As I type this, Will has had two cold days, two ice days, and four snow days. We even had a one day week of work in there. I will say that we are always happy to have Will home with us, but on that fourth day in a row of severe winter weather, the natives had grown quite restless. In fact, it almost felt like a hostage situation. Because unlike regular snow days, filled with lots of outside snow play, hot chocolate and shoveling the driveway, these four days were spent hibernating and praying that our power didn't go out, as well as finding ways to keep our chickens and our outdoor cat safe and warm. Needless to say, the cozy aura had worn off and we were ready for a regular routine again - one in which we could safely go outside. I didn't think to screenshot my weather app until the temperatures had started to warm up, but even still it was way too cold when I did screenshot the temps. On the first day of the month long cold snap, we did our winter tradition of filling balloons with water and food dye to create beautiful ice gems on our front porch.
On days that were above 20 degrees, we made sure to get outside. Here are the kids below, skating in their boots on a parking lot by our house that was a complete sheet of ice. We also found a little stream completely iced over that I knew was shallow enough to be safe to skate on without worry.
I do love a good winter hike, as there are no bugs and you can always peel off layers if you get too hot.
For most of the month of January, we had to find ways to entertain ourselves indoors, however. Here we are below with family and friends. In clockwise order from top left: the kids with family friends eating lunch, Grandma T. playing a game with the kids, my friend's 40th birthday party, Lucy and her cousin Ellen deep in conversation, and finally, a pile-up of Aunt Jenna, and cousins Violet and Maryn.
My sister Jane and her boyfriend Isaac were in town from the East Coast this past month, and I'm realizing that I didn't get a single picture of them. I did however get photos of our time with the family when they were here. In clockwise order from top left: cousins Lucy and Maryn in deep conversation, another pile up with this time Aunt Jane, Aunt Cate, and Violet, and finally, portraits done by Isaac of Violet, and then Emma. The likeness of the portraits were striking!
We attended a library event on making pom-poms which the girls enjoyed and was a perfect start to a perfect winter Saturday.
After the library class, we headed to our town's winter festival where we enjoyed our first meal out with Opal as an entire family. Take-out has just been so much easier since Opal was born! So it was a real treat for us to sit in a restaurant, and Opal did a great job. Our plan after lunch was to tour the winter festival, but the wind was so brutally cold that the older three girls and I ended up walking a few blocks to see ice sculptures while Will went with Opal to pick us up in the car. It was still a lovely day out, to break up our hibernation.
We also enjoyed a day at our local science museum, and caught the very last day of a traveling exhibit of Leonardo Da Vinci. We had studied Da Vinci this year in school, so it was so great to see the connections being made and new discoveries about the artist, inventor and scientist as well. One of the things that stood out to the kids was the fact that Da Vinci wrote everything mirror image, so to read his writing, you needed to use a mirror. In the below pictures from top left: so many connections were made at the museum from things we have been studying this year in school - agates, which the girls had just learned about and were excited to pose in front of a giant one, a room of mirrors, Opal riding for the first time in our umbrella stroller (as opposed to the many times she has ridden in the doll umbrella stroller), Emma standing in front of an American bison that she had just learned about in school, and finally, using a mirror to decode some of Da Vinci's writing.
That was the extent of our time out of the house. The rest was spent at home, and for the most part, we enjoyed the arts, crafts and nesting. Below are the girls and I making two varieties of cookies one Friday in January for our poetry tea time later that day that we shared with Aunt Jane and Isaac. The older three sisters took turns pushing Opal in a doll stroller so that each of the three oldest could take turns with me rolling and cutting out cookies.
Below in clockwise order from top left: Will making pom poms with the girls, Violet enjoying mini marshmallows in her hot chocolate, Emma organizing our junk drawer to earn back the TV she had taken away, Lego versions of Aunt Jane and Isaac that the kids made and I thought were pretty spot on, and finally, a selfie that Emma took of her, Violet and Opal.
I taught Emma how to sew this past month and we made pillowcases together. Lucy continued to make her herbal eye masks...
...and we all enjoyed some great watercolor painting.
The girls did yoga, and put on many shows for us in the basement.
My heart could burst with joy and pride when all four girls find a way to play together, and in the below photos, I was privileged to see them all working hard to make Opal laugh with play silks. Opal loved it, and the great big belly laughs and smiles were so rewarding for the big sisters to hear, that they kept on with this game for quite some time.
It has been hard for me to find uninterrupted quiet time these days, and I crave it. I am so much more patient and happier when I can start the day at least an hour before everyone else wakes up. Sometimes Opal has other plans and gets up too early, or was up all night and so I need the extra hour of sleep, but when I can, I love to read or journal or do yoga while the house is quiet. I try to avoid any phone usage or computer work as that doesn't recharge me like a book, pen and paper, or gentle stretching does. One morning Violet found me nestled on the floor in a corner of my room with the bathroom stool as my desk and the window shade up just a crack so as not to wake anyone else up. Without a word, she went and got her own stool and quietly joined me. We sat in silence, each with our own books and I knew that this was a moment I would remember for always.
Here's to peaceful morning starts, warmer temperatures and more moments with my girls that I will remember forever!
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