I feel it – spring is coming, it’s right around the corner! We are making it through the dark and cozy months and headed into the sunnier, light filled springtime (at least here in the northern hemisphere). We still have bits of ice and snow on the ground, the air is still chilly and we need coats and gloves most days, but warmer days are coming. I love winter, but I love spring as well. The waking up of the earth after a long sleep, the return of the migrating birds, insects and gardens and longer days filled with light, all fill me with joy.

We start the month with an important celebration, Wyatt’s birthday on the 2nd. He was due to be a mid-April birthday baby but he had other plans and came earlier than expected. But that is typical Wyatt; he is always doing the unexpected, zigging when we think he will zag, from even before he was earthside. The doctor who delivered him told us that Wyatt was always going to keep us on our toes and do the opposite of what we thought, and he was right on. I guess after you deliver a few thousand babies you get a feel for what they might be like. His doctor was an old Italian doctor, from Italy, trained in Italy, and we loved him despite everyone telling us that he could be blunt and abrupt. Apparently that is our style, because we adored him. I think March being Wyatt’s birth month has inspired me to love the month more, because before I was not much a fan. Will it be cold? Warm? In Michigan, who knows? We could be at 50 degrees in the morning and have a snowstorm before bed. The year Wyatt was born was one of the coldest on record. I actually had to spend four weeks in the hospital before Wyatt was born, and I remember ice forming on the windowsills INSIDE my room. The nurses would bring me warm blankets from the warmer at night and it was very cozy, despite knowing it was absolutely Arctic outside.

We started a few seeds over the weekend – sunflowers and Ukranian beets. The plan is to start a bunch more over the next few weeks to get ready to plant in April. Cold weather crops, like radishes. I love radishes. I know they are not everyone’s favorite but on bread with some butter – delicious. I am getting excited to start digging in the dirt again!

Wyatt gets his new walker next week and with that, we hope to get outside to use it on some fun walks. I need new sneakers though! I rarely buy myself clothing, I usually buy things like books and er..reptiles and amphibians, before I buy clothes, but this year I need them. Mine were rough last year, and I tossed them the other day to force myself to get new ones. I have worn low top black Converse since I was in high school; is it time to try something different? I feel like we all need to spruce up our wardrobes in this house a bit! I might need some overalls for gardening, but I guess I could add in some more fun things as well because the world is opening back up again, at least for now for us. We will continue to mask up because of Wyatt, but we need to get this kid back into the world a bit! See some new faces and places and all that.

Speaking of getting out more – I mentioned before that my brother and I were looking for a place up north to take our families together. Well friends, we found the unicorn we were hoping for! Big enough for the group of us (our two families, plus two grandmas), a large outside area with a deck overlooking the water and a fire pit, a private small beach area for the kids, air conditioning, and fifteen minutes outside Traverse City. Billy and I and Wyatt stayed outside Traverse City last year and it was a great area to be in with so many options for different things to see and do. We are looking forward to this summer kickoff trip with family.

We have lots of good things in the works and I am excited to share them with you all along the way!

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

The preparations for Wyatt’s birthday are in full swing! This year is another low key birthday without a big party but we are still trying to make things fun and special. We hope to go to the zoo on Saturday, and I am making his favorite, strawberry cake for Wednesday, his actual birthday. And the first of his birthday gifts has arrived! I will share more on it in a birthday post later but let me tell you, we are all enchanted.

I also picked up this “Mystery mystery bag” from the library! Our library is doing a monthly book swag bag event which is really neat! February was all about mysteries. This is what was in my book swag bag! This book sounds exactly me too. According to the blurb on Goodreads, this series is perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Midsomer Murders, and all those British cozies. I can’t wait to start reading, eat my shortbread, and drink my hot chocolate! March’s bag is set to be fantasy themed, and I am looking forward to it already.

Read Last Week:

Sadly, I could not focus on reading at all last week. My thoughts were busy and when my thoughts are busy, so is my body. I did make a pretty good start on Within These Wicked Walls and I do hope to finish it in the next week or so.

