Keeping Winter Bright

Hello from the ridiculously white great north!

Yes, we got a lot of snow.  The report was 20-something inches, but the wind gusts dispersed that into drifts, so it wasn't an even layer of snow... in most places.

It was blown clean over here and over your head over there with an extended peak at the top making it clear which direction the wind came from... for hours.

I'm not going to bore you with my sob story of how long it took me to dig myself out (or the fact that I haven't even finished yet!) because Yoopers everywhere have their own story.  And many had it worse.

I want to talk about the snow being FUN!

Because, before the storm, I was dedicated to making the Copper Harbor tunnel luge right off my front porch.  Yup, that's right.  A tunnel luge.

It took a few random hours of digging when I could get outside according to Wee-man's schedule.  But the day before the storm was predicted to come, one friend watched Brady P while two of my girlfriends came by to help me dig until the bottom tunnel met the top tunnel.

Oh, glory and joy in my heart!!!  We did it!!!

Then we quickly tried to shape the rest of it to get a smooth ride from the top to the bottom -- a length of approximately 30 feet.

Haha.  The smooth ride never happened.

But we rode anyway with our limbs whipping around and voices squealing.  Here's a video of one of the pioneer rides!

Oh, man.  It was so fun.  We had about a dozen people try it out the first day.  And the next day, some of the town's school girls came and sledded for three hours!

I was elated.  That was exactly what I wanted to do -- create something fun to bring the community together over outdoor activities.  I mean, that's the mission of Copper Harbor Vitality!

We sledded for those couple days, but then it snowed and snowed and snowed as I mentioned above.

I did a few runs today to see how much work the luge needs.  The tunnel needs to be dug out a bit.  I'm not normally claustrophobic, but I started to feel that way as I wriggled myself out backwards at the bottom.

The only problem is that I can't find my scoop shovel!  I honestly think it's buried in the snow. 

How ironic.

Well, I'll get that baby up and running again, don't you worry.  If you want to come and check it out, please do!  Just bring a shovel.  Wink.

And now for a special offer!

All this snow is very, well, white.  And I'm a woman who loves bright colors.  Do you know what is full of bright colors?  My wildflower pictures!

 

A teaser of color!

Right now, I'm offering a great sale on all items on the Copper Harbor Vitality website of buy 2, get 1 free!  Woohoo!  Put a little color in your life, save some cash and support one of your favorite artists!

Sounds like a triple win to me!  

Just use the coupon code 3COLORS at the checkout.  And start shopping here!  The offer expires on St. Patrick's Day.

Thanks again for reading.  You are a rare breed -- a person who reads!

Animal Instincts

So there's this boy.

He's really sweet to me.  And although I've known him for a few years, it seems like the truer I am to myself, the more he appreciates me.  Sure we have our bouts, like any relationship, but it's clear that he loves me unconditionally.

The other day we were at Burger King (a funny place for a scene, if you ask me) and he was in the booth bench beside me.  He put down his cheeseburger, and with ketchup all over his hand, slipped his arm around my neck and fingers in my hair.  He looked me straight in the eyes, and with his breathy little voice, he said, "Hiiieee, Mom!"

What a little charmer.  PDA in Burger King.  

He stood there on the bench with his arm around my neck while I tried to eat my Whopper.  But, for some reason, eating didn't seem as important as just closing my eyes, snuggling right back with him and repeating, "I sure love you.  You are so sweet."

I didn't even care who was looking on because, as the saying goes, "You can't stop love."  And the fact that my four-year-old son finds it necessary to swoon over me at a burger joint while his nana finishes her fries across the table just fills my heart through the entire universe.

So I treasured it.

He has done that same sweet thing more and more often lately.  I lift him up into my arms after school and he just plants a sweet kiss right on my lips.  I don't even have to ask!

And to make me wonder if he is buttering me up for something, he put all three dozen animals away into their bucket without being asked before bed time last night.  What a great little helper!  I am so proud of the little man he is becoming.

Speaking of animals, though, listen to this.

Brady P. cycles through different obsessions.  For a while it was dance pop music, then EIEIO (for an hour straight, if I could stand it) and now it's animal sounds.

