Project 365, Week 5

And just like that we are just about out of January.  Our week was fairly quiet and very white. :)

January 23

I had the honor of documenting a banquet at church, recognizing both the graduates of the Bible Institute  and the four individuals being ordained as ministers.  One of them is my friend Jen (Hi, Rev. Jen!)

I really like this one of our senior pastor and the special speaker having a good time.

January 24

Every mother has seen this face...Mom, pick me up!

 January 25
Aiden's doing really well with a spoon but I caught him "cheating".  (Amanda thought he would look pretty with earrings.)

 January 26
A little blurry but a classic Amanda face when she's up to something. :)
It snowed a good part of the afternoon and was SO pretty coming down.  Shaun had gotten a flat tire the day before so after he fixed it we went out to swap vehicles with him.  We made it an adventure outing by stopping for munchkins.

January 27

I thought the snow we'd gotten the day before was the storm they'd been calling for.  Nope....it was actually the one that came in overnight and dumped 16+ inches in a matter of hours.  Shaun was up at 4 am plowing, home for 5 minutes, including a shower and then went to do taxes until late.  That left me to shovel.  I started in the driveway to clean up what Shaun had plowed and to make it wide enough to open car doors (only on one side of the car).  I took a break, went in to help children, etc and when I went out a few hours later, the sidewalk had been snow-blown!  I don't even know who did it, but I was so grateful!

 I have reader-friends in Alaska, Michigan and Wisconsin and upstate New York but I don't know who else would be able to comprehend how much snow 35-40 inches is.  I find myself laughing at the ridiculousness of it as I drive around.  Mailboxes?  Gone.  Bushes and shrubs? Gone.  Street signs and lampposts?  Going, going.

 Might be a while before we are swinging again.

 The good news is the eye-sore man lift that sits in our driveway is almost completely buried.  One more good storm... :)

 January 28
These two both get a lot of enjoyment out of this activity and Aiden is sitting for longer and longer stretches of time.

 Girls night out!  I met up with three ladies who I went to high school with, one I was very close to.  It was so good to catch up and hear what they are doing now.  Before we knew it, 3 1/2 hours had gone by.

 January 29
Pop and Kiki took the kids overnight so I could go out since Shaun was working late.  They tried to go sledding but there was too much snow!  Here they are tag-teaming a very tired Aiden.

 On the way home, we drove by a farm and since all the animals were out, we pulled over for a bit.

 I was teasing Avery that it looked like one of the bulls wanted to get her.  Then Amanda asked if she could get out...she wanted to go rumble with them. :)

I'm linking up with Sara and co this week.

Think Summer!

Wow...do we have SNOW!!  Crazy, record-breaking, mind-boggling amounts of snow.  In addition to the several feet we already had, last night we got hit with another 16 inches.  I was sleeping soundly, but they said for several hours it was coming down at a rate of 2-3 inches per hour.  Wow.

Avery looked out the window this morning and said, Mom, is summer farther away now?  Is it going to be longer til summer?

I was going to post photos of more whiteness (and I will) but for today I thought it would be fun to see some green.  So I took a few moments to pull up a couple to give me hope that Spring and Summer DO come every year, just like clockwork.  Before we know it the crocuses will be poking their little buds out and we'll be dipping our toes in water that does not cause frostbite. :)

Sorry about the quality of some of these...they are all screen shots...long story for another time.

Blessed be the name of God, 

   forever and ever.

He knows all, does all: 

   He changes the seasons and guides history,

He raises up kings and also brings them down, 

   he provides both intelligence and discernment

Daniel 2:21

Winter Fun

We are one month into winter and already the cries are going out...How much more snow are we going to get??  When is Spring coming?  When will this end??  Well, having lived in New England most of my life I can answer that.  It will continue on and off until well into March.  Yes March.  So settle in and find some children to inspire you to find the enjoyment in each and everyday, each and every snowstorm. :)   

Or complain if you must.  I guess if you are going to complain about something the weather is a good topic.... people have been doing it down through the ages and a certain camaraderie can be found in it.  And Shaun informed me that during our last storm (not the one that is currently on top of us) we broke the record for most snowfall in January.

Many of you may have seen these photos I posted on FB, but I wanted to also include them in my blog book. Kids.  Having fun.  In the snow.

