This and That

*It has been up around 60 the past couple of days- such a nice break from the cold!
*I made some blueberry scones from my friend Patricia's blog- delicious!  First time making scones.
*Sammy turns 7 on Monday so we are in the middle of an extended birthday celebration.  Pizza and cupcakes with a few friends on Friday, dinner with Brian's parents Saturday, and then the actual birthday tomorrow at my parents.  Whew!
*And a couple of stories:

At breakfast, Lucy so sweetly said to me, "Mommy, you're the best mommy in the whole world."  Then quietly to herself, "Well, I only have one mom..."  Haha!

It was just Sam and I in the car and a song from my childhood came on the radio.  (For those of you wondering, it was Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun.")  He commented, "This music sounds strange."  I said, "This is an old song.  It was around when I was a kid."  Sammy:  "Ohhh...no wonder it's so weird."  Haha again!

*Finally, a picture book for you.  It's the cutest story, based on a Navajo tradition of celebrating a baby's first laugh with a gathering.  Who doesn't love that sound?  I know I did.  Lucy and Sam really enjoy this book.  The older kids immediately recognized the illustrations as being done by the same guy who did "The Relatives Came" and "Song and Dance Man."

Pictures from 1960

Gold!  I feel like I struck gold!  My Aunt Mary just posted these pictures of my DAD from the winter of 1960- which I wrote a little about two posts back.

Daddy would be about 12.

Thanks for these, Aunt Mary!

Saturday Evening

I'm thinking unplanned holidays might be the best.  Just sit back and enjoy.  That's pretty much what we did Thursday and Friday.   Sledding, movies, shoveling, coffee, books, hot chocolate, baking.  Today was nice, too, but laundry, among other things, was calling my name. I don't think I'm ready to get back to "normal" on Monday.
Sam took a hit on the ice this afternoon.   I asked him if he still had blood on his face and he said no, he was just busted up.  Yep.  That's about right.  I think he's kind of proud of it though.
Lucy has been in her jammies since Thursday.  She just put her snow pants over them!  Love that.  She did get a bath yesterday so we at least changed jammies once!

 
While the kids were outside on Valentine's Day, I made peanut butter kiss cookies, only I used soy butter since Sam is allergic to peanut butter.  Yum!

I heard that familiar, "Mom, can I bake something?"  

"Yes!" 

So Kayla decided on pretzels.  Wow.  They were so good.  A lot of work- she and her Dad did most of it- but it was worth it!

A selfie- enjoying the fruit of her labor

It was great how extra kids appeared in our yard to play.

Going for a walk before the plows came though.  The garbage truck made us some nice tracks.

Snowboarding in the road

Shadows on the snow were pretty.

The Winter of '60

The headline I read this morning said, "This storm will be one your great-grandchildren will talk about."
Maybe.
But what about the winter of '60?
Now THAT was a winter to remember.
Was I there?  No.  I missed it by about 13 years.
But you bet I have heard about it.
My dad tells stories about the forts and tunnels he built with his brother, Uncle Dennis.
My mom remembers being out of school for a long time- a month was it?  And going to school on Saturdays to make up for it.
My favorite part to imagine, though, is very Wendell Berry-ish.  It's community at its very best.  It's neighbors and family and helping and getting through.  And it's just who I remember my Papa to be.

I "borrowed" this photo from my cousin Kathy, who lives on this same road.

 

Imagine a stretch of road, maybe a  half-mile.  In the mountains.  Grandma had several brothers and sisters who lived along this road.

If I'm remembering the stories right, it sounds like there were around 100 inches of snow that winter.

Roads were impassable.  There wasn't the hope of a snowplow coming through in a day or two.  "Snowed in" had a different meaning.

So at some point, Papa and his brother-in-law left a car at the end of their road. 

They would find out what essentials everyone needed and then make the snowy trek on foot to the end of the road.

I don't know how the car ride into town was.  I'm guessing it was challenging.  But I do know they did their best to get what everyone needed.

With the car parked once again at the end of the road, Papa and Uncle Raymond walked back through the snow and made the deliveries.  I know they didn't do it for the thanks or for the promise of a pay-back later on.  They did it because it was necessary and right and they could.

I'd bet the stories they had to tell later were a welcome bonus.

Snowpocalypse 2014

I don't know where to begin except to say- THAT'S what we've been waiting for!
19 inches of snow. 
The perfect storm.

Wow.

In the snow fort the boys made with a friend.

It was almost too deep to sled but we worked out a good path.  Sledding is not just for kids!

