Love has no season....

I was going through Christmas pictures...and found a picture of moms table this year before the food was laid out.  It was even prettier once the food was brought out.  But her table is always nice even if it is just a common Sunday lunch.  Sandwiches taste better at moms...probably because it is served on a real plate with a napkin.

White Christmas 2010

 Coming up my driveway...this is a lovely spot even with out snow.

 Maybe this will be the year we landscape...

I know our neighbors hope so :-)  but for now...our yard looks just as nice as theirs.

The snow on their yard is a cold surrender to the chemical warfare which they rage with the insect kingdom all summer long.  We love these folks...actually we do!  We welcome the bugs and beautiful dandelions to our yard...and our neighbors too :-)

Ahhhhh the only place that I can come and talk on the phone with out the kids!

Somedays I just want to lock everyone in the house and live here.

I would have only bought one piece of furniture...but my girlfriends are welcome for coffee

tea and chatting :-)

The farm next door that we wish we could afford.{sigh}

How did I miss Verona?!

I just watched Letters To Juliet. I don't know how I ever missed Verona...I must look at a map and see if I even passed through. I can't vouch for Verona...but I do know that Venice is much more romantic than Rome. My glass pen from Lyra is still stained with gold ink. sigh

These are the best mornings

These are the best mornings...and my heart knows they will soon be gone.


Nothing is sweeter than waking to your child climbing in bed with you.  He is just two and  I still count his toes,  smell his hair, and study his eyes.  When he grows up and is on his own I want all of those things etched deeply in my heart.

Pancake Sheep

Being iced in can drive one crazy :-P

remember....

Always keep your head warm and the rest of you will stay warm!

Somebody Is Turning 8

I remember the day she was born.
I missed her kindergarten graduation.
And her baptism.
I don't want to miss another important event.
Or moment.
And since she doesn't read her Aunties blog here is her present :)

The Wreath Story

Okay so this is totally true!  It was 47 hours until my Christmas party.  And we had an emergency an half hour before---totally another whole story in itself.  My dear husband sent me to town total carte blanche  to find something to put back up over our mantel.  It is really too big of a space to leave empty.  So I go to Micheals and find --the LAST -- 60 inch wreath.  Next what to do to it?  But luckily I meet the sweetest angel whose husband had just got stationed at Ft.Knox and she had studied floral design. {Actually if she had studied tropical fish I would have taken the help}  So after she finally realized that I absolutely am not into the stranded cranberry look we moved onto red and burgundy poinsettias with a lovely woodland angel.--Perfect for me since I love simple and elegant.  Now you must know that I am 5'4" and this wreath is 5 foot.  So I am carrying it and the bags of stuff to go on it through a dark, crowded parking lot to the van.  I reach the van, click my key fob, open the back...and start complaining about all of the junk in the back.  I start moving around all the junk and I hear a small voice say :

"Daddy, aren't you going to get her?"

I glance up and see a child and a man--neither are mine.

My van is three spaces away.

Totally a true story!  Now I am safe at home on this snowy Sunday morning...wishing I was snuggled up to this good-looking guy....

But these dudes have been downstairs  playing Xbox since daylight....on a snowy Sunday morn?!

So I am off to bake and finish decorating for the party--hopefully the weather gets better!!

My Big Surprise

So Bryan calls me last week and tells me to get a sitter for Saturday and we would have date night.  I wasn't curious...that was normal.  On Saturday he rushes me up to get ready--that is normal.  Then I ask where we are going...he says it is a secret.  That must mean Chinese and he doesn't want to argue.  So we drop off the kids and head out.  But not toward town.  But west on a country road.  So I play along and ask no questions...thinking this is going to be some kind of a joke.  Before I knew it we are almost to my brothers house.  And now I am dumbfounded....so I am like why are we going to Kennys'?  And he ask why not.  Well...why not--but why get a sitter?!  We get there and it is dark all around his house and only a light shining in the living room.  So I walk up to the door...Angie answers it and the house is full of people.  Oh great... Bryan forgot to tell me Kenny invited him to their Christmas party and I am not dressed festive.  So I walk in determined to have a great time anyway when everyone starts singing "Happy Birthday".

Oh yeah...next week is my birthday!  But I totally wasn't even thinking about it!

I was so shocked!

I still am!

And Angie even made me the most beautiful cake (and yummiest too!)

But that is not all!

I got a themed plethora of gifts!

Christmas tree ornaments!

So I am off to put up my tree!

For the last time before I turn the big 4-0

{{sigh}}

Thanks guys...I love you all.

Another Sir Ken

I love to listen to Sir. Ken...but really I wish I could pick his brain on issues that we dont agree on.

First Grade Science

Right now in Bens science we are studying plants.  I decided to do a unit study to add along with the text...I guess I will save it for the spring...but do my research all winter.    I want to focus on our little family garden and preserving the fruits.  Last summer our garden was washed away in the spring rains.So I did not get to do my usual gardening and canning.  As my own vegetable supply has began to wither away I am planning for next years garden.  What a perfect opportunity for my children.  Not only to raise their own food but the knowledge of how to do so.  Our classroom will be moving out the garden for some of our learning. Come soon spring!!

How much can we actually get from our small garden area?
Watch!

Special Needs Mother

Some days I dont know where I fall.  I dont consider my Aspie "special needs".  He can take care of most personal needs--even though that has been long in the making.  He can communicate.  Which has been an awesome event to watch unfold.  Everyday I realize just how blessed I am that he has came so far!  I remember the days of wondering around in a fog trying to figure out how to mother this child and now life has became so much easier.  And I am so thankful.  Finally, I dont have to shower several times a day to find a place to cry. Most of the time nowadays we are a "normal" family.  I still get sick to my stomach when I think back to the times of waiting for tests and therapies.  Back when the doctor told me that chances were my little boy would be on the severe end of the spectrum.  I am so glad that I changed doctors.  I remember finally telling God that I accepted being this mother--now help me!  Life is so much better now.

Then just when I think everything is fine.  It pops up.  Something triggers.  And I become hopeless.  Life events that are so simple for other mothers become a ballet on chards of glass for me.

This week will end.
This month will pass.
I want to go back home to normal.