It's the Little things

As in every family...there seems to be a member who is the smile~giver.

The one who...even when he doesn't mean to, or even realize that he does it,

brings a feeling of joy.

 Joy you didn't know was there because you  felt you were in a valley moment, and were oblivious to it.

It was in one of these moments when that little smile~giver pulled something out of his pocket.

He loudly proclaimed to the ones sitting in their own little worlds...

"Let Me WARM Your Spirit!"

And with that...gave this a loud and happy blow:

 He carried on as though nothing had happened....but little did he realize- 

warming my spirit was just what he had done. 

His childish and innocent proclamation was simply perfect.

~It's the little things.~

some of the {154} hiding places...

 

~154 places 

~ 4 kids and 2 dogs 

~ multiple birds ~ wind 

~ sunshine melt

{A lot of variables in this great Hunt.}

Snowman Building Class 101

I don't want to say anything too loudly....but our snow is starting to melt!


Yesterday we decided we had accomplished enough school work by noon, and just had to go outside for Gym Class as the sun kept calling.


~Perfect Snow Man making weather.~

We couldn't stop at just one.

We had to make a yard~full. 

Even the driveway got filled. 

The sunshine and warmth is absolutely lovely.

I almost forgot what it felt like.

And I won't even mind a bit ....if it melts all our men.

tree~house hideout

When we moved out to the country, the first thing my dad did with my kids was to build a tree house. They designed and built it in this clump of trees, making sure not one tree was damaged- even cutting a hole in the roof overhang in order for the tree to continue stretching upwards.

Right now, it seems as though my kids have forgotten the hideaway. It has been sitting empty all winter- waiting for them to climb the ladder or swing on the knotted rope.

While they've forgotten it, I have remembered that it sits there empty.

So I climb the ladder.

I sit on the "balcony" and listen to the wind creak through the walls.

If I stay long enough I catch eye-level glimpses of birds returning to our trees.

The woodpecker pounds his head incessantly against the trunk, and I can't help but laugh and think....that's exactly how I feel at times.

Which is why I'm so glad I have access to this getaway.

For now.

Spring is coming- {I could hear the snow melting today}, and my kids will once again reclaim the space.

But for now...

it's my tree~house hideout.

(but can we just keep this our little secret?;)

Along the Way

Happiness is to be found along the way, not at the end of the road,

for then the journey is over and it is too late.

Today, this hour, this minute is the day, the hour, the minute for each of us to sense the fact that life is good, with all its trials and troubles, and perhaps more interesting because of them.

~Robert R. Updegraff