February Blues

 

I start thinking about February in December.

 

In our area we have a lot of ice storms in January and February and it's not unusual to be unable to get out of the driveway for several days at a time. We do go out to play if we can, but the boys are small enough that they don't last long in the cold. We end up with all kinds of pent up energy and no where to spend it- we can't even go to a store or something to walk it off!

 

Add to that the Mama blues February brings- not as much light, chilly mornings and evenings (the ones that make you want to sit cuddled up on the couch and not move from there all day long!), and the same-ness of each day- and it's not a pretty picture by February 1st.

 

I've been thinking about this for awhile now, to be prepared for this February with my boys one year older and more active. I think for us it comes down to shaking things up on the day-to-day activities and spending the quiet time dreaming ahead to March.

 

For us beating the February blues will include:

 

:: Pushing the furniture back and riding bikes and trikes in the living room.

 

:: Lots of food making- juice popsicles, homemade marshmallows, hot chocolate, homemade pizza and food of the "treat" variety.

 

:: Pajama days. Maybe more than a few. Probably in conjunction with fort building.

 

:: Guilt-free knitting time for Mama. There is a lot of calm built into each little stitch.

 

:: Refresh our morning music. We've been in the habit of turning music on as soon as we come downstairs each morning and leaving it on through lunch. Sometimes it's K-love, sometimes classical, sometimes individual artists (Steven Curtis Chapman is a favorite here). Lately our morning music has been mostly demo tracks for my work, but I'm thinking February is going to call for Vivaldi- Spring perhaps?

 

:: Spring-time sewing, just a little on the early side.

 

:: Dollar toys and activities. I pick up small things for the boys here and there as we do our usual shopping (I *heart* the dollar spot at Target!) and collect them in a basket in my closet for a little surprise once in awhile. I'm planning to bring out a few of these things when we hit that third or fourth day in a row stuck inside due to ice.

 

How do you beat the February blues?

 

 

My Father's Dragon

Ender and I read My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett last summer and enjoyed it quite a lot. When a friend told us there were 2 more books in the series they jumped into my next amazon order! We finished them last week and as we read the last words Ender sat there for a moment then said, "That's the last one?"

"Yes, son."

"Can we ask her (the author) to write some more?"

There has been an awful lot of dragon pretending around here, and the packing of backpacks "like Elmer does in the book, Mom!" Ezra is even in on the act as the "very baby baby dragon" (since Ender is the actual baby dragon, you know) and asks us all the time to ask him if he's "a nice dragon or a scary dragon" so he can roar appropriately.

That led to a dragon book search and on to reading Day of the Dragon-King by Mary Pope Osborne (which I happened to have picked up from a garage sale last summer!). I was informed this evening that it's a good book, but "not as good as the other dragon books."

Books about China also came up in the library searches and it turns out that Ender *loves* the DK book about China. This is our first time reading about a different country beyond the setting in a fiction book, and I'm a little surprised at how much interest Ender has shown. I really thought he'd only be interested in the little bits about Chinese New Year and the dragon lore,  but he keeps pulling that book out and asking about different spreads in the book.

I'm just along for the ride on this one . . .

Seven Quick Takes

Go visit Jen for more quick takes.

 

~1~

Chuck is back! Superman and I both love this show. It's a spy show that doesn't take itself too seriously, and the new twist for this season is going to be really exciting to watch unfold. I don't think Superman has ever looked forward to the new season of a television show this much!

~2~

I'm officially promising knitting pictures to be posted next week. Bug me about it, okay? I finished two projects this week and I'm going to be blocking one over the weekend, I'm just really being terrible about posting crafty pictures lately for some reason.

~3~

I got my hands on a copy of Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac that I've been told countless times is a classic volume that every knitter should own. The writing is just cracking me up! The humor is just my taste.

Yes, I'm reading it straight through as a book first. I'll get around to knitting from it soon. :)

~4~

Superman started back to school for  his last semester on Monday. That means no one has seen him since last weekend. He's been home pretty much just to sleep, then turn around and do it all again the next day. And on top of his  intense school schedule- changes were announced at his job that drastically affect his particular position, so he is job hunting too. He still has a job for now(thank goodness!) but needs to find other employment sooner rather than later.

~5~

One of my big habit changes last year was to stop drinking soda for the most part. My body doesn't deal well with sugar so I just feel better and sleep better without it. I don't struggle with sugary foods necessarily, but soda (Dr. Pepper!!!) is my downfall. I was doing really well through most of the year with occasional lapses, but since January 1 my body is approximately 80% Dr. Pepper, 10% apple pie filling. Why do you think I'm up this late writing and posting quick takes???

What I want to know is how I did so well for such a long period of time and suddenly I'm off the wagon. Apparently somewhere in the back of my head I took that "1 year commitment" thing REALLY literally and January 1 I busted out of that restriction full force.

Back to work on that one.

~6~

Ezra had the brilliant idea yesterday that he could have chocolate for breakfast. He absolutely refused to eat breakfast, instead hollering for chocolate again and again. (Oh, you are your mother's son, child!) I gave him a final "little boys that don't eat meals certainly don't get treats" thing and he settled down. After a bit he looked up at me under those long eyelashes with big blue eyes and said, "chocolate . . . Ezra happy!" then grinned the biggest grin trying to win me over. He seriously believes that being cute wins over everything else and the fact that he already knows this at 2-years-old totally scares me . . . and cracks me up at the same time.

Watch out, girls. He's a sweet talker!

~7~

I'm starting my "Toss 15" project tomorrow. The plan is to spend 30 days cleaning up around here with the goal of getting 15 items a day out of the house, whether that means into the trash, into the donation box, or out to storage. The only things I allow to go to storage are things that we are keeping for potential future kids (like outgrown clothes and toys). A few things will go to a friend or family member who might need it, but much goes to Goodwill. Maybe I'm the only person in the world that does her spring cleaning in January/February, but I figure that since I 'm stuck inside for most of those months I might as well take advantage since my spring months are wild. Plus I'd rather be outside during that time anyway!

On My Congested Mind

:: A Jayne hat pattern. *LOVE* Firefly  .  .  .  and Adam Baldwin

:: S.T.O.P.ping during the day.

:: the ravelympics. (ravelry link)

:: Dr. Beechick, Montessori, and Reggio Emilia. The more I read the more I realize that I'm not a purist on *anything*.

:: My winter reading list: Simplicity Parenting, learning more about science, and more historical fiction.

Taking a Sick Day

We are all down with some kind of congestion mess. No fevers or really crazy symptoms, just heads full of gunk and headaches to match. I was actually first with it this time around and despite our best efforts to keep everyone else healthy we're all down with it now. The boys seem to be managing much better than Superman and me!

See you again soon.