Off to the snow

We are packing up this morning, heading out to the snow in a few hours. Should we get stuck in a snow ditch somewhere and need to wait until help arrives, we will at least have in our bags:

two American Girl dolls with new outfits

funky fun snow hats

new snow jackets for kids (bc sadly that hot pink one above is a wee bit too small)

new boots for Z (I made the discovery yesterday that we are now the SAME size shoe!)

lots of chapstick (fruit flavored)

Steelers blanket

Steeler pillow

pack of Hubba Bubba bubble gum

giant size Christmas pencil

Tinkerbell purse

basket of 5 stuffed kitties

iPod (with Wierd Al songs downloaded)

3 XBOX 360 games

slinky

bag of left over holiday Hershey Kisses

And the list is growing as I write. 

I think I need to go do some "editing"....

(Be back Friday! Happy New Year!)

try, try, and try again

It is said that success is measured by how well you pick yourself up after you fall. I have discovered that even though the falling is difficult, it's the picking yourself up part that requires the most bravery.

Because it means facing the limits of your abilities. It means building up some emotional fortitude. It means testing the fragile belief in yourself.

Can I really do this? What if I misjudged myself?

You will never know unless you dust yourself off, get back up on your bike and try, try, try again.

(And you will never know the joy of success unless you do.)

Peaceful holiday moment

On Christmas Eve we took a little trip to our favorite beach. The coast is a beautiful place to visit in December. The rains of winter have yet to arrive, the sun is crisp, the sky a winter blue. This day was absolutely beautiful. I had to keep reminding myself that it was the day before Christmas!

I have a gazillion pictures like this of Zach in the sand. It is his favorite place to be...

I loved this holiday smile...

Racing down the beach. Bean is so happy to be in front.

If you look closely, someone did get her two front teeth for Christmas!

Practicing his jump for the camera...

Here's the real one, with Dad--who has some mad vertical skills.

Waiting for the jump session to be over with...

A shoreline treasure...

Daddy is pretty funny...

The waves were surf-sized and so there were many wetsuit-clad people out riding the waves. (The hubby was giving me grief over snapping pictures of the hot surfer dudes.) This guy was done for the day. I imagined his satisfaction of a good morning out on the waves.
(Made me wish I surfed.)

I had to work some stealth moves to capture this guy. I was pretending to (ahem) take pictures of the birds out beyond. (Again, hubby gave me grief.)
I just loved how he was scanning the coast for his buddies, or the best spot to drop in.

Bean insisted on walking the rail on the way back to the car.

And of course needed a lift to get down.

It was a peaceful way to spend our Eve.
Praying that your holidays were/are blessed as well.
Peace, Love, Joy to you all.

a little creative license

Recipes were made to be broken, according to McBean. Because after rolling your millionth snowball you get tired and need to take a little creative action to mix things up, break up the monotony.

Other treats we've been making? Chocolate covered peanut butter balls. If I showed you a picture of them I would have to have you sign a contract that you would not show up on my doorstep asking for some. They are that yummy.

Tomorrow Zach and I make our famous chocolate/white chocolate peppermint bark. It is way better than any store bought kind. My friends swear by my old Bon Appetite recipe that I got from another friend many years ago. I have people threaten my life if I do not make it during the holidays. Again, if I showed you a picture of it I would have to have you sign a contract...

Two images

My kids and I visited Costco yesterday. It was like a trip to Disneyland: massive crowds and waiting in long lines, except that it wasn't fun.
As we entered the store there was a very dirty homeless man digging through the garbage eating the leftovers from thrown away lunches. He was a filthy, disheveled man and my kids noticed him at once. Zach was the first to say something to me as he was quite distressed over the fact that someone was eating out of the garbage can. (My son has a tiny bit of a germ phobia inherited from his parents--though I swear I am not as bad as I once was.)
We looked in my wallet and found three dollars. Not much, but it could actually buy a feast at Costco. So we walked over to the scruffy man and encouraged him to go get something to eat. He thanked us profusely...and then continued to babble on in a string of incoherent words that left me wondering if I was hearing him right, or if my hearing was going out. Fortunately, for my sake, my hearing was all good, but this left me explaining to my kids what the words "mental illness" meant. (Fun Costco conversation while shopping for daddy's prezzies.)

