Portraits of my birdies, Wren and Phoebe. Once a week for every week of 2014.
Chris took these carousel photos of the girls this week. We spent Saturday morning at the mall and Wren declared it “the best day ever. Better than a birthday.” It’s nice to know that a hot dog, fries and a few turns around on the carousel could make them so happy!
Northern Michigan has been buzzing recently with talk of the infamous “ice caves” that have formed between Leland and Northport along the Lake Michigan shoreline. We decided to venture out to see just how amazing they really were.
Skeptic/snob alert: usually when a lot of people say something is “so amazing “and “so awesome,” I have a tendency to tune out. Just like the books that are at the top of the best seller lists; usually when a lot of people read something, it makes me think that it’s not very well-written and I avoid it. So. Northern Michigan ice caves… hmm.
You guys.
They ARE amazing. Awesome. Once we slid over the ice, hoisted each other over the top of the caves, scrambled a bit and got down to them… I turned around, gasped a bit and teared up. I was stunned. Kids were playing around, sliding and yelling, “this is awesome!” The late afternoon light was incredible. The ice formations at this scale? I had never seen anything quite like it and I wondered if we would again.
Photo alert: there are a lot.
What an impactful experience for all of us, but especially for the children. Nature is amazing. God is amazing. We live in an incredible place.
It was one of those rare experiences in nature when I felt deep and wide in my heart that there is an incredible force that’s greater than all of us, within all of us, hugging all of us tight.
The scale.
My ice birdies.
And with the warm-up this week, these are sure to become hazardous. It truly felt like a once-in-a-lifetime gift. And it was worth every minute of the slippery hike down and the long walk back with cold, hungry, whiny birdies.
Thank you, ice caves. Thank you, Mother Nature. Thank you, God. We are refreshed and renewed.
Portraits of my lovely birdies, Wren and Phoebe. Once a week, every week of the year.
I couldn’t choose just two photos this week. So many great ones, says the biased Mama. Both birdies were sick last week and Chris was out of town so we hunkered down in our nest. We had about enough of that by the weekend so we headed to our downtown WinterFest. Just what we needed.
First up, the big sister.
Wren played three rounds of frozen putt-putt. That’s right, 27 holes.
Next up, the little sister.
Lucky Phoebe Jane. She just floats on top of the snow. I tried to walk behind her and fell through the deep snow to my mid-thighs.
We’ve been blessed with some gloriously sunny days lately. Today we got out to explore a bit and we saw some… shadows. Thanks, sunshine!
Portraits of Wren and Phoebe once a week, every week of the year. 6/52
Tiny Phoebe is always on her tip toes. And she keeps us on our toes too.
My beautiful Wren with her dimple peeking out through her tendrils.
Early last year I decided I wanted to work out of the home again so I searched, interviewed and found a part time marketing & communications position. I work three days and the girls are together at a wonderful preschool those days. That leaves us with a couple at-home days to nest, create, snuggle, bake, make a fort under the table and play catch-up with each other. One of those has recently turned into our activity (dance, gymnastics) and errand day and I’ve tried to keep Tuesdays as our truest at-home day.
It’s been a wonderful pseudo-balance for all of us. The girls are very social so they truly enjoy other adults and kids; school is great for this. And I enjoy the space to focus on work and not also everything else (as much as a Mama can). It feels like a luxury to be at work and just focus on work after trying to work from home for the previous four years. I know some people can do it, but it was so hard for me to focus on work when there’s so much other work to be done at home. There is always a pile of laundry. There is always a pile of dishes. There is always a toilet that needs to be scrubbed… sigh. More importantly, when the kids were around while I was tackling a deadine, I wasn’t doing anything well; I wasn’t paying enough attention to them and I wasn’t able to focus on my work either. Lose, lose.
Tuesdays with Mama? Win, win.
Wren will be in kindergarten next fall (!) so these full days at home with no rigid agenda are fleeting indeed. Create on!
Many people begin again by making goals and resolutions in January, but I like to start in February. So. Happy February! Happy Year of the Horse. It’s going to be a great year. It really is.
Instead of focusing on the trite resolutions I always think about like feeling comfortable running after the girls on the beach in a bikini, never eating sugar again, or putting my clothes away every night and learning how to fold a fitted sheet, I’m going to keep things simple. But bold.
Create. Love. Sweat. Grow. Pray. Act.
Giddyup!
Portraits of my birdies, once a week, for every week of the year.
The snow! It keeps coming.
It finally warmed up so we could get out in it a bit and feel it on our fingers and cheeks (and tongues) without screaming. Joy!
