ended up using the very first picture I took for our Christmas card thanks to closed eyes, moving and/or non-smiling kids, moving pigs, hair in the eyes, and operator error to name a few.

So with no further ado, here are some of our outtakes:

What do you do for your Christmas card picture?

Christmas Tradition #5 from the pigpen

I can't believe we are less than a week away from Christmas.  I have so much to do this week between work and kids' school stuff (they don't get out until Friday at 1pm) that I can't hardly even think about it or I'm easily distracted as I love this time of year.

Any way, I don't know if my mom started this tradition or if it was started before her, but she always made sure we had a brand new outfit to wear for Christmas.  We would always wear this outfit for our annual Christmas picture (I'm the oldest of 4), to church for Christmas Eve, and anywhere else she wanted like the Christmas circuit.  I have fond memories of my Christmas dresses over the years even if there was a point that I was tired of color coordinating with my siblings.  (As a parent, I 100% understand why she did this.)

Since I had fond memories of this tradition, it is one that I have continued with my own children.  Each year since Big Sissy was born, I have made sure that the kids had a new Christmas outfit to wear for church on Christmas Eve and for our annual Christmas picture.

Last night one of our great friends who is also an amazing photographer took the kids Christmas pictures and although I haven't seen all of the proofs, I'm more than pleased with the few I have seen as she shared a few on Facebook so be sure to head over to my fan page to check it out.

Did you get a new outfit for Christmas as a kid?  Do you still today?

Christmas Tradition #4 from the pigpen

I realize this may be hard for you to even imagine as it seems a bit surreal to even talk about now, but I used to go on the Christmas program circuit ever year... at least that is what I called it.

You see my grandparents belonged to several different organizations that had a Christmas party every year.  I'm not quite sure how it all started, but from a young age I would go to the different Christmas parties with my grandparents and perform as part of the entertainment.  I'm not saying I was talented, but the price was right... I was free.

In the beginning, I would sing a selection of Christmas songs.  One year I even sang The Friendly Beasts complete with hand puppets for each of the different animals in the stable.  (This really is an amazing Christmas song that Garth Brooks actually cut for his Christmas CD.)  As I learned how to play the piano, I would take my electric keyboard to play for them in addition to singing and eventually moved on to playing the flute.

Really though I have great memories of doing this as a child and often wondered if I would ever be able to recreate it for my children.  Well last year, it all came together.

You see I belong to a local club of Extension Homemakers  with my mother-in-law (my grandma belonged to this as well) and last year I started a new tradition of hosting our Christmas party at the pigpen.

After a yummy meal, if I do say so myself, provided by my mother-in-law and myself, all of the children of the club members (well at least the daughters) entertain us by singing Christmas songs while Big Sissy accompanies them on the piano often with assistance of my mother-in-law.  This party really is a lot of fun and something all of our members look forward to each year as our members range from 30 something to 80+ in age.

It is a long story as to why my mother-in-law is wearing a paper crown, but she is the queen of our family.

And ultimately, I'm really honored to be able to share the tradition of the "Christmas Circuit" with my children even if their circuit currently only has one stop.

Christmas Tradition #3 from the pigpen

Even though I'm already talking about Christmas tradition #3, I can't believe tomorrow will be December 1st.   How is it possible that we are 25 days from Christmas?

Any way, Christmas tradition #3 is decorating the Christmas tree.

The Farmer and I both grew up in houses with a live tree and we had a live tree the first couple of years of our marriage.  In fact, I can remember bundling up Big Sissy for her first trip to the Christmas tree farm when she was only over a month old.  However, we lived in a very small rental house the first three years of her life and once she was able to walk, we had a very tiny space for a tree.  So we went the pre-lit artificial route that year and havent' looked back until this year.

This pigpen's tradition is to start decorating our house and Christmas tree the Sunday after Thanksgiving when we get back from visiting my family for the Thanksgiving weekend.  Everything was going as planned this year until I got the tree out of the box and all set up.

After plugging in the tree, this is what I got....

a partially lit up tree.

Now this is not the first time I have had this problem.  Two years ago, none of the lights came on, but after shaking it quite hard for quite some time all of the lights came on and down the road we went.  Last year when I first plugged it in, the entire middle section of lights did not come on so I added a strand of lights and we were back in business.  So this year when only part of lights came on, I was slightly depressed.

I shook the tree.  I unplugged and replugged in the tree several times with no luck.

I wondered if this was a sign that we should go back to a real tree.

I decided to wait to talk to The Farmer before making any decisions and I'm glad I did.

After some discussion, we decided to get a new pre-lit artificial tree and since The Farmer gave me the go ahead I went ahead an ordered a new tree on Sunday night from Home Depot.  (We ordered from Home Depot as we had a store credit to use and liked their online selection.)

When I ordered the tree, they said it would take 3-5 days for shipping after 1-3 days of processing.  Well much to my excitement, the box was sitting by the door when I arrived home tonight.

Now I just have to find time to decorate the tree.

Are you a real tree or artificial tree family?

Christmas Tradition #2 from the pigpen

It is no secret that we love to bake at this pigpen when we can find the time.  As if the Christmas season wasn't already busy enough, we try squeeze in lots of baking in the coming month.  From puppy chow AKA reindeer chow to peanut butter balls, we love to bake during the Christmas season.

This is a tradition I picked up from my amazing mother-in-law.  Usually during the month of November and December, she bakes up a storm of Christmas cookies that we then share with family and friends in addition to our family farm's landlords.  (We rent some of our farm ground from local land owners that don't farm themselves, but want to keep their land in production agriculture.  This arrangement is really a win-win for all as it allows them to retain ownership of their farm ground without having to farm it themselves and it allows us to farm more ground without having to own it all.)

My mother-in-law usually makes around 10 different kinds of cookies.  Many are the same cookies she made the year before, but each year we do try to find a new recipe.  This is one reason why I was so excited to be a part of The Real Farmwives and Friends In the Cookie Kitchen partnership with Gooseberry Patch as it allowed me try out a new recipe, Graham No-Bake Cookies.

Big Sissy gave them a big thumb's up!

After all the cookies are made, we package them up in cute containers and then deliver them around the countryside.  This is a really fun family tradition and one that I'm glad my mother-in-law shares with me and the kids.

So Christmas Tradition #2 is baking Christmas cookies for our family, friends, and landlords.

What is your favorite Christmas cookie?