Winter Wonderland

I love where I live. I abso-freaking-lutely love where I live.

I think it is pretty close to being the most beautiful place on Earth.

And there are plenty who agree with me.

This morning the beauty was almost unbearable.

We had hoar frost this morning.

If you have never seen it it is amazing.

It's a crystalline growth that forms on trees, fences, twine everything that stays still long enough & up close it looks like millions of tiny ice feathers.

Glorious.

The whole world looks like an ice sculpture.

It forms on very cold very  clear nights.

So yes.

You walk outside & the air hurts your face.

But this is what you see...

See how it looks like feathers?

This is a horse hair.

Look at the blue of that sky. Clear & bright & blue, blue blue for miles.

I will take this over almost any other weather every day of the week & twice on Sundays.

11 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. 

12 Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.  Psalm 96: 11-12

Blessings.

A Mother's Lament

Tucking in my babies tonight we started talking about DP's bear "Peppy".

Peppy gets her name from the movie Alaska where 2 kids make their way thru the wilds of Alaska to rescue their father. A polar bear cub keeps them company along the way.

The bear is named "Cubby" but for whatever reason DP heard it as "Peppy" & that is what he named his bear.

She's also a brown bear instead of a Polar bear but let's not get bogged down in details...

So my sweet boy has this bear named Peppy.

 Peppy wears a pair of red little boys underpants. She used to have a little shirt as well but she shed that somewhere along the way.

DP used to bring her everywhere. She's been to Reno & to visit friends near Portland. To the Red Bluff Bull Sale and the Tulare Farm Show.

He used to send Peppy with his daddy when daddy went on business trips without us. And being the excellent daddy that he is, he always brought Peppy into the hotel room & sent pictures of her home to DP.

Even when his coworkers gave him a hard time about it he still did it to make his little boy happy.

DP is 10 now & Peppy doesn't travel with us much anymore.

And I'm sitting here crying like a sap because Peppy doesn't travel with us anymore.

My youngest is 7 & he still loves his stuffed animals & brings them out & about but it won't last much longer.

My mama heart is struggling with my babies growing up.

I know it has to happen.

I know I will like them as grown ups.

I have 3 grown ups already.

I just don't want to be out of babies.

Lots of parents complain about the younger years.

Heck I'm sure I've complained a time or 2...

But I love babies.

Love love love little chubby hands & sloppy kisses & speech impediments & tiny clothes & even traveling with a backpack full of animals.

I don't want them to outgrow it.

Can I turn the clock back just a few years?

Hold on to a moment in time?

I know I can't...

And I know I've written about this before. It's becoming my theme song...

Because it's my reality & I'm struggling.

It's a whole new world of uncharted waters.

And my boat keeps growing older.

Maybe someday soon I will have grandchildren to fill the empty baby spots but for now I'm going to hold on to my bubs & encourage them to be little just a little while longer.

And maybe Peppy & I will take a trip together somewhere.

Kiss your little ones. Hold them tight. Because if you blink you will miss it.

Blessings.