Wintering

 A month of our lives has flown by since my last update.  We've been in the trenches of inter-holiday wintertime, where life becomes a string of featureless days unified by dark cold mornings, dark cold evenings, and a lot of laundry and dishes.  Notable highlights have generally involved snow.  We've finally gotten some and we've also finally got a kid (Jack) who's fallen in love with skiing, and another kid (Ivy) who's obsessed with sledding.  So the daylight hours we've had, have been full of a lot of "moving downhill quickly."

Starting with the annual Polar Blast alumni event.  The even that almost wasn't because January and February in Cleveland can mean rain just as much as it can mean snow, and we almost skipped tubing in the rain.  Glad we didn't because it always is a blast there, and we love time with our friends.

 Better snow awaited in the future for this Cain Park trip:

 Indoor fun: Boulevard night at United Skates of America.  Terrific people-watching there.  And it turns out Nat loves skating.  Couldn't get him off the rink.

 We had a few special events with my Community of Hope table--  exploring the Gordon Square area, and celebrating Empress's first birthday!

Did a fair amount of running. Inconsistent because this month has been full of busy work days and evening meetings and rehearsals.  But the Saturday long run is becoming a regular tradition, and time with my running friends is one of the highlights of my week.

 On the weeknights we've been home, Jenga has been the game of the month.  I enjoy this photo taken seconds before the tower tumbled.  I feel like this phase of our parenting journey is a balancing act between taking the easy way out-- letting the children play on their screens til enternity while we deal with the busyness of life-- and dragging them towards alternative activities-- like games, or skiing-- which involves more work and less productivity but is invariably worth it.

 Like taking this tall kid to an art opening.

Luckily we didn't have to drag him skiing-- he's been begging to do it.  Ivy is still not game to try to she's been getting some quality time in with friends while I get in ski time with my boys.  Our first day out was in spring-like conditions.  Stunning and warm and full of slushy sticky snow and SO much fun.

The next outing was little tiny bit less temperate. 

 
But we persevered with having fun anyways.  Gale force winds and driving snow never stopped me from skiing!  I'm so proud that my son feels the same.  And he's improving his skiing visibly each time we go.  So much fun to see.  Tomorrow  we head for a day at Snow Trails.  I could get used to this.

This month has brought another new family activity:  Archery.   Nat and Jack have gone three times now.  Ivy's only tried once but she did great and really enjoyed it. Plus we get to spend time in this great converted warehouse space.

 Other events of note:  Back to the Broadway series!  Nearly forgot about this show but Ivy and I made it and had a lovely time.

 And a day at the Home and Garden show.  Every time I go I remember that one trip, years ago in our pre-kids life, where Melinda  and Will and I had a snow day so we went to the Home Show.  And got the call about a SECOND day off while sitting in Adirondack chairs by an indoor garden.  A part of me waits for that call every time I go..

For this trip Ivy brought along a friend and it was great to watch them enjoy the entire experience, from taking selfies to earning swag.

Jack was pretty sure his favorite part was this pink yardstick he got from the Dollar Bank booth.  The kids determined that this loft in a 2 car garage was actually created for the sole purpose of swordfighting with pink yardsticks, and that's why kids are great.

 But the best part in my opinion is always the indoor Ferris Wheel.  Good clean fun and the best bargain at the IX center for sure.

2020!

 A whole new decade is upon us, dear ones.  How did that happen so fast??  Wasn't it moments ago that we were planning for "Y2K" and mystifies that we were old enough to be entering a new Millennium?? (and we were soooo young.  we had no idea how young we were...)

If this first month is any indicator, 2020 is on track to be  as busy as ever.  I need to set some intentions and try to slow time down a bit, because I can barely keep up with the pace it's moving!  Here we are on February first and I am writing about New Year's eve...

Before I give you a quick photo recap of the first half of January, here are my ruminations on the decade past and the decade to come.

