Welcome January

This Was a Test

My wonderful kids (w/help from their wonderful Dad) bought me a camera for

Christmas! It's a Nikon Coolpix P510

I saw this lovely male cardinal in our butterfly bush, and

decided to try out my zoom....

what do you think!?

pretty cool huh?

I thought they came out great considering I was just standing inside my kitchen window-

and was just fooling around. :)

Bye January!

Who can believe that January has come and gone? I know a lot of people who don't like the month of January, but I do! I love it's slower, snowy days!

"Little January




Tapped at my door today.


And said, "Put on your winter wraps,


And come outdoors to play."


Little January


Is always full of fun;


Until the set of sun.


Little January


Will stay a month with me


And we will have such jolly times -


Just come along and see."


- Winifred C. Marshall, January

I find January a month of quiet reflection on the year past, and the one to come...

it's also a time of organizing for me :)

...it is a month for playing in the snow...

and being cozy around the fire...

working on projects...

....cooking and baking...

looking through seed catalogs...

reading...

...catching up on correspondence...

...starting a new devotional...

listening to a new cd...

I hope you've enjoyed your month of January

I can't wait to see what February will bring!

January Happenings...

Here are a few pictures of what we've been up to thus far in January...

It's been so cold, the doggies need their sweaters!

Bri gearing up to take the guys for a walk...

On our snow day we did some fun things in the kitchen...this was a great way to use up the leftover candycanes!

Another batch of Raspberry Lemon cookies...

We were delighted with the SNOW!

The doggies on Brad's bed for the last time. We got rid of his bunk and got him a regular bed.

Here's a picture of Brad with his snowblower--getting ready for our first snow...before someone stole it!

He only got to use it once. :(

However, we know that all that we have comes from God, and that we're just His stewards...so, they actually stole from God. Yikes!

Bingley has been playing with his new toys :)

We're only 1/2 way through...and we've enjoyed some beautiful sunsets...and hope for some more

and, bring us more SN*W!



January P.S. ...

Well, Saturday night we had some unexpected snow...still in January...so, I have an "add on" post!

We got about 4" out of it...just enough to have a little fun sledding in our driveway. :)

Papa having fun too :)

Brad put his blue flashlight from Christmas on the mailbox--it flashes and looks like a glowstick. :)

********************************************************************

The next day was glorious with the sun and some ice forming...

The kids went to the local sledding hill...even though the snow was melting...they still had fun!

Of course the snow always puts me in a cooking mood...

So, we had a January Thanksgiving! Here's Phil carving the turkey breast.

We had green bean casserole and homemade rolls

Mashed potatoes of course!

Here we are doing our clean up...LOL

Our January was full of God's blessings!

Finishing out January

So, how was your January? For us, it went quite fast!

But, it may not go fast enough for these Robins...they're a bit early and are probably quite cold!

Friday nights are our Family Nights...this was our homemade pizza from last Friday night. Yum!

Yes, we finally finished our Risk game...Brad beat me by one point!

This is me getting dive bombed by a stinkbug while we were playing...maybe that's why I lost?  :)

My section of the board...

We had some very rainy days in January. Here is Bri braving the elements to put mail in the box...

(she's wearing her dad's raincoat)

This is what Chippy does on a rainy day...or ANY day! :)

Brad made a terrarium for his horticulture class...I think it looks great!

Bri has been working on her quillow--it's really pretty!

And then there's today...we are blessed with lovely SNOW!

What a nice way to finish out January!

January

Now is here --

A fine new start

For a whole new year.

The snow comes down

In the dark of night.

When we awake

The world is white.

In January

When there's snow,

We get our sleds

And away we go.