Snow Day!!!

Hello Dear Friends!

I am so happy to be safe and warm here at home! The snow started in the night and has left a beautiful blanket of white across our valley that is between 10 and 12 inches deep. While it is gorgeous to look at, I did have to drive in it. This morning was pretty messy, but better than I thought it was going to be. I also was able to leave work at 1 and by then the roads had been cleared pretty good.

This afternoon I was able to sit down and work on my computer a bit, trying to get the rest of my documents, music and pictures off my external hard drive so it can be reformated. I am also scanning in pictures of Cookie Monster from when he was young. My ex husband kindly asked if I would make him copies because he has no pictures from when the kids were young. So as I am finding pictures to scrapbook, I just scan them in quick and will get them to him later.

Of course Luna and I had our daily game of frisbee. She loved the fresh snow and took many tumbles in it for good measure! I have so much fun with her and I just laugh and laugh. What joy it brings me to see her loving the snow with her whole heart!

Tonight I will be working on a bit of scrapbooking for Matt and possible picking up my knitting. Then I think an early bedtime with a book and warm blanket. I am rather sleepy tonight and keep thinking it is Friday. Boy will I be surprised in the morning when I still have to go to work. Tee Hee.

Love you all and God's Sweet Blessings on you....

Sheila

Luna Plowing through the snow

Luna with her favorite frisbee

Snow in the Birch Tree

 

Our Pileated Woodpecker

 

Icicles on the Birdfeeder

 

Windchimes silenced by snow

 

Flower Pot waiting for spring

One of my flower gardens in hibernation

Also waiting for flowers

Snow Laden Branches

 

Pillow cases

Just a quick note here this morning...found this picture of some cute pillow cases and I so want to make some!  They remind me of spring!

By the way, this picture was credited only to pinterest.

Dance Class

Hello Dear Friends...

Princess Pea has dance class tonight so I am writing to you from the waiting room.  She takes 6 classes and loves every minute! She is in Tap, Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop, Contemporary,  and Pointe Ballet.  The studio she attends is about a half hour from our home and because of the price of gas, I have been just sitting and waiting for her.  Her classes are from 5:30 to 9 on Monday nights. That is a long time to sit and wait. Most of the other families are local so usually it's just me.

So I pack a bag to take with. Usually holds my knitting and the latest book I am reading. Sometimes I throw i n my Bible and headphones to listen to downloaded messages or my drawing supplies.

Tonight it has my knitting including the new dish cloth I am making, my latest books and my drawing supplies. I was knitting for awhile until my fingers got cold then it was time to switch to my book and work on my note to you all!

I am hoping the winter storm that is coming holds off til I get home. Of course I have a meeting at work tomorrow that I am supposed to be at so I can't exactly call in. Ugh!  I have a strong fear of driving in bad weather and have been known to have full blown panic attacks when faced with driving on bad roads. I could use all the prayers you can share!

Well my phone is nearly dead and I want to make sure I have it for the drive home.  I wish you all a blessed and safe night!

Lazy Sunday...

 

I love days like today best of all.  Even though I woke up with a case of vertigo, the day ended up being just wonderful. I have suffered from positional vertigo for about 6 or 7 years. I haven't had a case in quite some time, but when I get hit I am usually a mess for the whole day. I am so happy that today wasn't like that. I ended up with a headache but I was able to function, so it was all good.

My kiddos were both home all day today, and with them, a host of their friends. Cookie Monster's buddies all hung out today for most of the day alternating between their game-fest and the NASCAR race and Princess Pea had a sleep over with her bestie Frizz last night so they were pretty much out of sight. The extra kids stayed for most of the day. I love that they feel comfortable enough to hang out.

Sweet Honey put on a big pot of homemade chicken noodle soup and I worked at making cookies and apple tarts. Or course the cookies were a big hit, but it was the first time I made the apple tarts so I wasn't sure how they would go over. The recipe called them apple kolaches, but my Polish Honey said that they are not "real" kolaches lol. Even if they weren't, he dubbed them a "Keeper". Made me smile. It makes my heart so full when I can make a loved one happy!



Apple "Kolaches" or Apple Tarts

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sweet Honey

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup Cooking!

Luna and I went out and played frisbee earlier too! She loves that game and will go until she just about drops! It is so cool to see her bounding through the snow! We have to be careful though because she looks kind of like a coyote and around here, they are fair game for hunters!




Luna and her Frisbee

I was also able to get the laundry and the dishes caught up. I wish I could have done more with the house this weekend. It was definitly on the "to-do" list but we ran out of weekend! One can only do so much.

Currently I am studying the Gospel of John and learning much about God's Love for us. I love reading this book and discovering more about Jesus and how he taught people. I listent to Skip Heitzig on our Christian radio channel on the way home from work everyday and it has been so eye opening and insightful! I'm excited to learn more!

Another project I have been working on is pictures for scrapbooks and a slide show for Cookie Monster's graduation party. I have an external hard drive that is giving me fits and giggles. Everytime I try to open one of the files on it, I am told that I don't have access to these files. I have found a sort of work-around to remove most of the files, but not all of them yet. I worked on that for a bit this evening until I felt my frustration level rising, then I knew it was time to walk away.