Highlights of the "10's":
A decade in the trenches of parenting.  We opened with the birth of our second child, traveled through a cancer diagnosis and out the other side, and ended with a middle schooler in our house...  And in between we filled those 3650 days with everything from diaper changes and preschool concerts, to school conferences and sports practices.  Nat and I started doing things like serving on boards for nonprofits, which seems terribly grown up.  Many teeth grown in and lost and grown in again.  We loved on one dog, said goodbye to her, and brought a new pup into our hearts. We traveled!  To the ocean, twice, and to the Rockies and ten (ten!) summers at Farley's where the days blend year to year in a haze of tradition, boat rides, and blue water. We moved from days spent holding and nursing and chasing tiny ones to the halcyon afternoons of adult freedom at cocktail hour, while kiddos went to play with cousins and friends.  Jack learned to ride a bike and ski and play trombone and swim beautifully and play soccer and he grew and grew and grew.  Ivy learned to walk and talk and be a model student and swim and play piano and cello and she grew and grew and grew. 

I am breathless just thinking back on these ten years.  It seems I never looked up once to notice where I was.  There was just too much-- too much laundry, too much night-waking, too much care-giving and hand-holding and driving and working and loving-- to take a breath or soak it in. 

Thank heavens for pictures.

Looking ahead:  I hope I can find a way to notice this next decade, to see in more clarity the beauty of each phase of life, each mundane moment, as we are living them and not just in hindsight.   I'm getting more sleep these days, and entering my 40's has really shifted my perspective.  I think I'm more prepared now to do that notice, to give myself over to gratitude-- though its going to take work because there's still too much on most of my days.  I don't want to give up an ounce of that "too much," though (well, except for laundry, that is).  I've always wanted to do it all.  My favorite way to eat is at a buffet and I imagine I'll keep living my live that way in these next 10 years. I plan to take a few more breathers, though, to look around at the scenery.

Intentions for 2020:

* Eat well and move my body.  Health is paramount because I don't want anything to keep me from living the HECK out of this decade.
* Stop and breathe and be grateful, at least two times a day.
* See the world!  Prioritize my spending and save for travel.  The world is wide and life is short and it's time to get out there... for me and for my family.
* Love madly.  The people I am blessed to walk with in my life, the people who cross my path, my animals, the environment, the moment I am in.    I will love them all, with all my heart and soul.
* Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly.

Here are my not-so-littles, on the eve of the 20's.

Aren't they so beautiful?  How did I get so lucky.

 Nat brought his camera to our 20's themed New Year's Eve party and we had a lot of fun with it.

 As always, Melinda and Will put on a great event.  This year was even more impressive because they'd just returned from a holiday trip to California about 6 hours before hosting.  The beauty of our group of friends, though, is there truly is no one to try to impress. We all know each other so well, and love each other so much, we just don't even see any imperfections in one another through our lenses of shared history.

 Again, how did I get so lucky??

Started the new year with a 12k run, with some of my favorite running friends.  That's something I'm so grateful to have at the beginning of this year.  My running groups have given me so much.  Fitness and friendship and regular, scheduled opportunities for moving meditation.   

 Then, a COLD visit to a blue-sky January lake.

 Other January moments:

Enjoying the Rink at Wade Oval...

 Some lovely dinners out with Anna as we enjoyed her extended stay in Cleveland...

 ... a reprise of our NYE getup for Mix on January 4th, where we were the only people in 20's garb but we totally rocked it and got lots of compliments.  Nat even got comments from BOTH an older African American gentleman in a red suit AND a bearded hipster.  Achievement unlocked.

 Took the kids to MOCA

 ... Let go of 2019 with a potluck feast and ritual burning at Tina's place...

 ... took these cuties for a harp concert at a coffee shop...

 ... had a lovely time at our friend's annual bread and soup event...

... and did a lot of cooking, laundry, dishes, driving, homework, and working!  Second half of January coming soon!