Everything is better with cousins and grandparents!

 This is Aiden's expression the entire time he is sledding.  Though he responds enthusiastically when asked if he wants to go, when he is actually out there, his face is unchanging.  He takes it all in and is clearly into it, you just have to look hard.

He orders the snow, 'Blanket the earth!' and the rain, 'Soak 

the whole countryside!' No one can escape the weather—it's there. 

And no one can escape from God.

Proverbs 37:1

Just Google It

Yesterday I was talking to my sister....

Me: I hope you can help me.  I've had this song in my head for two days and its really annoying me.  I think its from a Disney movie and it goes Chin up, chin up da,da,da,da,da,da,da....It's bugging me!

Ever-Wise Sister:  I don't know...have you googled it?

I hadn't, but right then I googled "disney song chin up" and to my relief and extreme amusement here is what I found.  Talk about living in the instant gratification, information age! :)

For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

Proverbs 2:10

Project 365, Week 4

The temperature is somewhere below zero as I type this and we got a fresh batch of snow this week.  I was relaying to Shaun the story of a conversation I had with a cashier.  She said something about how we would be getting more snow and I said Oh really?  I hadn't heard that yet.  And the cashier said well, you are the only one who hasn't.  Shaun's response was, Well, snow affects your life very little.  And its true.  I don't travel outside the home for work (not much in January anyway) and we don't have kids in school yet.  I'm so thankful for how life is right now and I don't take a single day for granted.  Soon enough we'll be dealing with children's schedules and I may be obligated to know what the weather is going to do tomorrow.   For now, as you will see, our weeks are fairly low key.  I've never tested it, but I think I would be into the weeks before any signs of cabin fever surfaced. :)

January 16

Shaun's sister and her family came over for the evening.  We watched the New England Patriots lose and then the guys went driving...

 ...serious driving!

January 17
The girls found a warm spot to read.

 January 18
Didn't have a picture for the day, but when I went to go up to bed, I found the answer!

January 19
Daddy took us out to dinner and then to make a big vacuum purchase.   Avery was manning the camera while Shaun and I stole a few minutes of conversation.  Despite our faces, it was a good conversation. :)

January 20
The dog's new trick is to sneak into the girls' room in the morning and take Amanda's precious friend, her Bear.  Amanda came down and said, Trot crept in my room quietly and STOLE my Bear!  Crept?

This is how the girls spent some of their rest time in the afternoon...

 January 21
Mastermind has been the game of the week.  No surprise that Shaun is exceptional at it.  Its funny to listen in on the girls playing and giving each other hints.  Avery will say, Its the opposite of blue or its the opposite of yellow.

I made the mistake of stepping in one time in an effort to educate them.  Actually (in my very best adult voice) the only colors that are opposite of each other are black and white.  Avery said, Mom, its fine.  We are doing fine.  And indeed they were.  They played nicely for hours.  A good lesson for me that my "wisdom" is not always needed.

Shaun kicked me out to the coffee shop to get some work done.  Two hours of solid work time (and a big mug of hot chocolate) goes a long way.

 January 22
What to do with a big appliance box...

 I'm linking up with Sara this week.  Stay warm!!

Back-ume

I have to say, I'm a little surprised by the lack of response to my plea for vacuum advice.  NO one chimed in their opinion and here I was thinking that everyone must have a strong opinion about the vacuum they use at least once a week.   Maybe that's just me who has strong opinions about way too many things.

At any rate, much as I would have liked to continue using the excuse "the Internet hasn't gotten back to me yet", the house could not wait any longer to be vacuumed so we had to make the purchase.  I asked Shaun if he would grab one on his way home from work.  

He did go to look but came back stating it was something I should go take a look at for myself.  So we made it a family outing.  Who knew there were so many vacuums in the world???  And who knew Sears could be so much FUN?!? :)

Shaun suggested an upright one that has a "pop out" canister for stairs that I thought seemed good, so we went with it.  Hoping it serves us well...

So clean house! Make a clean sweep of malice and pretense, envy and hurtful talk. You've had a taste of God. Now, like infants at the breast, drink deep of God's pure kindness. Then you'll grow up mature and whole in God.

I Peter 2:1