the long winter, for real

during my prep to move to minnesota, i heard story after story about the long and terrible winters, as if cold could scare me out of love! year after year i found myself almost disappointed, hoping i would wake up one morning with snow up to the top of the door frame, just like in the Long Winter. i began to wonder if minnesotan's talk about their winter like seattlites talk about rain; mere attempts to keep the masses from moving to a glorious place on earth. after six years living in the frozen tundra, this is the first winter that has really lived up to the reputation i heard of minnesota.
we've had about 36 inches of snowfall with very little melt. our backyard looks like this right now:

for the first time in 9 years, the city is restricting parking on the even numbered sides of the streets, get this, FOR THE REST OF WINTER!! i can't believe there are so many who still bike around town, but our neighbor has given that up and now his bike looks like this:
little ones can only spend so many minutes outdoors when the temperatures are hovering above zero, so we get creative indoors. lots of fort building, crafting, book reading, letter writing (more on that later), and going on adventures.
last winter almost did me in, so this year we have tried to take advantage of the ways that our city celebrates winter. anything that keeps us distracted long enough outdoors to catch a little bit of natural vitamin d. this has been much easier for jackson than it has for claire, who still has a hard time moving enough to keep herself warm and doesn't believe mittens really have her best intentions in mind. many of the city parks have lakes or flood a portion of the field to make a little skating rink. some even offer free skates to borrow while you play!


we went to a kite festival at Lake Harriet, bought our first kite and flew it splendidly in the frigid winds on the frozen lake. we tried ice fishing, made a beautiful painting using a rubber form of a fish as a stamp, and watched the D&R quickly respond to a little girl who stepped into an ice fishing hole.
the following weekend we toured the Art Shanties on Medicine Lake, little ice houses, each decked out to a different theme; tiny shanty (everything was miniature so it felt like walking into alice in wonderland), dance shanty, Dice shanty (filled with games), art swap shanty jackson spent his saved birthday and christmas money on his first pair of skis! he was thrilled (and we were so glad he chose skis and not a noisy toy) we went to the Loppet as a family and he skied the entire evening while the rest of us went on foot. next year we all hope to do it. i know, we've said that every year since we discovered the magical luminary event. but seriously, next year we'll all be on skis!
of course there is the ever-dripping nose
and the hard work building snow chairs, snow caves, snow forts, and paths thru the snow
it is so fun to see the kids work together!
hot drinks are enhanced by sipping them from beautiful mugs. super cosy mittens (these i found in the free box at a thrift store and i LOVE them!)
and maple snow. it doesn't get much better than fresh snow with a little maple syrup and raw milk poured over. D-lightful! just like the Ingalls girls did back in the Big Woods
jackson completely embraced winter this year. he wants to be the one to shovel snow, he plays outside, alone, building tunnels in the snow. his favorite part of yesterday was working with grandpy to break up the ice. i'm trying to pay attention and learn to love it more than endure it, but this time of year it is hard to forget the February i grew up with; first blooms of the year brilliantly shining out of bright green grass.
sigh.
we wont' see that for another month or two.

first of the spring cleaning

every afternoon we find the sunniest spot on the couch to read a book before rest time. we curl up like little kittens and snuggle together. the sunlight that has been pouring through our two south facing windows this week has almost keep us warm these frigid winter days.
and every afternoon i look at those windows and notice how absolutely filthy they are!!!
i put the kids down for their naps and completely forget about those windows.
until yesterday!
it is so satisfying to look up into the blue sky and see clearly.

the laundry, on the other hand, is an ongoing process. but this week we jazzed it up a bit. i have never separated laundry. well, i do keep hubby's extra dirty clothes in a load all their own, and i guess i separate the heavier items, like towels, but i never separate colors.
this week i got bit. i forgot the new red and white rug had never been washed. thankfully it was just in with some rags and diapers, but now they are all pretty and pink!

i heart him.

