Blessed Warmth!

Yesterday we were blessed with a day in the 50s. A day full of sunshine, picnics, sliding, swinging, running, laughter and lots and lots of mud. Our day started with gloves, hats and scarves firmly in place for the task of filling a bucket with snow to melt for our fish tank. Bella, as usual, started the project off with gusto, shovelling with the help of her brother.

But, after about ten minutes, she got bored and moved on to the next thing, which happened to be finding and planting a milk weed seed.

Then it was on to collecting pine cones in the red wagon.
Kane, however, kept on filling that bucket until it was full.
He moved from the big, cumbersome snow shovel to his little garden spade. When the spade proved too small, he decided to try his broom and dust pan, which worked perfectly to get the job done.
Eventually it was time for food, and the hats and gloves came off for a nice picnic on the deck. Maxwell woke from his nap and joined us for a wind-blown lunch.

No multi-tasking challenge is too big for my little man.

Apple slice, two carrots and a spade while chewing on a veggie chip? I can handle that!
After eating, we had to play some ball. Here the ball popped out of his hand on one of the several warm-up swings that he always does before he throws the ball, and I just happened to catch it in mid-air.


After every throw he gave me a good "I REALLY want that!" face.

A lot of time was spent mastering the stairs, also.

I got in a little bit of knitting in the winter sun.

Then Max just couldn't stay put on the deck any more. He had to have some mud under his feet. So into the yard we went. There's nothing better than a January thaw, when there is still some snow left to collect, but it's warm enough outside to dig in with your bare hands and not freeze.

Max would grab a handful of snow, which by this point was more like loosely packed ice, and squeeze it until it popped and little pieces flew all over. Then, of course, curious one-year-old minds must know what this cold wet stuff tastes like.

It was a glorious, renewing, rejuvenating day, which was exactly what we all needed. Each little head was peacefully resting on a pillow by 7:30, and MaMa went to work painting the laundry room. But that's a story for another day. A story of a wonderfully thoughtful husband wh

o.'s on a roll with perfect gifts, a 30th birthday and dear friends. Tomorrow, perhaps...