A Whole Month of Thankfulness

Here it is the very last day of November.  A whole month of awesomeness and appreciation and gratitude and thankfulness has gone by. I have loved every single day but I have to say Thanksgiving weekend was by far my favorite.  I have laughed with my family until I was crying so hard from laughing hysterically that we were all rolling on the floor.  I have laughed so hard this week, my face is etched in a permanent smile of happiness.  Tonight Mr. Yesteryear Acres and our family spent one last moment of togetherness and celebrated the holiday season with some Christmas lights.

Of course the doodle doggies had to come too!

They got lots and lots of hugs from people enjoying the festive lights

It is a rare event for us all to be together!

My sweet lovable younger daughter 

My 2nd Lt Marine daughter 

My awesome son

Look!  It's SANTA!

The lights were beautiful

We like the twinkle ones the best

Statues in the park

My sweet Mr. Yesteryear Acres and Olive the Other Reindeer

Awwwww - siblings and their doodle doggies!

My very own statues

I love my family

Happy Last Day of November!

Turkey Smorgasbord of Goodness

What is better than Thanksgiving Day Dinner? The day AFTER Thanksgiving Day dinner! Oh my! The Thanksgiving leftover feast for lunch was epic.  It was a smorgasbord of deliciousness.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres had a big bowl layered with everything.  I think we love Thanksgiving Leftovers more than anybody.  Last night I put the turkey carcass in a big stockpot and it simmered all night long.  I strained the turkey stock this morning and now it is cooling.  Tomorrow morning I will remove the fat layer and then tomorrow night.......Turkey Dumpling Soup! I cannot wait! My mouth is already watering just thinking about it.  I hope to make the Thanksgiving feast last all weekend long.  I need to get my fill or else I may not make it until Christmas Eve when once again, I will be smelling the heavenly aroma of the turkey in the oven, beckoning me to turn the leftovers into a Turkey smorgasbord of goodness. I am officially in Turkey Heaven!

House Full of People I Love - Ultimate Thankfulness

Happy Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is without a doubt, my favorite holiday. A whole day devoted to giving thanks. To sharing a delicious feast. To appreciating the joys and blessing bestowed upon you.  I love Thanksgiving.  I love the turkey. I love the stuffing.  I love the pies and mashed potatoes and cranberry salad and gravy and ALLLLLLLLLLLL the trimmings.  It is a feast of feasts. It is a day full of happiness and love and family. To me, there is no greater thankfulness than the thankfulness I feel when surrounded by my family. My family is my greatest blessing, my greatest joy and my greatest fulfillment. As long as I have my family, I have everything I could ever want or need in this life. My family gives my life meaning and brings light and joy and love into my heart every single day. My family is what I am most thankful for.  So today - I hope you feel the same thankfulness that I do. I hope you feel surrounded  by happiness and love and thankfulness. I hope your day is full of feasting and family.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

And Thank You for a House Full of People I Love......Amen.

MAGIC - Thankfulness Day 27

It's the day before Thanksgiving and all through the house..........ACK!  I have 26 people coming for dinner tomorrow. My list of things to do is a mile long but even more distressing is the list for Mr. Yesteryear Acres is TWO miles long.  TWO!  He has so much to get done before tomorrow.  Am I panicked? Of course not.  I am going to hold on to the hope for the power of MAGIC!  I am going to be thankful for everything MAGICALLY getting done.  Can I walk in my dining room right now? Of course not!  Mr. Yesteryear Acres has chosen this morning to finally go through his boxes of receipts and "PLEASE don't touch this very important pile of who knows what" that have been multiplying in the corners of our dining room. Our dining room has become increasingly smaller as Mr. Yesteryear Acres loves to make piles of "he will get through that tomorrow" and of course - tomorrow is ALWAYS a day away.  Well Thanksgiving is a day away! Last night as a mild panic set in - this is what I saw when I walked into the living room

Ummmmm. Does this look like a man that is busy putting away the air-conditioning units that are sitting by the steps to go up into the attic? I believe in magic. I believe in magic.  I am going to go chop some onions now because I know that any second.....Magic will be happening! Happy Day Before Thanksgiving! I hope you have a magically wonderful day!  Gobble Gobble!

