because memories fade

a couple months ago i spilled water on my laptop - i was told nothing was retrievable - i thought i had lost more than a years worth of photos - i was... upset. after struggling with this for a few days, i decided to take it back to best buy and hope for a different technician and a different answer - well my prayers were answered and i did - and i got all my photos back - yay!!

but this little scare lit a fire in me, since the only photos i would've had were the ones i had emailed or posted on the blog.  i often think that i'll be able to scroll through my photos years from now and the memories will all come flooding back, but the truth is... memories fade, and they fade quickly.  so here i am, making a written commitment to be better at keeping a record, because i love these times and i know i'm going to want to relive them later. 

so here goes - February 2014 in a nutshell...

it has been an incredibly cold and snowy winter here in Ohio and we've scored a bunch of 2 hour delays and snow days because of it.  and the truth is... i love it!  right now i am teaching early morning seminary at 6:30am and when school is delayed or cancelled, seminary is off.  I love seminary, but i'm still not a morning person so when i hear we have a delay or cancellation i'm just like a kid again - looking forward to taking the day off, sleeping in, having a long breakfast, and playing in the snow (or watching my kids play in the snow, or relaxing/being productive while my kids play in the snow).  The other day we had a delay, which turned into a cancellation and Bel immediately started planning the day's activities.  It started with a coloring contest of the sunrise happening outside our window. 

it was a pretty incredible activity - all 4 of us (even Sage) sat at the table with crayons and paper - looking out the window for inpspiration, chatting and coloring away - it was awesome.

I missed the prime moment for photographing, but this was the subject for our coloring contest. 

(As a sidenote - this is one of my favorite things about where we live - this view and the orientation of the house.  One of the many rewards for getting up early for seminary is that i get to see the sun rise through these trees every. single. day.  i'm certain it is God's way of helping me start my day on a peaceful note - i absolutely love it!)

And this was the result of our artistic abilities.

Artists clockwise from top left : Bel, Jack, Mom, Sage

There's been lots of playing outside in the snow...

For a couple weeks, Bel was broderline obsessed with the size of the mounds at the end of the driveway, she was very concerned that Jack's would grow higher than hers and lectured us to shovel accordingly.

Sometimes she sits and carves shapes out of the hard chunks of snow.

 One day she made snow cakes for everyone.  here's mine

pretty little snow cake - and delicious too.  speaking of eating snow... that's what Sage loves to do (much to her father's dismay and ironically a direct inheritance from her mother, she also loves eating ice cubes - crunch, crunch, crunch - also much to her father's dismay)
The first thing sage does when she comes outside is b-line it for the nearest snow bank, grab a handful and start munching away.  One day it was really cold so we made the kids come in, but the only way to stop Sage's fit over it was to make her a little snow snack.

 

Since Sage's toddler legs are still acclimatizing to winter conditions Bel is insanely sweet to help her work her way through deep snow in clunky boots.  I love her for it and so does Sage.

Some days it's shortlived, often Jack will come in cold and/or crying within minutes, but Bel and Sage will stay out to the bitter end, coming in with numb toes and bright red cheeks and noses.

Whether it lasts for 5 minutes or 50 - I love this view from my warm house - my 3 lovelies getting fresh air and entertaining themselves.