I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions. I think if you want to do something, you should decide to do it and extend your energy in that direction. No matter what the time of year. Today is as good a day as any, and life is too short to wait until Jan 1.
I say this because I keep wanting to blog more. I want to record all the lovely moments in a way that not only lets me 
share them with family and friends but lets me keep a log of all those discoveries and joys that we can look back on later. Yet so often a day of skiing, or making bread, or kite flying, or sitting on the couch and reading books (let me tell you about the Lil Moose and his oh-so-badly-you-need-to- read-me-more-books-mama!) and the next thing I know I fall into bed exhausted dreaming of how I would share all those moments if I could just get to the computer.
So I’ve decided. Once a week. I am going to post once a week for as long as I can reasonably do so without compromising the time I spend keeping the other goofballs in this family (myself included I guess) sane and happy. In the meantime, let me share a little of what we’ve been up to.
This time of year is always crazy. Whereas most families are settling down and resting after the holiday craziness, we are gearing up for the stream of birthdays that January brings. There are four in our immediate family and three good friends. Not to mention all the friends from school that seem to have birthdays around this time. This year Towhead decided on an owl/dragon/wizard party (oh my goodness is right!). I finally got her focused just on owls, which would have been great except that owls are hard to find when it’s not fall. So Towhead and I decided we would just make them. No sweat, right?
I picked three owl-themed ideas that would be a) relatively easy to make, b) Towhead could help me make them, and c) were not too costly. We settled on owl goody bags, which turned out to be super easy: I cut, she glued.
Two hanging owls that could hover over the dining room table. Again, five pieces glued onto a ball – super easy.
And an owl cake made out of cupcakes. You can check out the recipe if you like (for the record, I am NOT a fan of Disney media, but it was cute and easy).
Easy peasy rice and cheesy, right? Put together a couple games, send out invites and we’re set. Well, almost. As I was sketching out simple, rotund little owl for which to play “Pin the Eyes on the Owl,” the Towhead peeks over my shoulder and sighs. “What?” I ask. “Not what you wanted?”
“Well,” she says, “I thought we were going to do a barn owl. I love barn owls.” (And the Legend of the Guardians movie where the hero is a barn owl, I think to myself. My turn to sigh. I know what’s coming next.)
“Has to be a barn owl?” I ask. She nods with a sad, yet timid, expression on her face. “Alright,” I say. “Go get me your bird book.” It was all worth the smile I got in return. To her credit, although I sketched it out, Towhead pulled out all the paints and supplies and helped with a large amount of the painting.
In the end it was a lovely party. Good games, good energy, well-behaved kids (and parents). One of the things I appreciated the most was that we had an equal number of boys and girls, which was not something we intended. It was just a natural extension of “who do you wanna invite to your party?” It all felt balanced and full of joy. Just like I’d hoped. It softens the blow a bit that my girl is growing up, and the painful painful reality that Barbie has entered the house. I know, it could be worse . . . but don’t get me started.
Outside the house, Mother Nature has also finally decided to give us some snow to play in. And just in time. Every year for the Towhead’s birthday we go snowshoeing or find some way to go hang out in the powdery snow. After her birthday this last weekend we headed up to Schweitzer Ski Resort in northern Idaho to take advantage of a free cross-country ski clinic, and then Towhead and Mr. A got to play on some of the downhill ski slopes for the first time this winter. It was a beautiful day, and even Lil Moose got some snow time.
It may have been a bit exhausting, but it was filled with my favorite people doing my favorite things. Can’t get much better than that!
