Catching Up and Calming Down

So, it's been almost a month since my last post.....something that hasn't happened in the 1 1/2 years that this blog has existed. It's been quite a crazy couple of months for our family. Since getting back from our trip to Lancaster County, PA in early October we've had: another trip for Chrissy and the kids to NJ, a cold/sickness that's been hanging around strong for almost a month, and a freak early-season snowstorm that knocked out power to us for 4 days (and others in our area for over a week). It's been challenging enough to keep our collective heads above water, never mind trying to keep a blog going....but I'm back on the train starting right now...as this Winter season comes on us...it's a time for our family to slow down, to reconnect and to prepare for the coming year.
In my last post, we talked about getting ready for our "Light The Night" family Halloween outreach....well...that never happened, because on October 30, our area was blanketed under 6 inches of the heaviest, wettest snow you have ever seen, leaving us and thousands of others without power. Thankfully we were prepared and able to stay calm, warm, and fed thanks to our wood burning stove, propane oven, and gas-powered generator. Our town had postponed trick-or-treating to almost a week later, on the following Friday....but Chrissy and the kids would be in New Jersey at that time celebrating our Niece Brenna's 16th birthday and out nephew's 5th birthday....so we gave all our candy to the local relief shelter to share with the kids who were staying there with their families to weather the storm. We did still manage to get the kids dressed in their costumes, if only to visit one of our neighborsm who we are very close with, to get a treat amidst the snowstorm:
Our Little Farmers.

Tonight's post is going to be a quick one....but I'm committing to getting back into a regular rhythm. within the next few days, posts will be up on:
- Home-made laundry soap recipe and process: I've got several requests from friends on how to make this stuff.....long story short: We've been making our own laundry soap for years based on a recipe that I found online (which I've made several changes to).. The stuff works better than Tide, is all natural, and costs less than 3% of anything you'd buy in a store.
- A Leo Family Thanksgiving (featuring another year with my wonderful 90 year old grandmother at our table:^)
- The Leo family coat drive.

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving....we'll be in touch.

The Leo's


- Our backyard, 10/30/11....crazy.