Peace

Quote of the Day:  You cannot find peace by avoiding life. Virginia Woolf
Peace is the first thing the angels sang. John Keble
Let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with me. song by Sy Miller and Jill Jackson
Imagine by John Lennon

Woke up this morning to freshly fallen snow.

A snow covered Earth, neighbor helping neighbor.

A warm cup of coffee and snuggling under a blanket with a book, 

and a sweetheart = Peace.

The word for December 3rd is Peace. Someone once told me that a definition of peace is believing this statement: You are exactly where you are supposed to be.

When the snow falls softly in Minnesota, and you don't have to worry about driving on the slippery roads, it is so peaceful to sit tucked inside with family or friends. It's cozy. When the snow stops and all the neighbors go outside to shovel and fire up their snow blowers, it feels like peace in the neighborhood. Let us battle nature and not each other. Make peace with someone who has hurt you.

That new snow does feel kind of Christmasy.

And, I have peace of mind driving my shiny new Subaru.

It was made for Minnesota winters.

(This is NOT a paid advertisement. *grin*)

Go. Create. Inspire!

Journaling Prompt:  Describe a peaceful moment or scene.

Birthdays, Nerf Bullets, and Snow!

Quote of the Day:  The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found? J. B. Priestley

It looks like we got about six inches!

 

Minnesota is beautiful after a snowfall.

 

Leo is hesitant to go out, despite his snow camo!

 

I think the first snowfall of the year brings out the best in people. The gals at the coffee shop were wearing their holiday hats and were as cheerful and Christmas elves. Drivers were being cautious. Of course, it was a Sunday, so people weren't in too much of a hurry. The Chef came over on Saturday and in anticipation of the big snowfall, took a look at my snowblower. He thought it might be too gummed up to run properly. We used it just once last year because we had such a mild winter. So, we hauled it over to a nearby shop where they fixed it for $2.00!  Merry Christmas! All it needed was to have some fresh gas run through it.

 

 

We also celebrated second son's birthday this weekend. He's a Pearl Harbor Day baby. He had some friends over on Saturday night, and his auntie Joy baked him a most delicious chocolate cake, from scratch!

 

He's 15, not 10. That's all the candles I had.

 

We spent the snow day, Sunday, indoors rearranging furniture, cleaning, and decorating a little. We found Nerf bullets in every nook and cranny! We still need put up the tree and decorate for the holidays. In the later afternoon, I asked the Birthday Boy to go out and use the snowblower. He went out to the garage, then yelled back into the house, "Mom, come here and look at this!" A kind neighbor had plowed out our driveway! All Zach had to do was shovel the walk and the area in front of the garage doors. Of course, the city snowplow came by around 2:00 a.m. which is great, but it woke me up and I couldn't get back to sleep. Also, I'll need to be the first one of the season to use the snowblower and clear out the end of the driveway and the part around the mailbox. Otherwise, they won't deliver our mail. Snow is pretty, but it does create work.

 

Hope all your holiday and winter prep are going well!

 

Go. Create. Inspire!

 

Journaling Prompt:  Do you like snow? What's your favorite holiday song?

 

 

 

 

Snow Day = Cookies!

Quote of the Day:  Everything in creation has its appointed painter or poet and remains in bondage like the princess in the fairy tale ’til its appropriate liberator comes to set it free. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

A big snowdrift came knocking on my door last night.  The wind howled.  The sleet pelted down, and then the snow came and filled our nice, clear driveway right back up.

The night before, my youngest sons had their cross-over ceremony from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts.  Look at them cross their bridge!

A right of passage, moving from one stage of life into another.  I have had a great time being in scouts with my boys.  They've had great leaders, great activities, and I have made great memories with them.  When I tucked them in that night, Charlie said, "You can still do stuff with us in Boy Scouts, Mom."  They won't need me as much, and that's how it is supposed to be.  Look how happy they are!

The sleet was really pelting us and snow was filling in the driveway even as we came home.  I told my oldest son, Bobby, that they might have school cancelled, or at least delayed.  He doubted it, so he said, "If they cancel school tomorrow, I'll bake chocolate chip cookies."

They're delicious!  I took this opportunity to teach Zach how to use the snowblower.

He did a great job.  This was the biggest snowfall of the season!  The neighbor boys started to drop in. 

They must have smelled the cookies!  Having a snow day feels something like finding extra money in the pocket of your winter coat.  You aren't always happy about moving into the season of winter coats, but you are happy for the extra cash.

With this eventful week, I haven't gotten to the Oscar movie reviews I  promised.  I'll start with Inception.  Bobby watched it with friends and loved it.  He got it for his birthday and watched it with his dad and brother.  They all liked it.  I watched 10 minutes, was completely confused and bothered by the violence, so I turned it off and watched Ratatouille with the younger boys.  I love the music in that show, and my favorite line:  You're the one who was getting fancy with the spices.

Thanks for sharing our Snowday - Go. Create. Inspire!

Journaling Prompt:  What would you do with found money, or found time? Did you see Inception?  What did you think of it?

First Snow!

Quote of the Day: 

Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening

by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village, though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind

and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

Our backyard woods after a stormy, snowy night.  Gale force winds that would have sent waves flooding our house if we lived near the ocean, instead, sent trees toppling, shingles rattling, and disturbing sounds that woke me from time to time.

And, yet, it is so beautiful.

It puts a smile on your face.

And, hey, when life sends you snowstorms in October, make snowmen!

I love the poetry of Robert Frost.  I think with a name like Frost you are destined to write poems about nature and snow and woods that are "lovely, dark and deep."  My oldest son is named Robert (we call him Bobby), but taking after the famous poet, he is a frosty guy.  He loves the cold and didn't think it at all odd to be going to school today in a t-shirt and shorts!  And, rolled his eyes at me when I suggested a jacket.  I sent him out the door with shouts to "drive carefully!"  and "I love you!"

This first snow has made me oddly cheerful.  It's cozy, and beautiful, and invites a new kind of fun (see above pictures).  It also sparks memories of hot chocolate after a cold slide down a hill, fresh baked cookies on a snow day, and cuddling under a blanket and reading a good book.  And, yes, Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas!

Journaling Prompt:  How do you feel about the First Snow? What are your memories of snow days, or storm days, or weather related adventures?