Hibernating in January

It is a lot harder for me to find reasons to love winter than any other season.  Oh how I long for the days when shoes are optional and being outside all day is my standard mode of operation.  Until then, I am trying to find reasons to appreciate where the calendar is now.  Now as in closing the chapter on the snowiest January of all time in Michigan, with record breaking cold temperatures and germs flying around as much as the snow flakes.  

There is something to be said for being cozy and warm inside your house with the ones you love, grateful for the tea pot whistling on the stove, a fridge stocked with enough food to get us through the next decent weather day and enough books, DVDs, games and crafts to keep us from getting on each others nerves too much.  All of Will's snow/cold weather days off from school have also definitely helped keep the warm glow of the season as well.  I think he has had a total of seven days off this past month, which is a record in itself.

Below is an account of what we did to keep from going crazy on the days the windchill was -30 or we were getting another 6-12 inches of snow.  At the beginning of this month, the diversion came literally, right to our doorstep.  I was making breakfast in the kitchen on a Saturday morning when I saw a ball of fire go through the electrical line into my next door neighbors house.  I frantically called him on the phone just as he was sticking his head out the window, frantically waving his arms at me.  Apparently he had just seen a similar ball of fire go through the lines into our house.  Upon further investigation, we discovered a car had hit the electrical pole between our houses.  Fortunately, the driver was okay, and so were our houses.  Our mailboxes were flattened but we never lost power and were rewarded with an entire day of entertainment outside our front window as we watched the various workers fix the damage.  It was about eight hours total, from the time the tow truck towed away the damaged vehicle, the tree trimming truck came to cut the branches off of the fallen lines, Miss Dig flagged the ground, a new pole was dropped off, and finally the new pole was installed.  We saw the workers have a snow ball fight in the air while they were up in their cherry picking baskets waiting for the next truck to come, as well as heard one of the workers yell "I'm the king of the world!" while he was up in the sky trimming branches.  We are guessing they knew we were a captive audience and had a little fun with us.

This past month presented lots of different opportunities to view the outside world through our windows and to build make believe ones inside where it was warm.  The pictures below show the girls watching a "pesky" squirrel outside our dining room window, building forts and constructing train tracks.

We also decorated the house with paper snowflakes, Valentine's Day Hearts, creative kid-inspired artwork and the girls each made their own mini pumpkin pie.

For Christmas, Will's parents gave the girls a subscription to Kiwi Crate, a monthly arts and crafts subscription.  The first one arrived on a snow day, which led to a fun, unhurried morning of making winter themed window clings and a Velcro "Polar Bear" snow ball game, perfect for an active yet indoor game.

Speaking of active - it has been a challenge getting the girls' need for dispensing energy met.  Some days they just run from the kitchen to the living room and back over and over again until one of them gets hurt.  Our house is not big, and on days like this we really notice it.  We have had dance parties, yoga, and even music practice.  My brother Joe gave us his trombone, and although none of us have ever played one before, it has provided a lot of great entertainment.  Joe even gave us our first lesson via texting while he was at work.  He lives in Florida so apparently does not get days off because of snow like we do.  It's all trade offs I suppose.

It may sound far-fetched when I say that our weekly Story Times at the library have been the one link to the real world that has kept us from going into a snow-blind, isolated craze.  We have had so many canceling and rescheduling of play dates and other outings this past month because of sickness or weather that at times it felt like we were the only people living on this planet and our need for social interaction would never be met.  Our library has definitely gone over and above this winter.  Not only are the girls registered in a free kids yoga class several times a month at the library, but they are also a part of a weekly Science Explorer group.  The activities that they do each Monday in their science class are easily replicated at home, and keep the girls interested for hours and hours all week long.  Here they are below at Story Time making volcanoes with baking soda mountains and colored vinegar.

And here they are below, doing the volcano "experiment" at home.

They missed the week that the class played with "Slimy Goo" because Emma was sick, but the librarian emailed me the recipe, and we enjoyed it at home all week long.

I can't even begin to tell you how much of a positive impact this has made on an otherwise trying time, being home bound for weeks on end due to sickness or weather.  The below picture is an example of what we would be doing all day long without the library's influence.

