First Snow 2013

The first snow of 2013 did not disappoint.  Big, beautiful flakes fell this afternoon.  So pretty.  It's a good thing.  There was plenty of wailing while it rained all morning and we waited for the snow to start.

We had seven inches on the deck when I measured a while ago.

It took a while for the snow to get going.  Kayla and I played Catan Jr- which is a lot of fun by the way.  At one point while it was still just raining, Sammy looked so pitiful and said, "This stinks mom.  It's not going to snow is it?"  Maybe half an hour later I heard screams from downstairs:  "Snow!  Mom!  It's snowing!" 

He was a happy little guy.

She just wanted to eat the snow.

She loves that crazy face mask.  

Once the ground was just covered, they were out with their sleds.

Ready to snow boogie

Taking a break from throwing snowballs

Some Snow?

Hoping for a lot of snow tomorrow!  The totals keep going up.  Right now, 6-12".  Yes, please!

We did our grocery shopping like everyone else today.  Even got a couple of sleds.  

Let it snow!

From Grandma's Picture Box

I visited just after Christmas.
I don't know why I always want to stop at the cemetery on our way home from Grandma's but I do.  Though I know Papa is not there, I take a little comfort from being at that place where we all gathered.
This time, as most every other, my eyes also stop on the stones of others.  Those that walked this very ground saying their own good-byes at one time or another, often together, and have since been laid to rest themselves.  Brothers and sisters, by blood or law.
A lifetime of living.
We had just put away one of Grandma's boxes of pictures.  I think there are four.  Under her bed and in her closet.  Full of old black and white pictures that tell stories of their own. Telegrams, deeds, even a poem by my great-grandma.  It's one of my favorite things to do when we are there, to set a box on the dining room table with Grandma, Mom, and anyone else who wants to look, and talk, and listen.  There are sweet stories and hard ones, too.

 
My great-great grandparents.  I am amazed that there is such a picture so many years later, that I am part of them.  This living looks hard.

I love this one because I knew many of them when they were much older.  Some were the brothers and sisters who sat on the carport in the summer to shuck corn or string beans.  The ones we like to visit when we went on walks.

My Grandma Lucy is on the right in the back row.  Her parents are seated.  A few of the children are missing in this photo.  Grandma is the last one living.

"...this was our history and these were our people.  Their names and stories and pictures had a worth to us that was timely and bodily and never to be put in a book."

"And now, as often before, I am reminded how grateful I am to have been there, in that time, with these I have remembered.  I was there with them; they remain with me."

from Andy Catlett Early Travels by Wendell Berry

Some Favorite Books from 2012

I enjoy looking at other people's book lists- what they are going to read, what they read last year.  It's fun to see titles I've read, too, and even more fun to find ones I haven't read but now plan to.

It's hard to remember all the books we've been into this year but here are a (very) few favorites from 2012.

Jack:  The Mark of Athena Danny Dunn books, Hardy Boys,  The Bronze Bow

Kayla:  Understood Betsy, Meet Caroline,  Nancy Drew, The Littles,  Betsy-Tacy books

Sammy:  Billy and Blaze books, Earl the Squirrel, My Father's Dragon, The Story of Ping, Charlotte's Web

Lucy:  Earl the Squirrel, A Sick Day for Amos McGee, Richard Scarry Books, The Little Fir Tree

For me:

Window Poems by Wendell Berry

A Place in Time by Wendell Berry (which was added to my WB collection this Christmas!)

Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Butterfield (an excellent non-fiction read)

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

The Hobbit by Tolkien

The Envy of Eve by Melissa Kruger (another great non-fiction read)

 

I'll have to ask Brian for some of his- I know he's read some good ones.

 

It bugs me that I can't remember more but there's a taste.

Friday After Christmas

We came home the day after the ice and wind hit.  Here's what we found.  Thankfully the playset wasn't damaged.  Brian spent a good part of Friday cutting up the tree and ended up with poison ivy.

While Brian was working on the tree the kids and I went to visit Grandma Lucy.  We spent a lot of time looking through her boxes of old, old pictures.  I LOVE those boxes.  Hopefully some of those photos will show up on the blog soon.

One more picture before we hit the road.  That was a sweet day with Grandma, Mom, and Dad.

The Waters Christmas

We also had Christmas with the Waters!  Brian's sister and her family came to VA from Ohio.

Lucy and Joel waiting for presents.

Mary and Jack

Post-opening.  I think they had fun!

Getting into the popcorn tin.  Joel knows a good thing when he sees it.

Reading a new book with Granny.

Caroline, Sammy, and Kayla were watching the bird feeder and enjoying more popcorn.

It was a fun weekend and a little sad when the Ohio cousins left for home.  We'll all look forward to the next time!

January 1

Happy 2013 to you!

We have spent this first day of a new year putting away Christmas decorations.  As much as I dislike  the process, I am always glad to have it all out of the way.  I'm kinda ready to move on!

I never make New Year's resolutions. I'd forget them by tomorrow anyway.  One thing I hope to do is keep a running record of all the books we read this year- either aloud or on our own.  We'll see how far we get with that.

I got a lovely bird feeder for Christmas that hangs off the back deck now.  Lucy was watching it this morning and said, "Hey Mom- those birds are playing ring around the rosey by the bird feeder."  Cute.

Also this morning, from another room, I heard Kayla helping Sammy learn Psalm 121 verse by verse.  He hung in there for a while, then was done. That was a nice thing to hear in the new year.