A Winter Wonderland (Part One)

The good news is that I already blogged about last Christmas (see link here), so I am only nine months behind now. Did I say "only"? Well. Catching up feels manageable now.

The new year was pretty mellow at our house since two of our kids were recovering from RSV (I remember that the year before we were recovering from the flu and pneumonia...I see a trend here...), but Abby and I made it out to our town's annual Berserkle on the Squirkle. And yes, it is as ridiculous as it sounds - a 5K race where costumes are encouraged, laps, aren't counted, occasionally the direction switches, some laps are done backwards, some are done in conga lines. It's just a silly way to get people out and exercising on the first day of the year, and I LOVE it.

Shortly afterwards it was time to start homeschooling and I fumbled my way through the first several weeks of that.

I learned an important lesson from the long winter, and for months after it was over I collected ideas of things to do with little kids indoors. I was well prepped going into January 2019, and I have to say, it was really a very pleasant winter. I was actually surprised when spring arrived.

No longer enrolled in public school, Abby finally was available to attend one of our monthly puppet shows. The show was Cinderella and I think the expression on her face tells you how she felt about that.

Seeing the puppets backstage

Abby got a haircut! Nine inches gone. She said she wanted short hair and within ten minutes I had cut it off. And then I excused myself to my room where I cried for several minutes. But then we all got used to it and now I think it's adorable.

In preparing for the winter, I read an article about people who live in Scandinavia. You probably know that in ranking countries of the world with happy people, people who live in that region are often close to the top. How is that possible? One of the most important things I discovered - which is probably totally obvious - is that I HAVE TO get outside everyday. I invested in some really nice snow clothes for me and the kids and we took it to heart. We made it outside every day. Sometimes I had to coax them out with things like scavenger hunts, but it always felt so good once we were out.

Sometimes when the kitchen floor is really dirty, we move out the table and I let the kids "ice skate" in mopping socks.

Painting the snow!

One of my favorite memories from the winter was sitting with Abby and Thomas, in the snow, next to our frozen pond. It was so quiet. The kids sat and listened while I told stories from when I was younger. It was peaceful and cozy being together, even with how cold it was.

Making ice garlands...

Which we hung outside on a REALLY cold day

Snowflake fairies in the playroom!

There were lots of crafting days, especially snowflake crafts.

Some we made with beads and some we made with borax.

Sleepovers in epic forts feels like a treat in the dead of winter

And then, difficult to believe, Little Lydia had her birthday. We took her to our favorite indoor playground to celebrate.

And then home for smash cake.

I wouldn't say that she "smashed" it so much as she crumbled it into a million pieces the size of sand granules and then rubbed it in my hair under the guise of a hug.

But we forgive her because she is one.

Sunny Days, Where Have You Gone?

It may be topsy-turvy, but in a way it's nice blogging about this same season a year ago. It helps me to remember all the things I want to do in the next few weeks.

More memories from Fall 2018...

Jacob overheard me one day say to the kids, "If you are REALLY good, maybe we'll wash the windows today." He could not stop laughing. In my defense: THEY LOVE IT.

 Around the time Abby started kindergarten, we discovered monthly puppet shows at Franklin Park, which has been a lovely thing to look forward to every month. Here we are at The Wizard of Oz.

The annual Fall Festival, my favorite event of autumn. It's only ten minutes from my house and the entire event, including lunch, is FREE! We spend six to seven hours there every year. It's amazing.

Kite flying!

A visit to Great Country Farms:

And fun days at home.

You may look at this picture and see a sweet little boy playing the piano. What I see right away is that he is pantless.

Halloween was another crazy homemade adventure. It's fun, it's always fun, and thank heavens for that or else I would never attempt something that is so much work. Jacob engineered Thomas' ship while I crocheted Thomas' beard (I still crack up every time I see it) and sewed mermaid skirts for the girls.

There is a church near us that always goes ALL OUT for trick-or-treaters, and we all laughed when we saw they had a mermaid theme, too. Had to have a picture together!

And then into November.

A translation of Abby's attempts at phonetic writing. The first note says, "Dear Daddy, I love you, From Abby" and the other one says, "I like to read My Little Ponies".

We love Elephant & Piggie books and it was so exciting when they showed up at the library! (The little girl pictured was especially enamored with them and WOULD NOT let go of their hands. So we finally just took a picture in front of her.)

Surprise snow storm in November!!!! This never happens in Virginia!

A hike up Sugarloaf Mountain in Maryland.

Abby went with Jacob and my parents to see The Little Mermaid at our favorite dinner theater. And then she got to meet Ariel and Eric!

Thomas turned three!

Jacob made this piñata. Very impressive!

Our 2018 gratitude tree!!!

At the beginning of the season we had made our family "Fall Bucket List" to remember all the things we wanted to do. Got most of them done!

It was a good autumn.