Wow! Where is the year going?

Why is it the older I get the faster the years go? I can not believe the it's already February. It's almost Valentine's Day. It's almost Paden's 4th birthday. Steve's another year older. I'll be another year older right before Paden. AND I am starting my 5th week of college. I'm still thinking it's surreal that I'm even there and we're almost to mid terms.

Spring is just around the corner. That's a good thing. I'm not much on winter. I like to have the windows open and breeze blowing through the house. At night sometimes you can hear the coyotes yipping down at the bluff on the river. It's that time of year that you can hear the baby calves calling to their mommas when they get lost. The birds singing. I love it when the whippoorwill comes. The smell of lilac's as the breeze blows softly at night. Rain. I'm not much on storm's but I do like rain. The way it patters on the tin roof.

Then school will be out for Colton and it will be hay season. Colton's gonna do the raking again this year. One thing will be different though. He won't have to wait on Papa to get home. Dad has officially retired now so the hay won't have to wait on him. I can't believe my oldest will be a teenager at the end of the year. He's grew up so fast and sometimes I wonder where it has went.

Garden time. The garden will be growing and we should be getting our first delicious morsels from the plants.

Summer will be in full swing and then we will be loading up for our road trip to Raton, New Mexico. Colton is on a state YHEC (Youth Hunter Education Contest) team that will be going to Nationals the last week of July. Any extra time is dedicated to studying the NRA Hunter's guide, practicing archery, shotgun and muzzle loading. We'll get back from Nationals and then it will be time for the state 4-H shoot. School will be starting for both of us too.

Fall....apple picking. The smell of a fresh baked Apple Crisp. MMM...MMM. Then we'll be raking the yard and Paden will be scattering the leaves as fast as Colton rakes. Colton will be getting ready to leave on his first out of state hunting trip. I will be a nervous wreck until he gets back. It will be time to start planning the holiday feast.

Turkey season. Chilly mornings in the blind communing with nature. Waiting. Listening to the deer as the come ambling by completely unaware. The squirrels as they harvest the fallen acorns.

Christmas shopping...hustle and bustle. Decorating the tree and the house.

Then we will back to the cold of winter...

But until then, I just have to stop and smell the roses and take the days one at a time. Today....I think it will be swinging with my boys and smelling the rain from the storm that is moving in.