Snow Day

Snow doesn't come to Alabama often, so when it does it is a rather special occasion.  I love the quiet noise that snow makes while it is falling.  It is so quiet, you can hear it.  Have you ever noticed that?  While sitting on our front porch, watching the snow come down, I could hear it falling.  It was so silent, I could hear it. 

So, what do you do on a snowy day?  We get all excited around our house.  There is always something cooking on the stove or in the crockpot, we bring the sleds down from the attic and dust them off,  and without a doubt you will find a fire blazing in the fireplace.  Once a snowman is in the front yard, we have sled down the hills and had our snowball fights, we come inside to warm up by the fire and have hot chocolate.  We also make snow ice-cream which is so simple yet so delicious.  Recipe:  8 cups fresh snow, 1 can eagle brand sweetened condensed milk, and 1 tsp vanilla flavoring.  Mix it together and enjoy.... Tastes just like the homemade ice cream that you make in the Summer.  After all of the fun activities, I like to curl up with a blanket and a good book.  The boys settle in and we just enjoy being at home. 

Bigfoot - real or not real

For several months now, Joseph and our boys have been obsessed with Bigfoot. They watch every episode of "Finding Bigfoot", have researched sightings online, read various articles with supporting evidence of the creature's existence, weighed the evidence and came to each of their own conclusions. Which, I might add, are subject to change from one day to the next depending on the latest information. Joseph is inclined to think there is "something" out there but not sure what it is exactly. Samuel does not believe Bigfoot exists. According to him, there is not enough reliable information. John Michael? Absolutely! He believes it 100%. Thus the reason he is afraid to go and brush his teeth by himself some nights. Regardless of whether Bigfoot exists or not is beside the point. I don't really care either way. What I do LOVE about all of this is watching these boys have fun with an idea and share a common fascination with something that boys are just, for some reason, naturally drawn to. I also believe it has been somewhat educational for them. The research.... this article leading to a new idea and further research.... weighing out the statistics and the reliability of the information. etc. Joseph has a book from his childhood that was one of his favorites called "The Boy who saw Bigfoot". We still have his tattered and torn copy from many years ago when he was just a boy himself enthralled with the idea of Bigfoot. He has been reading it to Samuel and John Michael chapter by chapter, night after night. Every night they are filled with the excitement of the anticipation of what the next chapter will bring. I am quite sure that these are memories they will carry with them for a lifetime and perhaps will one day share with their own sons. Whether Bigfoot is real or not is completely beside the point.

a Pinterest project - long overdue

Almost 12 years ago exactly, Joseph and I purchased 3 pieces of unfinished furniture for Samuel's nursery and Joseph painted them white.... a chest, an armoire, and a bookcase. We were so proud of them but, at the time, I didn't realize how little time baby boys are BABIES. They quickly turn into BOYS. As much as I loved the furniture pieces we purchased, the white painted finish just did not fit into a sports themed big boy room. So about 6 years ago I painted two of the pieces, the chest and the bookcase, a deep red with a black glaze finish and vowed that I soon would tackle the armoire. Fast forward to 2012 & the armoire was still white. Well, a couple of weeks ago Samuel decided that he didn't want bunk beds in his room anymore, as he is about to be 12 years old and bunk beds just aren't 'cool'. I started thinking of a solution and it hit me that the bunk beds would be much better in John Michael's room anyway because his room is somewhat smaller than Samuel's room. John Michael had an antique bedroom suite that belonged to my mother and consists of a full-size bed, a chest of drawers, and a desk. Lightbulb moment... switch the furniture! Samuel loved the idea of a full size bed and a desk and JM was overjoyed at the idea of having bunk beds. If you know me at all you know that once I decide I want something done, I want it done yesterday! So about 8:00 on a Thursday night we started the switch and you know how that goes. One project turns into about 15.... cleaning out toy boxes, closets, drawers, getting rid of STUFF (Junk), and on and on. We get the furniture moved, beds put back together, drawers back into chests and overall I'm pretty pleased with everything but the WHITE armoire which is now the only thing you see when you look down the hallway into John Michael's bedroom. Not working for me! So out come the clothes from the drawers (5 minutes after I put them in) and the armoire goes to the garage for the overhaul. I had pinned a tutorial on Pinterest of a Pottery Barn black, distressed finished that I just love.

