Snow, boogie boards and snow angels

This is what Nathan, our 6 year old, had to say about the day. I love it when kids first discover reading. Suddenly words are everywhere! "Mom, I know what ****** spells." is a constant around our home now. So after a rousing good time of making words and sentences they decided to take the fun outside.

My 3 sons.

I try to get a picture of them in "staircase" order as often as possible because it amuses me so.

I just love these boys.

That's my girl... pretty in pink and all smiles.

Boogie Boards aren't just for the beach!

Here Meg is helping Nate slide down the hill on the boogie board.

Logan making a snow angel.

Finally a day for the kiddos to go outside and play in the snow. I am so happy for them even if it means wet boots traipsed through the house, soggy mittens and hats and coats to be hung to dry for tomorrow.

And who knew that boogie boards can be used in the snow!

Our North Carolina investment in them has paid off in February too.

A Few of My Favorite Things: Part 1

a painted suitcase from a local church holiday sale

My lovely bear Miss Abby and her little bear

 sitting atop of a stack of another favorite

~ vintage suitcases and a steamer trunk

this is the bridge that my husband made for me

Tut Tut it looks like SNOW

Could it be? We live in the Northeast and we actually have SNOW and there is more coming as I type this. It is quite beautiful to have the world covered in a clean white blanket again. The trees are so majestic, standing tall in their new pristine wraps. As much as I love the trees in autumn, it is a lovely site to see the trees draped in white during the dreary winter months.
top left: trees at Vedder Library
bottom left: Vedder Library
top right: me
bottom right: my home taken from my car

Me and my big girl boots

Ever since I was a little girl I wanted rainboots. We had close family friends from England so we always called them "wellies". I just loved the sound of that word, "wellies". It is such a fun word and the idea of having special boots just for RAIN seemed extravagant. I even remember having those black rubbers that slipped over my shoes... VERY PRACTICAL but not the least bit extravagant. So on Sunday while we were out shopping I saw THEM. The perfect pair of "wellies". They are black with polka dots. Fun and will even go with a little black dress. I realize not the fashion sense for some but for me it adds the perfect touch of whimsy to a rainy day. As a mom I've always encouraged my kids to jump into rain puddles. I figured that spending their childhood saying "no" to puddles was a waste of time and no way to raise children to enjoy a rainy day. Rainy days can be so disappointing sometimes... stuck inside days, noses pressed against the window days, baking cookies kind of days. So there are these amazing puddles just waiting to be jumped into, the giggles and glee that come from the splashing the feeling that you just did something "bad" but are too happy to care. That look up at mom to see if you are in trouble, and seeing the smile on my face to show that it's okay. I might even join in if no one is looking and maybe even if they are. So now I have my big girl boots... something my dear mommie friends and I say during those days we struggle with the day to day mommy stuff and sometimes on the days that a snowball comes and hits us in the back of the head without warning... the cold snow dripping down our neck and back..."put your big girl boots on and deal with it." So these wellies are for the fun puddle jumping kind of days, snowy slushy days and those days that demand "big girl boots". I am quite delighted with them!

Life and Learning Centers

I've always loved the thought of life being a journey. This walk we take and share with those around us. I love the thought of taking this journey with my husband especially. That we CHOSE to walk together through life always pulls at my heart strings. Neither of us would have taken this exact path if we had not chosen to walk together. I know that very well... but I also know that this path is MUCH more interesting with him than it would have been without him. We have made choices to take certain directions that neither of us would have been brave enough or maybe foolish enough to have take without the other their by our side. So where do the learning centers come into play. I have many Christians in my life. We often refer to our Christian life as a walk with Christ... or towards Christ. I love that analogy. That we are walking along together towards becoming more Christlike. Sometimes though I get the feeling that some of those on this walk feel that they are somehow "further along" on the walk. I can't count the number of times I've heard people ask others "how long" they've been a Christian. Maybe I'm missing the point of the question, but the follow up comments are usually along th lines of the asker being a "mature Christian" and the other person must be a "young" Christian.

Why is it that I hear bells go off or red flags waving when I hear this? Is there some hierarchy of Christianity? REALLY????? I do understand maturity and having been through different struggles and maybe having experienced certain things that someone else may not have or is just facing. I also really think that just because something APPEARS to be the same issue it never REALLY is because of the different people involved, life experiences that this person may have that I did not, general circumstances etc. Just because I experienced "x" doesn't mean that your "x" is the same or that you will experience it as I did. None of us are REALLY farther along than anyone else.... not really. Our experiences, feelings and reactions are all going to be unique. We can offer support to each other and sometimes we should... sometimes it is best to stay off to the side and be there IF the other person seeks your support. Prayer is always the best support... and not always necessary to tell the other person... it can be seen as condenscending if you tell someone you are praying for THEM when in actuality you are judging them and not REALLY understanding THEIR experience as it is for them but rather projecting your own feeling and thoughts onto an issue that LOOKS familiar to you. (in other words it might not be as similar as you think... you are not omniscient :)

So I now see life as a great big kindergarten classroom filled with Learning Centers. We all go from one center to another at our own pace, sometimes giving up too soon or getting bored before we actually fully "get" what we are supposed to learn at that center but it's okay because the center will still be there for us to try again later. Some centers will come easy to us and we may want to stay there for a while... maybe even "help" the next person who comes to that center, but it's always best to move along so someone else can take a turn. Who knows it may be that it seemed easy but maybe we missed some of the finer points. Again, it's okay, the center will still be there if we need to come back to it. Some of us may start to think we've been to ALL of the centers and we are ready to move onto First grade. What we don't realize is that life may just be about what we learn in Kindergarten (they even wrote a book about that) and the rest of life is applying and relearning those lessons and skills. We're all in this classroom filled with Learning Centers together. None of us have learned all we need to learn and even if we are the star of the class, there is always someone, (that we least expect usually) who can teach us a thing or two. There is only one Teacher and only He can show us to the next Learning Center when He thinks we are ready for it.

Happy Learning!