Sunny Winter Days

{A few pictures of a typical day at our house this time of year}

-Some potatoes leftover from the garden.  We keep them in buckets in our garage and they stay fresh all winter long for us to enjoy.

-I love our little boot collection

-Our garden shed

-An amazing bloom on a bush by the side of our house.  I have not seen this bush bloom in the whole two years we have been here, and then about a month ago it decided it was time to unveil its true potential.  I cannot believe I have a budding flower on anything in the middle of December

-My dad and mom put this bird feeder station together for my birthday this past year.  I believe it is a 4x4 treated wood post, and my dad dug a couple of feet into the ground and set the post in without concrete.  It is very sturdy, and my mom picked out a lovely solar light for the top that puts out a soft glow each night.

-My husband, Adam, makes fun of me for having these geese.  A cousin of his actually owned them, but I asked if I could have them for my own because it looked like they were not getting much use.  They brought them over for us, and I hope to paint them some fun colors.

-Our garden.  The tall dried stalks in the background are okra, and the broken down stalks in the foreground are leftover from sunflowers.  In the middle I dump ashes from our fireplace as well as food compost..

-If we have a fire going non-stop, this wood in our garage will last two weeks.

-A cast iron bell of a cocker spaniel, similar to our family dog Lilly.  I put this bell on one of our barns low enough for the kids to ring.

-I got out some watercolors for the kids to play with. It was a lot of fun to see the kids enjoy some time being creative.  I would have included my daughter in this photo but she was getting ready for a bath by the time I could grab a camera to take a photo.  Let's just say she got more paint on herself than on the paper. 

Thank you

I would like to thank all of you who have started to follow my blog. I am so appreciative of your support!

Today the kids and I enjoyed our last day of MOPs for the semester. In our program, every other week the moms meet and have brunch with a speaker, and then a time for small group discussion while the kids are in classes. On the off weeks moms are able to drop the kids off and then leave to have a " morning out" for themselves which is wonderful! Today was a morning out, so I left my kiddos and then headed to Starbucks where I wrote on my book for a couple of hours.

After that the kids and I had lunch from Taco Bell's drive thru, and then headed to the FFY for open gym. Later, we came home and I finally had some time to clean for the first time in a week. I can already tell this place is going to be a crazy house once all the Christmas festivities get underway, but we are definitely looking forward to it..

Christmas trees, snow, and celebrating the birth of Christ

I cannot believe it is that wonderful time of year again. Christmas is less than two weeks away! The cold weather has finally settled in for its long visit to Indiana, and we have already seen the snow fly on a couple of occasions as early as late November, which has local "weather forecasters" predicting a long winter. I have learned to embrace the cold weather because it arrives every year right on time whether I like it or not.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and remember to be thankful for the most precious gift of all - Jesus!