Have You Ever Cried Over Whipped Cream?

If you've ever been on the blog before you know that Abigail has EoE - and because of EoE she is allergic to many foods.

Dairy is one of them.

So in all of her eleven years that sweet girl has never had whipped cream ever. Ever. Sure, I've tried so darn hard to make whipped cream out of coconut milk from a can but it just never whipped up.

And it just wasn't what she's heard for all these years. You know, the sound of whipped cream in a can. She's heard it, seen in, and never had it.

Until last night.



I'm not quite sure other people know how amazing a moment like this can be so I thought I'd share it. Not being able to eat something that -well, everyone- has is quite a happy moment. There are lots of happy moments in my life - some others would think are no big deal - that's why I'm grateful for this blog to truly see the joy in each day.

We Had a Snow Day

~Take Time for the Little Things~



"All the flowers of all the tomorrows ... are in the seeds of today" 





And this is what it looked like...



Abigail decided to rearrange all of the Calico Critter town for about 4 hours straight



...and then she walked me through it explaining it all {each little step}



... for about an hour





Then it was time to play in the snow with Daddy {I'd rather stay in and fold that laundry}





This was the view of the backyard from upstairs.



It was perfect snowman snow; heavy and sticky. {which was good because we haven't had the best snowman type snow this year}



And a little bird - always a little bird





Soup was on the stove - Be A Homebody 

There was extra time for a lovely dinner.




Abigail also spent lots of time in her room setting up ice skating!









And what was Anna up to all those hours? Well, she came across her old 'paper white' (just books and no blue light) and read books that were already on there from years ago.



Only 2 snow days {so far} this year which I'm happy about since we'll be still getting out of school for summer nice and early... June 14th!!!  But who's counting?!

Reading and This Week

Let's just pretend this week didn't happen - It's conference week at my school - 23 times 30 minutes each - yes, I'm spent.

So grateful for my husband for all he did this week - I couldn't have survived without him - He took over and still stayed up with Anna until really late helping this math - I had a hard time letting go for just this week (especially lunches - I was afraid to look at the lunches he put together, but the girls said he did pretty good)

So yes - tomorrow I am going to bed at like 8 PM to sleep this week off -

and then I'll get up and start planning and creating, and getting the next week ready because I blew that all off this week just to get through conferences.

Teaching is the best because kids are the best - families are the best - I adore what I do - But still, I can't wait to shut the door to room 124 tomorrow and call it a weekend!

And this one... loving the Penderwick series! - I have a "thing" for taking photos when they have a book in their hands.



And since I just spent all that time with families I want to stand on my soap box for just a minute - get the screens out of your kids hands - lock them up for the weekend - don't ever let them play a video game - I can tell in 5 minutes after meeting a child who spends too much time on screens - video game addiction is real - playing, talking, reading, creating... that is the real work of childhood - and I cringe when kids are on screens too much - okay, I'm off my soapbox

A Cozy Home with Sweetness

Decorating my house brings me joy.



When Christmas was all put away and I had a brand new clean palate to decorate I wanted to create a 'sweetness'



In January and February God led me in my Bible time to scriptures on sweetness and was really working in my heart in those early morning hours on what that would mean in my life.



And so it felt natural to decorate with sweetness around my house.



Some of my favorite scriptures on sweetness ~

Proverbs 31:26 She opens her mouth in skillful and godly wisdom and on her mouth is the law of kindness.

Proverbs 31:12 An excellent woman... she comforts, encourages, and does him only good as long as there is life within her

Matthew 12:34 For out of the fullness (the overflow, the superabundance) of the heart the mouth speaks.

And some Bible times I actually look up words in the dictionary even though I know what they mean... because it gives me new insight.

Kindness in the dictionary is - kind, patient, not harsh or rough... so when I think about what comes out of my mouth, especially to my husband and daughters I need to think about not being harsh or rough. And that is where my Bible time needs to come in... because oh boy do I ever need God's grace and the help of the Holy Spirit with these verses and what kindness and sweetness means.



Little vignettes - little things that would make our home light and pretty and sweet

January and February is certainly filled with cold and dark - so warm and cozy inside is a must.



And tea, tea is must too.







I love the look of decorating with milk glass - you can do anything with it and usually I find it for a few dollars at a thrift shop.



This is my all time favorite cookbook - healthy and such variety - we love it!



Dark afternoons and cozy nights are my favorite this time of year.









I bought this for Anna on her Adoption Day last year - and I mean every single word - I hope it hangs in her home some day - for this Valentines Day she let me hang it in our family room.





Yes, I love these plates, one for each season by Currier & Ives - especially the pink morning winter sky - so New England















Hearts on the front door



and on the back door too to welcome us home.



yes, winter is sweet around here - just the way we love it!