Changing Tone

 Yesterday was bad. Bread was made with anger, not love, after grumpy baby backwashed into Momma's precious cup of coffee.  Daddy was called, a state of emergency was declared, and all was not well in this house.  An oncoming storm aggravated this girl's head bringing pain and prickles to one side of her head.   Upon awakening this morning, the pain was back.  I almost stayed in bed, but the husband had a meeting so up I got.

 I grumbled, moaned and was just plain miserable.  Bundling the children up earlier than normal, we headed out for the daily trudge to school.  My heart muttered grumpily.

 The sun shone brightly against the clouds and a brilliant blue sky.  The grey trunks of bare trees were illuminated, their starkness a different kind of beauty.  The snow sparkled and crunched under foot.  How could I be grumpy on a day such as this?  It was cold, but not windy.  I felt invigorated, not frozen.  And as we crossed between the plaza's loading docks and the forest, I happened to see a woodpecker.  He was a little bird, striped black and white with a startling red cap.  As we watched, he hopped and pecked around the trunk, bobbing up and down as he went.  We marvelled at his beauty and his lack of fear at our presence.  Soon we scurried on, for school bells wait for no man, certainly not for those who stop to stare.

 The tone had been set.  Instead of gloom and misery, we saw brightness and delight.  My day, my course had been changed and for the better.

 Looking for grace with the rest today at

Redemption by cookies?

 She perches on the kitchen chair, licking fingers clean of icing sugar.  Her face, top and leggings bear witness to her enjoyment of this delight.  Perhaps I'm guilty of the same offence, as sugar trails white comets down the front of my hoodie.  We made Walnut Snowball Cookies tonight together.  It's a simple recipe, perfect for tired nights and eager helpers.  Using the food processor, we ground up the walnuts and then she mixed it all together.  Once baked, we rolled them in icing sugar.  Of course there was leftover sugar that we just had to eat.  It would be wasteful just to leave it, right? :)

 It's been a hard day.  My adorable Kian had a bad day, leaving him very violent and demanding.  When he backwashed in my coffee, this mommy exploded!  The day didn't get any worse, but it took a very very long time to get any better.   To top it off, I have pain and numbness on side of my head.  I'm not happy.  But my little one wanted to make cookies and I'd found this recipe today and I really do love her, so....We made cookies.  And they're very very good.  So today wasn't a waste after all.

It wasn't me!!!!

 This afternoon, Mr. Kian decided to have some fun.  So he emptied out the bag Daddy had so carefully filled up with milkbag yarn and arranged himself in the middle.

 He insisted that he couldn't have done this, not at all!  Instead he blamed it on Sparkle, Aris' cat.

 Sparkle attempts to look innocent.

 In the end, he was so cute that I let him be. Adorable, isn't he? :)

Me Time

 One of the biggest stressers for me the past year or so has been the lack of me time. Specifically, time away from responsibilities.  Tonight I actually managed to get some of that time.  A group of moms connected with the school got together to watch a movie and then go out for drinks and desserts.  I was invited.  We've been eagerly anticipating this for at least three weeks and oh, was it good!  I'm exhausted now, but I ate wonderful food, laughed long and hard, had some deep conversation and made new friends. I feel much happier and more relaxed than I have for a while. Yay!  Now to scurry off to bed...:)

Eggnog Gratefulness

This will be short, but I am thankful for eggnog, eggnog in coffee, friends that bring over eggnog to share and nutmeg on eggnog. I'm also really thankful that my husband doesn't like eggnog so I don't have to share it with him. My children do like eggnog, but I can't decide if I'm thankful for that. It's great that they like it, but then the container gets emptier that much faster!

I'm also thankful for school movie nights, naps in the car, delicious pizza at school movie nights, good friends that come over after children are in bed, and watching Princess Bride with aforementioned friends. But I've stayed up too late(again!) so to bed I go!

Naked Trees.

 The leaves are fallen from the trees, leaving them stark against the sky.  Although I mourn the passing of Autumn's rich beauty, these silhouettes catch and hold my eye repeatedly.  It is here, in the death of colour and life, that the bones of the tree and indeed the forest are revealed.  The slender trunks, lofty often symmetrical branches speak of elegance and form.  The art of a naked tree astounds me.

 In spring, summer and fall, I pay more attention to the leaves or the shade, then I do the tree.  But now, having all else stripped away, I admire these steadfast trees.  The lack of leaves does not concern them, they do not scramble to hide their nakedness.  Rather, they stand as boldly as before with peace, assurance and confidence.

 Would that I could do the same, stand firm in the midst of being stripped.  My comforts are gone, have been disappearing like autumn leaves for quite some time.  I see hope, but her coming is a far off.  May I like the trees I so admire find grace, strength, peace, assurance and most of all trust in this inner winter.

 I join with Emily and the rest today,

Monopoly Night

 While celebrating his mother's birthday, Steve wandered into his parent's basement and found the Star Wars Monopoly game he purchased in 1998.  After some begging from his son, we played this game for the very first time on Sunday.  Yes, it sat unplayed for 12 years! Now it seems we are making up for lost time.

 From time to time our family enjoys "snacky suppers".  So tonight we made popcorn for dinner and ate while playing Monopoly.  Surprisingly our children did very well.  The older two are very competitive, which means some games end in tears and tantrums.  We tried our best to minimize this by telling them that the winner was the person who had the most fun. :) Aris won with Zane in close second.

 After the kids were in bed, Steve went out for grown-up food(shawarma).  When he returned, we played.  It was an interesting game with Steve ending up in jail 4 times.  He was a wee bit frustrated.  We had a lot of fun playing even though I won by a little bit more than he did.  Okay, four hundred credits more, but that's not a lot really.  Playing with my family and then just with my husband were extremely fun experiences.  I'm hopeful that our next family gaming experience will go well.  Even if it doesn't, I'm going to remember tonight as proof that we can all have fun together. :) *happy sigh*