Squared Circle

Steffan shared his "squared circle" photo link today on his blog. I was somewhat intrigued so I took a few of my own.

The spell continues

Went to visit Mart last Saturday. This is how my hubby and a "friend" spent part of the visit. Did Martha slip something into his lasagna? What do you think? Click to enlarge,...he's "reading" Calvin & Hobbes!
(by the way, Mart...it was a fun night. Thanks!)

Winter really can be fun!

We had a great time yesterday at a friend's house. There was a fairly good sized group of us from church who gathered for a brunch and some fun in the snow.

There was snowmobile riding.

Sledding. Here Audra has come down the hill and then capsized.

Jamie and Alicia coming down. My husband is a pretty good sport. We all had a lot of fun!

Here is Stephanie on her horse.

Even the goat seemed to enjoy the company. I admit that I'm not quite ready for winter to end. I'd like to go cross country skiing before it is over.

Audra Paints

Here Audra is, working on the last letter of her name.

I found an old project of my own to work on today. Audra seemed a bit down so I asked her if she'd like to paint with me. She just got these wooden letters for her birthday. The perfect thing for her to paint! I like how they are turning out.

I have a lovely and talented daughter.

Ice Skating

Took the kids ice skating today.

Wish I could say that a everyone had a good time.

Probably the less said, the better.

A painting day with Martha

Today I went to Martha's house for a visit. She had all of her painting things out, which made me really in the mood to paint. We went out to her barn to look for some wood. Didn't find any, but I found a birdhouse that she had started painting about 6 years ago. She had painted the roof, but that's as far as she ever got. She said she didn't mind if I worked on it.

Here is the finished project. I had a lot of fun! Thanks, Mart! Enjoy your new birdhouse! I just remembered that I forgot to sign it. Oh well!

Besides us two women painting, the kids had a good time playing with cousins, building snowmen, and eating dinner there.

My parents

After church yesterday we took a ride to see my parents. They still live in the small ranch house I grew up in. It was good to see them. They will be 75 and 73 this year.

My Son, the photographer

Sometimes I pick up my camera and discover that someone has been taking pictures.
Here are some pictures I found today.

My son takes pretty interesting pictures sometimes.



What do you think of them?

My house in the snow

Here's my house. This was taken this morning. Just to give you an idea of the size of the snowbanks, I am 5'6" tall and the snow banks at the end of my driveway come up to about my chest.

Digging out

Everyone is digging out here after about a foot of snow fell overnight. Here are my neighbors. George (far left) was nice enough to allow the use of his snowblower to clear some of the sidewalks on our street.

No school today. Allen had to clear out the entrance to his igloo. Here he is with his legs sticking out of it.

Dog Days

This is pretty much how I spent my time today too.

Snow fun

This morning 2 of my children and our next door neighbor are being quite industrious. Allen is determined to build an igloo of his own. He has employed help from little sister, Alicia. I'm very impressed with the progress they have made.

Cold Delivery

With temperatures hovering just above zero...and a windchill well below that, I have been driving my otherwise walker son to school in the morning. Today I felt sorry for him and even picked him up after school.

This is Allen getting out of the car at the middle school. Brrrrrrrrrr!

A Good Day for Project

Today there was no school because of subzero windchill. That means I have 6 kids in the house. Three of my own, two who are staying here while their parents are in Hawaii, and a neighbor who's mom had to work.

Allen and Sam are studying volcanoes in school and must each build one of their own. I figured today might be a good opportunity for them to work on it. Allen concentrates on his recreation of Mt. Versuvius.

Here Allen shows off his paper mache hands.

Looks good so far, Sam. Wouldn't you all agree?

Tree Lined Street

I always enjoy the trees on this street. It looks so pretty no matter what the weather is like.

Happy Snowman

Saw this guy hanging out in someone's front yard yesterday. He looked like he was trying to get my attention and he made me smile... so I stopped and took a picture.

Colored School

This little house once was a school for colored children. It is now a private residence. I find it interesting that so long ago there were enough black children in this community to have their own school. I also find it sad that at one time people thought it was necessary to segregate white children from black children. I'm also glad that that is no longer the case!

I also found it amusing to discover when I turned on my computer, that this month is Black History Month...when I had unknowingly planned on this post! How ironoic!

Little School House in the Snow

Here's a piece of area history. This school house, located in what is known as "Vine Valley" was busy with children from 1874-1937. I plan to get another shot of it in the springtime...and then maybe again in the summer. I love history. If I am ever up near my homtown with my camera, I'll try to remember to take a picture of the school my grandpa went to as a boy.

My Other Life

In my other life I clean a few houses. It gives me some extra cash and the hours are perfect. I can put my kids on the bus, go clean a house, and get back to the house to get the kids off the bus. All my weekends are mine...and so are my evenings. Also...I never have to bring home my work in any form. Clean it and forget about it!

Every good house cleaner needs to know a few tricks of the trade. First off...put on a good pair of "lace up shoes".

Get out your tools of trade.

Put on a few good tunes. I try to remember to worship the Lord...and sometimes I pray while I clean.

This customer happens to live out in the sticks. The view from the upstairs is just beautiful. Sometimes I get here early and sit on the couch in front of the window with this view. A few times I have even borrowed a good devotional belonging to my customer. She's a wonderful sister in the Lord!

Sorry you can't really tell what the view is like from this picture.

On the drive home! I'm always on the lookout for deer. You never know when they'll pop out of the woods. This morning I saw a pheasant..but I couldn't get my camera fast enough for a picture.

Happy Birthday, Audra!

It is Audra's birthday today. She is now 10 years old! We celebrated over the weekend with a slumber party. Four of her friends came to spend the night on Saturday. We took them all bowling, went home for cake and ice cream, and to open gifts.

The night was filled with lots of laughter, talking and giggling. I think they finally settled down around 12:45 am. The next morning was a pancake breakfast and then we took the girls to our church...where there just happened to be a Beach Bash party scheduled during what normally is kid's Sunday school. Sunglasses, shorts and flipflops were the attire for the day.

They all seemed to have fun!

Allen is here wondering if it is safe to come out yet!