Just a couple of things from yesterday I wanted to share

Ok so I know our snowfall can’t even compare to Jill’s in Michigan…but, I’ll take what I can get.

Turkey Sugar Cookies. Not quite what I had envisioned…

…but entertaining nonetheless!

Nope, didn’t fall off the face of the planet, so don’t worry I’ve been so incredibly busy & I promise I will catch up on my emails and phone calls…

I took some advice from one of my best friends, Debbie (also known as my Titus 2 woman), and rested. Wait- I’ve been “so incredibly busy” but rested at the same time? I guess you could say, I’ve been busy resting…lol.

For once, I’m not fretting over unloading the dishes, packing my hubby’s lunch, or doing laundry. Instead, I’m trying to make the most of the time - with my family & and by giving myself some much needed quiet time. Seriously, I got to take a nap on Tuesday - woo hoo! Even if I dust today, more will come back tomorrow…so why worry about it…especially when we could be playing outside in the leaves!

So, even though I have SO much that I want to write about: like my awesome CVS trip, my new online Bible study with my friend, Abbie (she makes the Compassion Friends, remember?), my new knitting projects from some books I received from my amazing friend, Laura, as well as our apple picking adventure on Saturday…

it might - and probably - will have to wait until I’m done resting

Okay, I have a sleeping baby in my lap and the rest of my family is playing outside - it’s a sunny 80 degrees with a nice breeze - I’m jealous. But before I run out to meet them, I just HAVE to blog about my super day (did I mention it was sunny, 80 degrees, with a slight breeze out??):

* Church this morning was wonderful! We had the amazing opportunity to hear Mike Licona speak. What an incredibly intelligent, not to mention quite humorous, man.

* Even though CVS doesn’t have any oh-my-gosh-I-have-to-run-out-the-door-this-instant deals this week, they do have a buy (4) 12 pack of Pepsi for $11.00, get (1) 12 pack free. That deal is great, but when I added my $2 off $10 purchase AND a $2 ECB, that brought it down to a total (including tax) of $7.17 for 60 cans of Pepsi! WOW! And yes, I will be heading back before the week is over to pick up some more Hey, when you’re hubby is a Pepsi-holic, you do what you have to do

* I baked bread. Yes, I’ve baked bread before, but this one is called Sweet Bread. Sweet and bread together? I had to try my hand at it…and I’m happy I did. Not only did I love it, but the fam did too. It is quite similar to a dinner roll type of bread, but it’s lighter and fluffier. YUUUUMMM!

* But where were the girls when I was baking bread?? SLEEPING! YES! All at the same time….incredible

Now I’m off to play outside with the rest of the Clarkes!

Spring is here…the flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, and our pond seems to be the “cool place to hang out” for all the frogs and turtles this side of the mountain.

A couple weeks ago, during a rainstorm, Michael spotted a turtle crossing our yard to meet his friends. But before he could join that party, Michael brought him to the front porch to say hello to the Clarke ladies.

We have yet to catch any frogs…they are just too darn fast! So in the mean time, we decided to make some frogs of our own:

I’m sure you can figure out how we made these critters just from the photos alone, but here are the directions anyway
What you will need:
Green, Red, Pink, & Black Construction Paper
White Crayon
Glue Stick
Scissors

1. Fold green construction paper in half and cut a half circle, starting at the crease (when you open the cut out half circle, you will have a large circle). This is the frog’s head

2. Repeat with the pink construction paper, however make this half circle smaller. This is the inside of the frog’s mouth.

3. Align the creases of the two circles together, with the pink inside the green, and glue together.

4. Repeat step 1 for black construction paper for his eyes (these half circles should be significantly smaller).

5. Fill in as much white for the eyes as you’d like on one side of the black half circle.

6. Glue opposite side of the black half circle onto the top of the frog’s head.

7. Cut out a LONG rectangular strip of red construction paper and scrunch it (as if you were making a fan). This is his tongue.

