Renaissance: Winter's End

The old blog has been sorely neglected- which is, sadly, not unusual. The odd thing about it, though, is that I feel as though I have been doing a great job keeping up to date on posting things thanks to my weekly posts about woods walks on Instagram.

I even get my writing itch (and soapbox rants) scratched with monthly letters I have been writing to a select few.

All of this gives the feeling of being very on top of putting things down for posterity, and yet, this online 'remembrance book' is not doing very much remembering. Frankly, my brain doesn't do much remembering these days, either.

So, because my brain is a sieve, it mustn't be always winter, never spring on this blog and because my husband could use a glimpse of home tonight (Hello husband! I love you!)... here is a photo dump of Winter's End...

All of these window photos only reveal how desperately I long for light (and bright and color) in the dark winter months.

Adele' is such a good sport about playing with her siblings.

It warms my heart every time I see her. Here they are playing 'business'. Moses got into his 'business' garb for the occasion.

Moses fills up a bulletin board entirely by himself. What a bulletin board hog!

And what an artist!

I know this window would drive some people nutty but it really makes me happy.

I wonder at how the 6 year old hands are indistinguishable from the 17 year old hands... that just isn't fair!

Judah went on an Adirondack camping trip and snowshoe hike on the coldest weekend of winter and tested both his and my strength. I spent the entire time praying for him. I was so worried!

Praise the Lord, He survived to tell the tale. And, not surprisingly, he enjoyed himself.

The following photos are from an ice-fishing derby Newmans had on the lake in which not a single fish was caught, ice hockey preoccupied all while they waiting for the imaginary fish to nibble, and the cutest little snowbaby was snuggled.

(Especially by Judah)

Through the winter, I have made and canned up countless jars of bone broth. So, so good to have on hand for soups.

Valentine's Day:

For the observant among you, you may notice that Adele' did not have a corny valentine to wake up to...

She happened to be in North Carolina to visit a pal. Her valentines (still corny) was tucked in her suitcase.

So you see, we love her too. :-)

This Valentine's Day... I was given a very, very special gift. Andrew brought home roses for me (!!!!) and made his Mama cry. For a moment, I was a young mother again, being loved on by my little boy.

It was the best.

The very, very best.

He didn't want me to snap this picture but when I was crying and saying I wanted to remember it always "and YOU know how bad my memory is these days..." he acquiesced.