Electrifying

This weekend was the first of many a snowfall that will grace our dear state. Oh we've had flurries before now but nothing that has stayed on the ground or warraunted a snowplow to grace the streets.  Our kids proclaimed it "A Winter Wonderland." I told my Beloved that thought will hold true until the year that they are enlisted to clear the drive way off. : )

Both my Beloved and I have gotten a kick out of the fact that our state now names storms coming as if they were hurricanes. I am not sure if they decided we were lonesome for some personalization to the weather systems or if we have name envy from seeing those ocean side states name their weather systems. Who knows?

We had been anticpating this storm for a few days and knew it was going to be a good one. What we hadn't expected was to see fireworks outside our window in the middle of the night. Oh, not literal fireworks, but there was diffintely some glowing and sparking of electrical lines.

We are always a little weary of the electrical lines because we have some trees that hang close to our line. We've had our line ripped off the side of the house during a similar winter storm by these trees so our weariness is not without merit. Both my Beloved and I went to bed fairly sure we would lose power at some point. When we were awakend to a loud buzzing and a click I simply said, "There it goes." I really thought nothing of the noise. (My curiosity is not easily peeked in the middle of the night.) My Beloved jumped out of bed to look out the window and the noise came again and would you believe the electrical line coming into the house was glowing? I was near another window and noticed some bright light from that direction. We aren't too far away from some more substantial lines and it turns out the sparking and bright light was a transformer going just down the hill. Not sure if the current jumped to our line (closest to transformer line) and that was the result of our line glowing or what. Craziness.

Long story short Beloved called the power company and grabbed the ladies attention with the glowing and bright light info. Two very short hours after we lost power it was back on again...in the middle of a fierce storm.

I've got my eye on that electrical line. I'll be stepping smart whenever I need to pass under it. It better be on its best behavior from here on out....or else.  : )

And the thankfulness goes on....

# 113-124

- beautiful Christmas lights

- holiday baking has begun

- beautiful, crisp fallen snow

- a working snow blower (& a man who loves to use it!)

- power only out 2 hours

- the electrical line didn't start on fire or cause damage to the house

- no trees took out our line : )

- nephew ok after seizure last week

- getting to see the sweet faces of some dear family and friends through their Christmas cards

- warm cups of tea (fighting a cold just now)

- kids enjoying and looking forward to Jesse Tree Devotional

- wonderful reading books to go along with era we are studying in history

Nothing Changes

Every year it is the same. Every year. You would think I would learn and attempt this feat earlier than I do. What feat am I yammering about? Getting a picture of the family or at least of the kids'. I know I have been remiss about posting lately and especially posting pictures of the kids. I assure you this will be sufficient coverage of all four!

Least you think I am joking about how very difficult it is to capture them I'll show you just a small portion of my efforts.

There are always those who refuse to look at the camera.

 Those who insist on closing their eyes.

Those who get bored and whose eyes begin to wander.

A random gem that has potential even though each child isn't looking your way.

There are those who are naughty with their squinched up face. (Makes me smile every time. Little weasel!)

Those where they shy away from one another and you hear, "Mom! So and so is touching me!"



And there are those where one child must make it look as though the lighting is much to bright for their delicate eyes.

 

Since I struck out with the group photo's I took a few individual pictures.

There is the oldest, whom even though the smile wasn't always there, was a faithful child looking at the camera for each click of the shutter. She looks a bit worn but did a wonderful job of hanging on to that squiggle worm of a brother.

Then there is him whose eye lashes truly are ridiculous looking all spiffy in that suit Grandma got for him.

Here is she who thinks smiling means this grimace with her tongue placed between her teeth.

Lastly is him who is just so sweet you could eat him up! Those dimples!

To make sure you know I truly have been busy...keeping up if not posting about it...here are some of my 1000 gifts from the last few weeks. You'll have to bear with the list (Its been 3 weeks! Oh, you didn't notice? Never mind then. Read away and be blessed!)

# 76 - 112

-  a warm pair of slippers

- fresh, warm, homemade apple crisp

- a Mom who is intentional about calling no matter how many time zones separate us

- a sweet pen pal for my girl

- few to almost no "accidents" from a girlie who had reverted a bit in the potty training department

- overbites in sweet little mouths

- accountability

- free material for school use from local library

- homemade brownies

- rereading "The Light at Tern Rock"

- a sweet sister making us rethink how we celebrate the birth of Jesus

- the warmth of small bodies on my lap

- that my girl thinks my arms are a safe place to be when the sound of the 'frain' (train) frightens  

  her

- the easy, no tears loss of a tooth

- vacuumed stairs

- neck kisses = much giggling : )

- a meal at home with some dear friends before they moved out of the state

- plants that merely wither, but don't die, to remind me it is watering time

- a stain stick that removes baby spit-up the 1st time through the wash

- a husband who has the Thanksgiving meal all under control and boots me from the kitchen

- girlfriends

- Cat in the Hat school paper

- brothers who take the time to call me

- a little bit of peace and quiet (around here known as bed time for the kiddies)

- kitchen aid mixer

- homemade bread gracing our house after a few years hiatus

- a girlie who was quiet as a mouse sneaking into my bed while her daddy was out of town

- the smell of baby

-the love story that is Christmas

- flannel sheets

- the safe return of my Beloved after a week away (the return of my sanity as well!)

- a cup of sugar borrowing type of neighbor

- a camera that is only maimed, but not broken, after falling prey to curious little hands

- bath time

- facilities nearby where I can take the kids to run off some pent up energy

- an afternoon watching snow fall that belonged in a movie it was so beautiful

-  sunny days in the midst of days upon days of grey

(Yes, I know it isn't Monday...bear with me for being a day late.)