BLOGGING EGO

So I wasn't going to post today but I just have to share my big news - a complete stranger left me a comment this afternoon!  She said she LOVED MY BLOG!  And that it is "very nice to meet me"!  Now I fully admit that I'm bordering on pathetic here but I have to say it made me smile.  It is my first comment from a non-family member and a big boost to my blogging ego. So, thank you Ginger (whoever you are)!

Off to do laundry.

WINTER BLISS

One of the blogs I love to read is a decorating blog called The Inspired Room.  Much to my husband's dismay it always makes me want to move furniture or paint something!  Today Melissa at The Inspired Room is hosting a "Winter Bliss" Linky.  (I know it's very geeky of me to start using all the blog lingo - but REALLY it's called a Linky:  A list that connects you to all these other people that have written about the same thing.)  Anyway, although Melissa usually inspires me to DO something, this is my Winter Bliss today.

The outdoor  thermometer reads ZERO!  Wooly socks, popcorn, a crackling fire and Gone With the Wind on the television is the perfect winter day.

BALANCE OF POWER

Our family is equally represented by male and female.  We have a mama, a daddy and 2 kiddos of each gender (1 more of each and we would be the Brady Bunch!).  Recently the balance of power was tipped to the men by the addition of the creature shown below.

It was a sad day for the girls and I when we lost our equal standing.  Now there was another stinky, messy boy, who would leave his toys all over the house!  


This week my husband happened to be traveling to Florida on business.  Since Mema and Poppy live there, the girls took a special trip with daddy.  I was home with 2 boys and the pup.  That is, I was home with 3 rambunctious, messy boy creatures.  Going from a household of 6 to 3 for the week was a piece of cake.  There were half the dishes and laundry to do, half the arguments to referee, and more time for each child.  However it was still full of boy energy.  I decided to do something very out of character and join in.

We had a week of this...

... plus a gallon of root beer, fort building and the creation of  a scout pinewood derby car.
It was a fun week for everyone.  


Daddy and the girls came home last night.  Even though it was fun to mix things up a little, I am so glad to have a little girl power back.  
Well... I'm off to paint some toes!

WINTER WONDERLAND

I'm no photographer.  I have a cute little pink, point and shoot camera and no special skills, but I love these photos of winter.  I'm so blessed to have a fabulous trail that goes right by my home.  It is beautiful this time of year.  


It is easy to hibernate all winter; to go from house to car, and from car to the store for provisions and back again.  I have to force myself to get out in the cold weather.   So we bundle up, leash the dog and head out with promises of hot chocolate when we get back.  

Last time we walked it occurred to me that since the Bible writers were warm weather folks, they wrote about the desert.  The Israelites wandered in the desert, they were slaves in Egypt, they went through times of drought.  Jesus faced temptation in the desert and  he washed the desert sand off the feet of the disciples.  The scriptures are full of references to thirst and the importance of water and all it symbolizes.  

What a different world from where I am now!  Yet the human need is the same despite the location.  Still,  I wonder how the ancient writers would describe these scenes before me. God's creation really is a wonder.

RANDOM BITS

When your son asks you if you like monkeys and what your favorite vehicle is, this is what you get:

2010 RESOLUTIONS

So, here we are almost to February and I'm just getting to this.  I like to think that my delay is due to reflection and serious consideration into my goals for the coming year and not procrastination.  But really procrastination seems to work for me this year.  I mean look at these beautiful flowers I have blooming in my kitchen!  These beautiful bulbs, which were supposed to decorate my Christmas table, are brightening my day because I procrastinated and mistreated them in 2009.

To be honest, I don't take the New Year's Resolution thing too seriously.  But often in January, after the busyness of the holidays is over, the days are shorter and a long stretch of nothing but winter is before us, I do take time to reflect and ask myself  "what do I want to do now?"

Last January I sent a family newsletter in lieu of Christmas cards.  (Another instance where procrastination worked in my favor.)  Instead of a rush of address collecting, a hurried signature and a last minute trip to the post office I was able to put together a fun newsletter highlighting our year with great photos and a personal message to each recipient.  In the newsletter I listed our goals for 2009. It included things like: make pancakes every Saturday, bake homemade bread, read more books, spend more time in prayer, and start a blog.  Well, it has taken me until 2010 to start the blog but I am happy to report that EVERY Saturday is pancake day (with an occasional waffle thrown in), and we have reaped the benefits of all our family goals without putting a lot of pressure on ourselves.

So, what will 2010 bring?  That's a question I often ask myself.  We don't know where we will live when our lease is up here, we don't know if we will continue homeschooling next year, we don't know many things. But we do know that God orders our steps and that there are joys to be discovered in each season.

The low pressure, good fun, beneficial for family, goals for 2010:

1.  get technologically  savvy - YIPEE I learned how to set up a blog, and figured out the whole YouTube thing already!

2.  read through my 2010 book list (more on this later)

3.  train a crazy maniac dog how to be a productive member of our family

4.  volunteer at the nursing home with my kiddos

5.  worry less about my children's flaws and look for ways to encourage their gifts

6.  work our way through the BIG FAT COOKIES cookbook

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

P.S.  Funny story - We never stay up to ring in the New Year so I greeted 2010 when I got up in the wee early hours to check on our new puppy.  I stepped out of bed and directly into a warm puddle.  "That's a nice way to start the year" I muttered.  My husband sleepily replied "That's got to mean something on the Chinese calendar" then he went back to sleep.

MY COUCH

Today, after coming home from church, we worked on a few things.

I worked on this while on my couch.  It's a really interesting book but I've been reading it for months.

Then I worked on this while watching HGTV, on my couch.  It's a vest I'm making for my oldest and it's almost finished!

Peanut sat next to the couch and worked on this.

The boys worked on this, while staying far away from my couch.

Next,  I need to work on the pile of laundry on my couch so I can stretch out this evening and watch the new version of Emma airing on PBS.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday to my mom, a great dancer who taught my children all their moves!
We love you!

WINTER LOVE

     I am loving winter this year!  Snow is always welcome at Christmas, but usually mid -January I am ready for spring.  We have had a string of beautiful sunny days and we have delighted in wintery walks with our new dog.  I was thinking today about the beauty of a fresh snowfall and the quietness that settles over everything - Until my crew shows up that is!  But the noise and chaos is worth it when I can look out my window at the menagerie of snow creatures that populate my side yard.  We have the classic snowman walking a snow dog, a snow lion, a snow chicken in a snow nest, a snow mouse and a snow skyscraper.  What fun!

1ST POST

       Well... here I go!  I have entered the world of the technologically savvy.  I don't speak the language and I don't have a map.  But,  I'm officially a blogger.

        A couple years ago I was having trouble balancing life at home and in a PMS induced haze I googled "simplify your life".  I don't think I had ever "googled" in my life.  And if the list of 2,640,000 results for "simplify your life" was the answer,  then it was about to get rather complicated. I began to cry.  Divine intervention led me to SimpleMom.   "So this is what a blog is." I said to myself, "Neat!"  And I began to read.  And I figured out that if I clicked on the names of the other sites named in the blog I could magically be transported to other blogs.  Wow!  There's a whole blog world out there!

        I was "meeting" some really interesting moms and I began to feel like they were my friends. They were brightening my day, offering encouragement and advice, funny little stories about their family life and ideas that sparked my creativity.  It was like a having really great pen pals except I wasn't writing back.  For 2 years I have been enjoying  getting to know my "imaginary friends" and now it's time to stop lurking and introduce myself.  So, welcome to my blog;  a place to share my life with far-away family and friends and to turn my imaginary friends into real relationships.