He watches one hour of computer a day, and I let him pick what he wants to watch because it's his special time.  Well, there's this collection of videos of animal sounds from all over the world.  I mean, there are animals I have never even heard of on here: coypu, capybura, tapir and oryx to name a few.

As each animal is introduced, a video clip plays while its name is displayed in fourteen different languages, and a lady says its name in a strong South African accent.  The video plays a couple signature sounds for each animal.

Braeden has watched hours of this because it's his new obsession.  

Well, one day, one of those videos came on after an EIEIO song (or forty) during music time.

Here's where my mind was blooooooooown away.  In the video that day, the lady did not say the names of the animals, and Braeden was not watching it -- just listening.

So we had these animal sounds playing raw and unnarrated through the speaker.  Braeden stopped playing with his other obsession, the flipping Ninja Turtle, and stared in deep contemplation.

He was listening intently to the animal sounds.  Just animal sounds with no music or narration.  

Do you know what he did?  He told me what animal was making the sound.  He listened briefly, and after a moment, said the word as best he could.  

Not always able to make out the exact word he is saying, I looked at the video that played up on the counter and saw the name of the animal making the sound.  I can't say he got them all exactly right, but he was differentiating animals with savant-like precision.

Do you know what sound a kangaroo makes?  How about a guinea pig?  Orangutan?  Moose?  Toucan?  Lynx?  Sloth?  Meerkat?  Anteater???

Brady P. knows.  And he can pick their sounds out of 100 other animals.  The boy just amazes me.

Not only does he like what he likes, but he excels at it.  Flabbergastingly so.  He has graduated beyond Old MacDonald's farm and can now give tours at the Disney Zoo.  Maybe we'll go there someday.

Here's a link to the Zoo Video we listened to that day that made me realize just how far he has come.

And for fun, here's a picture of Brady P. the first day I took him out to skate.  His skates were too big, but he glided from side to side pretty naturally -- if I held him up!

 

Taking a break

 

Trying to... get up? 

Haha.  Nobody can be a genius at everything!

Grab Bag

Hello!  Gosh, you're great.  You always come back for more.

I would imagine that at this point, you don't even know what to expect when you click on this blog.  It's not very predictable -- at least in my eyes.  

So today you're going to get a grab bag of fun.  That's right.  A random mix of musings: some deep, some light, but all of them are true.  Cuz, let's face it.  That's how I roll.

Okay, now close your eyes and pick one out.

Now look at it!  What did you get?

Prize #1: Ice Rink!

The boys at Grant Township flooded the basket ball court behind the school, so now it's an ice rink.  But not only is it a rink, they keep it shoveled off too!  Good golly gracious, we haven't had an ice rink up here for years!  And for the last couple days, the school kids got to go out to skate during recess.  When I showed up yesterday, I was enchanted.  All of the kids (except the two wee-est) were wearing skates on the ice while pushing small plastic chairs with those little metal disks on the bottoms -- learning how to skate!  That was a site, all right.  The two tallest girls could have used bigger chairs, so they weren't hunched, but I doubt they'll need chairs for very long.  And when they all came in from recess, their cheeks glowed and their spirits soared.  They want to skate everyday to infinity.  Now that Brady P. is getting it, I'm even more excited to go out there with him.  I used to want to be an Olympic figure skater (when I was 12), so I enjoy gliding and twirling myself.  Wait til I try it with a chair!

You picked a fun one!  Reach in again.

Prize #2: Stephen King

I am just a few pages away from finishing my first Stephen King book.  Yes.  My first.  And maybe only.  Can you guess which one I picked up after all his years of writing?  No, really.  Guess!  Okay, you're wrong.  You didn't even know this one existed (but please comment if I'm mistaken!).  It's called On Writing ~ A Memoir of the Craft. When I saw that cover staring at me one day at Grandpa's Barn, I was stunned.  "What?  Stephen King wrote a book about writing?  And it's non-fiction?  Holy buckets!  He is like one of the most popular writers I know!  I better get his insight."  So, yeah. I'm almost done with it, and let me tell you what.  He writes a lot like me.  Or, I should say: I write a lot like him.  Without even trying.  It's just a gift, man.  And that's what he says.  One of the most memorable quotes I took so far is this, "It is, after all, the dab of grit that seeps into an oyster's shell that makes the pearl, not pearl-making seminars with other oysters."  I think that quote can apply to any craft or talent.  If you got it, you got it.  Now harness it and make some pearls!

