dreaming weekends and a cubby for little miss

Little miss is in that almost-four-so-she-must-be-grown-up phase. She plays ninja legos (cast off from brother!), but cant quite keep track of all the bits and pieces. We spend nearly 2 hours the other day searching on and off for one ninja she was missing. She wants desperately to learn to read, do math, and etc. just like her brother. Except, being three, when she cant get it just so she screams and throws a stink-fit. Of course, brother does that too, when he cant get things just so.

Of course, mama does that too...HA HA HA.

In any case.

I wanted her to have a little special place she could be and play, near our cozy woodstove school area. So, today, after brother had his lessons, we did it.

She is pleased and I love the affect (effect? affect? I am not in the mood to think this one through..)Cozy sweet little space. Just like my cozy sweet little girl. Dada has plans to make another playstand for the other side so the silk can stretch all the way across.

In other news.

Its freezing cold here. Actually TWENTY DEGREES BELOW ZERO. AT NOON. And that doesnt include the windchill! (Which was like -35 at one point!)

Before Mother Nature turned her back on us we had spent quite a bit of time enjoying our woods in the winter. We have loved going out, baby cozied up in the Ergo and her down-filled snowsuit, to track animals through our woods. We've learned where the deer love to gather in the pines, which bark they eat, and where the rabbits hide in the thicket. We've followed mice tracks across the meadow and into the chicken coop, then back out to their holes in the woods. We also built a lean-to out of branches under the pines, which will be a perfect spot to play on a hot July day.

Oh. July.

But now, with the cold, we are enjoying brilliant sunshine through the windows, and dreaming of July. Or a least late March.

And, this past weekend, with dada getting an extra day off, we spent a lot of time cuddled up on couches, with blankets and mugs of chai, looking through homesteading books, browsing websites and Pinterest boards, making lists, sketching out garden plans, and dreaming. "And then, we'll put pavers under the deck and install a wooden soaking tub, OOH, and a SAUNA, both heated by a homemade rocket stove, of course! AND THEN, we'll put a sliding door out to the area, from the family room and turn the family room into our own amazing master bedroom! (Which I am for real excited about doing. But first we'd have to turn the garage into a family room...which would mean building a garage...although first we need to buy this house, rather than just rent...HA.) And then this summer we'll put in a garden, with a fence around, and I'll plant sunflowers into a house for the kids, with a pole bean teepee in the middle! And we'll install rain barrels on the barn, that flow into a fountain in the center of the garden! And we'll plant EVERY VEGETABLE KNOWN TO MAN! (except lima beans, which I dont care for...) And then! And then! And then!

And yes, dreaming is good. Especially when it starts to feel more like "planning" and less "dreaming" ie, actually something we can DO, not just talk about!

This is what January is for, right? Garden dreams. Cozy cubbies. Mugs of chai. Kids who play Uno in fuzzy sweaters and wool socks. Babies in wool longies and silk shirts. Crackling wood stoves. Beef stew. (mmmm, dinner??) Throw blankets on every chair. I may even get out some knitting this afternoon.

Yes, January, despite your biting air, you and I definitely get on quite well.