Winter Came Back, Spring is Covered Up Again.

They dug holes, pods for themselves to sit in. Cozy. Warm down in the snow, with cold wind blowing upon their faces.

Beautiful, isn't it? Clean, white. There is an awesome wondrous feeling about a world washed white, white with snow. :)

Revelation 7:14-17 "They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

Isn't that beautiful? We are washed white and clean too. *sigh*

Share Love. Joy. Thanksgiving.

It was our day together, Mercy and I. We decided to make decorations, and Pinkify the dining room. I was thrilled with the outcome, and late in the day decided a party was needed to celebrate beauty, friendship, and pinkness. Spontaneous parties are not always well attended, however this one worked out quite well! Apparently I am not alone in wanting to celebrate beauty and friendship. :) happy me.

Mercy made fruit kabobs with me. yum.

Oh, time to get kids out the door into the deep surprize-snow! :) (I guess winter decided to visit us!)

Bird/Squirrel/Wasp Nest Scavenger Hunt

Early February, warm and blue, like no other "winter" I've known in this part of the country. We embrace the sunshine's schedule, and run out of our doors, into the crisp, fresh air.*sigh* I love this weather.

We followed deer tracks, which led us into a very thorny, twiggy, grassy part of the forest. All our eyes hunted for nests and animals. Boots were covered in mud, MUD, just think... we wore our RAIN boots today, instead of snow boots. What a strange year. Water trickled -TRICKLED- in a stream-bed, where there should be ice. Not this February, today we saw the lush, lively signs of Spring. The signs I usually look for in April as we wait for brown and green shoots to push through the last of the snow.

Hmm. Trickling water. The warmth kept us comfortable, however it also kept us away from the North end of the trail. We could not ford the water, which is usually ice. Ah well. It was nearing Maddy's nap-time anyway. So home we went to be filled with hot soup and tea.

.Family Times.

This sweet beautiful little one will be ONE soon!! :) We look forward to celebrating with her mommy and daddy.

During the months of December and January, we had a lot of family time. It was such a pleasure having everyone together at Oma and Opa's house! :)

All the cousins !! :)

..Creative Energy..

A prayer I have uttered often is this, "Lord give me energy to be creative and challenge the hearts and minds of my children." Some days are fruitful in this area, and i capture smile and art on pixels to store for when my memory fails me. So today, as I uploaded photographs onto my computer, I was struck by the lovely moments I saw there. Flashing past. Memories of imagination and art. Seeing creativity sparks more creativity I find.

Project: Ice wreath. Needed: Bunt pan, or pie plate, things found while walking in the wood, or items from your fridge for birds to eat. water. cold weather ( or your freezer ) . Have children place the oranges, pine cones, acorns, cranberries, and seeds in the plate. Pour in water. Place twine in water to hang the wreath from. Set outside to freeze. ( This took almost two weeks for us, since we have been experiencing mild weather here! ) :) Hang in tree. Enjoy the pretty colors in our season of white and gray.

Project: Egg-celent Penguins Needed: Boiled eggs, cheese, anything food-like to make penguin parts. :) My dear friend Jess was talking about fun food things she does with her girls. It inspired me to do something fun with snack time. Sammy and Mercy loved it. mmmm. Penguins. yum.

It was a day where I just wanted space, quiet, something, something other than what I was doing. Discontent. It sits festering in the bones, i hate it. I want to purge it. So, I decided to sit and do a project with Sammy instead of wallow in my feelings of discontent. And do you know what? Yes, You probably do, since it is rather common knowledge - that doing something for my children instead of whining that I could not meet my goals for the day helped to remedy my illness of heart! I know this is always true, I just wish it was easier to do. Common knowledge does not mean common practice (if it did, there would be many many fewer problems in the world). So, Sammy wanted to learn about the Solar System and we had a library book on it. This is how we learned- playdoh in hand!

thanks to my dear folks, we have been enjoying the great outdoors as often as the weather permits!! LOVE IT!!

Sometimes...

...when I turn around from my work, I see this..

Sometimes they act so grown-up. Sammy teaching mercy Chess, then Stratego, then they read the newly chosen library books...it looks quiet, but they do bicker, quite badly at times. But then they work it out. And if I threaten to separate them because I don't want to hear them bickering, they stop, because they do not want to be separated. They really love being together. It's so sweet. I am thankful to remember this, especially when they make me want to scream in frustration. :)

A Late Christmas Post. I'm so Tardy.

A Christmas feast, a Nativity scene play, gifts made by loving hands, and family to embrace. We all enjoyed a mild and green Christmas here in NausLandia. Enjoy our Photos, they tell the story on their own sometimes.