New Beginning

Every year, our church holds a meeting for the 12 year-old girls entering the "young women" youth program.  They call it "New Beginnings" and it celebrates that these girls are commencing to enter an entire new phase of their lives.  When they leave the program at 18 years of age, they will truly be "young women." The leaders and other girls will help them along the way and they enthusiastically talk about the exciting things they will learn.

This post isn't about that.

BUT . . . it is about a new beginning.  And reasons to celebrate.  I see with a changed med regiment just how chronically grumpy, negative and tired I had become.  You know how you sometimes don't realize that your ears were ringing until it stops?  Yeah, it's like that.

I find myself held up by friends who have etched themselves deep into my heart.  Friends who drag me out of the house, kicking and screaming, and prove to me that I really CAN take part in the "real world."  And, dare I say. . . . even like it!  (But please don't tell them I said so.)  They love me, help me, comfort me, enjoy me, understand me (sometimes) and accept me.

I feel alert, light-hearted and free!  I refuse to think ahead that this will eventually cycle back around, just as the sun doesn't stay in the sky forever.  But I will savor it for as long as I can until the darkness falls.  I wonder who I will be when this phase of my life ceases - but I don't dwell.  For now, I will gaze at the sunrise and allow hope and excitement to lead the way.

Freeze Out

Scout had his annual overnight "Freeze Out" camping trip this weekend.  Last year - for his first EVER overnight camping trip of ANY kind - the temp plummeted down to zero.  Yes, zero.  So we were grateful to have such unseasonably warm temperatures THIS year!!!

See how fresh (and flushed) and excited he is??  See how over-dressed he is because his freakishly protective mother insisted he wear five layers even though it felt like he really only needed a light jacket?

Within hours of his departure, we started to see this:

Poor kid.  But he survived!!!  Over-protected Mamas Boys unite!!!!  The cold seems to have numbed his brain, however - all he can remember about the entire trip is that there was a fire, and all he wanted in the world was to get as close to that fire as possible, without actually falling in.

I wanted to get an "after" picture, but he raced through the front door and by the time I turned back around with the camera, he was in the bathroom thawing out.  Ah well.

I did catch some pretty icy picatures from this morning.  This is pure ice, not dripping water:

I guess they call it a "freeze-out" for good reason.

Will Burying my Head in the Sand Make my Butt Look Big?

My 4yo has a girlfriend.  Or "gelfwen" as he calls her.  Seems to me that if you can't SAY "girlfriend" you're entirely too young to HAVE one.

He couldn't have picked a better "gel," even so.  She's a precocious little chatterbox with a great sense of humour and an elfin smile.  What's not to love??  Today she celebrated her fifth birthday, which was a punch-in-the-gut reminder that my own aforementioned littlest man will turn five in April.  Whaaaa?  I just HAD him!  I swear!

And if they're turning five, why that means that next fall . . . . . ::screams at the thought::

While I rush off and bury my head in the sand, here are a few pics of our day:

Ready to par-tay.

This one made me giggle.  I can't imagine what they were looking at.

My biggest little man, who opted out of the preschool birthday party so he could game at a friend's house.  Weird.

Gorgeous sunset this evening, but I wasn't in a very good location to capture it the way I wanted.  I was kind of playing around with the new camera and got this one, no edits.

Sunny With a Chance of Freezing Your Tush Off

Today was deceptively bright and sunny.  See how inviting my hammock looks?

Kinda proud of that little pic just because for the first time in . . . well ever, actually . . . I am pretty satisfied WITHOUT making any photoshoppish changes.

Couldn't help myself with this one, though:

So, yes . . bright and sunny and freakin' cold with more to come tomorrow.  I can't complain, though, as we've had quite the Indian Summer.  It won't be TOO long before I get back to my hammock, right?

Right?

Only two days into the new year and I must say that I'm loving the whole "season of change and endless possibilities."  The feeling in our house has improved dramatically as a result of the resolutions we've made.  I hope we can keep it up!  Because I want my home to really be a warm and loving place . . . . not to just appear as if it is.

Phature Notography

I wrote an entire post.  It wasn't hilarious, but I thought it was witty enough.  And just as I attached the last picture, by some stunning skill of mine, I deleted everything BUT that last picture.  I'm amazing.

I'm too tired to try to remember everything I said.  But I refuse to give up and not post at all - I don't blog enough as it is.  My problem is that I assume everything has to be perfect, or even decent.  So instead of settling for "less than my best" I don't blog at all.  What the heck is that about?  I need to just DO it!  Get it OUT there!  Who is this blog for, anyway?  My three readers?  Or ME?

So just know that today is "Nature Photography Day."  Know that today's weather was the FREAK.  And know that I took some pics.

Like these:

Road Back Home

Not a side of me that I often show, but one that is probably more important to me than anything.

Theme: Personal Treasures

Snow Town

Just some random pics I took of the snow outside my sister's window. It was so pretty on the trees with the sun shining through.

Snowsun

And this is how it is this morning:

Theme: Colours - White

Snowsoft

Somehow I think we'll see a lot of these today. ;)

Theme: Colours - White

White Reflection

This idea blatantly stolen from Jen. ::blush::

Theme: Colours - White