Wyatt and I did read quite a bit of our read aloud though, Appleblossom the Possum. This book is super cute!

Reading This Week:

I was so excited when the new Rockton came in for me at the library! And of course, Now You See Them. Since this week is crazy (Wyatt has his 24 hour EEG in addition to his birthday this week), I may drop kiddo off at my mom’s Thursday, and give myself a little break!

Posted Last Week:

My Thoughts on How to be a Good Creature by Sy Montgomery

What’s Been Going on Around Here

Just Some Saturday Morning Thoughts

Watching/Listening:

Billy and I finished up The Loch, All Creatures Great and Small, and Around the World in 80 Days. For being a slow start for me, I was sad when 80 Days was over! We also watched the Christmas episode of All Creatures and I cried my eyeballs out at how much I loved it. The Loch was also good – I was surprised by the ending! It was such a good crime thriller, and so many secrets fell out of this little town during this murder investigation. A little grisly, but gripping.

We also watched Kim’s Convenience, which we are loving, and then on a day when Billy had to work a million hours (it’s been a rough week of work for him) I watched almost all of the newest season of Sweet Magnolias once Wyatt fell asleep.

Our wake-up songs! Space Oddity by David Bowie, Top of the World by The Carpenters, Isn’t She Lovely by Stevie Wonder, My Girl by The Temptations – and I am forgetting one!

And that is it from our little home in the Mitten. Stay safe!

It’s been a week of heaviness for most of us probably. The actions at play on the world stage right now are concerning, heartbreaking, scary. I have spent a lot of the week watching, listening, quiet. Thinking.

I read something this morning on an Instagram account I follow and this woman’s words rang so true. She said “I am so thankful to have lived through a period of relative peace and prosperity, things have not been easy but as a child I never had to go through the trauma of wars and pandemics. The crises remained far away. Our children are having to brave storms that I was never prepared to help them through.” And dang if she didn’t hit the nail right on the head for me. My childhood, despite any hardships I had to live through, was breezy compared to the ones my child, my nieces, my friends’ children, children all over the world, are having to learn to live with and go through. Right now, there is not much we can do other than bear witness. To the tragedy and the strength. My goodness, that story of the woman who told the soldier in front of her to put sunflower seeds in his pocket so that when he dies on Ukrainian soil, flowers will grow. What power, and poetry, honestly. The bravery. Then I saw this image of female Ukranian soliders marching into the fray, sunflowers in their hair.

In this short time frame we have all heard so many stories of atrocities and strength, and have seen the difference between people thinking they are strong and mighty and the people who truly are.

I am going to plant sunflowers, now, today. Start the seeds with Wyatt and hope that by the time they have grown straight and tall and strong there has been resolution. Continue teaching Wyatt to be a good citizen of the world, to think of others, be kind. To love our neighbors. It’s not much, but its all I can do right now, other than watch along with the rest of the world.

I did find this list online of ways people can help. (I have not researched these organizations or verified them, so if you choose to donate, etc read about the organization first. Also, please note that this article may be triggering for those who are sensitive to this topic. I am also not super familiar with the publishing organization and may not hold some of the same beliefs as they do. I chose this link for the ideas listed in this particular article, although I do plan to explore the Global Citizen website further.)

We have been feeling too contained lately, needing to get out and do something! So this weekend, we did!

Saturday, despite some pretty low temperatures, we went for a sled ride through the woods.

It was a beautiful winter day, with the sun shining on the glittering snow, although it was a bit bone chilling cold too. We ambled around for a bit, just enjoying the sun on our faces, and found a teeny hill. Wyatt has never actually sled down a hill before. He has a VP shunt behind his ear, and combined with his motor planning issues, we have always been too nervous to try it. But this hill was tiny, and there was no one else around, so we thought, let’s do it.

And were rewarded with the biggest, happiest smile.

However, that smile slipped a bit a few minutes later.

