Pre Spring Storm

The blue black darkness greets me
When I open my eyes in the wee hours of the morning
There is quiet, an eerie quiet, a foreboding of things to come.
People scurry from place to place
In the hope of being ahead of the storm.
The silence is broken by the lightening and thunder
As the wind begins to howl and the rains come.
People huddle with their loved ones, bracing for the worst
At last the skies clear and we rise to survey the damage.
Everyone accounted for and our homes intact,
We live to serve another day

Blue skies and rainbows?

The clouds break
And blue skies appear
The sun smiles down
There is nothing to fear
We have weathered the day, the night, the gloom

Hallelujah!

March 1st

Today is March 1st, 2012 I was able to get the lawnmower started today and made a few rounds in the yard. I sat outside for a bit afterward and watched the dogs enjoy the fresh water I put in their pool, spied a few finches on the feeder, and just took in the beauty around me. It was a great feeling, sitting in the sunshine....smelling the freshly mowed grass. I hope your March 1st has been a great one as well...

New Year's Eve

Greetings from Alabama! As soon as I figure out how to upload photos to my IPad, I will post some. Until then, Happy 2012!

Thanksgiving 2011

Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day.  Buck and I were headed to WalMart around 7:15 a.m. in search of a GPS.  His old one had started to lose her way ~ sometimes giving wrong information. . . . and he is NOT going to stop and ask directions!!!!  And a map?  Way too old school. We bought a new one (his birthday present ~ from January) and went back to the house so I could ice the red velvet and get the turkey in the oven.  Supper was at Mother's. . . .

While the boys showed each other a little

"brotherly love" 

the girls checked the sale papers

Skoot took the opportunity

to rest (he went shopping at 10 p.m.) 

Buck seemed oblivious to

the "creeper" behind him

And Topher showed off his

. . . .

After supper it was time for the Thanksgiving Take Down

(Scrabble Game) 

The board is empty and the ladies are

concentrating 

Mother went first which meant I went last

it didn't help! 

The guys, sans Topher, relaxed

in the living room.

Topher opted to help Kim with her game

they won!!!! 

It was a good day ~ good food ~ laughs ~ leftovers.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

Claire's b'day

Claire celebrated her fifth birthday while I was in Colorado.  The first few pictures are pretty self explanatory ~ Claire blowing out her candles ~ and opening gifts....she made out like a bandit!!!

 

The next day was Halloween and the girls had a BLAST!!  I stayed home and gave out candy, which is always FUN.  As you can see from the photo below ~ there was PLENTY of SUGAR in the Willenbrecht house (and lots of candy too)

Maybe a little TOO much

Trick or Treating??

The Wednesday I was supposed to leave ~ there was another snow ~ OH NO?!  Jennifer took Sarah to school that day since she had to work.  Claire and I suited up to go out and clean off the car for when we would go pick Sarah up.

The tree didn't suffer this time....

but, alas, the jack-o-lanterns did.

More from Colorado

Claire went to a dress up party with her friend Felicity.  

The girl isn't afraid on a little make-up!

That day, Linda and Roger arrived to celebrate Claire's birthday. 
We had already planned to go to the library
for their Halloween program so we left the guys at home
and away we went....
 

Is it me, or does Sarah look a little pale??

Someone should have told me to
"step away from the eyeshadow"!! YIKES!!

(and what's up with those lips??)

The girls enjoyed the storytellers
who entertained with spooky tales.

Sarah thought those little wings

could help her fly!!!?

They dissected and reattached gummy bodies

worms, and bears, and sharks, OH MY!!

The next morning we met Karyn and Lenny (Linda's sister and her husband)

at the "Egg and I" for brunch.  The host was nice enough

to snap a shot of everyone. 

Sisters

Linda and Karyn (back row)

Claire and Sarah (front)

That afternoon we gutted and carved

jack-o-lanterns.

Scoooooop! 

Jennifer dug right in with her hands.

(We saved the seeds and toasted them ~ they were yummy) 

The tower of pumpkintude!!!!

We went to the Centennial Village in Greely

for some pre Halloween

trick or treating 

There were all sorts of costumes to be seen

and lines for every little piece of candy

(it was FUN!!!)