view from my kitchen window

this year winter wasn't as fierce or as white as last year, but this was the prettiest snow out my window in january. we are still waiting patiently for spring to actually get here. it has been so rainy and cold... but the garden is ready!

from the last snow....

robin is saying here, "this is starting to not be fun anymore." he got two days off from work, though!



mom, here's a picture of our snow "plow" just for you....



anyone wish they were the mailman?

craziness

the wireless internet didn't want to work all day so i could post these pictures of the craziness of our last 24 hours. tonight we're not expecting any more snow to *fall* but the wind is whipping around the additional 16" we got this go round.


the kids played outside in it most of the day.
the boys enjoyed sliding/jumping/doing flips off of the shed roof into the mounds of snow below.
even pete (he's 4).
i told the 2 little boys to be thankful they had two big brothers because i never would've let them do that without them.


this is looking out the atelier window....
yes, it is covered with snow. it is *that* windy.

and this is a picture of mike's frostbite that he actually got a few years ago while visiting my sister in michigan. it flares up any time he gets really cold. i know because when i was in college (messiah, fall of '84) my roommate and i walked to mcdonalds and i had a hole in my boot and got frostbite on my big toe. every time it gets cold it flares up the same way.

ah, well.
wasn't it helen keller who said life is an adventure or nothing at all?

an historic event

we haven't had this much snow since march of '93 (and we were here for that one too...)

also before christmas.....

we are blessed to have an awesome sledding hill behind our development, close enough for the kids to walk. on this particular trip, i was out looking for the wayward puppies (who keep digging out under the temporary chicken wire fence we've put out) and took my camera with me to catch a few shots before the sun went down. their friend, veeble (sp?) was with them, seen in the picture of the jump they made.









at the end of a beautiful day....

scenes from christmas 1

from the creativity files of olivia----
i gave her these and told her to try making a nativity scene or something christ-massy.

she returned them like this (three wise men):



the boys had fun making an igloo at the end of the driveway:


3!! some were easier to get in and out than others.....

snow..

we ended up getting about 12/15 inches. church was canceled but our friends, the hurlberts, came for lunch anyway. there's an awesome sledding hill behind our development that the kids have enjoyed going to. karis was supposed to go to work at qvc (christmas rush you know) but robin got the car stuck just past our driveway (they hadn't plowed our street yet).

at one point, it was windy and the snow was really coming down, and mike looked at me with his big smile and said, "mom! blizzards are SO MUCH BETTER than hurricanes!" and went on his merry way. gotta love those southern born boys...

all in all, we are so thankful for snow. it's wonderful, quiet, pure, miraculous joy. thanks Lord!

recently seen

i know this one is a bunny









not sure what this one is.....


this one seems to be bigger bunny

in like a lion

march has come in like a lion.
we only got 4" of snow, but our relatives on the coast got a bunch more.
we were praying for one more good snow before spring.
if only our other prayers were answered as quickly!

after playing in the blustery, too-cold-for-snowmen or sledding snow, we enjoyed:



reading books.
mike's favorite is by jan brett (the three snow bears).
pete's fave is snow friends.
my fave is the little book of snowflakes, a fascinating coffee table style book with quotes. see more of his work here.
though both boys ask to read "snowflake bentley" every night. find activities to go with it here.

then we made these:



it's okay if you don't have paper to waste. you can make virtual paper snowflakes here.
you can also watch how to do it on youtube.
or check out this guide to snowflakes. (fascinating!)
and these great places for more winter crafts or activities (each one is a separate link).

"in all things of nature there is something of the marvelous."
-aristotle

i love haley

my second born.. so full of life, and love

(with neighbor ava-7, and sister olivia-12)

she is so good with kids. they are drawn to her. she is learning to be a good big sister. sometimes it is harder than other times. but she is looked up to by every younger girl she meets.

she knows how to have fun. she can beat anyone at knockout. just this past weekend she impressed a boy at church with her arm. he'd never seen a girl throw like that.

i took her to the doctor today. she has the highest pain tolerance of all our kids (and the scars to prove it--dental surgery, stitches in her head). but her ear has been bothering her for more than a week. we don't have insurance yet, but we visited the doctor that robin's parents see. he was so kind and gentle. no big infection. give her medicine for a week and she'll be fine. you have your grandmother's eyes, he said. and so, you're in luck. just today i'm running a special for 16 yo girls with hurting ears. there will be no charge today. (i literally couldn't speak at that point. anyone who's seen a bill for a new patient with an extended visit knows that bill would've been over $150) thank you, Lord for showing your goodness to my haley whom i love so much.

thank you, haley, for bringing so much joy to our lives. and for keeping me on my knees in prayer.
you are loved!

catching up

we've had numerous requests for more snow pictures (and since today is a SNOW DAY, why not oblige)? snow is not all fun and games as olivia-12 shows her war injury here incurred by getting run into by a flying saucer (with little brother mike-5 riding on it).

she recovered just fine....

snow consequence

the snow is gone, but the dirt remains..... off to the car wash we go

snow wars

jack-10 and nick-15 (being silly yet again with the hat) store their snowballs strategically behind this tree

check out all the snowballs mike-5 and pete-3 stored on the swing--

let the snow war begin!

pete was not impressed (with the snowball fight or the picture taking. he went inside).

change: weather edition

although florida is getting record cold this week, it's still a jolt to our southern thin blood. no one is complaining. we love it. i imagine heaven to have lots of snow, but without the cold or consequences (frostbite, hypothermia, etc.) it's just too beautiful not to be there. as well as a reminder of what Christ has done for me, "wash me and i will be whiter than snow" (thank you, Lord).

karis and olivia had fun with the camera while i was out rescuing robin and the boys from being let down by his dad's van on the side of the road in a snow storm

they pretended it was narnia--always winter and never christmas....

it doesn't appear as if she's thinking of florida right now....

the boys couldn't be bothered with pictures and pretending..there was sledding to be done!

is this a couple of newlyweds imagining how their children will enjoy the snow while watching ours? or are they empty nesters (ha) reminiscing about the joy of raising children?