The March Melt has officially begun here in northern Michigan. I’m not naive enough to believe that this is The End of Winter. I know this back-and-forth dance well. We will probably get another storm (or two), but will it last? Hmm. I’m not betting on it. There are more trails to ski and rinks to skate, but fun winter might be mostly behind us now, no?
I’m itching to get some dirt under my nails. You?
Last weekend Chris and I had an unexpected date. Together. On ice.
We took Wren ice skating, err ice falling rather, with Grandpa Jon and then the two of them took off for the snow-filled playground for a little while. Then it was just the two of us! What a lovely surprise. We couldn’t remember skating together and we’ve been together (almost) 13 years now. What an extra special treat.
Lots of smiles all around. Isn’t it fun experiencing something new with your spouse? Trying out a new food, exploring a new place, hiking a new trail, ice skating. Cheers to keeping things fresh!
Oh man, we are in the midst of a major grey and blah winter funk. Pretty much everyone I know is either figuring out a way to get outta here or figuring out a way to eat a helluva lot of sugar, fat and caffeine before the Lenten fast begins. Oof. Speaking of funk, here’s some winter funk of a different sort for you.
Funky clouds and funky trees. And some blue skies from last weekend. Enjoy!
Snap! Just like that it feels like winter. The girls and I enjoyed our first sledding and cocoa sipping afternoon today and I’m looking forward to many more. It seems like it’s been several years since I enjoyed sledding. Either I was pregnant or with a newborn or there was a whining toddler who couldn’t pull her own sled up the hill. Something…
I was so proud of Wren today. She would fly off the sled and get a face full of snow and just laugh it off. She didn’t complain about walking up the hill or about being cold. Another sledder ran right into her while she was playing in the snow and I waited for the tears. Just laughter, yessss. Here’s to more of it! Please and thank you.
Welcome, early winter. I’m glad you’re here with us.
Happy March, lovelies. The strangest winter in northern Michigan continues its stretch of dreary, Slurpee-like conditions. Boo! But I have been determined to make an ice garland for our porch since last winter when I saw Two Chicks and a Hen’s ice garland and wanted to do something similar. I finally seized the day earlier this week when it was warm enough to be outside for a while with my two little birdies and make it AND cold enough overnight for the pieces to freeze. Yessss! But. Quickly the needle rose from 22 to 40 and the ice began to melt again before we could hang it up. Enter my parental improv skills! Because really, without improvisation, my parenting would be pretty lacking. It mostly consists of sugar bribes, empty threats, lots of creative messes and snuggles. With some Montessori-based living skills thrown in. Side note: my kid can cut with scissors and sharpen her own pencils, but I’m still negotiating getting those %$%^@!# poopy diapers off with a bucket of Halloween (!) candy. Sigh.
Oh yeah, the ice garland.
So we filled a bunch of muffin tins with water and practiced color mixing with drops of food coloring, took a bunch of fishing line and some (lead-free) weights to keep the line in the muffin holes and left them to freeze.
But when I lifted the lines to hang up, the ice chunks slid down, and they came crashing off. Wren looked at me and my inner voice said “shit!” but my outer voice said, “Let’s put the colored ice in jars and see how beautiful the colors are that you made!” Score.
And she sprinkled them with glitter too because, well, she’s REALLY into glitter right now. But there was quite a bit of colored liquid left in the tins… so we painted the snow!
And then Wren wanted to make a cho-cho train with the pieces… you go, girl!
And in the end, we had a few still stuck on a string we could hang up “for the cardinals” who like to find shelter in this bush.
In the end there was no real blog-worthy ice garland, but there were lessons learned in the power of attitude, enjoying the moment and the importance of improvisation. And beauty in the unknown, as you pour out the hopeful remains. It’s all gone today, washed away with more schlippity schlop out there, but we got to talk again about melting and freezing and there were lots of whys and wheres and whats and sparkles in her eyes with a new understanding of permanence as she tried to reassure me, “well, they’ll probably be back tomorrow, Mama. It’s OK!”
Happy weekend, lovelies! I hope you’re staying cozy in your nests. We were treated to a glittery blanket of white this morning. Welcome back, winter! We’ve missed your beauty. We’re heading out soon to do a small-scale winter picnic in the backyard. Hot cocoa and watching the birdies load up at our feeders. Cheers!
p.s. my diet has been going well, thanks so much for your support! Today I resisted a tower of donuts that Wren and Chris brought home this morning on their adventure to the donut shop. Yahoo for me!
p.p.s. want to increase your page views, fellow bloggers? Post an unflattering picture of yourself along with how much you weigh and watch your stats fly through the roof. People are funny!
First things first, our paperwhites are in full bloom!
Have any fun plans for the weekend, lovelies? I’m hoping for a crafty one with Wren (with Phoebe tucked in one arm). Valentine’s Day is coming up! Anyone else flip the calendar to February this week and think, “hey wait a minute, how did THAT happen?” Yikes. Hey, 2012, slow down already. If you’ve got some time to lazily click around ye old Internet this weekend, start with these click-worthy corners of Cyberspace. Enjoy!
Happy weekend!