All joking aside...
I have been thinking about that man and the image of him digging through that garbage can. How a human mind and soul can be so bent inward upon itself that it imprisons the life that was created to be free. How painfully base your life can be that you are digging through trash to keep yourself alive.

But the part of the image that pierced me the most was this: the crowds of people pushing their loaded carts past him while he gingerly opened the used food wrappers atop the garbage can. In my mind he is a stark image of loneliness amongst the gross materialism, consumerism (that I was a part of) and busyness rushing past him.

I don't know why it has haunted me so much, but it has.

Today when I snapped the girls giggling and hugging, showing me their crafty tree ornaments, I saw a picture of friendship and love, two little souls nurtured by the companionship that friendship brings. This is how our lives are to be. Right? Having someone to love and to be loved is what keeps us connected to life and community. And I wondered how many of those Costco shoppers, though dressed in clean clothes with fat wallets in their pockets and loaded shopping carts, were actually more like that homeless man than they cared to admit: alone amongst a sea of people. How dangerously isolating that can be when your outward appearance does not match the truth of the inward reality of despair and loneliness. It is easier to spot the lonely homeless.

These two images of loneliness and companionship certainly fueled my thoughts. This season, and in the new year, I will pray for eyes to see, and hands to help, those that are "digging through the trash" with dirty and clean clothes on. Looking for scraps because they are lost, sick, or alone because no one has reached out a hand of love to share in the abundance she (myself) has been given. We were never meant to be alone.

Welcome Winter

Today is the first day of Winter. I briefly stepped out side (taking a break from making chocolate peanut butter balls--my family's fave holiday treat) to use my camera and was met with barren trees, dead grass, and withering life, not a traveling snail or wayward bird in sight. The rain quietly dusted the world around me. I love stepping out into the silence.

As I gazed up into the trees, once full of life and color, I wondered what was needed to help those fragile leaves in letting go. A gusty breeze? A wintery storm? A good shake?

Because often in my own winter I feel the need to hang on to something that once gave me "life." Until a storm comes along and loosens my grip.

It takes a winter to remind me that my life is about seasons. And each is essential for growth. In my winters I discover that letting go gives me a better grip. I just have to let go to discover the truth of it.

winter gear, winter fun

After many attempts to post yesterday with a lame-o internet connection, I finally gave up. (Maybe a message: just cross it off your list and move on you tired girl.)

So join with me in looking back to our festivities from yesterday, which included breakfast with Grammy and Papa early in the morning, organizing gifts for some needy families, shopping for last minute gifts, and a holiday party at a friend's house--complete with snow! No driving up to the mountains...we had it brought to us. How fun is that? (Except I had to dig through our snow gear to see if anything still fit.)

The kids had a fun time on the make shift sled run. I followed all the cute booted girls around to capture their fun boots. The one above was my favorite. Where can I get me some of those?!

Off to another Christmas party! The festivities never end.

(I am going to need a long winter's nap when all is said and done.)

Riding Ruby (Part 2) Or...What Zach and I were doing while Bean was riding Ruby

So I am sure that my post yesterday left you giddy with anticipation over what my son could have possibly been doing while Bean was off riding Ruby. Those muddy hands must have given you some clue, right? If you have not figured out already, my son is a boy who loves to get his hands dirty. And yesterday he found the perfect muddy patch and dug right in. He was so excited to show me his mud ball--all compact and rich with earth. He made several. Here he is with one of his perfect orbs of mud...

He carried it around, tossing it back and forth. It attracted Copper, who followed him with his own sense of anticipation.

