FOR TODAY January 5, 2009...

Outside my window... Rain dripping - snow sliding off the trees

I am thinking...about Esther being five months today - it doesn't seem like she could be five months yet - maybe I miscounted

I am thankful for...routine

From the learning rooms...getting back in the groove

From the kitchen...vegetable chicken soup, homemade Italian dinner rolls, and applesauce. Also homemade vanilla yogurt culturing.

I am wearing...the standard denim skirt and thermal pink top.

I am creating...a tiny felted pocketbook type bag for my crochet hooks - making up the pattern - I hope it works

I am going...to finish getting my house back in order after all the guests etc. The last one left yesterday

I am reading...I am NOT going to read my seed catalogs yet - I'm not, I'm not, I'm not!!!

I am hoping...my sore neck goes away quick

I am hearing...Daddy telling the little ones to slow down the game of tag they've got going on - lots of laughing and shouting.

Around the house...Things are getting back to normal - must get caught back up with the laundry (does that ever really happen or is it just a dream?)

One of my favorite things...Seed catalogs in January (I'm not going to read them yet!!!)

A few plans for the rest of the week...just enjoying the regular routine

Here is picture thought I am sharing:

I do enjoy a routine and I'm glad to begin again trying to keep one together. For more Simple Woman Daybook entries you can go to: http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Blessings,
Christine

Again!!!

Another snow storm has once again hit us. One snowflake is beautiful - thousands upon thousands covering everything with marshmallow cream is magical!!

It's supposed to turn to rain so I am going to watch it fall as much as possible tonight!!

Blessings,

Christine

Drawing To An End

We have had so very much fun the last couple of weeks. Playing in the snow, eating way too much, enjoying family and just general festivity. Today was really the last hurrah of the holiday season for us. My sister and her hubby who have been visiting from Washington DC spent their last day with us. She and I bummed around a local antique store and had lunch together. It was nice to spend some time alone with her!!!

Yesterday we spent the afternoon with my brother and his family. They live nearby but with our busy lives we don't spend much time together although they are counted as some of our most favorite people :0)!!! My brother and sis-in-law adopted 5 beautiful children - some of them with many difficulties. They have been presented with some awesome challenges in raising these kids but are doing an amazing job!!! God's grace carries them daily!! We often have the pleasure of their oldest daughter spending time with us. She is a delight!! She has spent a good portion of this week with us which has been great fun!!

This evening we needed some wind down time so my sweet hubby fixed dinner while I dozed on the couch (I was intending to work on my blanket but sorta fell asleep instead :0) Then we ate dinner watching the movie Wall-e. Cute movie. Just a fun quiet evening sitting together.

Tomorrow the Christmas pretties will be wrapped carefully and put away until next year. Since my computer was sick for a while I didn't get to post a picture of my favorite Christmas decoration in my home so I will now before I take them all down:

This gives me the most pleasure of all to see at Christmas time - EIGHT stockings hung by the fire - what a gift God has blessed me with - Eight wonderful children to raise for Him~~
This is my newest addition to my snowman collection. I rescued her from my favorite thrift store for only $1.48!! I am crazy about her. My daughter said it was because she is just like me - and the more I though about it I agree. She's short, soft and round and so am I! She likes skirts and so do I. She always has a baby in her arms and so do I! My nose isn't quite so orange but all in all we could be twins :0)!!

Just a picture of my beautiful niece and handsome son watching the movie this evening. I just love it when we have a few extras hanging around - just adds to the fun!!

So very soon life will be settling down to the slightly less busy routine we have. I'm looking forward to regular bedtimes some quieter evenings but the joy of spending time with family that we don't get to see very often is a delight that I wouldn't trade for anything!!

Blessings

Mom of lots

Happy New Year

Well, it's a New Year. The holidays are coming to a close. I am beginning to be ready to take down the tree and pack up my Christmas pretties and start our regular routine again. We have a couple more days of precious family time and then it's back to school and chores and daily life. I love both - the routine of regular days and the busyness of the holidays!!!

One funny thing though, is that I feel a little lost without a project that I must complete. My hands are empty of a craft at the moment. Well, not really - I have a blanket I'm working on and lots of ideas roaming around in my head for all the new yarn my sister blessed me with as a Christmas gift (what an awesome gift, too!!!!). But, I don't have anything with a deadline or some special secret I'm working on. I am enjoying getting back to my blanket and being able to work out in the open - but those secrets are so much fun to do!!!