Want to do another?  Come on.

Prize #3: Confession

I have a confession.  I think you're going to be disappointed in me, but I am going to tell you anyway because if you can't tell your shortcomings to an audience comprised of people who love you and people you don't even know, then you're afraid of something.  I left Copper Harbor on January 8th and got home on February 1st.  Today is the 13th.  Do you know what I have not seen up close in 36 days???  Oh, man... it's so hard to admit.  I have not seen the splashing water of Lake Superior.  I can feel my heart just yeeeaaaarrrrning in desire.  But when I drove the lake shore since I've been home, it has been frozen as far as the eye can see.  Now, I think it has broken up a bit out there, but the harbor is definitely solid.  Excuses!  Excuses!  I need to get out there!  I need to find an open spot of Superior sweetness and listen to the waves and dip my fingers in her glory and feel my heart sink fully back into my chest.  Don't get me wrong, it is difficult this time of year to get a taste of Her Majesty, but I am determined.  I'll chip through the ice if I have to.  Hopefully I won't fall in.

Okay, that one made you want another one, right?

Prize #4: Breathwork

As you may have noticed, in my last few posts I have alluded to the fact that my life took an unexpected and difficult turn lately.  I felt broken.  B.R.O.K.E.N.  Have you ever felt that way?  Do you feel better now?  I sure hope so.  Like I said a few posts ago, I had to do a lot of emotional purging, meditation and conscious focusing to get back on track.  But I have to also tell you about a breakthrough technique I found.  It's called breathwork.  And honestly, I don't know a lot about the origin, but my friend Rachel leads sessions online, so I took one a few weeks ago.  I expected to have a relaxing time breathing peacefully.  Not the case.  At all.  I started doing this breathing where you focus, not on deep breaths or holding it in, but on keeping a consistent cycle inhaling and exhaling.  I imagined my breath like a wheel turning from my abdomen to my heart.  I would do this the best I could until I bawled my eyes out -- several times.  Then I would breath in a cycle again until my arms shook wildly, my lips quivered and my feet felt numb.  Or I laughed hysterically.  Or my whole body tensed up to the point where you could have put my shoulders on the top of one chair and my calves on the top of another and I would have laid there like a quivering board.  Ho.  Ly.  Crap.  That was an experience of a lifetime.  But, do you know what?  I felt waaaaay better afterward.  I felt focused and positive.  I felt so alive and renewed.  And I have learned that when I feel fear or anxiety creeping in, I can just take some time to practice this breathing technique, and I will feel much better.  It has never felt as intense as it did since Rachel's guidance that day, but I think I may have shaken out some of the shadows.  I think this is really awesome.  If you want to look more into it, check out Rachel's website.  Thank you, Rachie!!!

Whew.  That one was rather expected.  Should we try one more?

Prize #5: Brady P.

Yeah, yeah, I know.  You wanted to hear about him the whole time.  That's because he's awesome.  He is a little parrot these days.  He will repeat what people say... even unsuspecting people!  Now, his every word is not yet understandable, but you can tell he's repeating what you said.  So watch your mouth, sonny!  He is also doing much better now that we are home.  He loves going to school.  Loves playing with his toys.  Loves sleeping in his own bed.  Loves bossing me around and telling me which song to play next.  Loves to hold hands and say "Thank you for this food" before we eat a meal.  Loves to test his knowledge.  Loves to play the matching game (still, but sometimes I beat him now!).  And just loves.  He is such a lover.  He is the epitome of love.  And I am so grateful for him in my life.  

Okay.  Five is a good number to stop at.  Wait.  What's that?  A bonus prize?  What is it???

Prize #6: Bubbles

I took this picture of Braeden just after he got his glasses.  It's hilarious -- especially if you have ever seen the Trailer Park Boys because he looks just like Bubbles.  I put this picture on facebook and it went wild.  But just in case you're not on facebook, you should have a glance (and a chuckle) as well.  Enjoy!