So happy out there.

 
Awesome.

She's swallowed up in it!

That's Kayla in there.  She took a lot of these pictures.

I don't know why I like this so much. Maybe because it was still early so the light was nice.  Or because it looks so peaceful down there.

The snow has been weighing down the trees.  Wind is picking up though so that should help.

19 inches.  Depending on where you measured it could have been more or less- lots of drifting.  But I got 19 pretty consistently so we'll go with that.

The Big One

"They" say this could be the biggest storm since the winter of 2009/2010.  I remember that winter- Lucy was born that winter and it was so cold and snowy.  I will happily take a BIG snowstorm!  I think I've seen every map, every prediction.  At this point, I say let's look out the window tomorrow and see what it's doing.  And keep a ruler handy.
I'm declaring a snow day for Thursday, which we rarely do.  Why would we?  But the biggest snow of the year deserves a day off full of sledding, hot chocolate, books, movies, Olympics, and whatever else we can get into.

Snow preparations are in full gear.   I love it.

The lines on the road scream "Bad weather coming!"

p.s. The kids were taking these pictures, not me!

Sweet Voice

I think it was last week that it dawned on me.
He doesn't ask me to pick him up in church anymore.  You know, when we're singing?  It's been a while and I hadn't thought about it.
Really, Sam is almost 7 and he's getting heavy so it's time.  And it's ok- mostly.
But I have one more.
Lucy.
She puts her arms up when we stand to sing.  I am happy to hold her.  I know these days are fleeting.
And what a sweet moment it is when I hear her soft voice in my ear.
She doesn't know all the words but sometimes, like today, she begins to sing.  At first she tries to sing along, a word here, a word there.  Then she catches the refrain and sounds more sure, still quiet but joining the chorus nonetheless. 
It's a precious moment for me.
And I think it's a gift.
This has been one of those week's where I feel like everything I do is wrong.  Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.  But it's enough to make it hard to remember what's important.  Is it all the misspelled spelling words?  The wrong math answers?  Or is it living and breathing the gospel in our home?
Sure, we have to do our math and spelling and it would be good to get it right, at least most of the time.
But in the end, I don't want to be distracted from what it good and true and lovely.
I want these difficulties, no matter how small, to point us all to Jesus, that he might nourish us in our need.
And that little voice singing in my ear this morning?
A timely reminder of a lot of things, especially to enjoy the things that matter.
Thankful.

Sunday Reminders

Most Sundays, I find myself reminded of my grandparents.
It might be a song that sounds to me like something you'd sing in a small country church.Today's hymn was "Grace Greater Than All Our Sin."  A guitar and a piano and 80-some voices and I can see my Grandma Pearl.  She loves her gospel music.

It could be the elderly man I see walking into the Tractor Supply store during the service.  He walks slowly, wears those familiar black shoes, and wears a hat. And I think of my Papa.  When I saw him today I fought my tears.

There's one lady at church who carries her purse just like my Grandma Lucy, in the crook of her arm.  I can see Grandma getting her purse from the same place she's put it ever since I can remember, making sure big things like the TV are unplugged, and heading out the door.

And today especially it's Papa Crouse, who didn't know his great-grandchildren but who would be so pleased and proud to know that his only grandson is in fact keeping the family name going. Not one great-grandson but three!  The third will be here in July to join his two brothers and his sister.  More tears.

For some reason I found myself thinking of a wedding picture we have with our grandparents.  I am somewhat sobered by it and thankful at the same time.  They have left us a fountain of memories just in their living.  I don't recall many bells and whistles.  I do remember them going about their lives quietly and purposefully.  And from just that, I think all us grandkids gained a fortune.

Warm Weekend

This has been such a nice weekend so far.  I am savoring it.
Last night Brian took us girls out to dinner.  Then we browsed the Goodwill Bookstore.  Watched a little "Foyle's War" then fell asleep by about 9:20- I am so lame.
Today has me thinking of planting flowers and listening to spring peepers- it's so warm outside!  At least for February it is.  The kids are outside playing, the house is quiet, we've all gotten some vitamin D today....Awesome.  Good for my frame of mind.  There are rumblings and rumors of more wintry weather next week and that's fine with me but this break is most welcome.  We can make it til spring!
In other news, my friend Julie loves her birthday.  Loves it.  Since today is the day, some of us went to Olive Garden for lunch to celebrate.  What a nice time that was.  Glad you had a birthday, Julie!

For some reason getting ice stuck to your tongue is worth doing multiple times.  Haha.  Love that kid.