A Winter Walk

Yesterday was a beautiful winter day; not too cold, but there was still snow on the ground and the light was perfect in the morning. So I bundled the kids up and we went on a little walk around the neighborhood. We had a lot of fun exploring, listening to the birds, and running around in the snow (well, that part was Wesley, Connor and I wanted to stay dry).

First, here's a couple pics of my little Valentines:



Wesley made a sweet card for his family (with the help of his teachers, I'm sure)



Connor quickly turned into a red sticky mess, but she enjoyed her heart lollipop.

So here are some shots I snapped as we were on our little walk. The icicles made a pretty pattern on our outdoor furniture (which got covereed in snow and ice, because the top of our tent blew off in the severe weather we had a couple of weeks ago. Guess we'll be buying a new tent top this spring!)



Pretty little Connor (how is it possible for a baby to look so sultry?)



And grinning Wesley



Our river birch and red twig dogwoods behind the garage



And the juniper peeking through the snow. Everything looks prettier with a little snow.



The kiddos in front of the house



We found a walking stick tree with curly branches, and it had a bird's nest in it





Wesley found a big stick to play with, so he was happy.





I have no idea what these things are called, but we found a bunch of them and the kids loved them. I remember someone told me when I was little (my mom or grandmother probably) that you could make a wish on one of the little fluffies when you found them floating by. We found enough for a lifetime of wishes! They enjoyed feeling how soft they were and letting them float off in the breeze. When I first showed one to Wesley, he thought it was some kind of animal or insect in the pod. He wasn't too sure about it until I showed him the seeds.











We brought them back to the porch and Wesley let the rest of the little fluffies fly into the wind. It is amazing what you can find in just a short walk around the neighborhood--the little things really mean a lot when they are this age!



Oh, and I have to give credit to a great website I found that had the awesome frames and watermarks I used here. They are free actions! She's got lots of other great stuff for sale too, but another one of the free actions is a beautiful set of color overlay actions she made for cancer awareness. See her site here: Multiple Choices Photography