 

No caption does this justice

Well, thanks for playing the grab bag of randomness with me today!  I sure had a good time.

Just one more thing:  Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! to my family and community of Copper Harbor.  Life is fulfilled in unique ways with that support. 

Take care of yourself now.  And go do something fun that you've been meaning to do.

Itsy Bitsy Steps

Hi there.

Some days are fun.

Some days are hard.

Life can lift up.

Life can bombard.

One day at a time

is how we can win it

but sometimes it's hard to endure just one minute.

Look up at the sky.

Count our blessings each day.

To grow and survive

is the only way.

My heart goes out to you, friend.  Life is real.  Let's be real about it.  We can all survive together.  Just believe and do your part... I am doing mine.

Even the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.

Sunny Reprieve

Hello from Arkansas!

Grammy Linda, Brady P. and I came down last week, so Braeden could visit his dad. Even though our flight here was canceled and our flight out of here is canceled, we are grateful to be in the sunshine and double digits above zero.

A couple days ago it was 54° so Grammy and I hiked down to the creek and sat on some boulders in the sunshine. We even got to take off our jackets and pull up our pant legs to really soak it in! It was so peaceful and welcome that I soaked it into my soul.

Here is a little video of my favorite part of the creek that I sat in every day I have been here. It’s no Lake Superior, but it’s fresh running water, and the sun sparkles around it.

We hope to be back home soon although it will look and feel like a different place than when we left. That is part of life I suppose.

Brady P. needs to be home. As a creature of routine and habit, being away and traveling for a month has really taken a toll on his behavior and feelings of security. I look forward to getting back to normal even though normal is different now. I am stronger and wiser.  At least I hope so!

Please pardon the unusual look of the font and alignment of this blog. I couldn’t quite get it right on my iPhone. I will edit it once I get back.

Be true to yourself. You deserve it!  Nobody else can be you.

And for heaven sake, stay warm!

Traveling...

Hello loved one.

You are loved by someone, you know!

I am traveling today, tomorrow and next Wednesday.  I'll do my best to get something out in the interim.

Sorry about the chaos. 

Believe in yourself.

Brighter Days

When was the last time you felt like a kid?

Like you were ready to take on the world.  Like you had so much energy that you had to roll in the snow to let some of it out.  Like you were carefree, full of laughter and longing to spread joy.

Brady P. is like this everyday that I am in a good mood. 

I was like this last week after I crawled my way out of being crushed emotionally.

Brief recap:

     Amanda recently finds herself in a situation where she thinks she is going to die.  She survives.  But she lives paralyzed in fear.  She cannot eat or sleep.  

     Grammy comes to save her and Brady P. from being alone, so the situation cannot happen again.  Grammy brings Amanda and Brady P. home to Wisconsin where Brady P. can be in good care of Grammy and Grampy while Amanda hibernates in order to heal.  

     Amanda cries.  She bawls.  She curses.  She journals.  She lets it all (well, at least as much as possible for now) out.  Then she meditates three times a day.  She focuses on peace.  On strength. On overcoming.  On brighter days.  

     Luckily, Amanda is in a quiet place in the woods, so she has no other demands placed on her besides the one to overcome trauma.

And she did.

Alleluia!

Okay, back to first person.  I just wanted to remove myself a bit from that story, so it wouldn't be so emotional.  You don't need my drama in your life.

But I do want you to see my salvation.  Because after that week of purging fear, anger, grief, sadness and guilt, I could find myself again.

Those emotions are not part of who I am.  I am strong, upbeat, friendly, caring and positive.  I must move forward, and I must forgive.

When I was able to do all that, I quite literally became a kid again.  I couldn't wait to play with Brady P.  I sledded more than the little kids every chance I got.  I skipped and bounced and laughed and sang.  

I felt light again.

A lightness in my physical being, my emotions and even in the things I looked at.  I was so grateful because I could have been stuck in that dark, scared, depressing place in my mind for, well, forever.

But I knew that is not me.  That is not who I would let myself become because of someone else's actions.  I am a warrior, and I am here to help save the world.  

Thank goodness I can save myself.