Thank a Farmer - Thankfulness Day 26

My son's ultimate dream in life is to be a farmer. Yes he wants to attend The United States Naval Academy or West Point. Yes he wants to serve our country. Yes he wants to have a career as a military officer but at the end of that, when he is all done with his military career, he wants to farm.  He dreams about being a farmer every day.  He spends hours researching tractors and farming equipment and farms for sale and farming procedures.  His favorite speech ever is Paul Harvey's "So God Made A Farmer". I believe he can recite every word. If he could be a full-time farmer right this very second, he would. He would wake up before the sun and work hard every single day of every single year and retire late at night exhausted yet grinning from ear to ear. He thinks about raising puppies and cattle and growing crops.  My son has a farmer's soul.  I believe it is his destiny.  Yesterday my son had the time of his life. I think the smile on his face will be permanently plastered for weeks.  Our neighboring field of corn was harvested yesterday and guess who got invited to go in the combine? Yep!  My son! He spent HOURS in the combine and when he got home, he said his face hurt from smiling so much.  He asked questions the entire time he was harvesting the corn and of course now is more in love with farming than ever before.

My son's "ride" for the day

Corn Picking time!

His front seat view

Every day my son says, "Thank a Farmer" - so thank you farmers!!!!  And thank you for giving my son the BEST DAY EVER. Farming Thankfulness. 

Poopsicle Makers - Thankfulness Day 25

It's Monday soooooooooooo that means - Puppy Picture Time! I am thankful for each and every sweet doodle puppy here at Yesteryear Acres.  I love them so much and I am so grateful for the joy they bring into my life every single day. I am beyond lucky to be surrounded by such complete adorable puppy love!

Nutmeg's Dark Chocolate boy

He is one of the infamous frozen "Poopsicle" makers......

You can't help but love that sweet face!

Nutmeg's puppies all but made me forget about yesterday's frozen arctic poopsicle adventure

Especially when we decided to send Mr. Yesteryear Acres outside today!

Ummm Have fun Mr. Yesteryear Acres.  We will be inside snuggling!

Cheyenne's puppies went out for a potty run and then ran back inside in record time

It's cold out there!

Sweet Pea's puppies didn't want to leave their nest at all.  They were all so snuggly warm.  I decided to just take their pictures right there.  The lighting isn't the best but the puppies were soooooo happy.

Thanks for not taking us away from our blanky! We are so cuddly warm!

Happy Monday

and Happy Holiday Week!

Poopsicles - Thankfulness Day 24

My son has a TON of homework and really needed to spend the entire day inside working on his school work. He just couldn't help do any farm chores today. For some odd reason, I found myself volunteering to help Mr. Yesteryear Acres do all the outside chores.  What? Why did I do this?  I don't know!  I just jumped up and said, "I'll go outside with you!  We will do all the farm chores together!" I had to get ready right away because unlike my polar bear husband, I require layers.  Layers upon layers of winter clothing.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres is dressed for weather that I would describe as brisk.  He has on a short sleeved T-shirt and a sweatshirt.  I look like I am prepared for the Arctic Tundra.  I have on thermal underwear, fleece socks, fleece pants, fleece sweatshirt, an arctic snowsuit, winter boots and one of those fur lined hats with the ear flaps that people wear when going on Arctic expeditions. Oh yea and hand warmers.  Lots of hand warmers. My son and Mr. Yesteryear Acres pretty much throw themselves on the floor with laughter whenever they see me dressed in my winter gear.  I really look as though I may hike all the way to the South Pole. Anyway, I clumsily walk outside, barely able to put my arms down, and start working.  First on the list - clean up the backyard.  Simple enough right? Wrong!  Last night all the little puppy poop and all the big doggie poop froze.  As in frozen solid.  As in the backyard is littered with poopsicles.  I cannot merely go and scoop up the poop as I normally do.  No. Not on the day that I volunteer. I have to take a metal hoe and start hacking away at the poopsicles.  Hack. Chop. Hack. Chop.  With precision, I can get the entire poopsicle into the shovel. When I miss and hit the pile incorrectly - I am sprayed with a fine sprinkling of frozen poopsicle dust.  Are you seeing the picture? Hack. Chop. SPRINKLE SPRAY SPLATTER. Yes. Oh the fun I had!  When you add all the other farm chores including using a spud bar to break open a hole in the creek for the horses......the fun of winter is almost too much to handle. I did help Mr. Yesteryear Acres do ALLLLLLL the farm chores. I was outside for 3 solid hours. I have the pile of frozen tissues to prove it! So what am I thankful for today?  That I am done!  No more poopsicles!  Everything is all clean.  Well that is until tomorrow. And coincidentally, I JUST checked my calendar and yep! It looks like I am booked solid all day long. Guess someone else will have to fill my frozen shoes! Poopsicles anyone?

