Ice Lace

The snow that was covering the deck rail partially melted in the sunshine yesterday. What it left behind was this beautiful lace that defied gravity. It was so pretty that I just had to try to capture it with the camera...

Just visiting...

This is one of the largest flocks that I have seen around the house. There were even more birds that didn't fit into this photo. They are so big that one of the girls thought they were monsters!

Water Skating

This afternoon we shoveled the slush off our skating pond and had a fantastic time skating and playing hockey. What was rather unusual was how wet everyone got! Very, very wet!! It's a good thing that the temperature was a bit warmer today than it has been lately.

Groceries

This evening we went grocery shopping, and I couldn't resist taking a couple of shots with my phone camera...

Can you guess what the kiddos want to do tomorrow?

And look at what wouldn't fit into our cart....

When I asked her if she was embarassed about carrying them around the store, she just shrugged her shoulders and said, "Well, ya gotta have it!" Gotta love that attitude!

Destressing...

Yesterday evening I was very stressed out when I got home from work, so I went out to visit Lily. Her mane was a tangled mess, so I braided it. It looks much better and I felt much better after I was done. As I was braiding, I was wondering if she has any idea how good she is for us. Horse Therapy works every time!

There is something scary in my kitchen...

This new-ish stove is way too clean. I love to cook, but I'm a messy cook. Frankly, I'm terrified of getting this dirty. Believe me, the stove that we took out did not look like this!

Who said this?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose,
By any other name would smell as sweet."

Muskrat

This little guy decided that he didn't like living in the Maine wilderness during the winter, so he's been staying in our barn. I'm sure he has been particularly enjoying swimming in Lily's heated water tub - that has got to be much more pleasant than the icy brook! However, his bathroom habits leave a lot to be desired, so he will be moving to a new home.

Brightening Our World

These cheerful flowers sure are a nice pick-me-up on our kitchen table! The long winter months can seem so dreary and colorless. Especially since we go to work before daylight & return home after dark. We're loving this bouquet of yellow flowers that remind us of summer sunshine!

Surprise!

I about fell over when I walked into the house this evening and found my older son cooking pancakes, and my younger son setting the table. What a wonderful surprise after a long, tiring day at work!

My son discovered Wordle...

Tiredness won...

They were so excited about last night's game, Patriots vs. Broncos, (In case you don't follow football, it was a highly anticipated play-off game!) that I agreed that they could stay up 1 hour past their bedtime. However, after a long, freezing-cold, day snowboarding, they didn't even last that long. Poor little girls - they were so enjoying watching the Patriots score touchdown after touchdown! Their older cousin stayed up for a little while longer, but even he succumbed to sleep before the first half was over. Oh, and, by the way, the Patriots WON!!!!

What do you see?

My husband and I can't agree on what the shape of this tree represents...I think it looks like a pregnant woman's belly, but he sees a woman's chest. Whatever you see, it's an interesting looking tree and I really wonder why it grew that way!

The race is on!

Oops!

And that's why I don't skate - too much chance of landing on my bum and messing up my back even more than it already is! But, the kids worked hard and shoveled off their skating pond again this afternoon. Then, they spent the rest of the afternoon skating, playing ice hockey, and having a wonderful time with their siblings, and of course, their goats. None of them wants to go back to school again tomorrow. They want to stay home another day!

A Milestone for our Suburban!

For some reason, I have always thought that this is such a momentous occasion in a vehicle's life. Maybe because 'back-in-the-day' the non-digitalized odometer would actually roll-over, and the car would be reborn, back at '0' miles? Whenever one of my vehicles would 'roll-over' 100,000 miles, I would try to pay attention and see it happen. Of course, for whatever reason, I generally missed it. Not today! And, I pulled right over to document it with my phone camera too! Good thing I always have it in my pocket. Boy, just imagine all the cool events that we missed taking pictures of before cell phone cameras...

Who wants to kiss a goat?!

Something sweet to snack on...Caramel Popcorn

Where there is a will, there is a way!

They wanted a skating pond, so they took the shovels out this morning, and cleared the frog pond! What fun they had this afternoon, playing with the goats on the ice! Heckel & Jeckel weren't real sure about it, but they kept going back out 'cause they could see how much fun the girls were having!

Beaver House

It was a beautiful, wintery, afternoon, so we took a nice long walk through the woods to the beaver bog. They have been doing lots of excavation, and built themselves a big pond and good-sized lodge to sleep in this winter. The girls collected lots of chewed-on pieces of wood to bring home.

How many ways can we cook eggs now?

I think this is the 7th way - Baked Eggs. We baked them in these little bowls; with a sprinkling of salt, pepper & paprika. Unfortunately, we overcooked them, but, that's a lesson learned!

Still learning new ways to cook eggs...

Today, the girls learned how to make French Toast. It is one of my favorite comfort foods.  They love it too and were glad to know how simple it is to make!  Just don't forget the vanilla, that's the key ingredient, as far as I'm concerned.

It's already here!

My 2011 West Paris Daily Photo book...yay!

West Paris Daily Photo by Dawn Letourneau | Make Your Own Book

Souvenir

From Wikipedia:

A souvenir (from French, for a remembrance or memory),^[1] memento, keepsake or token of remembrance^[1] is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it.

My 1st Carrot Cake

Yesterday, when I was trying to decide what to bring to a co-worker's retirement party, it was mentioned that his favorite dessert was carrot cake. I thought to myself, "I actually have both carrots and cream cheese in my 'fridge! When has that ever happened at the same time? Never." So,that evening, while supper was cooking, I took out my brand-spanking-new food processor, (BIG thanks to my mother-in-law here!) shredded some carrots and nervously put together a cake. (Well, two of them, since the family wanted one to eat as well.) The cake got rave reviews today!

God bless the inventor of heated seats!

Book Baby

This is one big reason why I take so many pictures and then create books with them. I love it whenever I see someone else enjoying them...

But, to see the look on that baby's face when she realized that she KNEW the people in that particular book - it was priceless! She just lit up and started pointing and "talking". It was GREAT!!

Happy New Year!

They actually made it until midnight so that they could see that infamous ball drop in Times Square, and to toast (with their non-alcoholic beverages!) each other for a great 2012.

Here's to hoping that they won't be too tired and grumpy tomorrow. Ha! Haa!!

My New Year's Resolution?

To dance more. Because it makes me happy.

When I'm happy, everything else just falls into place.