View from up high

Love this view from our bedroom deck at all times of the year, but during the snow it is almost magical.  My favorite part?  ... snow on the tire swing.  That just makes me smile.    

P.S.  Someone loves hot chocolate, and after all of the snowy days recently, he now thinks hot chocolate should be a daily staple.  Nice try, buddy.

It DOES snow in Kansas!

A certain someone was SO excited to see snow that he begged and begged to go out at play!  Daddy caved in and went, too.  :)

Snow still coming down!  Wet, wet snow!

Snuggles by the fire before bed.

Gardening Season Begins

And so it goes ....

That our house is full of soon-to-be seedlings.

Didn't I say last year that it would be awesome this spring when our greenhouse was done and I didn't have to sacrifice my kitchen table to plants for months at a time?

Well, I think we are almost there ... but not quite.  We are just getting ready to have electricity hooked up to the greenhouse, so we can regulate the temperature a little more.  Right now, it gets too hot during the day for seedlings (hence the need for electricity ... and a fan), and too cold at night.  Gage has installed a pellet stove to keep it toasty at night, but it might take us a bit to figure out how to regulate the temperature.

Until them ... seedlings in the house.  I could sure be worse.  :)

Good Day

Not much better than eating fresh baked sugar cookies ...

...on the porch ....

.... in January February (geez ... ) ....

.... with your puppy. (Yes, she got some, too).

Bloggers Block

I have come to the conclusion that I have been suffering from "bloggers block."  I have been having trouble coming up with things to blog about, thinking that what I write about needs to be big, important.  

But, I write best, when I focus on the simple things in life, the things that make me happiest, things that make our family "us."  So, I have started what I call a "Simplicity Project."  For the past few weeks, I have been more intentional about taking pictures of simple joys in our life that I often take for granted.  I hope to do a good job of sharing these things here.

Simplicity Project Pic #1: A shelf on our pantry, full of yummy things from our summer garden.  This past summer, I was more intentional about canning recipes that are meals, instead of just snacks.  So this year, in addition to the usual salsa, jalapeno jelly, and pickles, we have roasted garlic pasta sauce, tomato soup (thanks for the recipe, Sarah Koehn!), and bruschetta.  It has been a true joy to be able to go to the pantry in the middle of winter for a meal from our garden!  Next summer - TWICE as much pasta sauce!  

(Yummiest when eaten with some of our stored spaghetti squash, instead of on actual pasta ... and healthier, too!)