Finding Color

Do you know that the world has turned Sepia? It's true! I look out the window and all I see is shades of white, brown, grey, and black. No color makes Kelly VERY SAD! I know some people call it Seasonal Affect Disorder. For me, it has much more to do with my LOVE of color (that would be why there are no white walls in my entire house). I have not been in a full out depression, but definitely lethargic and sad. Yesterday's sermon really encouraged me. Pastor Rob has been doing a series on Our Potential for Greatness and yesterday preached on Why we are here and using your gifts/talents/abilities, but he came at it from a very different perspective, or at least I heard it differently than the usual gifts/talents/abilities sermons. It made me think, as a good sermon aught to, and when my family was driving home from Madison, I found myself searching the landscape out the window for ANY color that was God made or at the very least, part of the landscape (not cars). Surprisingly, I found a bunch of color, subtle colors, but color and realized I was only allowing myself to see the brown and black and grey and white (like my eyes were set on Sepia or something). So I have set a challenge for myself for at least the rest of February, to search for color and try to capture it photographically. I am going to be posting as much as I can, whether the light is good for pics or not (I haven't been taking pictures lately because of crappy light. Not taking pictures does nothing to help the saddness). I will post my first pic later today when I discover some color. I hope you all are finding ways to make this never ending winter more enjoyable too.

Little House...

The girls and I are reading Little House in the Big Woods together. Like most little girls, this series of books was a favorite of mine as a child. I have been eagerly awaiting the chance to share them with my girls. Today we read the part where Ma makes candy out of molasses poured over snow. Emma is interested in anything candy related, so of course she wanted to make some. Last week we captured snow and made snowcones out of them by pouring grape juice over fresh snow. They thought this was the greatest thing ever. As we are due to get another 5 or so inches of snow today, we had containers out already to capture fresh snow, so we decided to use some of it to try our hand at snow candy. I used real maple syrup instead of molasses (because I had some and because I am relatively sure the girls wouldn't like molasses). I Googled snow candy and found all sorts of good instructions. Our first attempt didn't work. It just melted the snow, so I heated the syrup a little more and then is worked great. It was so yummy and stuck to our teeth. I am sure the dentist will be pleased at Abi's appointment tomorrow.

Because my public (or Sarah) demands an Update

The girls received a real sewing machine for Christmas from my mom. My aunt gave them a bunch of fabric all pre-cut into 5 inch squares and little sewing kits. At this point, Abi is only able to control the foot pedal, but it is a start. She layed out the fabric squares the way she wanted them and we worked together to make her first little quilt for her stuffed kitty. I just used fleece for the back so that we didn't have to use batting, but it still feels like a quilt. We just did a quick turn and then topstitched the edges. Used the zig-zag stitch down the middle of the seams to quilt it all together and in less than an hour she had made her first quilt. She and Emma have each made another one since, as well as 2 little pillows.

Last Saturday was her Princess Party. She loved the outfit that mom and I made for her. We had a princess party for Emma when she turned 4 and have similar pictures of her and Curt dancing. I treasure the pictures so much and understand that all too soon they will pictures of them dancing at their weddings with their daddy.
This is my feeble attempt at a princess castle. There may have been cursing involved. I started out the day thinking how much fun it would be to plan children's parties and decorate cakes as a side job. By the time I was done with this, all of those plans had completely fled out the window. All the Princesses had a wonderful time. They are popping balloons that had jewelry inside in the picture below. We were all quite tired when the party was done, but I think everyone lived happily ever after. The End.

Happy Birthday Abi

My baby turned 5 today. That statement carries way more emotional weight for me than it probably should. First of all, since when does 5 years go so fast???? I mean seriously. Do you remember high school? 4 years felt like FOREVER! But I am pretty sure I had her like last week and now she is 5. Second, she is the last baby that I will ever carry IN my body and this morning, I was really struggling with that. The grieving of never being able to carry another baby in my body has for the most part passed, but I find myself remembering what it felt like on their birthdays. Today that brought some sadness. On the upside (which is what this blog is about after all), we are hopefully sending in the application to our adoption agency this week to start that ball rolling, so even though I will never carry a baby IN my body, I am most certainly not done carrying babies! On to the birthday fun...

We try to make birthdays a pretty big deal around here. Not present wise, but just make the birthday person feel special. We always have cake and presents and such with the Grandparents and Aunt Mando, Uncle Peter, Uncle Brian and his girlfriend. That was yesterday. We did heart shaped cupcakes and Abi helped decorate. She loves to help in the kitchen. Notice the towel over her shoulder, mommy does that too, so she insists on having a towel. She is having a Princess party with her little friends next weekend. Stand by for irresistible Princess cuteness next week.
Here she is, attempting to blow out her candles. She had a tough time, so mommy had to help.

This is today. Her actual birthday. She at least still looks like my baby. We are working on the thumb sucking. The quilt is her "nigh-nigh." She has had it since she was born and it is falling apart. But it keeps the bad dreams away or so she says.
Forgive the poor quality of pictures. Another gloomy day. But birthdays are still special, no matter the weather. Happy Birthday Abigail Faith! We are off to McDonald's (her restaurant of choice) to celebrate.

Snow Fun

First snowman of Winter. Oh, wait! It is a snowLADY. My bad. We have had something like 25 inches of snow since December 1st, but this was the first good and packy stuff. The contrast was really bad on this picture, so I played with photoshop a little. Still a lot to learn, so forgiveness please.


This is the snowcastle that the Queen Momma so nicely built.

Abi decorating the snow castle.

Snowpaint is way fun. If you have never tried it before, it is a must. We emptied some spray bottles of their cleaning solutions (not that there has been any cleaning around her recently anyway) and added some water and food coloring. Squirt away!

Snow angels are also great!

Dreaming of...

Pear Blossoms

Picnics

Walking around Barefoot

Green grass, green leaves and water flowing in the river

Lilacs

Black Eyed Susans

The Dreaming makes the months go faster.

Ice Storm Warning- The Day After