Now I can share what I have been spending my time on - as all those peeping eyes now know what all the things hiding in my closet are. So here goes:

All the kids got pillowcases: One flannel one with fun pictures that reminded me of them
And one fancy one with their favorite colors or activity on them.

I made my hubby a new journal with a nice new pen (oops - got the picture sideways - I can't seem to figure out how to fix it now that it is on here - sorry about that :0)

And for my sisters whose names I drew I did a theme gift this year. The theme was WARMTH. So, I crocheted warm scarves for each of them. Then I made rice bags scented with lavender and some homemade lavender bath salts in very old canning jars. Each little gift came with a poem about being warm and cozy. This was a really fun gift to make!!! I loved every minute of it and spent a lot of time trying to match the style of scarf and fabric for their rice bag to their personality.

For my Parents-in-laws I made tiny picnic baskets filled with pictures of picnic foods and a poem telling them that as soon as the weather is warm we will be taking them on a picnic to the zoo. I think that will be a fun thing for each of them to look forward to.

It was fun making all these things and now it's time to get my hands busy with new things. New Year - new projects!!!

Happy New year to everyone!!!

Christmas Fun

After all the anticipation Christmas morning has finally arrived. And guess what? We got to open our presents (very early, I might add) to heavy snowflakes falling outside!!



Christmas morning (since I wasn't manning the camera I couldn't keep myself in my bathrobe out of it - sorry about that! :0)

Special Christmas breakfast - we sing Happy Birthday at breakfast and blow out a candle - fun for the little ones.

Then we dressed up and went out for a snowy walk - look at that heavy snow!!

A view from up our street - all this snow is so very amazing!!

They will always remember this White Christmas - when the snow was up to their knees - the last time there was this much snow for Christmas here was in 1861!!!

Daddy and baby:

After our walk Daddy put his snow clothes back on and went to help the neighbor shovel his roof - see how thick the snowflakes are?!! We did manage to get out and spend the afternoon and evening at my sweet sister's home after spending about 40 minutes digging the van out of our driveway.

The snow was supposed to end and turn to rain today and guess what? It didn't - we got another inch of snow!!! The snowflakes were incredibly big today.

Ruthie and I just HAD to go out and catch some on out tongues :0)

What a blessed day we had. I hope your time was just as filled with joy!!

Blessings,

Christine

Merry Christmas

The Advent Calandar is complete:
The cookies and breads have been baked:

The snow is falling once again:

More icicles are forming:

The stage is set - every detail has been thought of (I think). The time is now. Let the celebration begin. I think this may be - in small measure - how God felt when the plan was set and the time drew near for His great gift to us - Jesus - arrived. The angels sang, the heavens rejoiced, the stars shone brightly.

Merry Christmas from my family to yours. May you be richly blessed as you celebrate the coming of our Savior - the ONE and ONLY who can and does give us the hope of heaven through His sacrifice. Rejoice with heart and soul and voice!!!!!

Blessings,

Mom of lots

Snowbound!!!

Finally!! Our computer is home from the computer hospital - it appears it had a terrible virus - poor thing!! So I can show pictures of our snowy adventure!! For the first time in 18 years it appears we will be having a WHITE Christmas!!! On Sunday it started snowing again and snowed all day and night. We woke up to 13 inches of snow on the ground!!! Amazing!!! In fact there is so much snow we had 4 very large branches come crashing down into an area of the yard the kids frequently play in - Praise God - no one was there at the moment so no one got hurt!!! We have not been out much as driving is quite difficult - but we're having so much fun it's okay!!!

I have just given up - the front door area is just covered with snow gear - any visitors just have to step over it. And believe it or not - we've had lots of guests. There is something about this weather that makes neighbors come out of their homes - we've all been checking up on each other - caring for each other. It's really great!!!

Jacob and his very first snowman - he made it all by himself!!

The snowman Daddy and kids made

Some views from my windows:

This one was take before their was quite so much white stuff - I like how it's collecting on the branches on the tree.

God-made decorations - the icicles are even bigger since this was taken!!

There is even more snow on the way!! This has been an amazing winter for us Pacific North westerners so far!! It has been so much fun!! I love staying at home so being snowbound is a blessing to me. I've been baking, baking and more baking!! Finishing making Christmas gifts and just enjoying to delight of my children as they play, play, play!!!

Blessings,

Mom of lots