Cozy Warm - Thankfulness Day 23

Why Hello Mr. Winter! It was shockingly cold to see you this morning.  I mean who doesn't love a good 30* drop in temperature along with brutal cold winds to start your morning?  The doodle doggies all just looked at me as if to say, "You are Kidding me Right?!" The puppies weren't all too excited about going outside.  The, "Let's Romp Around and Play All Day!" was quickly replaced by "HURRY and do your business and run back inside!"  I know we will all adjust to the winter weather but for today - it was cold.  I am SO thankful that I have awesome soft and cozy fleece clothes to keep me warm.  I put on my softest fleece turtleneck and was instantly warmed.  I have on my fleece slippers.  I have on my warm pants.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres put extra wood in the furnace and turned up the temperature in the house so now the house is cozy warm.  I have homemade soup simmering on the stove, bread in the oven and I am so thankful to have a nice warm and comfortable place to live.  Cozy warm! That is definitely my thankfulness for today.  And.....maybe just maybe....I am thankful that I don't have to go outside to do the farm chores.  Thanks Mr. Yesteryear Acres!  I am quite cozy warm inside our lovely house as I look outside the window and smile that I am in here and not out there with you.  Don't worry my brave arctic warrior, I have hot chocolate waiting for you.  See?  Now you can be thankful too!

Doodle Love - Thankfulness Day 22

Today and every day I am so thankful for the unconditional love given to us by our sweet doodle doggies and puppies.  To be loved by a doggie is to be truly loved.  No other creature can possibly love you as unconditionally as a best doggie friend. You are never too grumpy or tired or sick or late or dirty or clean or happy or too sad for a doggie to love you.  In your deepest darkest days, a doggie will be there to comfort you. In your happiest, most joyful days, a doggie will be there to rejoice with you.  What other creature will greet you with as much abandoned joy as a doggie? I literally can be out running errands for less than 30 minutes, walk into my house, and you would think a parade were being held in my honor simply because I walked in the door.  Even my own sweet Mr. Yesteryear Acres does not think my return from the grocery store merits an overwhelming display of emotion and joyfulness. He certainly does not spin in circles of happiness when I come home but my doggies do! Doggies love you every day.  They never tire of you.  They never see your faults.  They never stop wagging their tails in appreciation of your company.  To spend my days raising sweet doodle puppies is to spend my days surrounded by unconditional love every day of the year.  And every single day, I am thankful.

What's For Lunch? - Thankfulness Day 21

Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I have lunch together almost every single day.  How awesome is that?  Way back in the day when Mr. Yesteryear Acres worked as an Environmental Specialist, he was gone all the time.  I made lunch for him every single night so he would have something yummy from home while he was at work.  We never got to eat lunch together and there were many many nights where we didn't get to eat dinner together either.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres worked long hours and endless days. I missed him as much as he missed me.  When we began discussing raising puppies full time, we had to make a Pro and Con list.  The biggest Con of course was - could we make it work?  Could we really give up a steady dependable income and throw caution to the wind? Could we just follow our passion and devote our lives to raising sweet lovable puppies?  That was pretty much the entire con list.  Could we survive?  The pro list however was almost endless. I mean who doesn't love spending their days with adorable doggies and puppies!?!  On the top of the Pro list was that Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I would get to eat lunch together. We thought that would be AWESOME to have time each day to enjoy lunch.  Well it was!  And it still is!  We stop what we are doing each day and meet out in the kitchen to have our lunch together. Our menus might be different but our enjoyment factor is the same.  We love our mid-day break! Every day Mr. Yesteryear Acres asks me, "What's for Lunch?" which really means - don't forget to meet me in the kitchen! What's for Lunch? Awesome company!  That's what!  So thankful!

Errand Company - Thankfulness Day 20

Today I had a list of errands a mile long because you know....... Thanksgiving is coming!  Thanksgiving is coming!  We are going to have one packed house full of family and friends.  Yesteryear Acres will be bursting at the seams!  I figured with the countdown looming, I better get busy.  Today was get everything done NOT Thanksgiving related.  I am planning on making this weekend Thanksgiving shopping extraordinaire so today was everything else.  My list was really long and some of it was big heavy not so fun errand things - like a dozen bags of dog food. I mean that is a lot of dog food. That is a lot of lifting.  That is a lot of loading.  What to do. What to do.  That's when my dear son offered to go with me!  I did let him know that I had returns at several stores and none of them had sporting goods, dog gear or tools.  I almost lost him on that one! Thankfully he still agreed to go with me AND drive. Yay!  I hate driving. We were gone all day long and the company was just perfect.  I had all day with my son.  I got most everything crossed off my list. I didn't have to load one single bag of dog food and I didn't have to push the flatbed at the store. SCORE! So thankful!  Thank you son! You are awesome!