Look at Copper. That look says, "Dude. When you gonna throw that thing?!" Zach gave in and then spent some minutes making mud balls for his shadow, tossing them into the air only to have Copper find them disintegrating upon mouth contact. Poor Copper. Unmet expectations often brings frustration, but not for Copper. He insisted on more and willingly played the game.

I on the other hand, found my unmet expectations bringing immense frustration. The woman who lived on the west side of the property is one of the country's leading sheepdog trainers. When we arrived she was out training her dogs and it was amazing to watch. When she left the sheep to graze the light was just too beautiful for me to ignore, so I crept along the fences to capture the vivid grass and the peaceful grazing of the sheep. It was so peaceful out there. (I am such a pastoral kind of gal.)

As soon as I crept close enough the stupid animals freaked. It was hard to tell who sent out the alarm message but one flinched and the rest followed and they scurried away--leaving me with only a rear end view. It was almost like a message: "Take this Lady!"
And then one popped up, on guard, as if to say: "Just keep your distance Lady."

Yeah, whatever. I got the message. Next time when Bean is out riding Ruby (or Rocky or Bandit) then I'll bring along my massive zoom lens--maybe don my camo gear and paint my face, borrow some of Zach's mud...

Riding Ruby (Part 1)

Today was riding day for McBean, and today she got to ride Ruby. Sweet Ruby. Michaela explained to me (while brushing Ruby down) that Ruby was Bandit's girlfriend. Bandit was her horse last week. (Must keep up with the barn gossip.)
And below is Bean's riding friend getting ready to set out on Indy. (I could not get enough of the back light pouring into the barn--so beautiful!)

Today was Bean's first time riding in the "inside" arena.
Here they are doing their laps.

I'm tellin' ya...I loved that golden light streaming in,
making everything seem just a bit more magical.

I loved how every time they rounded the bend, Ruby's tail would light up.

My cowgirl even let me snap a picture of her after she was done.
Oh, and she did her own pony tails today.
I love it when she wears her hair like this.

Tomorrow...part 2 of our day. I leave with you a little foreshadowing...

(To be continued.)

"I sold 35 tubs of cookie dough for my school fundraiser...

...and all I got were these stupid, silly, glasses." (t-shirts are being designed as I write!) Well actually, that is not all she won. She and her brother combined orders (to win more goodies) and received the ultimate in prizes: the "Swirly Mug". An amazing invention that swirls your chocolate syrup into your milk glass to make the perfect, frosty glass of chocolate milk. (You know you're jealous.)

So here she is modeling the wacky eyeglasses for the camera. Her sidekick was a tad more shy about trying them on--plus she wanted to indulge in her extreme chocolate/Recess Pieces cookie. If your friend sold 35 tubs of dough you get to partake in the rewards!

Noe

She was born almost a year ago. Her name was going to be Olivia, but instead, her parents decided to name her Noel when she arrived as the best gift ever on Christmas day. Now she is "Noe" for short. Noel Olivia. (Isn't that the best story?) I met her mama a long time ago when we were each so young and carefree and all we thought about was decorating our apartments and learning how to cook for our husbands. (I'm still trying to decorate and cook, so things really haven't changed much.) But it was so sweet to see my old friend and catch up and snap some quick pictures of her Noe and her amazing eyes (just like her mama's).
I have titled the picture below: "Noe at the window." It should really be titled: "Noe staring out at my ugly back yard littered with old pizza boxes, milk jugs, and rotting pumpkins and lemons (used for airsoft gun targets), but I think I like the first title better because it sounds so much more...well...not like reality.

Is not she just the sweetest thing?

Oh, and before I go I am going to shamelessly plug her mama's website. If being "green" is your thing then visit Pennywise Planet. It searches the internet for green deals, so you don't have to. And you can save some of your own green in the process. (How's that for a plug? And I swear I wasn't paid to say this!)