Merry Christmas from the Hen House

Here is copy of the Christmas letter I sent out this year. It has been slightly revised for web use. I hope you all enjoy it.




Saints before the alter bending, Watching long in hope and fear, Suddenly the Lord, descending, In His temple shall appear. Come and worship, come and worship, Worship Christ, the new born King. LSB Hymn367
May we all find peace in the body and blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
The Hen house was full of activity and wonder this past year. I do not know if it could be another way. This year I let each of the children write what they wanted me to tell everyone about them so here it goes.
Chick #1 turned *ten* on October 29th she also got two trophies this past year in 4-H. One was in the speech contest and the other was for decorating and sewing a skirt. She was very proud of that. She also did softball and this time she got to pitch a few times.
Chick #2 did the goat show in the county fair this year. He is now playing basketball. It is a little harder than he thought. He had a lot fun playing baseball this summer. His home run was a hit for his family and the team. He is now a very wonderful 8 year old who loves to help out with Chick #4.
Chick #3 got a blue ribbon at the county fair. She got the ribbon for her pen holder that she made. She was suppose to use it for pens but now she uses it for ribbons. She is also in dance class on Saturdays and she is five years old. This past summer she went to swimming lessons and passed to level two.
Chick #4 is now two years old. This past year he learned how to use the potty chair. He also sleeps in a big bed and no longer uses his crib. He likes to try and do everything that his big brother does. His favorite thing in the world is milk.
The Rooster is the ever faithful husband who is willing to support me with all my new ideas. He stood by me while I ran miles and miles to complete a
half marathon. He is also very willing to watch the children while I sing with the choir.
I am forever in love with him and support him while he puts in extra hours in at work. I sit in the pew with the children while he helps during church services with his elder duties. We are very happy and love the vocation that God has given us.
Finally, The ugly duckling, our dog has grown up but he is still very much a puppy. He loves to tease the kids and get things he is not suppose to have. Here is small list of the this he has tasted this past year; a life jacket, a shoe, a shirt, a garden hose, a sprinkler, a lawn chair, oh and another lawn chair, rocks, sticks, bug spray, blankets, a veggie tale pirate, green army guys, matchbox cars.... You get my drift right? May the peace of God be with you through this next year.

Whack!

Just so every one knows that little chick #4 is completely fine I am posting this picture of him. He can not make snowballs so he grabs a stick and starts whacking.

Chick #1 was defending herself with the snow shovel. Who do you think could be doing all of this attacking?
Yep! Chick #2, the oldest boy, was after just about anyone. Well actually I kind of started the whole fight when I wanted a break from shoveling. I got this boy, smack, right in the middle of his back and he loved it!

Chick #3 just looks cold and all she wanted to do was make "butt prints" her words not mine.

Almost time

It seems as though Christmas is just about here. I have mailed the packages, wrapped the little chick's gifts, wrapped the Rooster's gift, and baked more than I care to mention. We have enjoyed time with friends and advent church services. Today we had one of our Sunday School practices for the Christmas eve service. At the first practice everyone is pulling out their hair wondering how it will ever come together. God never fails to calm our nerves the weekend before Christmas. Today the children sang well and sat still. It is always sad for me to see the bigger kids singing in their last Christmas program. Fourteen years ago I taught one little boy in the nursery class and he would hug me every Sunday after church. Now, this same boy is 14 and he towers over me. Instead of hugs he teases me but always tries hard to do as I ask. It only reminds all to well that my own little chicks are growing way to fast the oldest will only be in 4 more Christmas programs. I have taken some beautiful pictures of cookies that I have baked. So please be careful and do not drool on to your keyboards.

Chocolate Crinkle

Coconut Macaroons

Spritz

Chocolate Butterscotch the most favorite cookie of the Rooster.

Staples Gone!

