It’s so exciting to see Wren begin to legibly and confidently write letters and show an interest in learning to read. She’s always loved books and wants to read a mountain of books every night before bed. After intense negotiations, we usually settle on three because that’s about all I can keep my eyes open for before she starts nudging me to stay awake.

We’re going to be starting the DISTAR reading method soon to capitalize on her interest in learning to read. I checked out Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons from our library and we’ll be jumping into it soon. Hopefully this will complement the Montessori pre-reading work she’s been doing in school. Wren and I are both excited. We’ll see how it goes. If she doesn’t enjoy the 20 minute lessons, I’ll set the book down and try again later. We’re not in a rush, but I wanted to strike while the iron’s hot, as they say. Here.we.go!

Any early reading advice, lovelies?

I also created a board over on my Pinterest page with more edible nests. Enjoy!

Have you been enjoying any special spring treats these days?

After three weeks of being under-the-weather and a long, flopsy-sick weekend, I really believe Wren is officially on the mend. She’s back to her charming self, exclaiming this morning in reference to her chapped lips, “it’s pothole season on my lips!” A little while later she blew her nose really hard and some blood came out on the tissue. “Mama, this is SO cool! I got to see blood come out of my body!” Yup, she’s ba-ack!

If you haven’t seen it yet, Wren and her Easter crafting were featured over on one of my favorite sites for art/craft inspiration: The Artful Parent! Click on over to see it. Hippity hoppity, Easter’s on its way!

Thanks to the generous and thoughtful people at Personal Creations, the girls have personalized Easter buckets this year! It made my jaw drop when I realized Easter was 2.5 weeks away already, yikes. We have been getting a bit of our Easter on around here and the arrival of the buckets was the catalyst for some decorating and some crafting and some reading of my favorite Easter story. And A LOT of talk about the beloved magic seeds. We’re all wondering how they might grow in this still very snowy place though… hmmm. It just might be one of those snowsuit-over-the-Easter-dress years.

So, these buckets! We’ve been playing a lot of games with them like throw the plastic Easter eggs in (Bozo the Clown style), balance a plastic Easter egg on a spoon from bucket to bucket and a lot of pretending to BE the Easter Bunny and filling the buckets. It’s fun to have something personalized, especially for Wren who is beginning to recognize and “read” more and more words and loves to see her name in print. It reminds me of something my grandparents might have given us because they gifted us with monogrammed or personalized things every once in a while. So “thank you!” again to Personal Creations for the lovely gifts.

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!

Why hello there, March. And hello there, lovely readers. Thanks for clicking in! Although I’m not usually into apologizing for not writing about my cutest-kids-in-the-world and what-amazing-things-we’ve-been-doing-in-the-most-beautiful-place-in-America, snicker snicker, I am here anyway to say “sorry about all the crickets, lately, lovelies!”

It’s been busy on the work front and a bit messy meets crazy on the home front mixed with lots of snow days, a couple sick days and a couple getaway days thrown in too. And sometimes when I’m clicking away with work on my computer for my clients, one of the last things I want to do is hop back on when I have a few minutes of time. But then time and development keep racing on and I stop and think, I need to capture this, savor this, post this. And yes, I realize that savoring doesn’t equate to taking pictures and posting about it, but sometimes, well, it does for me. In a 2013 kind of way I suppose.

So enough musing, here are a few shots of our February life. Enjoy!

It’s been very wintery at 605. I love our nest blanketed in some fresh snow. And the birdies have been enjoying the snow, although Phoebe hates her boots so she doesn’t last long out in the snow.

We’ve been skiing, but not enough given how wintery it’s been. Thankful for the times we’ve been able to get out.

We enjoyed the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail near Glen Haven. I love seeing the same trail at different times of year, don’t you?

We’ve had (more than) our fair share of cocoa…

Ahh, fresh snow.

And the biggest highlight was the Winter Fest in downtown Traverse City. An ice rink! A tubing run! A ferris wheel! All right downtown. Sorry, cars.

The biggest birdie got to try out ice skating for the first time. Ahh, the firsts!

And also her first ice cream eating contest. She didn’t care that her competitors included a very big twelve year old. Because, um, hello, free ice cream.

And lots of warm baths to warm after all this chilly winter fun.

So the sweet and lovely Phoebe Jane is climbing. Can we say “heart attack,” anyone? Or maybe “spring fever!” ? I turn around and she’s scaled something, or balanced something on top of something else to get UP. Up up up. It’s hard to get much done when there’s this kind of craziness in your midst. Aahhhh!

And how was your February? Are you ready for March?!

apple from Ashlea Walter on Vimeo.