The First Snow

Last night a winter wind howled through the trees and over the eves. The dark was thick and heavy - not thick enough to stop the neighbors flood light from seeping through our windows, but thick enough to stop the twinkling of the stars and the shining of the moon. We woke to a steady, dreary rain that fell in gray sheets and flooded out long dry crick bed. Then, around 10:00 big snowflakes mingled themselves with the rain and by noon a blanket of white covered everything. The kids bundled up and eagerly ran out to throw throw snowballs at each other. O! How I love the first snow! It is clean, quiet, and fresh and chases away the gray of late fall.

In celebration of the first snow, we decorated. One of my favorite things to do is cut green branches from various evergreens and bright rose hips from prickly bushes and create pretty things to add color to our house. The kids and I cut out the snowflakes - honestly, I only did 4 or 5 of them! Abbi and Phin did the rest! (Liam's contribution was tiny scraps all over the floor.)

Here is the Carpenter frolicking in the 'snowfall' - hehe!

Here are some pictures of our nativity scene - from Ecuador!

And one last one of our newest addition to the energy expending activities in our home: An indoor hammock!