Greening Sam and Avery

living room bird watching

A few days ago we got  a couple of inches of snow. Now, we can't keep the bird seed in our feeders! We are seeing tons of juncos, house finches, redpolls, chickadees and purple finches. The girls are loving it!

They watch them during meal times and pretty much anytime they are walking past the door! And it has lead to great conversations about why the birds are all coming to the feeders right now.

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The NItty Gritty!

If you are looking for more ways to have fun bird watching with your little ones check out my All About Birds page. I am hoping to do a feeder project with the girls in the next day or so too! Gotta keep those birds happy!!

hiking when I have lost my patience

I have seen several other posts lately (like this one) about using outdoor play and adventure as a way to get through the tough times of the day. And I have to say those posts were life savers to me today. The girls did not nap. Which means no house work done, no computer work done and no real break or me time. This makes for a cranky mama. The instant I got them out of bed I told them right away we were going for a hike.

And it saved our day!

Who needs to walk when you can slide down the trail on your tummy!

Or your bottom!

Avery got to walk quite a bit today and she loved it!

Snack time on the trail!!

This hike got me back to being the mom that I like to be. The mom that can hold a hand when the trail gets slippery. The mom that can make up a song on the spot to encourage a sluggish 3 year old. The mom that can let the 2 year old poke along on the trail because each and every stick is new and exciting. I like being this mom!

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The Nitty Gritty!

Hiking may not be the perfect outdoor play choice for all families. If your kids aren't use to hikes then this may make the tough time of your day even worse. BUT outdoor play or exploring in some form is always a great way to break up the day, break tension and release stress!!  Get through the hardest parts of your day in your backyard and they won't be so bad.

winter is hanging on

We had to go to the library today and check out "Now it is Winter" by Eileen Spinelli. We have talked about this book before (and other's in the series) because they are great books for helping to remind us to live in the moment, enjoy the season that we are in and not be too anxious for the next season to get here.

So we read the book today. Again and again and again. To help remind us that winter can be fun. Winter can be great! And we need to continue to find ways to enjoy winter.

How are you enjoying the cold temps and snowy days?

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The Nitty Gritty!

Sorry not much of a post today and very few posts up here lately. My life seems to be getting taken over by volunteer stuff. I love all the different projects that I am working on, side jobs and organizations but it takes a lot out of me to stay motivated here at home. Especially when both girls would really love my attention and we would much rather be playing, doing puzzles or hiking than sitting around being quiet on conference calls.

So blogging is taking a back seat right now. A back seat because I have committed to certain organizations and refuse to let them down. So when I am not working on those projets I want to play with my kids. Any spare time I have I am giving to my kids and my husband, NOT to this computer. It makes me feel terribly guilty to leave this space sitting unattended for so many days but I just don't have a choice right now.

Sorry blog world.