Now, I'm not going to preach to you about any of this, but I certainly want you to see from my experience how the power of positivity, meditation, doing the work and having a supportive and safe place to stay while you are healing or trying to achieve a goal in life are quite necessary.  I could not have done it in a week's time without any of these elements.

Thank you to everyone who has offered me support.  Brady P. and I are stronger and wiser because of it.

And as proof that we are doing well, here is a video that my Daddio took on a sledding walk at the Rogers one day.  It is the first video I have edited in years.  It's simple, but sweet.  Enjoy!

Big Dumps

Hey.

For the sake of emotional integrity, I am going to be surface level and brief today.

We just got (according to my measurement) 16 inches of heavy snow.  It was a great workout to move it.  And just before I was done, somebody decided that shoveling looked fun.

So I gave him a pint-sized shovel, and he helped me finish.  What a proud little man.

Mama's little shoveler

See you next week once things settle a bit.  In the meantime, be true to yourself.  You deserve it.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

And so it's a new year.

Maybe that doesn't mean much to you, but here at the Vitality household, we all have things to work on.  Can't save the world if we can't save ourselves, right?

We are also working on Brady P.

He wants to be a big boy.

One of the things he is doing so well already is at the dinner table.  Often times, we are in and out, and eating a meal together seems impossible.  But once we started doing dinner more often as a family, we saw big progress.

Braeden loves to eat what we eat.  He even ate all of his bean salad yesterday.  With a fork.  I was so proud that tears welled in my eyes.

He is clearing his plate of food we make.  With a fork.  We are still working on the stabbing technique, but I can tell he is as proud as we are.  So kudos to eating dinner together.

He is wearing big boy underwear.

Okay.  Not all the time, but we give him a few hours in the evening to keep his superhero underwear dry for as long as possible and encourage him to pee on the potty between activities.

Sometimes it's already too late.

But if we all stay positive and encouraging, he will get there.  We believe that it's hard for him to recognize, let alone control the feeling of peeing.  That's part of the hypotonia in his muscles that comes with Down syndrome.  His muscles hang loose until he uses them.

But when he uses them, watch out.  He is strong.

We are also really practicing speech.  

Enunciation. 

Getting those sounds right.  We encourage him to use his words, but then he is not comprehendible to other people.  How embarrassing for all parties involved.

He wants to use his words.  Especially with our new dog, Missy.

"Missy, down!" he will shout to her when she jumps onto his trampoline with him.

It sounds like "Biggy, gum!" but I smile to myself because I am proud that he tries.

And now we are drilling it.  There are certain sounds like 'f,' 's,' 'o' and 'z' that we can probably nail in the next few weeks if we keep at it.  The more we pay attention to what he can already do, the more we can play off his skills to improve on them.

I'm really excited and hopeful about this.  As long as we play animal games and read animal books, we'll have plenty of words to say that will keep him interested.

Want to know one thing that is helping?  His new glasses.

 

A spectacle in his specs

Yup.  His attention span for reading and writing has improved because he can actually see what he is looking at more clearly.  And he doesn't turn his head to read out of the side of his eye.  Or touch his nose to the book.

Little man.

We are so proud of him.

Here's to a progressive new year to us all!

*If you like pictures of snowflakes and frost, check out the new prints at the Vitality shop!  For the next week we're running a sale: ALL orders ship for free and any order of $20 or more gets 20% off with coupon code NEWYEAR.  Enjoy!

Happy Winter!

Hey! Happy holidays to you and yours. See you next year!

Happy winter from our little family!

By the way, the snow is coming down in piles out there!  It finally feels like winter in the U.P.

Game On!

As children grow and develop, their toys change.  The baby who was once thoroughly entertained by a hanging mobile and a squeaky toy learned to love dolls and trucks.

Okay, well, Brady P. was really never into dolls or trucks.  He moved on to puzzles, anything that played music and animals.

But now he is at a different stage.  A rather fun one that takes more of my (and other people's) time in order for him to play.

Games.

The first game I remember playing with him was the Memory game.  You know, a bunch of cardboard squares that you flip over then have to find the match by remembering where the heck you saw it last.

