Scenes from a Happy Place

we traded:

photos for yarn.

A good deal.

Christmas Traditions

Going to Great-Grandma's for Candy Making Day.......
Mr. Wonderful has been declared the peanut brittle man
by his Grandma. So every year he perfects his technique.
And take it from someone who knows these things....
it's all good stuff!!

Fire Night

Reclaiming memories, again. This is one of my boys' favorite things to do, year round.

But it holds special joys in the cold, cold winter nights,

when everyone has been cooped up inside for far too long.

Mr. Wonderful starts the fire, I grab the marshmallows and hot cocoa,

the boys bring chairs and their *musical* instuments.

I cringe as Ian toddles around the fire,

and Nathan declares no need for a coat.
We laugh. Then we sing.

Childhood Joys

While *schooling* continues to be a challenge,

(especially with Ian nearing the two year mark,)

their free time shows a growing love

for books, stories and pretending.

The staples of a happy childhood,

in my memories.

Contented

Some days my world is frozen, still and unmoving.

This longing, this grief is more than I can bear.

Other times, I am in an exhausting hunt,

a race, a contest, always desiring what I do not have.

God whispers to me again, about the sparrow,

who does not fall to the ground without his care.

And how much more he loves me? And my Ellie.

Contentment with his choice

is the hardest thing I have ever wanted.

Funny how the heart will not be bullied,

and this cannot be pretended.

In the middle, It's me, with a SMILE!

Last week, I had a good day.

I went outside and played in the fresh snow with the boys.
Everyone had fun!

Ian is the most mischievious toddler.....

hmmm. Nathan likes to eat snow.

And this one.

Snowball fights are his cup of ornery tea.

I'm not alone. Read Molly's update.

"Nothing Lost....

....that may not be found, if sought. "

Sense and Sensibility, quoting Edmund Spencer

This past year, much has been lost.

Specifically, the happy memories.

Everything seems buried under a snowdrift of grief.

Many times, I put in the effort, took the pictures,

but sadly neglected to make the memory mine.

So here I begin, to recapture some of the past months

very happy times! Thanksgiving morning, 2008

Our first annual Cowboy Breakfast.

The menu: omelettes and hash browns,

hot cocoa, then apple pie!

The costumes: bought and scrounged just the day before....

complete with hats, neckerchiefs, and plaid shirts.

And for some, boots!

White

Life's storms aren't very pleasant.

They are not like gentle lullabies,

but bitingly cold winds,

whipping icy snow in our faces.

They are devastating,

stripping from us

all our hope,

our perceived path,

our very breath.

But joy comes in the morning,

after the midnight of our soul,

and the world's transformed into beauty.

A cold beauty, but beauty nonetheless.
.

.

.

“If we were given all we wanted here,
our hearts would settle for this world rather than the next.
God is forever luring us up and away from this one,
wooing us to Himself and His still invisible Kingdom,
where we will certainly find what we so keenly long for.”

.
Elisabeth Elliot

It's all in the Details

My stair-step boys.....

a little grimey,

wearing mismatched pajamas and holey socks,

but with very clean teeth.

Their night-time routine in front of the mirror

keeps me in giggles.

Black and White

Our 2008 was mostly black,

with blinding spots of light.

I hope that I have captured,

lived in,

and learned

from both.

"Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?"

In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

Job 2:10