for the birds

female pine grosbeak

Last weekend was very relaxed at our house. We spent the mornings lounging in the living room for playing/snuggling/bird watching (the importance of each of these was dependent on whether you were adult, child, or canine). We have a couple bird feeders outside our house this winter, and a flock of over 100 redpolls has been hanging out, eating us out of house and home. They share the feeders with the chickadees, and often get chased away when the pine grosbeaks come (female grosbeaks are especially pushy). Last weekend we were lucky enough to have a few blue jays, downy woodpeckers, and hairy woodpeckers filter in. I loved having hours to enjoy the quiet company of my family and the serenity of our woods. And it makes me happy that our girls are birdwatchers too.

Mommy's lap offers a good view of the bird feeders

The puppies like watching the birds too!

I took a couple video clips too ... the first one shows V's excitement over the birds and the second shows V petting Piper as they both watch.

an honest-to-goodness, old-fashioned blizzard

Snow so far: 9".

Drifts in front of the garage: 2 1/2 feet.

Wind gusts today: 68 mph.

End result: Snow Day!

In preparation for the storm, V and I baked chocolate chip cookies last night. Perhaps having her share them with daddy while they were still warm wasn't such a good idea ... she had chocolate all over her face and hands, and all over daddy's white shirt.


Today has involved play time, Sesame Street, scrapbooking, and of course -- sledding. When the snow and winds calmed down a bit in the late afternoon, all the girls bundled up to go outside. Victoria is so cute in her little snow pants.




We took the dogs for a walk down the driveway, and when we got back, Mommy had to run back and forth, back and forth, really fast!


Faster, Mommy! Who needs a gym membership when you've got a sled to pull, dogs to walk, and balls to throw?

winter?

As everyone knows, this has been the type of winter normally seen hundreds of miles south of us—that is, warm, mild, and sunny. Downtown Duluth does not have snow on the ground, and at our house, there is snow only in patches. One day in January, my co-worker Steven and I walked along Lake Superior over our lunch break, without coats, then sat on a bench to soak in the sun … without coats! (Yes, I said that twice on purpose.) The temperature that day was 50 degrees. There was no ice on the lake. Looking at the blue water, it was so easy to pretend we were some place other than northern Minnesota. Why is that I love it here, but then revel in the chance to escape, even mentally? I suspect the act of escaping isn’t so much about location, but about leaving behind everyday reality for a minute. If I lived in Arizona, I’d probably dream of escaping to northern Minnesota.

Hi Steven!

Today there is a little bit of ice on the lake. Here is a picture taken on a beautiful day last week, when Steven and I were once again out walking.


I had so many winter projects planned. Finish our basement bathroom. Paint the guest room. Steam the wallpaper in the laundry room. Organize the files that are still in boxes two years after we’ve moved. Last fall I imagined dark winter evenings and cold winter days where I’d have nothing to do but work on projects. Guess I’ve taken a “mild” approach to projects, just like Mother Nature has with the weather. As the days have gone on, I always find it more important to play with my girls than get the house organized (some day, out of the blue, my hidden frustration about this will burst and I’ll go on an organizing rampage, I’m sure).

I have started on spring chores, however. It's so easy to think spring when there is no snow, the sun is shining, and the orchid in the dining room is blooming, reminding me of all the blossoms to come.


I’ve managed to get my seed order in so I can start to prepare for summer gardening. Necessity is the mother of invention – in my case, a lack of time dictating quick decisions. While I used to spend hours scouring seed catalogs and dreaming of garden plans, last night I took a quick hour to get orders in at two seed companies, searching only for what was on my list and sticking mainly with varieties I’ve tried in the past. Now if only we could get that basement bathroom finished before I need space for all my seed starting supplies! Maybe it's a good thing winter isn't quite over yet.

an everyday video can show so much

This is a long video clip, and is probably only cute and interesting to parents and grandparents. I took it last weekend when the girls and I were staying at my parents'. V was being pretty cute toddling around, and I wanted to have a video of her during her early walking stages that some day I can look back on. It's funny, though, how such an everyday video can show so many details of our lives. It shows V's love of phones, and how big a part of our lives our cell phones are (she loves them in part because everyone around her talks into them all the time, and you can see my dad trying to record her on his cell phone). All our talk of "phone" makes Hannah think we say "bone," so you can see her run to the closet, tail wagging, looking for a milkbone (and later in the video my mom gives her one). Piper is -- not surprisingly -- waiting by the back door (please! can I go outside!). You can also see the train car that V loves to play with -- putting things in the door of the train car (even though it's easier to put stuff in the top, she knows the proper way is to load them in through the door). That's the same train Adam and I played with when we were little! V also shows off some of her other favorite things, such as blankie and the dogs' balls. I hate hearing my voice on video, but it's worth it for all the memories we've captured.

the best place to lay

Here, I am well protected from that toddling baby and I can ... well ... sort-of ... pretend ... that this table leg is a comfy pillow.

