Snow Day!

If you ask me, this winter has been GREAT. Sure, we had a week of deep freeze, but you kind of need that or else you'll end up bug-ridden in the summer. More often we've had a lot of 30-something degrees and sunshine, which I much prefer to 40+ and grey, drizzly.

And the snow.

The white powder has come down just a few times, but when it rains it pours drops it creates a shimmery blanket over everything. Enough to close down the school for a day or two.

We totally took advantage, and I'm not sure who was more excited, me or the kids!

We're fortunate to live near a decent sledding hill. It was already a beautiful scene with the sound of kids yelling "weeee!" and then a family of gorgeous red cardinals played around us, making it picture perfect. We returned home to have hot cocoa, of course. Followed by getting all cozy again while reading Keat's The Snowy Day.

I think the Danes have a name for this, it's hygge.

p.s. I've received some questions about the mug. You're right. That's not my family. I purchased this over a decade ago at a Salvation Army in Chicago. Ten cents! I'm pondering now if I should try to find these people...

Things Just Got Real

Real ugly, that is.

Front door and hardware

It's fair to say we have the ugliest house on the block. That's reality. That's how it goes sometimes. I believe, however, that we can do a She's All That with our casa and turn things around. I just need to have more hope, and a vision.

The front door shouldn't be too bad. It needs a new coat of paint and modern hardware.

Side of inner-courtyard

Ugh, the inner-courtyard. I'd love to have a vertical garden here, but these dang shrub roots are in the way. They're almost impossible to pull out. A door-to-door salesman gave me some advice and said to take an ax to them. We'll see when I --oh who am I kidding? It's going to be Tim. We'll see when Tim has the time and energy for that task.

Pathway o' Doom

These pavers are terrible. Not only are they ugly, they're uneven and create stumbling blocks for us. I'll have to call ReStore and see if they'll want them. If they do, next I'll have to figure out a way to cart they away. These things are heavy. For an upgrade, I'm thinking about something like this.

Nautical light post 

OK, the fact that we've lived with this outside our house for over a year is incredible. While anything would be an improvement over that light post, I'm hoping to find something that matches our style. Eventually, all these things will happen.

Out and About

The kiddos in a field of wild chamomile, on the Mississippi.

We've made a resolution to get out there and do more stuff with and without the kiddos. We have a bunch of fun things planned for the summer months and I'm really looking forward to it.

One thing I realized is that mothers need to be very organized and pro-active about planning activities for kids. While I think it's important to have unstructured playtime, there is also a lot of value in taking advantage of educational programs and activities nearby. There were several options available through our local park district, but of course the good and cheap stuff went quickly. Now I know that early May is the time to start signing up for activities. 

The buddy-system is always good for keeping commitments, so I invited my friend Mimi over and we went through our calendars to make play-dates for our kids. Our goal is to enjoy as many activities as possible, for the lowest cost, and to save on transportation by car-pooling. We'd also like to spend more time in the city, Chicago.

A goal that Tim and I share is to do more road-trips. Now I must confess something, we got a minivan. Egads, what has happened to us?! Here's the deal, though. I see it more as a party wagon. -I'm Latino, we travel in packs and this vehicle is fulfilling my destiny, OK? Anyway, we went on a maiden voyage with our new ride (named Donatello because it's green and looks like a ninja turtle) over Memorial weekend and it was glorious.

We went to a town called Nauvoo (IL) on the Mississippi, though we stayed in Keokuk, Iowa. It was perfect for my boy, Leepo. They put on demonstrations of how things were made in the mid-1800s, with the actors dressed in period clothes. We learned how bricks, wagon wheels, ironwork, ropes, bread, clothing, and candles were made. As for souvenirs, we were given our own brick with an impression of the town name, a ring forged from an iron nail, ginger cookies, and Leepo got to keep the rope he made himself.

Let's lasso everything in sight. 

More important, we survived our 4 hour car ride and managed to have a bit of fun during it. This is what helped:

Stay tuned to see what adventures lie ahead!

When a Picnic is No Picnic

Lately we've been going to our beautiful arboretum that is so close to our house. The trip is only 5min, but the packing takes forever. This is what my bag contains, including blanket. What do you carry in yours?

New Traditions

These boots were kinda meant for walkin'.

I admit to feeling a bit goofy when I'm on a hiking trail in my Sunday clothes, especially when I see sweaty athletes in their gear pass me by. And yet, this is going to be a regular occurrence!

Tim and I decided to take walks as a family after church each week. (I don't know how this will work in the dead of winter, but I'm sure we'll come up with something.) It has been SO nice to get out in nature with the kids, enjoy this beautiful earth we've been given, and talk without interruptions. All too often we're distracted at home with phone calls, Facebook status updates, and chores. Getting outdoors does away with such things. The exercise is a nice bonus, too. Before we leave the house, we try to get something cooking in the crock-pot so that when we return we can have something hearty waiting for us. (Coq-au-vin is a favorite here.)

And to think these moments were few and far between when I was a resident. Have you heard of the term 'Golden Weekend'? In the medical world, that means you have Saturday AND Sunday off. Yes, you read that correctly, a Golden Weekend is what nearly everyone else would consider a regular ol' weekend. As a resident, however, it was the thing of folklore and akin to winning the jackpot.

These days I work weekends on-call about once a month. And when I miss out on our Sunday traditions it leaves a space in my heart that I can't wait to fill in. It's the simple things.

Pin It To Win It

Modern, simple bird bath

I'm going to confess something, I love my neighborhood birds. I am especially fond of cardinals. So when I saw this pin, I was inspired. All I did was hot glue a square piece of wood to the top of a wooden dowel and tape to it a little plate that I found at Goodwill. Now perhaps all the water evaporated in the noonday sun, but when I got home and found this bird bath dry, I had visions of birdies basking in modern design and loving it.

This brings me joy.