Once his mittens got snowy, he wore Billy’s. When Billy’s got too snowy, he put on mine. When mine got too snowy, we were out of dry warm gloves and decided that was our cue to go home. We were all ready for hot chocolate anyway.

Sunday we had warmer adventures. A visit to the bookstore! Wyatt has been working on some goals that he met and his reward was to go to the bookstore and pick out a book. He has not been in a store since the beginning of the pandemic so this was a big deal for all of us!

This is not his new walker; this is his walker we are borrowing from his therapy center. It works for him but not super well since it slips backward which is not great. And now that I am writing this, I realize that his new one should be in this week! Anyway, after taking a little walk down the aisle of books, we spotted this display of Pete the Cat and that was it. His favorite, right there. He picked one that he doesn’t own and I somehow managed to leave the bookstore without a book for myself. It was hard but I did it. I also signed him up for the Kids Club since we were there; I guess he gets a treat from the cafe on his birthday, which is Wednesday so he gets to use it right away!

He looks so cute and happy. I mean you can barely see his face between the mask and his bangs, but he is thrilled. He was so excited to get in there and walk around and pick a book. My kid is easy to please.

It was another weekend of small, simple joys. My favorite kind.

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

It was a week! Lol. That is about all I can say. Just a basic little week around here, with some good moments as well. Valentine’s Day, pulling Wyatt on a sled through the woods, planning his birthday (he will be 7 in two weeks! How is that possible!), his wheelchair evaluation and ordering, and a trip to the book store too. I have also been thinking about next year and our plans for school; we had a discussion about possibly sending him back but he is doing well here, and after his visit to his PMR doctor we decided to keep on homeschooling. She thinks and agrees he is thriving in the homeschool environment, and she supports us. We also talked about how it keeps his schedule flexible for appointments and therapies, which are also a huge part of our week. I am hoping that next year we will have more opportunities to socialize with other children and I will be looking into that as well. Having made the decision to keep on homeschooling, I started researching curriculum. I think I am going to change things up next year, and pick bits and pieces from different curriculum out there, and even write my own for literary arts next year. I want it to be literature based (obvioulsy) but includes lots of art and music and take us down lots of side trails, which you know we love. So, I guess it was a basic week but one with lots of big decisions being made as well!

Read Last Week:

I didn’t get as much time to read last week but when I did get the chance I really enjoyed this cozy by Mia Manansala! I am not quite finished yet but I will be soon.

Reading This Week:

I have a few contenders! I am not sure which will pique my interest the most so we will just have to see. These are the four staring at me from my shelf..

Any thoughts on these?

Posted Last Week:

Glimpses of Life Around Here

Valentine’s Day

Watching and Listening:

All Creatures Great and Small and Around the World in 80 Days. We finished up Mr. and Mrs. Murder, and moved on to Agatha Raisin’s newest season, and we are giving Loch Ness a try too.

Saturday movie night and another Studio Ghibli! This week we watched When Marnie was There, and this one is my favorite so far! I saw in the credits that it is based on a book, so I will see if I can get the book too. In other Studio Ghibli news I saw that a Studio Ghibli theme park is opening in Japan! How cool would that be to visit? It is going to be very influenced by the nature and pastoral scenes from the movies, with more emphasis on natural spaces and trails – sounds perfect to me!

And our wake up songs! This week we listened to Start Me Up by the Rolling Stones, Sunshine on my Shoulders by John Denver, Fire and Rain by James Taylor, Kitty by The President of the United States, and Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana.

And that is it from around here! What is going on in your neighborhood?

Life has been pretty slow around here lately. We’ve been laying low, and hanging out at the house quite a bit. Billy had a crazy dentist appointment where we learned he needs quite a few things done, including a bone graft from a tooth infection, which prompted the visit in the first place. We have had various family members sick, both from Covid and regular illness, and frankly, the weather has been a pain. We love taking Wyatt out but not when it gets to single digits or even the teens. So, with all these things factored in, we have been just chilling out.