8. Glue one end of scrunched tongue close to the top crease in the pink circle. (When you scrunch up the tongue and close his mouth, the tongue should pop out when you open it back up…this gets quite a laugh!)

9. Enjoy your new friends!

When I think of spring, I think of bluebirds, blossoming flowers, a nice cool breeze, and animals frolicking about. What I DON’T think of is:

NORTHWEST WIND GUSTS UP TO 45 MPH EXPECTED THROUGH THIS EVENING BEHIND A STRONG COLD FRONT; PARTLY CLOUDY, HIGH 47 (FEELS LIKE 39), LOW 32 (FEELS LIKE 20).

Yes, folks, that is the Winchester forecast for today - the first day of spring. Hmph

You can take the girl out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the girl.

After the girls and I went grocery shopping early one morning (by early, I mean 7:30 in the morning early), I decided that it would be easier on my preggo-self to pull the car around to the laundry/mud room to unload the groceries, rather than park in the driveway and climb the stairs to the front door. “No problem,” I thought to myself (I’ll admit that I even added a “pure genius” in there) All I’d have to do was to drive through the backyard, up a small hill, and I’d be in business! Sure…”pure genius.” After we had so much rain?! And so early in the morning that the sun didn’t even have time to evaporate the water?! As I spun my wheels over and over again (since I thought, “maybe if I just give it a little more gas….”) I buried my front tires deeper and deeper and mud was flug all over my car. Thankfully, our neighbor came to my rescue (yet again…) and towed my car out of the mud-pit I had created.

I learned a few things that day:
1) Don’t even attempt to drive anywhere that is not paved after a rainstorm
2) I am a comedian: Lilli thought it was funny that “mommy went mudding.”
3) Our neighbor, Wade, still rocks! If everyone had neighbors like ours, the world would be such a better place

Spring is exactly one month away! Yet, as I write this, snow flurries are dancing around my back yard.

This year, we’ve decided to plant green beans, broccoli, carrots, corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, and Lilli’s favorite: strawberries! Last year was my first year gardening and was quite a learning experience…but I had to start somewhere! This year I’ve decided to do things a little (okay, a lot) different. I’m starting these plants from seeds, rather than buying an already sprouting plant as I had done last year. Michael is also going to build me a raised planting bed, since (as we discovered last year) our entire area is comprised of shale…not the most fertile ground. And most importantly, I’ve done my research this time around rather than “winging it.” Virginia Tech has a great planting guide for our area. According to the guide, I can start planting my peas on March 1st! Taking into account that I can NEVER trust the “predictable” weather, I’ve decided to start my seeds indoors. Not only will this give me a sense of peace knowing that my seeds won’t come across an accidental frost, but it will allow Lilli to have more of a hands on learning experience at an earlier stage in the gardening process.

We have decided to postpone our chicken plans this year. It didn’t really hit us until a few weeks ago that we’ll have a new baby in July, which doesn’t leave much time to tend to chickens…lol. So, we’ll just have to continue buying those perfect farm-fresh eggs from the Schrock’s for a little longer - darn

As I waved goodbye to Michael as he drove off to work, I realized from the puff of my breath, “Darn- it’s really cold!” No wonder why my cup of hot coffee feels especially comforting this morning - Weather.com says it’s 41 degrees outside. I remember living in Florida and digging to the bottom of my dresser to find a sweatshirt and jeans when the temperature plummetted to a (now perfect, then freezing) 65 degrees. It’s amazing how a body will get accustumed to it’s surroundings, within reason. Michael reminds me of that whenever we talk about where the Lord will put us in 5, 10, 15 years. He’s praying for Colorado, while I’m praying for the Keys (special note and therefore no hope for my prayer: Michael’s body will never acclimate to the hot and humid Florida environment- so I’ve been told ). I suppose I should start stocking up on flannel!

Job 37:9
     “The stormy wind comes from its chamber,
                and the driving winds bring the cold.”