Family Fun

After last week's very cold weekend, today we had a very pleasant 40ish afternoon after a rather icy morning.  It started to rain sometime in the night and when I looked out at 7 the rain was pattering down.  At 7:30 the rain had stopped pattering and the driveway was ice.  The temperature outdoors was 32 F, so that isn't too surprising.  What was surprising was the slushy rain that came down for the rest of the morning.  It is rather disconcerting to stick one's head out to get a picture of the icicles on the deck and feel mushy plops on it.  My oldest daughter (and kids) was coming to lunch and we were a bit worried about road conditions so I called her just before she should be leaving and told her to be careful.  She replied, "The roads aren't bad and I'm already in town." 

So much for being a concerned mother.  

Soon after noon the sun peeked out and the ice started to rain down from the trees.  That was a pretty sight, a steady fall illuminated with the sun.  Soon the pavement was dry and I saw a neighbor out walking her dog.  I felt a bit guilty for not getting my walk in that day, so I put on my shoes and leggings and went out to enjoy the late sun with no wind. 

Ice in the blue of the morning. 

I don't know what got into my camera.  Here is a faithful rendition of the sunrise and sunset on December 20, 2016.  It usually ends up to be some other color than what it actually is.

We've had some special company this week.  Jim's sister has been with us so of course, she needed to see Paislee so they came over and we had the best time.  She was happy with all who wanted to hold her and I was able to carry her around for a long time so her mama could eat her lunch.  

She's still small, but right on target or above at all her 4 month milestones.  She loves to grab and play with her toys, especially those crinkly ones.  She also likes to stand on her feet, and she has great head control and spends a lot of time just looking around. 

I ran up to get Zane from school one day because Lorene's work meeting ran over getting out time.  He came to spend the intervening time with me.  I had gingerbread cookie dough in the freezer so we got it out and made gingerbread men and women, and lions and horses and dinosaurs and who knows what all.  

I just love Lynette's smile.  

When the boys were here for lunch today, they had a wonderful time.  Papa took them outside and they slid on the ice and played on the wood pile.  Barry got cold sooner than Zane and came in while Zane pounded the ice on the pond.  They both needed second sets of mittens and I was glad I never threw all those little kid mittens away.  I've kept them 'just in case' for almost 20 years.  

Inside they played with playdough, and rolled marbles down the stairs in the marble tube.  

I make my own playdough. It stays soft and I always make a double batch so I have a lot of it so there will be no fighting.  I keep it in the fridge and eventually it gets dry and yucky and I make some more.  This batch is yellow because when I went to get the food color, I found I bought colored 'writing icing' tubes instead of food color tubes.  Obviously I couldn't read that day.  

Random shots of the week.