Well, I think I am going to take my new books and go curl up under some blankets. It is getting cold again and I hear that we are in for quite a storm tomorrow into Tues. We are under a Winter Storm Warning here in West Central Wisconsin for 8 - 12 inches of snow again. Yuck. I am so ready for spring!

Good night my dear friends and God's Blessings on you all.

Safe Travels to all who may be affected by this newest storm.

Remember...God Loves You!

 

  

Jinx keeping an eye on me while I work

My favorite candle!

Saturday

 

It's 8:30 and I'm finally able to sit down and relax.  It's been a pretty busy day! Princess Pea had her field day for hunter safety today which pretty much consisted of three hours of tramping through the woods pretending to shoot pretend animals. It was only about 20 degrees so it was a little chilly! I was so busy helping her I didn't get a chance to take pictures. :-(

When we got home it was a quick lunch of left over biscuits and gravy, meal planning for the next 2 weeks, a shower and then a trip to town for Honey and I. It is 40 minutes or so for us to get to the mall and Home Depot and places like that. With the price of gas we don't go very often and while we were there I was finally able to order my glasses!  I'm so excited! I haven't had new ones in nearly 7 years!

We had a short stop at our favorite store, Barnes and Noble. I'm proud to say that I didn't buy anything but Honey did. He got himself a couple books and bought me the complete collection of William Shakespeare's plays. A pit stop at Bath and Body and then it was to Home Depot for bird seed and water softener salt

Then the main reason for our trip,  groceries!  Ugh! We were out of everything it seemed!
I was so excited to see my two other new books arrive in the mail! The Dictionary of Mythical Creatures and The Dictionary of Fairies!

When we got home from town, I started dinner and helped Honey put away groceries while Princess Pea emptied the dishwasher.  Tonight it was homemade enchiladas!  Yummy!

 

While they were in the oven, Princess Pea and I ran to get her best friend for a sleepover.  Cookie Monster has his buddies over for a video game-fest and now Honey, Luna,  and I are collapsing for the night!

Good night everyone...sleep tight!

  

A quiet night...

It's a pretty quiet night here tonight. Cookie Monster played pep band for the girls basketball game. I just learned the girls lost which means tonight was his last pep band ever. He is so sad!

Princess Pea is hanging out watching a Cake Boss Marathon. She loves that show.
Honey and I have spent much of the evening reading. I got one of my new books in the mail today. It's the Dictionary of Imaginary Places. Everywhere from Atlantis to Avalon.

As a Bible believing Jesus loving Christian,  I sometimes wonder if my love of Faeries and everything related and imaginary is wrong.  It's not like I believe they are real or expect them to appear in my garden. I just think that most renditions are so beautiful. I love the idea and simply find enjoyment them.

Well it's getting a little late here and Princess Pea and I have Hunter's Safety from 9-12 tomorrow morning.

Here's one of the quotes I adore...

 

You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me. ~C.S. Lewis

Good night dear friends!

  

 

I hope you all have a safe and blessed night. 

Lists and calenders and journals

I have a problem..I'm a list maker, a journal keeper, and a calendar junkie...I live by them. if I stop using these tools, my life slides into veritable chaos! I am quite forgetful so if I don't write it down, it's lost forever!

I started writing in a journal when I was 16. I wanted to make sure and capture every moment of my life. Now that I am older I am so glad I did. I'm not sure why but my memory is so full of holes it looks like Swiss Cheese. I remember very little of my childhood and now I have these wonderful books to look back on.

My calendar is my lifeline. With 2 very active kids along with my activities on the board, something would definitely be missed! When we moved i had entire box marked calendars and journals because I keep them all.

Over the years I have been trying to figure out a way to consolidate down to maybe one book, instead of one of each. I have found that buying a date book with large dates boxes or columns with time separations allows me to keep track of the family,  jot down quick prayers, notes of what happened during the day.

I still keep my grateful journal separate.  That way when I have a down day, all my blessings are in one place to remind my how much God loves me and how many gifts he showers on me. I also keep a notebook with my lists.

And then there are the lists...prayer lists, grateful list, several to-do lists including for daily stuff, graduation stuff, board stuff, grocery lists, stuff I want that I may not be able to get yet list, books I want list...lol I have lists for nearly everything.

 

As I was surfing the web the other night, I noticed that there are many thousand sites devoted to Mama organization and home life organization.  My favorite is Tsh Oxenreider at her website www.simplemom.net.  I have both her books and they are wonderful. 
So does all this writing and list making make me weird? LOL! Does anyone else feel the need to write things down lest they be forgotten forever?

Around the house..

I have been wanting to get back to blogging,  studying in my Bible, and taking pictures but life has become so hectic that I feel like I can barely breathe some days.
Princess Pea has been working hard on her dancing and has recently picked up another.  She finally gets to start pointe ballet!
Cookie Monster is busy with his band activities,  including 3 different Honors bands and festivals, pep band, jazz band, and polka band.
We are also getting ready for his graduation in June.
*deep breath* AND we are having a garage sale at some point because we have blended 2 houses into 1 and have duplicates of many things!
AND I am on the Board of Director's for our local heritage festival and chairman of the arts and crafts committee.
Whew! Like I said LOTS going on....so all that being said..here are a fer pics from around the house! Enjoy!