I Love

SUGAR! the ways of the Lord, temperence, and those things which allow the power of God to be displayed in my life. Okay, here's another unglorious (is that a word?) picture: our current sugar stash. Now, I really don't crave green marshmallows, but if a sugar craving is just unsatisfied, there's no safe sugar in the house. So as a technicality, I include all the above junk. But lately, once the good stuff starts to run out, I just start baking or run to the store.

So you who are into holding me accountable, here's my declaration--by the grace of God--I'm starting a sugar fast tomorrow. For 2 weeks. Not just dessert, but my honey nut cheerios, fruit (yes, I know fruit is healthy--I'll add it back in once the 2 weeks is up), and white bread. And anything else with sugar. Even my coffee. Die! Die sugar monster! Die! If I seem a little nuts, it's probably the wild mood swings as a result of the umpteen cookies I've had in the last few days. This all sounds well and good now, but I guarantee tomorrow I'll be rethinking it. You folks know this is a great idea. You ask me about it.

So there are other fun things to do besides eat cookies. Like this:
and this:

In the time I would normally spend nibbling on blocks of sugar, I'll watch my fairies dance around, and tend to my wilting houseplants.

imperfection

Above is a day-old basket of *clean* laundry. There's another elsewhere in the house. The dryer just finished, and there's also a load in the washer. And probably 3 more loads could be rounded up easily.

I'll try not to be too self-depricating with this post. My goal is to bring a little more transparency to the blog. It's easy to post just the shiny moments. I'm attempting some humility here. So these are my current opportunities for grace and perseverance in godliness:

Mercy. We are painting right now. So the dining room table is full of our painting junk. It's not glamorous, but hopefully the results will be pleasing.

Well, here are some of our painting results. This picture mainly highlights a pre-clutter sweep. Yes, those are 2 paint cans on my counter, a crock pot waiting to be washed from last night (hey, we got in late), a PLASTERED refrigerator, and a patched up wall waiting for a sanding and coat of paint. Now, I will say, that the scary storage room that you can sort of see through the kitchen, though still scary, has had ample attention. It's just hopeless. Shining down on all of it, is the glorious fluourescent light fixture, casting a warm industrial glow over it all.

My temptation is to fix all of the above in the next few hours. I am recently convicted, however, to spend more play time with a certain 3 year old and her bubbly little sister, and with their wonderful father. I trust the Lord will help me sort all of this out ( : In that vein, I'm going to get off this computer and go see what sweet Natalie is up to.

abc

Natalie is learning to write--well, she's been working on it for a bit. Rather, once a month I happen to doodle around with her on letters. But this past month, we've applied ourselves a little more. This, actually is from Thanksgiving. She's excited about learning to read.

What Else...

Everyday at 1, Natalie has an appointment in my sunny bedroom, under my chocolate velvet duvet for about 45 minutes of perfect napping. After that, she leafs through a stack of books for a bit. Where do I sign up for this deal?
I know these look like Valentine's, but I actually made them for a baby shower before Christmas. I love this sugar cookie recipe, and the royal icing stacks so well. I can see my new glass canister on the counter filled to the brim with these. I'll have to get down to business again soon.
Someday I'm going to paint. And here is a perfect muse. Did you ever?


Olivia has big news: she's getting potty-friendly now. It's all big girl pants for her now, and we're staying fairly dry. She's all business when the treats are in sight.

My first loaf. Homemade bread, that is. Sans bread machine. Thanks to my brilliant friend Tarah, (who rather impressively grinds her own wheat) I have a new recipe that is to die for. And homemade bread every day if we so desire. mmmmmmmm... kind of dangerous actually--the butter is disappearing a little too fast.

Up-and-coming:

We are painting--the whole house (minus bedrooms for now). Pics upon completion. Life is a bit messy in the meantime.

A quilt project--never before have I attempted!! I know I've threatened to work on this for some months. I'm waiting for fabric that has STILL not arrived. And I'm a visual type, and a bit of a perfectionist. So I'm a little high strung about the arrangement of this one. I have the painting to keep me busy anyway. And the potty training. And the other child. And the dog. Who needs a-brushing.

Winter Play

Happy anticipation...

of the joy to come...

a fabulous 5 or 6 inches to romp in...

...only comes every few years.

Hot chocolate and candy canes leftover from Christmas help defrost us and our wet gloves before the fire.

January gone...

All of January was not this quiet and beautiful...
But I took the most pictures of this day. We woke up to a lovely white covering everything. Above is right before dawn.


Here is the sunset across the road.

A Little December:

December started out like this...calm, but excited: Christmas is coming, there's crafting and shopping and wrapping and planning, and baking, but a little at the time in early December ( :
Natalie and I began enjoying afternoon tea on some days. We unpacked her little porcelain tea set from Nanny and sipped away the hour before Olivia woke up.
Here is Olivia, saying "CHEE!!" which she learned well over the holiday season...
The girls enjoying a cuddle one afternoon--they love to snuggle up together and giggle. What a sweet treat to watch them as happy sisters.
The glee!!! The sheer joy is evident-- we picked out a Christmas tree down the road from us: the barn was full of lovely frasiers at a very nice price! and he delivered for free!
We captured on film, our family, all still, for one nanosecond. Our friends can testify to the feat that that was as they patiently followed us around the neighboring fields waiting for us to stop wiggling and dashing around. In this photo, Olivia is 18 months, Natalie is 3 1/2 yrs, and John is 411 1/2 months and Emily is 364 months. Ladybug is a sprightly 10-ish years old.