Not the best quality pictures, I know, but I was pretty pleased with the outcome. Both boys bedrooms now seem bigger with the more appropriately sized furniture. Both rooms are easier to keep in order now that about 5 garbage bags of junk (I mean stuff) is at the Thrift Store rather than in our house. They love their rooms! I should have taken overall pictures but will have to do that later. Project complete!

January

January is one of my favorite months of the year. While some may find this month depressing, with the holidays behind us and the somewhat dreary weather, I find it rejuvenating. For me, January is a time to slow down, relax, regroup, & reorganize. It is also a time to catch up on that ever-growing list of books I long to read and simply a time to enjoy being at home, cooking, watching movies, playing games, tackling pinterest-ing projects, and spending time getting to know my family again. While Samuel is playing basketball, the demands of running boys here and there are minimal compared to other more demanding months of the year. So what have we been up to? Well, I finally got around to reading "The Hunger Games" trilogy and LOVED it. I also read Nicholas Sparks latest novel "The Best of Me", watched The Help with Joseph & Samuel and loved it as much as I did the first time around (not quite as much as the book, but the movie is pretty awesome as well). Rarely does a movie do a book justice but this one does a pretty good job. A must READ and see if you haven't! We also watched a couple of great family movies with the boys such as DolphinTale and Soul Surfer. My parents gave Joseph a book for Christmas called "In Step with God" by Charles Stanley and it was powerful. This book led me to another book by Stanley called "the Wonderful Spirit Filled Life" which I am about halfway through and I'm just trying to sort it all out. I'm taking one day at a time trying and failing and trying again to apply what I am reading. Random.... Hobby Lobby opened yesterday after it was completely destroyed by the April 27th tornado. So very excited to have HL back in town! More Random.... Samuel is making us so proud these days. First, his love of reading really blows us away. I don't even know how many books he has read since Christmas but I do know that his favorite was Tim Tebow's book "Through My Eyes". Since then he has become hooked on a couple of authors, Tim Green and Mike Lupika (check them out for some great reading for boys). For the last couple of weeks, we have had to make him turn his lights off, put the book away, and go to sleep most every night. Never thought I would say that... and I am not complaining, but he does need to sleep! In addition to having to make him go to bed, he made a New Years resolution to set his own alarm clock for 6:00 AM so he can take his shower in the morning rather than at night, and have some time to read before he goes to school. He is growing up! Also, his 5th grade class just elected Who's Who and he was elected Class Scholar. That makes us proud! His basketball team is doing well and he has made some progress at being more aggressive on the court. It is not his natural tendency to get up in someone's face and scrap for a ball. His dad tells him before every game that he wants at least X number of attempted shots and X number of personal fouls. Baseball practice has begun also. This will be the first year since 2005 that he isn't playing at Kentuck. He is playing exclusively on his Travel Ball team from the last couple of summers - The Northport Tide. A great group of boys and families. John Michael is growing up as well. We just signed him up for Kentuck t-ball. So, while Samuel is leaving Kentuck behind, we begin the Kentuck experience with John Michael. I couldn't be more excited! We have loved Kentuck over the years and are proud to have such an awesome program available to our boys. John Michael will also start kindergarten this Fall, which I honestly think just can't be right. These years have flown by even more so than they did with Samuel. A recent morning out at Barnes & Noble & the playground....

While Samuel may struggle with being aggressive, John Michael DOES NOT! John Michael struggles with the opposite... self control! However, from what we have read, self control might be easier taught than trying to make a child more aggressive. I just hope he learns a little more of this particular fruit of the spirit by August - before he starts kindergarten. Bless his heart, he does try. It just isn't easy for him! As different as our boys may be, they are both equal blessings from God and we cherish every moment we have with them.

Currently reading

My parents actually gave this book to Joseph for Christmas but I picked it up, read the introduction, and never put it down. It is really speaking to me and is just what WE both need right now. God has so much MORE planned for our lives than we are allowing Him to accomplish. We are allowing so many 'things' to crowd Him out and distract us from being still and hearing Him speak to us and direct our lives. God tells us to get rid of anything, be it sinful or not, that is keeping us from being still and listening... truly listening... for Him to direct our path. This is our goal this year... to slow down and be still and know that He is God and He is in control. I can't wait to experience the joy and the peace that comes from living in the center of His will!