i really love this kid.
he has been wanting to sew, knit, craft as long as i can remember.
today he completed his first hand sewing project. so proud are we!
he picked the fabric, purple felt and a red print, light blue embroidery floss.
he chose the project, a heart for his auntie tiff's birthday. interestingly, my friend, nicole had posted this very project she did at a kids craft class she held, so it was helpful to have a little photo to lead us.
he did all the work (except for the final tie) he persevered when it was so hard and mom didn't have a thimble. his work was even, careful and really pretty impressive for a first sewing project for a 4 1/2 year old.

best yet, and striving for a better score!

the entire family was up at 4 something this morning.
i was confused.
the bright side of it all was that claire had the longest sleep, uh, since i can remember. a full straight 7 hours. she was up at 4, but thankfully went back to sleep for a bit.
hubby was restless and gets this way some early mornings. it doesn't make sense to him to just lie in bed, awake, so he goes to work.
jackson had to pee, was thirsty, and since everyone else was awake, he must have thought it was morning.
i think i was the only one who really, really wanted to be in bed!
really.

we've begun a new sleep regime with claire, in hopes of better sleep. she gets a bedtime tonic, a mixture of calcium and trace minerals in a little juice. our hope is that this will help calm her muscles, fulfill any mineral deficiency and keep her asleep longer.
we also began Hylands, Calm Forte 4 kids. this is a homeopathic treatment specifically for night terrors, growing pains, sleeplessness, general restlessness - any of which could be an issue for the little one. they are easy to slip in her mouth during a night waking and they melt in her mouth.

we are hanging onto hope, still claiming that quiet night.

some success, some not so much.

the dinner i made for supper club this week was beautiful! really, lovely.

sadly, it didn't taste as good as it should have. how can chicken slowly cooked in my best broth yet and wine NOT taste good? fresh herbs, vegetables in season. some of the veggies were overcooked and the flavor was rather bland. next time we'll roast the veggies separate and add them at the end. overall, very disappointing. but still beautiful. and i love that blue cast iron dutch oven.


on the other hand, these macaroons were A-Mazing! and gluten free! and simple! and so tasty!
four ingredients: coconut, honey, almond extract and eggs (i love that there was still hay stuck to the eggs!). we added chopped almonds to the dough.
heat. mix. roll into balls. bake. eat. share some with friends.

we all got a shower today - that alone is pretty successful! we count on a friday shower at swimming lessons, but this week the Y had no hot water. you aren't going to see me getting kids all wet if there isn't any hot water to lure them out of the pool! jackson's feet had black outlines from making snowshoes yesterday out of cardboard. claire's fingernails were long and filled with dirt. where did she find that dirt when there are feet of snow covering the ground? after showers we all painted our nails. they love it and it is such a fun bonding time for us. we have to figure out things to do and talk about while we wait for our nails to dry. claire gave us a tutorial on the plumbing at the sink. jackson couldn't decide whether my "red" was truly red because it sure looked pink. that's okay, he really likes pink, and choose one foot to be entirely pink and the other entirely green. claire choose pink on the first three nails and green on the two little ones.

lady time!

alright ladies! it's that time of the month, and while i hate the excuse of PMS, that might give a reason for extra sensitivity, extra sweet craving, more tea drinking lately. but this month has been particularly different for me, because of success with my natural response to the natural flow of things!
i've been using the keeper for almost a year, and finally figured out how to use it well. this fall i made my own pantyliners, so the mix has been nearly delightful! nearly. still ranking highest in emotion is thankfulness that i am not pregnant for another month!
i chose the dark flannel fabric intentionally; feminine, but won't easily stain. i used a little recycled windbreaker for the water-resistant liner, the flannel i used for the liners was used for our home birth with claire, which has a nice little full circle of femininity to it.
i love the softness of cotton around me but not inside me, sapping me of any extra moisture! i love not throwing away the extra garbage every month!

wrapped up

it was the end of january, but we got the tree down before feb 1st. i've never taken a tree down before new years, but i have always been one of those that lets it linger longer. now that i live in the great white north, it is completely justified. if the ground is frozen, covered with white, and there is absolutely no chance of spring until march, and more likely may, then i can certainly keep the tree up until the end of january. merry christmas to all!some friends of ours have invited us to a new holiday! Febgiving! it is a barren time of the year, between christmas and easter, so a day to celebrate, with friends, an eating festival seemed perfect!