A peak at spring

Things started melting very quickly last weekend and into the beginning of this week. We had a few days that were close to 50 degrees! We tried to get out and enjoy it as much as possible. The weather was a little tricky for how to dress though - I'm sure the kids were warm in the snowsuits but I knew they were going to end up soaked from all the melting snow and that was the most water resistant clothing they had!

Alex's felt doll

Short hair and pants are a little trickier to make. We recently got some more natural colors of roving so we will be working on some more soon. And at the yarn shop Alex saw some felted eggs and wants to try those too - we'll probably save that for one of our Spring Equinox/Ostara celebration.

Felted dolls

I'm trying my hand at felting. We made a couple little felted dolls so far. This is the first one, Maya's. I have to upload the pictures of Alex's yet, he was carrying his around for a while so I had to track it down.

Imbolc...Candlemas....Groundhog Day

We had some friends over to dream about spring and make candles. Alex's are the light orange and blue ones on the holder and then we made the maroon ones and the jar candle. It was our first try with candles, I think I need to get different wicks next time.

Superbowl party

Crazy kids, good food...oh and I think there was football on! Thanks guys!

The birds ate one treat....

And then the cold returned...

Rocky, rocky...

My mom brought over the wooden cradle that my grandma had given me when I was two. With a variety of dolls that were mine when I was little. Maya really loves it. Although she rocks those babies a little vigorously! Happily saying "Rocky, rocky!" the whole time.
Mom updated things a bit for Maya with a new mattress and pillow cover and a new fuzzy quilt!

Quick - go outside!

We had a break in the really cold weather last week, and even got to see the sun a bit so the kids and I tried to get outside while we could.
Our play space is limited due to the sheer amount of snow we have on the ground. The kids, even Alex, can't walk in the yard at all themselves without snowshoes or a path broken for the.
We hung some treats for the birds in a tree. Alex made them with Miss Kelly (Way to Grow) earlier in the week.

New kitchen, random cuteness...

Maya loves getting "dressed" and is always stealing Alex's clothes to put them on.

Pig tails and running

Sigh....Maya seems so grown up practically overnight.  Once she learned to walk it just seems to have changed her so much.  Now she isn't just walking, she has a little jog.

And her hair has grown enough, just enough to have little pig tails.

The SUN!

Yesterday we had a gorgeous sunny day! They seem to have been in short supply so far this winter.
It was Maya's first time walking on her own outside! She was very excited about all that freedom and open space to explore.

Happy New Year??

I have no New Year's Eve pictures. We spent our New Year's Eve doing laundry and cleaning up vomit. Woohoo. Poor Alex got sick right around supper time and threw up constantly until midnight. He was so wiped out New Year's Day, I think he got off the couch once.
Our other New Year present came on friday the 2nd in the form of a $562 car repair bill.
Happy New Year.

On a high note....Alex is feeling much better as of yesterday. Still not eating a lot but back to his normal busy self.

Homeward

We left for home early in the morning on the 30th. We had a great drive. Clear roads all the way home and the best traveling children ever. They really amaze me on these long trips. Maya threw up a little in the car right as we were getting into Traverse City but didn't seem sick at all so we kind of dismissed it as carsick.

Lambeau Field

While we were still in Green Bay Ben took Alex on the Packer Stadium tour and to the Hall of Fame. Alex had been on the stadium tour the week before with Matt and Amy and was very excited to show daddy some of the highlights. But the real highlight turned out to be the Hall of Fame. Since the last time any of us had been there they added a whole section for kids. Alex had a blast (I'm pretty sure Ben did too!) and came home with a whole bag of Packer goodies that various stadium employees gave him.