Big Comfy Bed - Thankfulness Day 19

Every morning when I make my big comfy bed, I smile. I mean I smile with my whole heart.  I think to myself, "here is the biggest most comfy bed filled with love."  Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I shared a full sized bed for 25 years.  If you ever met Mr. Yesteryear Acres, you would know that he is not a small man.  That full sized bed was QUITE small.  Between the doggies and Mr. Yesteryear Acres - I managed to save a 4 inch rectangle of space for me.  I always thought I suffered from insomnia but in reality, I suffered from lack of space!  When we bought our King size bed, both Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I just stood there and stared at the giant behemoth and wondered what possessed us to buy a bed that big.  We felt it was a huge mistake....until we slept in in that night. OH MY GOSH! HEAVEN!  A whole side of the bed just for me!  An entire pillow to myself!  We can't imagine HOW we survived for a quarter of a century sharing the tiny full size bed! Each and every night when we crawl into bed, we are both smiling.  We both exhale a big "ahhhhhh" of happiness.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres has his doggie tucked in his arms and I have my doggie tucked in my arms and then we reach out for each other, hold hands and fall blissfully to sleep.  Every night.  Same routine.  Bed of happiness. Doggies all tucked in. Hand holding. Sweet Dreams.  I know as long as I live, I will treasure that sweet moment each evening - thankful for my big comfy bed full of love, happiness and peace.

TIMBER - Thankfulness Day 18

We had the worst storms whip through here last night.  Severe Thunderstorm Warnings, Tornado Warnings, High Wind Warnings - the weather was just brutal.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres and my son and I were sitting down to dinner listening to the winds howling when we heard, "CRACK!" We jumped up from the table and ran to the window to see that we lost one of our huge pine trees out front.  It literally just snapped from the high winds. I am so sad that we lost one of our beautiful trees but at the same time so thankful that it fell the way it did. If you were going to expertly cut down a tree, you couldn't do a better job than the one Mother Nature did last night.  The tree did NOT fall on our house.  The tree did NOT fall on the power lines.  The tree did not even fall in the street. It fell without damaging any other trees or our flagpole or really anything except the poor tree.
I am thankful for the "TIMBER!" that left our house intact.

It almost looks like we planted hedges!

How it missed the other tree AND didn't even fall on the road - Miracle!

Even the power lines were safe.  I will miss that big majestic tree. It was a thoughtful tree - right to the end.

The puppies of course didn't care one thing about the storm!

Storm?  What Storm?

It looks like perfect leaf chasing weather to me!

Mr. Yesteryear Acres - you should play with us all day long!

We will just keep you right here next to us

What? You have to go remove the tree?

Noooooo - Don't leave!

Come Back Mr. Yesteryear Acres!

He works so hard!

Not us! Heh Heh Heh.  We just play all day long!

And nap.  Don't forget about naptime!

It's hard work being this cute!

Happy Monday!

1000+ Likes - Thankfulness Day 17

I love getting emails and messages and Facebook posts on how our sweet doodle doggies are doing. It really makes my day to open up an email and be greeted by a most adorable furry face.  I really love having puppy families post on our Facebook page. It is nice for other families to be able to see our Yesteryear Acres doodles all grown up and loving life. Just this week our Facebook page hit 1000 likes!  I am so excited.  I know it doesn't seem like a very big deal, but it is a big deal to me.  1000 people have visited our page and liked our pictures and stories and blog posts.  That is awesome! It has taken me quite a few years for our page to reach 1000 likes and I am excited that we have reached that milestone.  Next up...2000 likes!  That would be EPIC!  I think when they see the adorable pictures that our sweet puppy families have posted like......

Dishwashing Doodle

Happy Birthday Doodle

With Cake!

I love my new home Doodle

Let's open a lemonade stand Doodle

Why yes, I would love some tea.....Tea Party Doodle

Swingset Doodle

AND Best Doggy Award Doodle

They won't help but like our page too!  Thank you for all the great posts!  I am so very thankful for each and every one!  Doodle Happiness every day!