So smart

Not much gets past this girl …

• We were standing in the kitchen. I asked V, “are you hungry? Do you want a cracker?” She looked at me, walked over to the pantry, opened the door, took out the box of graham crackers, and proceeded to dig inside. I didn’t even know she knew where the crackers were kept.

• I was baking bars for our Super Bowl party. V was quietly playing on the kitchen floor when she must have decided she wanted to go outside to play. Of course, she can’t tell me this directly, so she walked into the laundry room, got her coat, and brought it to me. I said “thank you!” and offered it back to her, but she refused to take it, instead pulling on my pant legs. I explained, “Mommy is baking. If you want to go outside, you have to ask Daddy. Go find Daddy.” The little genius toddled down the hall, coat in hands, looking for Daddy. When she realized he was in the bathroom, she dropped the coat outside the door and started knocking on the door. How could Daddy say no? He bundled her up and took her and the pups out for a walk, then sledding down the hill.

At Grandma and Grandpa's, she did the same thing.
Grabbing a coat and sitting by the door is the universal symbol
for "let's go outside!"

• Lacking a working tub, we take showers with V. Normally one of us gets in the shower with her, and the other parent dries her off afterwards. With Matt gone last week, I got out of the shower all wet and grabbed a towel to wrap my hair before drying off the little girl. I was astonished when I turned around to watch her climb out of the shower all by herself, walk over to her towel, then lay down right in the middle where she could wait for me to dry her off and put a diaper on her. What cooperation! I guess she knows our routine pretty well.

• One of our Water Babies skills we work on is blowing bubbles in the water. V doesn’t understand the concept of “blowing,” but the instructor managed to teach V to at least put her nose and mouth under water. It’s pretty cute, especially when she comes up all proud of herself. She almost reminds me of a little bird fishing for minnows. Still, I was surprised at the weird behavior in my parents’ bath tub last week. Since we were staying there, she got to take real baths in several inches of water. The first night, immediately upon getting in the water, she got on all fours and repeatedly put her face under water. It took Mommy a few seconds to realize she equated the bath tub with the pool, and was simply doing what we had taught her to. I kept saying “good job!” and she was again pretty proud of herself.

A weekend of V's favorite things

Last weekend was jam-packed! We managed to eat out twice, attend a spaghetti dinner benefit, go bowling (V came with us and had a great time playing and watching), shop, go to water babies (swimming lessons) and have a Super Bowl party. Matt also squeezed in a photo exhibit opening on Saturday night.

The weather was gorgeous on Saturday, so in between shopping and the spaghetti dinner, the whole family enjoyed some quality time outside. The twenty minutes I sat on the deck doing absolutely nothing but soak in the sun ... without a jacket (in February) ... was heavenly. When V woke up from her nap, she and I went out to find Matt and the pups. I put her in the sled because it was the easiest way to haul her around the yard. When we found Dad out photographing by our little hill, I decided to try pushing V down the hill in her sled in the last of the melting snow. Wow, that kid isn't scared of anything! I started off slow and small, but within just a few minutes was pushing her harder and farther. She went down with a big smile on her face every time.




The pups stayed busy smelling around for the chipmunks. I love these photos of my Hannah-girl. She may be gray around the eyes, but she doesn't miss a single movement or smell out there, and she could catch a chipmunk, mouse, or bird faster than Piper could.



The outdoor fun was repeated Sunday morning, when Matt took all three girls for a walk on the driveway -- pups running, V bundled in her sled. I imagine she had a smile on her face for the whole walk, and for Daddy pushing her down the hill when they returned. She's too young for hot chocolate after sledding, but I had the graham crackers ready for her when she came in the house.

She and Daddy hung out together in the kitchen while I baked bars for the Super Bowl party. She wanted to ride her four wheeler, but insisted on taking her favorite things with her: a graham cracker, cup of water, and blankie. She sure knows how to travel ...


Matt took a brief video of her all geared up. This is one happy kid ...