The New Year is here and we are starting with the January things!
First, we start with a fresh new calendar. I am a paper calendar kind of girl. I like the ones with one month on each page and simple. Not the kind with each day and making a fat calendar. I take my calendar with me at times and so I like it to fit in my bag or just easy to carry along. This is the one I ordered from Amazon and I love it!
I made a fresh batch of gingerbread biscottis and tried another new recipe from Pinterest. I like this one better than the other recipe. Actually, we just love gingerbread flavor so any recipe would probably be good but I like the lighter color ones better!
I just can't get over the sunsets and sunrises on these cold winter days!!!! Just stunning, God!!!! What a beautiful sky of color. So many times I'm quickly hollering for the family to come on the front porch for a sky view!!!! Everyone comes running and they look and then go play again. I have to stand there for a moment and take it all in!!!!
Sunset ....
Sunrise ...
We welcomed in the New Year with a dinner at Matt's. His brisket with Lena's side dishes and dessert were so delicious!!! Cheers to a good year of 2021!
Our Christmas tree was drying out so much. I wonder if we need a new tree stand or why does our tree always dry so fast!?! There are so many needles on the carpet and I'm usually ready to get rid of the mess!
We tried a new way and stuffed it out the window.
This little miss has our whole hearts!!! Zayla is Lena's baby and we love her so much!!!! She loves us too because when she see's us, she lights up! Ashlyn begs to go see her almost every single day and often Mike takes these two out to pay a quick visit to her! So cute!!!
We had fun when we got to babysit Zayla for the entire day! Ashlyn can feed her and burp her but when it comes to pamper changes and nap time, I take that part!
XOXO!!!
I decided to do the Chronological Bible Reading Plan for 2021 again! I did this the whole way through last year and loved it!!!! It takes dedication and there are a few chapters to read each and every day of the year but I love how reading it in the time line of when things actually happened long ago, makes more sense to me! You should try it!!!
January is the month for major clean outs around here! I go from room to room and closet to closet and clean out! Organize. Though out the things that we don't use or need and have a fresh clean look!
The first day when all the school kids were back to school, I spent the entire day at home cleaning. I'm so amazed at how much a I collect when I do this.
The collection of things are ridiculous.
We have a drawer with cords and media things and it's most times a mess. This looks better. And all the winter themed books got put at arms reach and ready for reads!
There is a room in the basement that stored most of our home items when we remodeled five years ago here at this homestead. It was packed from floor to ceiling with stuff. Books, kitchen gear, furniture ... just as much as we could fit in this room we did because the rest of the house went under construction. It still has a few boxes of books that we never put on a shelf because we never replaced our old book shelves. We dream of one day making a small library upstairs.?.
Toy bins were organized. And here's how the storage room in the basement looked before I started organizing.
I tried another new recipe from the cookbook I got from Christmas, Flour and Grace. The energy bites are delicious!
We are getting close neighbors. Ever since we moved on this property, almost twenty years ago, we were surrounded only by farms and fields. I love it like this but this week the farmers just over the fields began building a new barn and house. Their land joins ours and they are moving next door to us because they sold the farm.
More granola .... we love this stuff!
Puzzles happen during the winter months here at our home! This looks like a fun one!!!!
Winter time is the time to bundle up and stay cozy! I love the lazier nights and extra family times. We often play Memory, make a quick trip to say hello to Zayla, watch a movie or read.
Winter seems to be the longest season but we have some fun trips planned to help chase away any winter blues!!!!
Stay warm!!!!
