What To Do?

How would you feel to be short and fuzzy? How would you feel if you had to go potty and this is what you open the door to find. . . .

A wall of snow.  Snow that is taller than you are.  Oh, my!  Luckily his daddy loves this furry little guy and made him a path.

Todd likes to go and survey his kingdom.  So Greg first dug a path to the deck rail.

And then he dug him a path to the stairs. . . .

And then what, dad?  Todd was confused.  Greg actually picked him up and tossed (very gently) into the snow.  Todd immediately came back and was not happy about that.  The solution. We dug a path to get under the deck.  Todd seems pleased with that solution.

I just bought this

I thought this looked good enough to share.

Beauty

On Tuesday mornings I take a Body Pump class.  It is an early class.  It starts at 5:45.  It is still dark outside.  It is always cold and just such a challenge to make myself go.

This morning, Tuesday January 26th, I stopped by Giant to buy some fresh muffins and fruit for the plethora of kids at my house.  (My four kiddos had 3 more kiddos spend the night, some super great kids, but more on that later). My side trip to Giant put me on the road to home about 15 minutes later than usual.  You see usually I am home before the sun begins to rise.  However this morning, because of the pit-stop, I was able to witness the most gloriously beautiful sight.

The entire town and beyond was covered with thick, sooty looking blue-grey clouds.  The kind of clouds that hold weather- could be snow, could be rain.  Those clouds just were bearing down on our town, hanging there, threateningly.  As I turned down Dumfries Road, heading east I could see in the far distance that the sky was clear.  And just as I topped a hill I saw the beginnings of the morning glow, that really pretty tangerine and pink glow.  Now, this is the most amazing and breath taking thing.  That sun glowing just below the horizon was reflecting up into those ugly blue-grey sooty looking clouds.  And something miraculous happend. The lower parts of the clouds, I mean the ones that were so ladend with moisture that they were hanging low, began to glow.  The glowed like embers on a fire.  They glowed a beautiful orangey-pink color.  And those ugly clouds became the most stunningly beautiful sight. They transformed before my eyes.  The sooty grey color was lost and became a grey-blue, soothing.  The soothing grey-blue clouds with the glowing orangey-pink glow was breathtaking.   I had to pull over at the farm across from our neighborhood to take a moment and just absorb their beauty.  And at that moment I was so thankful for the opportunity to witness such awesomness,  to me an example of God's amazing glory all I could do was smile and whisper a prayer of grattitude.

The Lovely Bones

My friend Jen and I were able to go out tonight.  We went to see The Lovely bones.  We both read the book ages ago.  Both of us felt the book was a very powerful read in many ways. Extrememly thought provoking and emotional.  Whenever you go to see a movie that is based on a book you are usually going to be slightly dissappointed.  I will just say that we were not dissappointed.  If you haven't read the book, just be prepared.

My Favorite Christmas Activity

It is no secret that I love Christmas.  The celebration of the birth of our Saviour moves me to tears year after year.  Being back in Virginia is so awesome because the one thing I really missed each Christmas was the Living Christmas Tree at our church.  To see this tree filled with familiar faces singing with a live orchestra is, well,  breathtaking.

This picture is a treasure. Let me explain.....
The two ladies in the tree on the bottom row centered above the kids heads are very special to me and my family.  Gail, on the left with the short hair is the Director at the preschool that my kiddos attended.  Deb on the right of Gail with the big bright smile taught 3 of my kiddos at the preschool.  I love these ladies.  Whenever I see them I can not help but smile.  They make me feel loved and very special.  They have and still fill my life with words of encouragement and warmth.
This picture is special for another reason, too.  The kiddos in the picture are all friends that were made at preschool.  And the friendships continued after preschool and everyone had scattered to other schools.  The parents and the kids made the extra effort needed to keep these friendships alive.   The best part - it did not matter one bit that we had been out of the country for 3 years.  The moment these kids saw each other they picked up their friendships as if we had never left.  

The fact that we were all able to attend the Living Christmas Tree on the same night was a special Christmas gift.  My heart was full.  Thank you Jesus!

Snowed In

To save me some time and engergy (cause I can be lazy sometimes).  Go check out my post over at www.myhearties.blogspot.com.

Merry Christmas

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

This year has just gone by so quickly.  I am constantly amazed at how time is getting away from me.  I looked at the calendar and nearly panicked when I realized that it was mid-December.  It was definitely time to get my wreath made and get the house ready for my favorite time of year.  The wreath on the front door was all of $5 to make.  The greens were free from the Boy Scout Tree lot.  The plastic red balls were about $2 and the wire frame was $3.  The red berries were a purchase from Christmases past, now put to good use.

The front of the house.  Simple.  I am not sure if I will do any more to it.  We are having a Keep It Simple celebration this year.

My dining room.  One of my favorite rooms in the whole house.  I think it is because it is calm and soothing in there.

Our family living area.  This is a casual room at the back of the house and just off the kitchen.  It is playful and houses the kids tree filled with all the fun and funky ornaments.

This is the "formal Living room," but for us it is the school room.  We have all of our books in here and desks and the keyboard.  It is the multi-function room of the house.  And it the room where we spend most of our days.  It is comfy and again, simply decorated.

Our kitchen.  The heart of the house.  The kids made cinnamon ornaments this morning. They smell so wonderful.  The greens on the table, more left overs from the Boy Scouts.  The bottom right picture is the view from the Dining Room at the front of the house.  I think it looks comforting.

This is our tree.  We have it in the foyer right at the base of the stairs.  You can see it from the Dining Room and our Living Room.  I love that I have to pass buy it a million times a day.  I also love that it greets everyone that comes to the front door.

Well, that's it.  That is all I have done and probably all I will do.  We did put 3 little Alpine trees in the basement with pretty colored lights on them.  I may make a paper wreath for my craft room.  But basically I am done.  I am now moving into baking mode.  That takes on a whole life of it's own. I go a little crazy with the cookie making this time of year.  Mmmmm, already getting excited for GINGER cookies.  Love those.

Merry Christmas to all.

PEACE