We obviously had quite a library haul the other day. And about 7 new holds came in for Wyatt this week, so tonight I will pick up more and return a few of these. I utilize the library so much – it really does enable us to read so much more. One of Wyatt’s favorite things is reading, much like I loved books and reading at his age, so we fill the house with books. Almost literally.

Tooth number three has left the building. In quite a big showy way. While removing Wyatt’s shirt the other day, his tooth got snagged somehow and came out with a low popping noise. And blood. I am pretty sure I am almost passed out from the trauma. Wyatt, however, was fine. It was loose to begin with but still! We couldn’t find the tooth either! We ended up having the “tooth fairy” deliver his present to the den where the tooth was lost, and we told him that she had special powers to find it. So out of three lost teeth, the first was swallowed, the second was a typical experience, and the third put on a show. The one next to it is loose and wiggly so we will see what number four does!

We have also been planning the garden! I don’t really need to order many seeds this year, but we had fun flipping through and looking for some unique and fun things to plant together. Wyatt was adamant about planting pumpkins this year again, and circled almost every variety. Also lots of kale and spinach although I doubt he really actually wants that. I want to plant a few more apple trees in our yard this year, and I would love a small pond/water feature! Maybe it will attract ducks and toads. I would love some ducks. We are not allowed to “keep” them in our city but if they just happened to hang out here sometimes that would make me happy.

I also was able to have my mom over for dinner the other night, and I was so proud of her for holding Luna. She was a champ! Don’t you think my mom needs one of her own?

I feel a restlessness these days, knowing spring is around the corner. I need to get out and see some new things all. I guess I have cabin fever!! We are going to get out this weekend – I just have to figure out what it is we are going to do!

We had a pretty simple little Valentine’s Day this year, but it was a good one. It started out with strawberry Pop-Tarts, which I never buy, but I think I enjoyed mine more than Wyatt enjoyed his. In fact, I know I did since he took a few bites then asked me for toast instead.

After finishing our work for the morning, I set up our little hot chocolate party, and it was time for Wyatt to open his Valentine’s. We are part of an online cohort group for Blossom and Root, the curriculum we are using, and another mother organized a Valentine’s swap for any interested families. She divided us into “classes” of 25 and sent us our class lists and addresses. Wyatt and I looked online at different Valentine’s to make for inspiration and Wyatt found these that he liked. It ended up being an entire family craft project – the three of us spent a snowy Sunday morning creating them. I think they turned out super cute!!

We have been collecting Wyatt’s for two weeks now as they arrive and putting them in his Valentine’s Day mailbox – anyone who went to elementary school in the 80s probably made one similar.

As the envelope of Valentine’s grew fatter, Wyatt grew more excited to open them. Finally it was time for our little cocoa party for two. We had strawberry muffins to accompany our cocoa, although I had forgotten whipped cream! Billy makes super fancy cocoa; I am not that skilled and made it from a pouch, which we both still enjoyed minus the fancy.

After our cocoa party, Wyatt had a special delivery (from Amazon lol). My dad had ordered him a sled but due to all the snow it was delayed. Well, it arrived just in time for Valentine’s day! We are supposed to get another big snow tomorrow so looks like we will be putting it to good use very soon.

He had a good time sitting in it however, and scooting it around the house – and getting me to pull him around the house as well. The box it came in also provided some fun.

Next year I am hoping we can have a party with all of his cousins – all five girls.

Billy and I decided to skip Valentine’s this year for each other; instead this year was just about kiddo. We had grilled cheese sandwiches cut into hearts and french fries for dinner, followed by ice cream all accompanied by strawberry soda, another thing Wyatt never has, soda.

A simple easy day, nothing fancy, but definitely fun and full of love.

