We had a few snow days recently. There was actual snow and it did effect the roads to some degree, but it was disappointing in terms of snow accumulation. It snowed almost non-stop for several days.
It was very, very cold and stayed cold for quite a while. Owen and Ivan weren’t terribly interested in going outside, especially when I told Owen the snow wasn’t enough to make a good snowman. He was disappointed, but a couple of the neighbor kids did go out, and drew both of them out as well, for a little while. They decided to sled…down the hill in our back yard. I can’t tell you how freaked out I was initially when I realized what was going on. Our hill is very steep and there are trees at the bottom (as well as on the way down). I ran outside and quizzed the oldest of the neighbor boys and he assured me and even showed me how safe it all was. There really wasn’t enough snow for sledding so they were simply sliding down the hill on frosty grass more or less. It slowed them down so much that the trees were not an issue at all and they even ended up rolling off of the sled about halfway down and just rolling down the hill. They were having fun…so I took a few pictures.
In the midst of the snow we had our annual get together with the Buttons and Fadelys. That adventure will have a post of it’s own tomorrow.
Kris’ actual birthday came and went without a lot of fanfare. It was a Wednesday so we had church that night and I didn’t even cook. We had our pizza dinner at church. Woo Hoo! He said he didn’t really feel much like celebrating anyway.
Thursday night was ministry meeting night. Formerly known as leadership dinner. It was decided that the name would change because not everyone in ministry is technically a leader. Some of us are more accurately servants, and in ministry…that’s a good thing. My sister Becky and her husband and family would be there so we planned on a little kid swap for Friday. Owen had Friday off school for a teachers work day, so he spent the night with the Bowens and we brought home their youngest daughter Faith. She and Ivan are 2 months apart in age and worlds apart in demeanor. She is girly with a lot of fun and silly in her temperament, and while Ivan definitely has a sense of humor he is much more of a serious character. The two of them played very well together. Becky asked me if she was being bossy. She has a little of that tendency but Ivan either doesn’t mind or he just listens to it and does his own thing anyway. They squabbled a little but not much. She is teeny tiny and I enjoyed having her to enjoy for a while. She’s so babyish in that she sucks her thumb and likes to cuddle a bit, but she is all grown up in her own mind. Owen was exhausted when I went to get him on Friday evening. He had all sorts of adventures to relate.
The weekend brought the excitement of continuing play off games and I decided to do a little baking. It’s been a long time since I made bread and I had some motivation so I went with it. I made two loaves of my mom’s recipe with cinnamon and dried fruit added. Then I used a frozen loaf from Kroger to make some garlic with Italian spices loaf to go with our chili. I also had some very ripe bananas so I made some banana bars with cream cheese icing. I loved them. I froze half of the batch because it was just too good to stop eating it. I make banana bread and banana muffins fairly often because we keep bananas around and they often ripen a little faster than they’re eaten. I am not a huge fan of these baked goods usually but add some cream cheese icing and … oh my. All the breads, the banana bars and with the addition of some homemade chili in the crock-pot, home was a pleasant place to be on Saturday.
Saturday night Aron peed in the potty for the first time right before his bath. Awesome. Ivan got sick in the middle of the night that night. Sunday morning I stayed home from church with him and Aron. Monday morning Aron was being particularly cute and there was also a lot of fog. I took pictures of both.
Monday was also another day off of school for Martin Luther King Day. It was a beautiful day and I wanted to offer Owen the option of doing something different. He chose walking around the mall and we met Amber and Madison there, as they also had the day off. After the mall the boys were astounded by the beautiful weather, so we decided to walk the greenway for a little while. We crossed the Cumberland and hung out for a little while before walking back. Then they wanted to play on the playground and who am I to refuse little boys that opportunity in the middle of January?
Here are a few pictures I took from my phone yesterday. I didn’t have even my little point and shoot camera with me because I didn’t want to carry my purse around. Can you tell I was still thinking a lot about reflection and shadows when I took these? The first one has both a shadow of the bridge as well as a reflection of the Gaylord building.
By the time we were on our way home we were all very tired and it was getting very close to dinner time so I picked up a $5 hot and ready pizza from Little Ceazers and we were good to go. Kris didn’t get home until late because he was helping at the BGM office and things were progressing with getting little Tia home. Mike and Tia flew in this morning and are home…praise God.
That of course brings us to today and there isn’t a whole lot to say. Took Owen back to school, went to the grocery store and then to Bible study.
And with that (and tomorrow’s post about the Birthday Brunch) I am completely caught up.
Whew! Doesn’t it feel good to be caught up?
I love all your pictures in this post. Each one seemed to get better and better, and then that sweet bird in the fog nearly stopped my heart. Such beautiful color stabbing the middle of a dreamy scene. Sigh.
Also loving the shadows on that bridge – good catch! We tend to walk right by those things all the time without noticing them.