Everyday Life for Four Seasons

I'm back after a few days away from my camera and computer. Jeff's brother Howard came to visit and, as usual when I see family, I didn't spend as much time taking photos or playing with them on the computer as usual. Here are some highlights from the past few days though:


We got our first real snowstorm of the season this week - about 6 inches fell in our neighborhood. We live in a microsystem called "Malta Ridge" and our weather, including rain and snow amounts, is generally different from other neighborhoods. Sometimes we get more, sometimes less. It's a really strange phenomenon, especially for someone like me, who comes from coastal New England where things are pretty predictable.

This is a photo of us with "Snofia" - 'A' named her "Sofia" and Howard wondered aloud if her name could be "Snofia" and we thought it was a wonderful name for our new friend!

The snow is here, and I think I've accepted that it's not going away for quite some time. Welcome to island living, where my home is an island in a sea of snow! We can go out and enjoy the snow, but it can be hard to walk through for my little ones and their little fingers get cold and wet more quickly than I would like. Gone are the lazy afternoons of running around the yard, looking for acorns and pinecones. We're on to different activities now.


Speaking of a different lifestyle, I can tell we're spending our time differently simply because my system of organization isn't working anymore. It changes regularly as my girls get older, and from season to season as our activities change. Right now my house is a mess. Or at least I think it is - Jeff doesn't notice it, or so he says. Things don't have a place right now. The worst part is, I can't get a handle on it. I don't know where to start. I know what I need to do - I need to do a walk-through and take note of everything that is out of place, that doesn't have a home, and then sit down in a comfortable space with my list and visualize some changes. But I feel like I'm doing all I can to just play catch-up.


I'll get there, I will. Right?

In case you've been wondering, the house is toasty now that the pellet stove is up and running. All the balls in the thermometer hovered at the bottom today, indicating that the room was close to 80 degrees. What a change from two months ago, when the balls were all at the top!


Last night I met with my small group and our topic was "Finding your center." At one point as we were talking about ways to find our center and what we get out of it, we decided to turn the question around and ask what we get out of not finding our center. For example, I haven't been seen around the gym in a while, and it's not something I'm particularly happy about. It's clear to me that regular exercise would help me to find my center more easily. So, what do I get out of not going to the gym? The answers could probably fill a book.... and I don't even know what most of them are yet! Today I decided to just go. I went and of course it was great.


The gym was great for me, but not so great for 'A'. She was in the child care room with 'H' and was playing with the doll house when two boys decided to join her. They didn't approach her the way she would like to be approached. She would have liked it if they had checked in with her about how she was playing and what roles each of the dolls currently had. Instead, they barged through and took the dolls away from her and took over the doll house. The person in charge was holding a crying baby and wasn't able to work through it with them. By the time I showed up several minutes later, she was in tears, tugging at the doll in one of the boy's hands, both of them screaming, "it's mine!"

Part of me felt like she was right back where she was last year, when she would go to preschool and feel upset about the ways the boys interacted with her. One my beefs about it back then was that things would happen (the boys would barge through the toy area) and no one would take the time to talk to 'A' about what had happened. And here she was today, confused and angry, and no one stepped in to talk to those kids about what was going on. She wasn't the only one who was confused - the boys were, too. It's been a while since she's been in a situation where she had to negotiate some rough waters without any help. We talked about it on the way home and came up with some ideas of how to handle things when it happens again, but I feel badly that it had to go that far in the first place. No one should have to scream "it's mine!" for all the world to hear.


The tree is up and the only decorations so far are the candy canes the girls hung up. Lights this week perhaps?


Jeff took this series of 'A' and 'H' this weekend, and they are so "themselves" in these photos...

While we were out and about yesterday, our first real snow of the season fell. This is a morning look at our winter wonderland. The girls are excited to go out and play and I'm looking forward to showing them how to roll a snowperson. It seemed like all of the snow last year was light and fluffy, perfect for snow angels, but not great for building structures. We're happy about the snow we got yesterday.


Looking forward to spending some family time at home and putting up the tree after church.

Today was a big day for us - busy, with lots to do. It was all good stuff though, things we wanted to do, so it worked out just fine.

We brought the girls to swimming lessons in the morning, where they once again impressed us with their increasing comfort level in the water. They are doing so well, and I mean that in a few different ways. If you had seen 'A' in the pool just a year ago, you would be surprised to see how different she is in the pool now. She's so great.


We swung by the farmer's market for our veggie pick-up and then went out in the snow flurries to pick out a Christmas tree. We found our perfect tree! Tomorrow we'll bring it inside and start to decorate it.

We made some time to go to our church for a decorating party. Jeff joined some other adults in the sanctuary to decorate for the holidays, and I stayed with the girls in the craft room. They made some really wonderful things, including an ornament for the tree, a candle ring, and some sugar cookies.

Our day ended at the home of old friends for a birthday party. I was so impressed with 'A' - when we went to the music room to have some fun, she spent time on the microphone and was so comfortable singing her own made-up song while the musicians rocked out. At some point someone turned to me and said, "this is your shy girl?" I am so proud of her! She is doing so well. Wonderfully well!

I'll leave you with some photos of our day.

I've been a little disorganized lately, a little out of sync. One of the things I'm finding now that I don't have any structured "alone time" is that my space gets messy more often. It creates a little static in the back of my mind. Jeff and I agreed to have "clean up hour" once or twice a week where we dedicate an hour to tying up our loose ends. You know, doing things like putting away the hammer that's been sitting in the kitchen for a week, repotting the plants that have outgrown their pots, folding that last load of laundry and putting it away....



The house may be disorganized, but we sure are having fun in spite of it. These days if the sky and the ground are both dry, I consider it "such a nice day!" even if the temperature is a bit biting. Today was one of those rare days when I was ready to go in before the girls wanted to. Usually I'm the last one in.


Gnocchi for dinner with tomato sauce and salad. I *might* make holiday cookies for dessert. Tomorrow promises to be a very busy day, our busiest Saturday in a long time. Swimming lessons, farmer's market, Christmas tree, lunch, church party, friend's birthday party and then home for dinner. It's a lot of running around for us - all things we're looking forward to - but still, it's going to be a full day for our family.

Enjoy your weekend!

Today we went to the Hyde Collection to see some art and to take part in the weekly Art Tours for Tots group. It was our first time going to the art group and my first time back at the museum in at least two years, more likely three. Wow, it was good to be back! I forgot how much I need to be around art and creative, intelligent, artsy people. I'm not a whole person if that component is missing.


The group was perfect for 'A' and 'H'. They saw some art in the museum, then went to the studio to create a piece - this week they made an abstract drawing using construction paper and construction paper crayons (very cool stuff!) and then made it into a book. After they were done, they played for a bit with the dress up costumes and spent a little time drawing on the wall pads. I love the wall pads! The "easels" are actually part of a mural that is painted on the wall.


The woman who leads the group is great - she's young and artsy and you can tell she enjoys introducing children to all that art has to offer. She keeps track of how often the children participate in the programs and if they come at least once a month, they get an art box with some tools for creating things at home, and every month after, they get another item for their box.

It was like I had been injected with a "feel-good" drug while I was there. It was all so right.

I opted to buy the membership, which is also good at a number of local museums, so now we have another enjoyable way to spend our time. What a wonderful way to usher in the winter season!