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

We had a basic week this week. Work for Billy, school for Wyatt and I, hanging out with my mom, chilling at home. I am hoping to find something for us to do today after Billy fixes our front porch step, which broke last night. We also got the good news from Wyatt’s therapist that insurance will pay for both his walker and a wheelchair, which is fantastic since Wyatt is not able to just walk everywhere right now. His stamina and endurance and ability right now allows him to walk short distances only, and I am so proud of him for it and all of his hard work, but we also need something for the other times. Kiddo is growing like crazy, 45 pounds and 42 inches and as a woman who is 5 feet tall it can be a challenge to figure out how to get us both around without any assistive devices. A wheelchair will be a welcome addition to the family, as it will be a form of freedom and independence. And phew I went on about that a bit more than I intended!

Read Last Week:

I just couldn’t read the book I had planned for last week, I am an Executioner. It was creepy and weird and clever and I am pretty sure had I not just read Our Crooked Hearts I could have finished it, but I am full up on creepy, weird, and clever for the moment. I picked up How to be a Good Creature instead, which I got for Christmas, and well, it was absolutely perfect. If you read here, you know I am a huge animal lover and always have been. I loved reading about Montgomery’s journey through her life and the animals that most changed her and how, what their stories were. I have had The Soul of an Octopus on my TBR for a while and I will probably be reading it sooner than later now that Montgomery is firmly on my radar. I just loved this book.

Reading This Week:

I started this last night and so far I am really enjoying it!

Reading With Wyatt:

We started a new chapter book read aloud and Wyatt is enamored. I have never read it before either, so it is new to me, and it is super cute so far. Wyatt wanted me to keep reading and reading it – I had to finally call it a night and tell him it was time for bed!

Posted Last Week:

Book Review: Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert

10 on the 10th: Love

Homeschooling: Russia, Tigers, and Lunar New Year

Watching/Listening

Oof. So this list is long this week! We finished Shetland – so good! And what the heck!! That ending I can’t take it!

We are also still watching Around the World in 80 Days and All Creatures Great and Small. We are not used to watching shows weekly anymore, and it is weird to have to wait. And we are watching the Winter Olympics when we get a chance. I am a Winter Olympics fan, more than Summer Olympics, and I was so excited about them starting! I was rambling off to Billy all the events I like – figure skating, skeleton, bobsled, alpine skiing, moguls, biathlon, ski jumping, snowboarding, and the luge – and he just cracked up and said that was the most sporting events he had ever heard me say. We are also occasionally watching Kim’s Convenience and Steel Magnolias.

Our Saturday night movie was Kiki’s Delivery Service, another Studio Ghibli. Billy and I are taking turns picking what we watch. I apparently go for the more cutesy ones while he chose one that was a little less cutesy. I have a feeling the next one we watch will be Nausicaa, as it is Billy’s choice. So far we have watched The Secret World of Arrietty, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Kiki’s Delivery Service, which was adorable. I also learned that Studio Ghibli was formed by the same people who did The Last Unicorn movie, which is an all time favorite of mine, so maybe I will sneak that one in one Saturday.

As for our wake up songs this week, it was a mixed bag as always. Ho-Hey by The Lumineers, We Didn’t Start the Fire by Billy Joel (and somehow my brain still remembered all the lyrics), Maps by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, White Rabbit by Jefferson Starship, and California Dreamin’ by the Mamas and the Papas.

Wyatt has been watching Let’s Go Luna lately, and it is so cute!

And that is about it from around here! What’s been going on in your world?

Love Stories:

Something I loved about 2021….

… our summer vacation. We had such a perfect fun time together and Wyatt loved the beach and lake swimming.

Our Love Story

Billy and I met in 3rd grade, when we shared a double desk. I was super quiet, he was super chatty. I think our teacher had hopes that Billy would be quieter if he sat next to me. But, my silence did not dissuade him from talking. He would also draw me pictures and eat part of my lunch (after he asked if he could have it of course – he was always polite)

Then we re-met in high school. He had a mohawk and rode a skateboard everywhere, and I remember my mom told me that she didn’t want me “hanging around with that boy” all summer. After a month or two of getting to know him though, she ended up loving him. And so did I. We were inseperable, not just for that summer, and got engaged 4 years late and were married two years later. We had a huge wedding, 400 people were there, we had 10 people each in our bridal party, and it was New Orleans themed, with cajun food and beads and doubloons and masks. People still talk about our wedding, 21 years later. It was a blast. We took a 17 day honeymoon, going to New Orleans (of course) for a week, followed by a week at Disney World. We certainly lived it up!

