Wednesday, January 16, 2013

hearty days

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Six kids on a toboggan…there’s no more room!

We have been keeping warm both inside and out.  These winter days are still fun, the snow is still pretty, the pots of food on the stove are much appreciated. 

Okay that is only half true. We have been trading illness around us.   I’ll give you a cough if you give me that fever.  But really isn’t it best to be sick on a cold winter day?  Blankets and soup? Yeah it’s not  much fun when you have to walk through deep snow to feed the chickens and realize at breakfast there is hardly any milk left. The thought of going to the store makes you feel desperate like you actually have to go out and milk the cow in a blizzard. Even though all you have to do is drive 1/2 mile down the road and walk in the country store with the crotchety  clerk and walk to the back cooler and dig in the way back to get the freshest milk.  When you pay you will tell her to have a nice day even though she will snort and turn around like she is tooooooooo busy to say it back. Secretly I know she is nice somewhere within and she just has a bad habit of rudeness. That is just how crotchety people operate.

Anyway when you see your kids sledding down big hills with their smiles pasted to their face with their runny noses, it makes you happy.

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Hadley and Henry making memories.

Nothing is more hearty on a cold snowy day than tomato soup.  Recipe from What Katie Ate.

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I don’t have a finished picture of the soup because we ate it allSmile But it was Good! Good! Good! The melted feta on the toasted bread crouton? Oye so good!

Stay warm!

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

My favorite part of 2012

We are a sentimental bunch, us humans.  It’s hard not to reflect on the past year and have some kind of thoughts.  Things have changed, maybe more than most years. Both in the world as a whole and in my own little world.

We received a gift while the year was half spent. A baby! Not just any baby either.

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The happiest baby…smiles so big you fear he will hurt his face. 

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He brought much joy to 2012. It can only get better especially since his dad is back.

Though he has only been back a couple weeks I feel like a new woman.  I knew I was muddling through but didn’t realize how much of myself was operating on fumes (no flatulence jokes, please).  I’m grateful for family and for each night we are able to sit at the dinner table together.

I welcome 2013 with optimism, with an open heart, and with a wish for each of you near and far for a

Happy New Year!