We did make it to one play date this past month and had a lovely time.  We almost had to turn around because the roads were so icy that at one point I didn't know if my car was going to make it up a hill.  I was more than half way there though, and decided better keep going and hopefully by the time we left for home later the roads will have thawed out a bit more.  I was so glad we made it to their house - it was a glorious morning, being in my friend's light-filled home with the kids running around happy and free as I got to visit with another adult.  My kids were as good as gold and I think were just delighted to have someone else to play with besides each other.  At one point Lucy came over to tell me that she was out of breath and hot.  This doesn't happen stuck inside at our house with nothing but a sister to play or fight with.  My friend even indulged me with her signature tea which includes fresh ginger and cardamon and I served up my Great Grandma's banana cake that I had brought.

Half of us made it to another social outing, but unfortunately, half of us did not.  Will's brother got the girls tickets to see Sesame Street Live for Christmas and around 4:30 the morning of the show, Emma woke up with the stomach flu.  Fortunately, friends of ours were able to take our extra two tickets and Lucy, Will and her friend and her dad had a Double Daddy Daughter Date together.  Emma was devastated that she couldn't go, so I tried to make it up to her by letting her snuggle all morning under an Elmo blanket (which she now refers to as the "Barf Blanket") while watching Elmo DVD's and sipping fluids from an Elmo sippy cup.

Lucy had a great time at Sesame Street Live, and so did Will for that matter.  This same duo that accompanied Lucy and Will to the Elmo show saved the day a week later when my car wouldn't start after the girls' dance class.  Not only did our friend push the car - with me sitting in it! - he also figured out what was wrong with it after the jumper cables wouldn't work.  He ended up using a blue wooden toy cup from his mini van to knock on something under the hood that did the trick and the car started.  He is officially our hero, cheerfully saving the day in temps below zero.  And, not only did he save me a tow truck fee, but whatever he did also unstuck the CD that has been jammed in the CD player for at least two years after Lucy stuck a penny in it.  Unfortunately, Lucy stuck the CD back in before the penny was taken out so it is stuck again, but it's good to know that if need be, we can call upon our friend and maybe he can magically make the CD pop out again.  We will try and wait until it is above freezing so as not to take advantage though.

This freezing cold has not only been hard on my car, but all the creatures that I love outside too.  Our bees, chickens and cat have definitely not had an easy time of it.  I am fairly certain the bees have not made it this far into the winter, as I have seen absolutely no signs of life from our three hives since late December.  This is the second winter we've had our chickens, and the first time they have refused to come out of their coop.  Last winter they came out no matter the weather and if there was a ton of snow, would hang out under the coop.  This year, the temperatures have been so cold that they have gone for several days in a row without leaving their little house.  The drawback to this is that they get bored in there and start eating the eggs that have been laid that day.  This forces me to have to go out there more than once to collect what I can before the eggs catch their attention.  On the coldest of days, our time is structured by egg collecting and rotating out frozen waters with fresh for both our chickens and our cat.

Our cat doesn't seem to mind the cold.  I don't know if it is because he is still a kitten and full of young energy, or if because he was born in the fall he doesn't know that the world isn't always brutally cold.  We lock him in the garage where his insulated cat house is when the temps are too low, and when he is allowed outside again he acts like a kid in a candy shop.  On the super cold days when the kids can't go out to play, Charlie is brought in for short visits to get love and cuddles but isn't allowed to go past the back stairs on account of my allergies.  It seems to be enough to get us all through the coldest of days.

 

Despite the cold, we have found pockets of time where the temperatures were more suitable for outdoor play.  Here are the girls below playing in their snow fort and Lucy, posing in front of the snow couple that she built with Will.  That dark spot behind the snow couple is Charlie.  One of his favorite things to do is hide from Lucy, and then jump out and scare her before gleefully running away.  Minutes later he will sneak back to a hiding spot near where Lucy is playing, crouch down next to an unsuspecting Lucy with his tail waving slowly back and forth while he waits for it… waits for it… and then pounces on Lucy again.  She is always surprised, and the fun never seems to fade for him.

Let's hope it gets warmer in February as I'm afraid I might not be as upbeat about our time spent trying to enjoy winter.  Either way, February has been a hard month for us since we lost Luke and I'm anticipating this sixth February without our little guy as being no different.  Some better weather sure would help though, as we prepare to remember Luke on his sixth birthday.  I've met my yearly allotment of hot tea and hibernation and am ready for the first signs of spring.