Happy February 2022, my friends!

According to Punxsutawney Phil's prediction two weeks ago, we have four more weeks of winter. Hum...do you find that good or bad news? If given a choice, would you rather be in hot weather or cold?

At this stage of my life I prefer cold weather, it helps combat my personal summers. Plus, when the house is cold, I love to snuggle under a bunch of blankets to sleep. Hibernation, anyone?

To welcome turning 62 this month, my body has been experiencing aches and pains. Anyone with me? I hope not! I've been reminding myself, "Momma said there'd be days like this, there'd be days like this my Momma said!" (Her exact words were, "Growing old isn't for sissies!") Mom said you can either laugh or cry, so she opted for laughter whenever possible. She was a wonderful role model.

The past month has been productive in the writing portion of my life.

Y'all, can I be honest here? I'm still trying to figure out the easiest way for you to see my writing. My new website doesn't send out notifications when I post on my blog. You can find me on Instagram and two places on Facebook, my personal page and author page. Right now, I've been posting to all four places as well as give a recap in this letter.

Any thoughts? Where do you hang out online? I'd love for you to hit reply and share your communication preferences or ideas with me. Thanks in advance!

PICTURE BOOK NEWS

Aunt Kitten, second edition, is now in a completed rough draft form! Rather than the safari theme of the first edition, the reader will search for their own animal avatar name. Which strengths does your child reflect? Maybe they are a leader, creative, or adventurous.

I've made three free printables to celebrate a unique child in your life. ​You will be asked to fill out the signup form again, and then to check your email. Once you click confirm, it will download a PDF file with a few pages of Aunt Kitten in a previous version. The last three pages are blanks for you to print out and use. Thank you for bearing with me while I learn how to make downloading easier for you.

PONDERING FRIEND TO FRIEND

​ I've begun posting about one year of my life each Monday. This week I wrote about my fourth year. The series is on my Pondering Friend to Friend blog.

ICE CREAM ENTHUSIASTS/TRAVEL

We make ice cream almost every weekend. Watch for my ice cream creation posts, often on Sundays.

This past month's creations include Vanilla with Dark Chocolate Covered Raisins (much better than I expected,) Honey Cinnamon Ginger Cookie, Vegan Chocolate frozen desert (faux ice cream) which tasted like ganache before it was frozen, Chocolate Ice Cream with Mini-Buckeyes, Wild Blueberry made with preserves, and Peanut Butter ice cream with Peanut Butter Sauce and Reese's footballs for Super Bowl Sunday.

Did you celebrate National Ice Cream For Breakfast Day? It is the first Saturday in February every year. It is one of our favorite holidays! Are you surprised? Since it was also National Nutella Day, we made Vanilla ice cream with Nutella Swirls and ate it with cinnamon toast on the side. Last year we made ice cream sandwiches with cinnamon rolls. Mmmmm. Mark your calendars to celebrate along with us next year on February 4!

Oh, and if you missed it this year, I hereby give you permission to choose a make-up date to eat ice cream for breakfast. Try it, you'll like it! Please tag me if you post photos.

Smiling with an ice cream mustache,

Kristin Emily Friend

​www.KristinEmilyFriend.com​

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