Snowy Day here in Michigan

So when we woke up this morning this is what we saw in our backyard! A fresh dusting of snow! We all went outside.

The red birdbath has maybe 2-3 inches of snow on it - so pretty and fluffy.

This bee balm stalk looks like it has a cotton ball on top!

Another bee balm stalk with two old flower heads.

My mom bought this serpent cement garden art for my son's birthday over the summer.

Herbs still alive from our garden!

Beautiful colors of lichen growing on a nearby tree in the backyard. Love the shades of green!

Here we built a brick snow wall with our block molds. They boys ended up shaping it and adding more color (see two images down).

Snowy tree with holiday lights.

More food coloring and water added to spray bottles.  They love coloring the snow!

The sledding hill was very interesting today... Snow men were everywhere and kids were having so much fun! It looks a little steamy because the snow was melting so fast.

 

Moms Club Event - Book Club is back!

Since October I've been running our local moms club.  I had just a three day notice to throw a monthly calendar together!  With the pandemic I had to bring back events that we haven't had in a long time.  So I ended up creating events based on things I haven't had time to do for myself.  Once huge thing was to actually set time aside to read a book.  So we started up our first book club!  With the help of our local library, we were able to realize that the app "Hoopla" would give us exactly what we were looking for!  Unlimited moms could download the same book! It was free with the use of your library card number. SO easy and so nice that we did not all need to go buy a book or find the book! For our club I was able to find two or three books and take a vote on which book we would read. I would only choose books that had both audiobooks and ebooks.  So nice to be able to use our phone and relax with no stress about the event.

The first book we read was "The Scent Keeper" by Erica Bauermeister. I chose the audiobook since I fall asleep after reading just one page of a regular book ha ha! At first the woman's voice took some getting used to, but the story was extremely interesting and very captivating.  The beginning was very descriptive on smells and scent and then the story takes of on a new level. I was really excited about making cardamom rolls after hearing the discussions in the book a few times. It would be fun to plan a food and drink party around this one if only we could host a moms night in event (if we didn't have to social distance!).

The December book was "The Rise of Wolf 8" by Rick McIntyre. We really loved this book because it is based on fact.  Yellowstone had no wolves at one point so when they reintroduced them into the park many changes took place for the better.  This true story will capture your interest and help you understand the wild nature and way of life that wild wolves take on.  We enjoyed learning about our dogs relation at the same time.  The book has many different references to the wolves tracking numbers but don't worry.. you don't have to track the numbers on your own.  The main point is to hear about the way of life, the adventures and lives of the wolves. 

Hopefully other moms clubs or social groups will love our recommendations about these books and event topics. Happy New Year to everyone!

 

Busy in 2020!

Since the pandemic started, we have been enjoying being at home more. Even though I've been lucky enough to be a stay at home mom for eight years now, we've been nonstop busy the entire time. I love every minute of being home with my two boys and watching them grow up. My husband works from home everyday and is able to enjoy more family time also.

I've not only been on our neighborhood association board for three full years now, but I've become president of our local area Moms Club! Interested in the club? Go to Momsclub.org to find our more.  I love how the club is organized with a handbook and regular event calendar template.  Also I've been a volunteer certified Master Gardener & newsletter editor for three years now so its a full plate but focus is shifting!  I will gradually had off the Secretary position to the next volunteer in our neighborhood.  

I'm mostly focused on keeping our moms club running smoothly with all of this covid stuff happening!  We have had so many fun new ideas come out of this year's experience! We were able to do a porch fairy gift exchange and a cookie porch drop/exchange for the winter holiday timeframe (along with weekly outdoor nature walks).  January already has a fun felt craft kit planned along with weekly outdoor adventures for the moms and kids.  

One of our winter events was a "Nailed It" theme... trying to perfect a cupcake snowman! It was so fun to watch our sticky snowmen fall over and then eat the candies.

Here is a deer that our moms club walked by on the paths of Dinosaur Hill Nature area.

In the picture below, we were at the pond in front of the Avon Nature Study area. My 8 yr old son loved breaking ice with the stick. At first he didn't want to go anywhere but then he doesn't want to leave once we get there haha! 

The adorable furry pony below was located at the Wolcott Mill Metropark Farm Center.That is my 3 yr old and I at the fence.

The playground at Wolcott Mill is nice and wide open so we decided to sit on the wooden carved horse (not worrying about covid since no other visitors were there!)

Enjoy your day and stay positive, happy and healthy in the new year!