Good Things.

It's been a lazy New Year.

Free weekends stretched out in front of us (we don't know how it happened, but we plan to make this a January/February tradition!): family time, friend time, us time.

So many lovely things have come out of our slow moving Saturdays.
Here are a few Good Things from this weekend.....

Hugo by Brian Selznick
This book is absolute magic. Part novel, part picture book, it reads like a film.



Santa brought it for Winnie and I and it is, for sure, my favorite present of the year. Night after night we delve deeper into the world of Hugo Cabret and his life in 1930s Paris.




Winnie is obsessed. We tried to go to the (Oscar nominated) movie this weekend, but it was gone from the theatre. So, for now, Winnie will be left in her imaginary world where she is Isabelle (main character), Pippa is Hugo, and the cubby under the stairs is the train station in Paris.

{Admittedly, it's a nice change from Winnie declaring herself the Virgin Mary and Pippa her donkey.....}

Winter!
Welcome back, friend. Thank you for returning.
We're so happy you brought our backyard rink with you.....





Prepping for Pippa's FIRST Birthday.
What could be better than celebrating one full year with this cuddly/kissy little ball of love?




Making Valentine's.
The preparations have begun!





Making Project Plans.



We have a drawer full of knobs and hardware, found on sale, over the past few months. Now we just need to figure out what do with them all........I'm sure you'll see the results over at The Painted Pear in weeks to come!

Family Zumba.....
This has been the highlight of the winter. Seriously, I cannot describe the fun we have.....
Every Wednesday night, Winnie has a dance class at the YMCA. We discovered that, immediately following her class, there is a family Zumba class. A chance for the whole family to dance-ercise to LOUD, FUN music. And do we dance!



It's cracks me up. A room full of kids and parents trying to keep up with the teacher, Winnie taking it all very seriously, sipping from a water bottle between songs and declaring "Wow! My curls are SO sweaty"....

Grammie Ann and Pippa joined us last week and it was even better. We look forward to every Wednesday!

*Minimalist Mom Tip: With the kids $20 a month memberships, all of the activities at the YMCA are free! Swimming, dance, sportball and family Zumba. It's a steal!

Squeezing every last second out of Jamie's paternity leave....
Jamie went back to teaching this morning.



What am I going to do?