And here we are 21 years later. Through good times and bad, hard times and easy times. He and Wyatt are my world.

Things I Love:

What food do you love and must have on a regular basis? Hm. I love soup. And toast. And I have a Haribo Cherries addiction. I eat them every Saturday night for movie night.

What fashion “trend” do you love?  It doesn’t even have to be a current trend. Oh dear. I am so not trendy or fashionable. I will say I love the 70s hair and curtain bangs that people are doing now, but I don’t think it would work on me.

Which season do you love most?  Why is it your favorite? Fall!! I love bonfires, crunchy leaves, chilly nights and warm days, boots and blankets and cider and Halloween – and oh just everything autumn!

If you could be with a loved one who has passed, who would it be and what would you do? This question made me cry. I miss my Aunt Barb so much everyday. I have so many loved ones who I would love to be with again, but my Aunt Barb and I had a special bond. I wouldn’t care what we did but I will say for sure that we would have a cup of tea and a dessert and let her play with Wyatt.

What would you love to accomplish in 2022? Baking cookies that actually look and taste like cookies. My latest attempt looked weird, crumbled like dust, and also tasted like dust. Yum.

Which do you love most:  shoes, handbags, belts, or coats? Coats I guess? I have like two pairs of shoes, no belts, but I do have lots of coats and jackets.

What love remains with you today? Family, animals, nature. Books and words and learning other people’s stories. Freshly fallen snow, a quiet woods. Summer picnics under the trees.

How do you show your love?  What is your love language? I had to take the love language quiz because I had no idea! I am apparently all about quality time and acts of service. I know that I do really just enjoy spending time with those I love, not even doing anything in particular. I also like to help my loved ones – and apparently I like it when they help me too!

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Hey all! I hope you all had good weeks last week. Ours was a bit odd – we were expecting to have Wyatt’s EEG this past week but it got bumped due to the predicted snowstorm. We were supposed to get 15 inches of snow; we got 5-6 inches instead. Other than that, the week was pretty quiet and spent homeschooling, reading, playing, and prepping for the snow. I had a moment of panic thinking we were going to be snowed in without coffee so I made sure to buy two bags to be safe.

Read Last Week:

This book was spectacularly spooky! I loved it. I plan on reviewing it this week.

Reading This Week:

This was incredibly hard for me to find at the library! I don’t buy a ton of books, and prefer to use the library. I ended up having to borrow this as an e-book from my library system’s partner libraries. Has anyone read this? It sounds really good to me!

Posted Last Week:

A Little Bit of Everything Valentine’s Gift Ideas

Two Mini-Reviews: The Girl Who Speaks Bear and A Blizzard of Polar Bears

Hello February!

Watching:

We are watching so much Masterpiece right now. I signed up so we could watch All Creatures Great and Small and we have been wandering around watching other shows as well. We are in love with Around the World in 80 Days. It is fantastic. I was sort of lukewarm after the first episode but now I am addicted. We are also watching Kim’ Convenience Store on Netflix.

Saturday night is our movie night. We pop popcorn, eat candy, and pick a movie. Last night’s feature was Howl’s Moving Castle, another Studio Ghibli. I loved it. I think I liked The Secret World of Arrietty a little more but this one was also fantastic.

And I forgot to write down our wake up songs! We listen before we actually get moving so sometimes I forget what they are. Lol. I know we listened to R.E.M. Nightswimming and Landslide by Stevie Nicks, both pretty mellow songs. Nightswimming is a better night song but I love it.