Graupel

On Tuesday morning at about 4:45am, I woke up from a dream where my mom was leaning over the shrubs outside my window, tapping on the glass with her fingernails. After shaking off the lingering confusion from the remnants of the dream mingled with bits of reality, I realized what I was actually hearing was graupel hitting the north-facing windows of the house.

I lay there for a while, listening to the wintry sounds of this passing January storm (there was actually a bit of distant thunder and faded flashes of lightening here and there), and I eventually fell back to sleep.

At 6am it was time to get up, the hubs to the shower and me straight for the coffee maker. The news was full of terrible traffic reports, the windows were still reporting the presence of the icy precip, and all I could think of was how excited the kids would be when they awoke to the whiteness.

In Texas, this is about as exciting as the winter gets, and about as beautiful, too.

Though both kiddos seemed enthused by the frosting coating the backyard, only one of them actually wanted to stay out and make an adventure of the morning. We were able to dive right in after breakfast... well, we were able to dive in after Mama retrieved the galoshes from the muddy puddle of slush they were soaking in right outside the back door...

 ...after removing their linings and giving each boot a round with the blow dryer, they were dried out enough to fill with multi-sock-lined feet. Other layers were donned, and we made a good show of it (even if a quarter of our group was reluctantly participating).

We were back inside about 20 minutes after setting foot in the whiteness, due to Brother's protests. We weren't worried by the shortness of our outing, though... he'll learn to love these Texas 'snow' storms just as much as we do.

Just Dinner

“Cookery means the knowledge of Medea and of Circe and of Helen and of the Queen of Sheba. It means the knowledge of all herbs and fruits and balms and spices, and all that is healing and sweet in the fields and groves and savory in meats. It means carefulness and inventiveness and willingness and readiness of appliances. It means the economy of your grandmothers and the science of the modern chemist; it means much testing and no wasting; it means English thoroughness and French art and Arabian hospitality; and, in fine, it means that you are to be perfectly and always ladies — loaf givers."

-John Ruskin, as quoted in the Boston Cooking School Cookbook, 1918

Right Now

Right now, I'm loving...

...the choice to kick off the weekend with beer and homemade pizzas, the iPod blasting old favorites from the '90s, and the windows open to an afternoon in the low 70s.
...doing dishes with the Bubba, and the drawers when we're done.
...a late Saturday evening cold front, a sharp wind, and takeout for dinner at 7pm.
...late bedtimes... for everyone... two nights in a row (so worth it, though).
...the chance we had to make a charter trip to the Ft. Worth Museum of Science and History with both kiddos and only an hour before closing time (and lots of amazing things to see and touch and be sad about leaving, which we were).
...an extra-large co-op share after three weeks off from the holidays, and all the possibilities!
...the combination of an amazing thrifted 'new' book for me (and the tantalizing similarly-titled books found within the search for it), some old favorites for the kiddos, and more than 24 weekend hours worthy of a fire in the fireplace.

This week promises a chill in the air, a bit of rain in the forecast, and lots more sunshine than what we've had recently. May we all feel the promise of spring in the light of the week, and enjoy the chance to draw together in the warmth of home.

Happy Monday!

Linking up with Three Squares today.

This Moment

Playing along with Amanda today... in her words: 

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

Rainy Day

"...[T]he best thing one can do when it's raining

is to let it rain."

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 'The Poet's Tale,' Tales of a Wayside Inn

A Turn at the Machine

We're in it now- winter, that is, and all it's back-and-forthness. It's been freezing, we've seen some sleet, and it's been cold. In between the yucky stuff, we've also managed a bit of backyard play, a walk or two around the neighborhood, and we've even made it to the park. The past two days, however, have been quite rainy, keeping us all inside. It's made us all a bit crabby and restless.

Crabby and restless doesn't get you very far around here. We needed a project- all of us.

For the kiddos, I headed to the garage and the resting place of a particularly big box. A little maneuvering, some tape, and their bin of crayons, and voila. Kids- check.

For me, I headed to the dark closet where my sewing machine has been waiting for the past several months, and to my stash of fabric odds and ends. After a little digging and a sudden inspiration, I set to work on a new skirt for Audrey and a matching dress for ElmoBaby (since her old one was becoming a bit dated and out of season). Mama- check.

If you're wondering about the bandage on my thumb, let's just
say I had a distracted encounter with my mandolin last night
while slicing potatoes. Ahem.

Notice the leg warmers, too! 

I love this little skirt on this loud girl, and I think the fabric is so perfect for her. I'm also happy to say ElmoBaby's new dress fits her so much better than the first one I attempted. Also, the box has not yet worn out it's 'new,' so on all fronts it was a successful diversion, this afternoon of projects.

January Park

We took the kids to the park this past weekend.

It was an easy choice- sunny, not as cold, dry, and everyone was stir-crazy.

I can't believe how different our trip was this year compared to the one we took last year at about the same time. I can't believe how fast time flies. Crazy fast.

It's true what they say, time waits for no man. I guess the key is to pause and look up every once-in-a-while, and make sure you're not always spending your time worrying about the hard stuff.