Room to Breathe

It's spring time in Colorado.  The warm days are starting to outnumber the cold ones, the crocuses are blooming, and we're getting to spend days walking through valleys to admire the peaks...just like we did last weekend at Hewlett Gulch  

Spring.  New beginnings.  Breathe in, breathe out.  Enjoy.  Repeat.

He's Crafty. And he's just my style.

What do you do when you're mega bored and there's 37' of snow on the ground?  Well. You make fake snow, of course.  Making fake snow while there's real snow outside is kind of like going to the pool when you're at the beach.  You still get to swimming, you just don't have to deal with all of the sand.  Ugh.  Sand.  Same thing with fake snow.  You still get to play with the snow, you just don't have to deal with the boots. and the pants. and the jacket. and the gloves. and the hat. and the crying...you get the point. Or I could just chalk all of this up to "sensory" play and pretend that I'm not too lazy to spend 20 minutes getting my kid bundled up to go outside for five minutes before he gets too cold and we have to come back inside and do the whole boots.pants.jacket.gloves.hat.crying dance again.  Anyway!  

I spent big bucks on this project - two whole dollars.  A can of 'sensitive' shaving cream, 'cause you know...Henry is sensitive, y'all.  And a box of baking soda.  I wasn't really sure how the whole thing was supposed to work, so I just mixed them together and acted like I knew what I was doing.  What's the worst that could happen?  

We learned that fake snow makes excellent T-Rex tracks, whisks are great at flinging 'snow' from here to Denver, and just because there is a place-mat under something doesn't necessarily mean it will keep your table clean.  Ultimately, there is no substitute for the real deal.  After a little coloring, we wound up outside anyway.  

He finds my hair ties around the house and likes to wear them as 'bracelets'.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

And if it's going to be cold, I want there to be snow.  Seriously.  What's the point of cold weather if there isn't snow on the ground?  Henry loves playing in it and I love it, too, because it usually means he will Rip Van Winkle like a boss all afternoon.  Getting from point A (inside the house) to point B (outside in the snow) is hardly a direct line, though.  He enjoys putting on his boots; he enjoys putting on his gloves.  Everything in between, however, usually takes an act of Congress...and we all know what a pain those guys are.  Anyway!  We muscle through it because there isn't much more in this world (besides trucks, trains, planes, or his Mommm) that makes him as happy as playing in the "nooooo".  That's shorthand for "snow".  We're working on our annunciation. 

He's also pretty crazy about doing everything just like his Daddy... 

Snow Graffiti

Pinterest success!  You know those Pinterest posts that make you feel like a bad parent because someone hand stitched their own cloth diapers with organic Egyptian cotton, built a toy box out of upcycled toilet paper rolls, and pureed a months worth of baby food in one day with heirloom root vegetables from their winter gardens?  Well.  This isn't one of those posts.   This little project is cheap and kid tested to be 100% awesome sauce.  Spray bottle + food coloring + water = hours of entertainment...if you can stay warm that long!  I bought little squirt bottles from Tarjay for .97 because I thought they would be easier for H to handle.  Of course you could use whatever you have around the house.  Sadly, our snow is melting away today, but they're calling for more tonight.  I'm crossing my fingers, because "spray" painting the grass isn't nearly as fun. 

Snoooooow.

Hey now, ATL.  SnowMageddon, CarMageddon, IceMageddon...whatever y'all are calling it...y'all are stuck!  I am so glad that our family and friends in that area made it either home safely or at least had a warm place for the night.  I just cannot imagine having to leave my child on a school bus!  Hopefully, you didn't have to go anywhere today and you got to at least enjoy a little of the snow. 

Speaking of snow.  We still have some residual flakes sticking around from a system that pushed through a few days ago.  On days like this, I like to take Henry to the Tot Gym at the Aztlan (try to pronounce that one.  yeah.) Community Center in Old Town Fort Collins.  He loves it.  I love it.  We're both happy campers when we go because he gets to learn how to share (not really his forte) and I get to talk to other adults about how bad our kids are at sharing.  It makes me feel normal. Win-win.

I will tell you something that is not 'winning' though.  Opening your sunroof on the way home because it's actually pretty nice outside and you think you'd like some fresh air, but you forgot that there's still four inches of snow on said sunroof.  Yup.  So as we're driving down the road singing Raffi songs and minding our own business, an avalanche of snow rudely barrels down into the car and onto our heads.  I immediately start laughing, turn around to see Henry wiping snow out of his eyes and he says, "uh-oh".  Yup.  Uh-oh, indeed. Thank goodness we were close to home. 

We were heading up the steps to the house when we had to make a pit-stop to play with chalk.  And then snow.  And Lightening McQueen.  We're all about the pit-stops right now.

Here We Go

If the first month of the year is any indication of what the rest of this year has in store for my family, then we'd better hold on to our hats.  It seems like the hurdles are coming closer together and higher with each jump.  What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, right?  Well, in my case it's also opened my eyes to the importance of slowing down, taking my time, and drinking in the blueness of my little boy's eyes.

Because what's important right now is the way Henry says "choo" for tractor and the way it took him nearly two years to call me Mom.  Not Mommy, or Mama....noooo, we're way too sophisticated for that.  It's Mom, with a long "m" on the end.  Mommm.  And the way he counts, "two, nine, two, nine!"  Or the way he fake snores when he's pretending to sleep.  Yep, that's happening right now.

These are some of the things that I hope to share with you by leaving Facebook behind and entering a world with more conversations and fewer status updates, less dilution and more concentration, and more love and less "liking".  Kinda like those Home Depot commercials...More Saving. More Doing.  Or something like that. 

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to send me a message of support and encouragement.  I'm blessed to call you my friends and I'm so excited about the conversations that I've had with some of you over the last 24 hours.  I'm honored that you are coming on this journey with me.  

I took these this morning while He Man enjoyed some of his birthday gifts.  Enjoy.