This was no small task. The poor little chick, he went through more today than any little two year old boy should. The removal of staples in a wound is usually a very simple procedure but not today. It seemed that the staples were not put in correctly. I thought it was strange that I could hardly see them, but I also thought it had just scabbed over them. The doctor tried to take them out but one of them was in the wound and had healed into the skin. Yes! It was as bad as that sounded. Chick #4 cried so hard that he broke some capillaries around his right eye. I could not hold him alone so a nurse came to help and then another came. He is a strong little guy. The doctor than tried to numb it up a little and Chick #4 let out a wail again. He than said that they would sedate him a little and numb it so they could do surgery to get it. Now this was not full blown surgery, they just had to make a small cut to get the second staple out. (By the way, the first needed to be taken out also.) Then it was on to the hospital part and out of the clinic area. Little chick #4 had to drink a little tiny cup of juice that had the sedative in it. The nurse was impatient, but with a two year old, you have to let them drink it at the own pace. I could not pour it down his throat. Then I sat in a room with him till he got a little loopy. I could tell the meds started to work because he said he could not see the TV and his speech was slurring. I then carried him to the room where they would take the staples out. The nurse wrapped him, tightly, in a blanket. He thought he was just getting all comfy cozy for a nap. Then nurse firmly held his head and I held everything else. Then the nurse told me, "Now get ready because he is going to bust loose." WOW! He screamed and writhed even though they had given him drugs. The doctor felt so bad that this cute little boy had to go through all of that. In the end they did get the two little staples out and it looks just as bad as it did last Saturday. I should have just kept him at home and let God heal it in his own way. From now on I will not run my children down to the little hospital and I will go with my mama gut feeling. He is all back to normal now and playing happily. At least the sedative they gave him made him forget a little of what happened. Let me add just one more thing. It is not easy carrying a woozy 40 pound two year old. During the worst of it I could not let him sit by himself. Chick #1 and #2 had to help support him while he was sitting in a chair so I could put my coat on. The other chicks were very brave during this. The nurse let them sit in a waiting room and watch TV while I took care of Chick #4. Chick #1 said that she almost started to cry when she heard him screaming. I wonder if he was heard through the whole hospital. He started out being so brave but once they started digging in his head that quickly vanished. I do not blame him.

A.K.A. Staple Head

There was a little happening at the The Hen House today. While I was busy getting our lunch prepared and The Rooster was helping out in the dinning room, we heard a thump followed by a loud cry. This is never a welcomed sound in a house with four children. The Rooster was the first to swoop up little Chick #4. He was very scared, hurt and only wanted mommy. I held him tightly in my arms and whispered words of comfort into his ear. I then tried to look him over to find out what hurt so badly. There was drips of blood on his hair, and more was falling onto my hand. I told the Rooster what I noticed and he became a little shaken. Those people out there that know me already know that cuts makes me a little squeamish. The Rooster tried to see where the cut was and soon found that it was at the back of his head. Chick #4 calmed down very well and let us clean the cut and look at it. He had fallen out of a chair,, and hit his head on a corner on our computer desk that then caused a small puncture wound right smack in the back of his head. I called our pediatrician and asked the nurses if they thought a wound like that would need stitches. The nurse told me that it should be looked at but they could not get him in until 3:30. At that time it was 12:30 and I did not want to wait that long to have someone look at a head wound. It would also take about 40 minutes to drive into town to this office. Did I also mention that we had had an ice storm the night before so everything was very slippery. We decided to take the little chick to a small local hospital that is only about 20 minutes away. It is not a wonderful hospital but OK for very minor things like cuts that may or may not need stitches. All six of us piled into the suburban and arrived safely at our destination. Little Chick #4 was doing very well with the cut only slightly bleeding on the way to the hospital. After the nurse and the Doctor looked at it they thought it would be best if the cut had two staples put in it. Then it would heal much faster with out a lot of fuss. Quicker than a wink to staples were put in his head and all was better. Chick #4 took it a little personally that they hurt his head some more but he did not cry long and I got him to tell them "Thank you", in the end. Later on during the day while the chicks were playing at home, we kept hearing a door being slammed. Slamming doors in this house is against rules so The Rooster and I wanted to know who kept doing this. Chick #1 quickly piped up and said, "It was Staple Head!" Now how is that for a nickname.