Hump Day Nuggets: Slow and Steady

I love winter.  It's part of the reason that I'll never move out of the midwest (most likely).  I think it makes summer warmer, spring sweeter and fall more delicious and precious to have these long cold winter months.

But I will admit this winter has been strange.  With no real snow to speak of and temperatures only beginning to reflect the time of year I've found myself in a bit of a limbo routine-wise.  I remember last year so looking forward to this year with two mobile snow bunnies beneath my feet.  Long hours spent outside romping and sledding, red cheeked and happy.  Instead I find our groove off, mostly indoors and slow and uninspired (thanks colds and no snow!).  Plus Louise is not such a fan of her snow gear.  She mostly sits and whimpers while we're out, wanting to be held and points desperately at me "up, mama, IN! mama".  SO instead of fighting this off groove I've decided to go with it this week and we've been having a grand time.

Nuggets::

Last Thursday it snowed lots, so instead of driving to pick Ainsley up from playschool Louise and I walked through the falling snow.  Louise snuggled down under the canopy and Ainsley was delighted with our wonderland walk, stretching and leaning her long body out to capture as many of the flakes as she could.  We rounded out the morning with a trip to the library, finding new books and friends as always.  It was good to remember an old routine in a new way.

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Yesterday Louise and I attended solo musikgarten for the first time (thanks to me getting wise to scheduling her class during playschool) and it was pure and utter joy.  I had a moment when I looked at my baby, not at all baby anymore, toddling with the other tots, swaying and clapping to familiar tunes, even singing her "bum bum bums" right on cue.  Miss Amy used her as an expample of what an "in eutero" music baby can do.  It's truly amazing.  I am bursting not just with pride, but joy that we found this niche here, a place where my girls have both so thrived and flourished.  It's pretty amazing.

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It's no secret that I'm a bit at odds right now, still fighting off the dregs of this cold and cough that make it hard to fall asleep, and anxiety of big decisions coming up that make it hard to stay asleep.  I'm trying to find new outlets for my anxiety and flurried mind, staying extra busy with my girls and reintroducing running into my evenings as much as possible.  Have I mentioned that I'm running the Ragnar (Madison to Chicago) on here yet?  Joining a team with two of my sisters, slotted as runner 8, running just over 18 miles in three legs.  I'm excited a bit terrified all at once.  While I know I'll get there, back to where I was and even better maybe, training in this new life is much harder than in my old one!  Wish me luck!

And now for the good stuff...photos!

Nuggets::

This last weekend was my grandpa's 85th birthday.  Not wanting to show up empty handed to such an important celebration I racked my brain for something an 85 year old man might need or want AND something that Ainsley could help me make.  In two of my beloved craft books I found ideas for bookmarks, did a bit of mish-mashing and flying by the seat of my pants (the only way I know how to roll) and I must say I think the end result was pretty neat.

 

I wish I'd taken a better photo of the back.  Ainsley helped me pick out scraps from my scrap bag and arrange them how she wanted, then I sewed them together with a zig zag stitch, frayed edges and all...I really liked the rough quality of the edges.

Then I asked her to draw Bop a picture on a scrap of muslin.  She chose to draw a cookie and the letter "B" for Bop! (And Bert, his first name).  Then I put the fabric in a small embroidery hoop and embroidered her designs with thread of her choice colors.  Sewed both pieces together with a fabric loop on top and whalla!  instant handmade child art book mark.

She was so excited by the drawing that we decided to make some wrapping paper too.  Her foot there is on top of the birthday cake (upside down) and in the forefront is a drawing of her Bop and her holding hands.  The balloons and squiggly lines are mine if you must know :o).  We had such fun with this project and it bodes well for all the present making to come!

 See?  Ainsley doing a happy I just made a great present dance!

party photos...girls opening gifts with Bop

 feeling pretty proud of blowing all those candles out

It was a great party, full of family and food and lots of helpers with the girls.  It was so fun to get to celebrate 85 years with my wonderful Bop!

Nuggets::

 Saturday morning I was up early and couldn't get back to sleep.  Then Louise joined me at around 5:30 so we motivated to make homemade sticky buns.  This is the recipe from Joy of Cooking and they were fantastic.  Next time I'll make the dough the night before and let it sit in the fridge so we can enjoy them in a more timely fashion the next morning.

 Nuggets::

Monday morning we erranded at our local toy shop "needing" to use Ainsley's birthday $10 coupon before it expired.  She did SO well, thoughtfully playing and devising and happily returning items from the shelf when I calmly explained to her that her $10 couldn't buy her a brand new waldorf dollhouse or jumbo bean bag stuffed animal.  I let the girls play and roam a bit, then gave Ainsley her three choices and she happily enthusiastically chose this Educo Mixer.  A mixer was one thing I wanted for her for Christmas but we'd already gotten her enough so I was delighted she wanted one too!  Upon arriving home we immediately took out the box of chopping food and a bag of play noodles and the girls did their thing.  We had a great morning.

 ::my big girl only eats at the booster now, not strapped in or anything!::

 Nuggets::
And my other big girl?  She's pretty great too.

After a rough night last week when we had to haul ALL of Ainsley's toys out of her room we rewarded her this week by bringing some back, doing some rearranging and trusting her to take pride in her big girl space once again.  So far it's working really well.

::new "princess bed" as Ainsley calls it, creates SO much wonder and excitement for her space::

 ::we brought back the dresser and pushed her rug against the wall to create a proper play space in her room, the few toys we chose to stay are within reach and easily kept track of::

 ::this week I remembered popcorn!  our favorite snack::

 Today I am thankful for cold and a bit of snow.  For homemade pomanders festively scenting the air thanks to a morning craft and gingerbread cookie dough chilling in the fridge for afternoon crafts.  `I am thankful for Ainsley who crawled into bed with me today for nap and actually fell asleep! and sweet Louise snuggling next to me watching the Music show of Classical Baby, easing into these late afternoon hours.  Today I hope for motivation to run despite feeling oh so tired and snuggly warm with my girls on this winter day.

Happy Hump Day out there!