Winter Wonderland

(There is a front walk in there, somewhere)

It's snowing AGAIN. Lots of it, with more on the way this week and next.  I have to say, this is one of the best (certainly coldest & snowiest) winters, yet.  Michigan is really living up to it's hype this year, and I'm glad we aren't missing it.

Mr F looked out the window and said "When do you think we WON'T have at least 2 feet of snow on the deck?"  Hopefully, NEVER.  Fresh falling snow always seems beautifully awe inspiring... it never gets old.  (maybe it would get old if I had to use a pick ax to hack our way out of our door?...)

I love winter.  The older I am the more comfortable I am with it... fully relishing my true love of a season that says... "Why take off your PJs... unless it's to put on your snow pants and go sledding?!" It's my kind of life (when I don't have to drive in it... which is not my kind of life AT ALL).  It's beautiful and clean outside.  There is no pressure to weed, or maintain anything... to go anywhere... you can sit and read for days on end... mix in some cheeky Flapper era Australian detective series (please, do! You're welcome).... what more could you want?  Big winters make life feel so much more nature focused and that feels fundamentally right.

I just wish we had a fireplace & some cross country skis.

And a dutch door, a Bernese mountain dog, snow shoes, and an old school wooden tobaggan....

For those of you without snow (or just your average Siberian Documentary nerds like myself), you can get in the mood with this awesome documentary: Happy People: A Year in the Taiga

Baby's Birthday ReCap

Baby revealed to me that her dream was to have breakfast in bed.  Having her eat breakfast in bed is not my dream, however.  She makes enough of a mess sitting at the table.  But dreams are dreams and I was determined to make this happen for her... even though it meant having to wake her up extra early to do it.  We settled on a first course of fruit in bed followed by our traditional family Trader Joe's Chocolate Croissant birthday breakfast at the table.

 Breakfast in bed was worth it for this crazy bed head and bewildered face alone.  Awesome.

 She still looks kinda crazy at the table.  We got out the birthday ring and her rose.  I put up the banner and streamers and balloons.  

 Did I mention that I let her take a day off of school and we could have SLEPT IN?!?  

 But traditions run deep and she still wanted to have breakfast with her sister.

 Then I took her to see Frozen for the sing-along version.  

 We had the theater to ourselves and I told her jokingly that it was a private showing.  She took me seriously and I've been going with it ever since. Why take that awesome memory away?! 

Then we met up with my mother for Afternoon Tea. 

 Please... I did not have the heart to discourage her crazy self stylings with the bangs this morning.  

 She mostly just ate the whipped cream off of the desserts.  Needless to say I was off my diet today.

After our outings we came home and I spent 4 hours trying to bring her cake visions to life.

 It was to feature green grass, a sidewalk with paw prints, a cat & a dog on top, 

and Happy Birthday Charlotte written in squiggly letters.  There was some give and take this year... I was able to successfully talk her down from the multi-tiered cake drawn. But I really do try and recreate all of her elements.  It is not easy, my friends, and it sometimes makes me wonder why I ever started this with her!!  But I'm always happy when I'm done and I think I was able to deliver.

People, I do not even play around.   

Then we went out for Korean food for dinner.

 Baby purposely scooped up more on her chopsticks so that you all would be sufficiently impressed with her skills!

Then, much too late, we came home and I unveiled the cake.  

Truth be told I was a little nervous when I presented the cake to her.  

She has been known to be a very exacting critic.  

 She liked it.  

She accepted my changes (playmobil cats & dogs, not the ugly bento picks that she specified)  

 Mission accomplished.

Pretty awesome birthday all around.  

Undercover Birthday Preps...

Baby is 7 tomorrow

I'll let that sink in...

Today

At 6:30AM, negative 15 outside... believe me, I wondered why in the hell I wanted the girls to go back to school.

But, as I predicted, I had a much more productive day.

As lame as it is to discuss, I have found writing out a list of what I need to get done in the optimal order I need to do it, allows me to kick things out like a freaking machine.  I don't know what is going on with me... I'm turning into an old woman.  (also, I participated in this brain storming workshop about goal setting and such and it kind of rocked my world and jump started all of this positive change... maybe I'll discuss this in the future... it was extremely easy to do)

Pics from the day:

Baby drew a Picasso inspired piece during her morning free time.  It kind of blew me away.  She was looking at a poster of this:  

and then promptly drew this:

Unfortunately, she also has ADD and as her teacher told me today... 

"She has a hard time staying on task and finishing her work... unless it's her artwork."  Uh... sounds like someone else I know.  All I can say is, thank god my house is equally divided OCD & ADD... it kind of keeps things balanced... ish.

(Did you know there is a correlation between ADD and creative talent?  The brain is an interesting organ.)

Kid got her basketball uniform.  Mr F is extremely stoked that she is #34.  

I guess the athletic director had trouble sizing her because her legs are abnormally long for her height & the shorts have to be a certain length.  I don't know how I produced such a giant.  It amazes me.

I really wish you could meet her.  She's just a 100% awesome human being.  

(I also wish I had known about the uniform arm hole issue before I bought sports bras...)

Also,  and maybe most importantly... I am on my way to salt & pepper, baby!  It is really hard to capture gray hair in a photo... it is much more prominent in real life. I cannot tell you how happy I am about that awesome stripe!  I had a hair stylist who would normally want to dye gray but even she couldn't deny how awesome it was that it grows in a big stripe.
Of course, it now grows everywhere... but the stripe still equals badass.

Is it weird to dream of salt & pepper hair?  Or, just super fortuitous... because it is happening, people.  Ultimately, I'm really looking forward to kicking it pure snowy white style!
I'm coming for you old lady hair.  

Mind Games

I love having my kids home.  I'd keep them home every single day if it was up to me.  But this constant state of uncertainty about whether they'll have school or not, I can do without.  It is wearing very thin.  I'd much prefer they just called the whole week off, so you could make some kind of plan for your life... than going to bed not knowing what is in store for tomorrow. I just feel foggy... it's like Groundhog's Day.  The same amount of time off as an intentional vacation just feels completely different.  I feel like I remember feeling on a day home sick from school...  confined to my room, watching old reruns of Laverne & Shirley on a small black & white TV... wishing I could enjoy the luxury of my day off but just feeling bored and antsy.  It's too cold to even play out in the snow. We've literally been housebound for DAYS on end.

If anything could mess with my mojo it's this... it is not having control over the course of my day.  I've been very aware of how important it is that I have a consistent routine... makes all the difference in terms of my eating and whether or not I feel I can fit a workout in.  But despite all of that, I did my 25th consecutive workout.  80 mins (I definitely had the time...).  I haven't gone off course diet wise either.  Not once.  I don't even feel an urge to. (although it is very clear that on chaotic days, I make more impulsive food decisions and waste calories that I just wouldn't use that way on a routine day... which may explain the weight gain over the last 3 years of completely chaotic days).  I don't really know why I can finally do it, or more importantly why I wasn't ready to before this (I clearly wasn't) .... but I'm doing it and it isn't even hard.  I'm not even doing anything new.  I'm literally doing the exact same thing that worked for me the first time.  Who'd a thunk it?  I'll never know why I needed to resist this for 3 straight years... I mean, keeping a food journal just really isn't that big of an ordeal.  But I'm happy I'm over it.  Whatever it was.

Life's Great Mysteries

"What am I going to be when I grow up?"  Baby asks during dinner.

"What do you mean?"  I inquire.

"I mean, am I going to be a giant, a dwarf, or normal?"  Baby clarifies, somewhat gravely.