helping out our feathered friends

Happy Monday, lovelies!

I’m back with another easy kiddo-friendly project to while away the dark days of winter. And a great way to help out our feathered friends… a bird nest helper! Grab a suet feeder or mesh bag and fill it with things that the birdies (or squirrels!) might use to build their nests come the spring. Short pieces of string, hair, dryer lint (if it doesn’t contain chemicals), yarn, pine needles, twigs, you get the idea. Just stay away from plastic or long pieces of string. Who know that pulling hair out of a brush could be so much fun for a toddler?!

Then hang it from a tree where your little ones can keep an eye on it. We’ll have ours near the feeders where our birdie friends come every day.

We’re looking forward to the spring when they really do their nesting. It’ll be here before we know it, but for now we’re uncluttering for the benefit of our feathered friends. Have you been doing any fun indoor (or outdoor!) projects lately with your little ones? Let me know – we’re looking for more fun (easy and meaningful!) things to do in our own nest!

Return to Sand Mountain

I’m not really a nostalgic person; I don’t usually try to relive great moments; I also don’t really enjoy sitting around and chatting about the “good ole days.” But when Chris suggested heading out to the Dune Climb, aka Sand Mountain, I jumped at it. But it wasn’t really because we had such a great time there earlier this fall. It was because it seemed daunting to take our whole family of four (!) out there and I knew it would do all our spirits (and lungs) good to GET OUT. And we did it! And had a great time. Every time I get out with both girls and get home safely without any complete meltdowns or disasters, I feel like I won the lottery. Maybe not a big, retire-now-and-travel-the-world lottery, but a decent one. Yes!

creative movement

I registered the little birdie for a “Creative Movement” class this fall. Not that she seems to need much help in this area especially when she’s inspired by Lake Michigan’s crashing waves, but I think she’ll have a BLAST. She’s such a natural little dancer that I sometimes don’t want to dance in front of her in fear that she’ll be influenced by my movements… or lack of.

The class requires that she wear pink tights, a pink leotard, ballet shoes and pull her hair back. She is ridiculously excited about this part of the class. Who IS this girl again? Did she really come from me? Boggled.

How was your weekend, lovelies?

‘dama’s Snow Bunny

Wren just adores her ‘dama Judy. They do such fun things together every week, like going for walks to Morsels, Wren’s favorite place, and making a snow bunny! We’ve already lost a lot of snow from earlier in the week, but there was plenty of wet snow left for making a snow bunny. Isn’t it adorable? I didn’t feel much like sculpting anything else with snow this year. I just wanted to sit inside, read books and eat popcorn. Thank goodness for ‘dama Judy! We feel very blessed that we have family who live nearby and take such an active interest in the little birdie’s development as a snow sculptor.

click on

Happy weekend, lovelies. Do you have any fun plans? We’ve got a couple fun things planned, including going for a hike in the woods to hear the spring peepers and check out the first of the spring wildflowers. “They” say we’re going to experience a mix of rain and snow this weekend, but I’m hopeful that it’s mostly rain at this point. We need it to wash all the yuck away…

If you ARE stuck inside a bit, check out these inspiring links:

  • I had pretty much written off using crepe paper for decorating. Until now. Gasp!
  • Great ideas for making time in your life for crafting.
  • Rainy day blues? Dress for (colorful!) rainy day success.
  • Starting seeds this spring? Check out this handy calendar for when to start your hopeful cornucopia of veggies.
  • I love to click in on the Sweet Juniper blog and was thrilled to see the new hand-drawn header image. What do you think?
Here’s to a restful weekend. Whew.