Our memory game was made from animal drawings by Charlie Harper.  Braeden already loved animals and Charlie's art, so I figure, why not.

Braeden was about three when we first started.  I didn't have very high expectations for his level of performance.  I didn't really know how much he understood because he didn't really talk.  And a few months before, when we tried it for the very first time, it was pretty useless.

So back on the shelf it went.

But during this second try, I was stunned.  He understood the concept of taking turns.  We worked on that in other ways before hand, so I wasn't too surprised about it, but it was apparent.

His slight OCD of feng shuiness made him excellent at putting the cards that were not a match back to the exact same place he got them from, and even making sure they were straight.  I don't even do that.

The smoothness at which we played the game was pretty effortless.  I think that he wanted to play the game so much that he made that extra effort to follow the rules, pay attention and keep it neat.

So we play again and again.  It's one of his favorite games.  But can I tell you the biggest surprise of all?

He is awesome at it.  

As in, he can beat me.

We started off putting all the matches into one pile, so nobody felt sad about losing.  But now, he keeps his pile and I keep mine.

I kid you not.  He usually wins or ties me.  He remembers where the monkey was from a couple turns ago when I had forgotten.  He hastily finds both ladybugs after I just guessed wrong.

The boy has a photographic memory.

I'm glad I like that game too because he makes me play it almost every day.

Then one day at speech therapy, Miss Dawn had the "Let's go Fishing" game, and he really enjoyed pulling the fish out of the "pond" with his finger.

Well, Nana Mary thought he should have that game at home, so she got it for him the next day.  I mean, that's what grandparents do.

Now this game has a pole that the player holds as the "hook" is supposed to make it into the mouths of the fish as the whole pond spins and the fish open and close their mouths.

Oh me of little faith.  I didn't think he'd be very good at it.

I was wrong.

Now I can't say he was as good as Nana (who taught me to fish in real life when I was a little girl), but he was doing really well.

 

Concentrating on the next fish

With a little carefulness and patience, he learned how to pull the fish out without dropping them back into the pond.  Just awesome for his find motor skills.

Also, on a daily basis, he wants to play this game too.

So I have observed that he loves games.  He is really good at following rules.  He loves to be challenged.  He loves to play with another person.

And, over all, these games are really good for his fine motor skills, his patience, his concentration, his attention span, his learning and his amazing photographic memory.

I am really excited to visit the toy aisle this year, because that good little boy is going to get some new games under the Christmas tree.

Sir Slips-a-Lot

We don't have a lot of snow right now.

But we have had some nice, smooth frozen puddles -- perfect for sliding on.

I've been trying to teach Braeden the different textures of the ground the past couple winters.  

Snow, ice and dry road.

I know I've mentioned that before, but he has a new affinity for the ice.

He knows that it makes him fall down, and it's hard to get back up.  So he flounders.  He pretends to not be able to get up at all, actually.

It's hilarious for us both.

He just giggles and cracks up as he spins around and around on the ice.  Flipping over and squealing. 

I haven't been lucky enough to capture this ice capade on video, but I did record the time that started it all.

That time he came inside the house after walking through the snow in his cowboy boots.  He had some snow caked on the soles, so he instantly slipped on the wooden floor.

And he couldn't get up.

My biggest regret about this video is that I was laughing too loud and I overpowered his laugh -- one of the cutest sounds on the planet.

But I will say no more about the scene, so you can watch for yourself.

Well, I just wanted to make you smile today. I hope it worked!

The Most Wonderful Time

Hey!

All is well in the Harbor.

In fact, it's a pretty unique time of year.  It's that time between hunting and snowmobile season where nobody else is here.  For the last couple days, I knew 98% of the people that drove by as we toddled or sledded along Highway 41.

We just wave to everyone, just in case.

It's quite whimsical.  I thought that places like this only existed in movies. Places so small everybody knows everybody -- and nobody else is around!

Pretty unique indeed.  I love it.

It's also that time when Captain Don and his crew (or, often just Captain Don) spend hours untangling lights, making decorations and standing trees around the park.  It looks great so far, but if you want to see it in its final glory, come up to Winter Wonderfest 2018!  

It's happening in Copper Harbor on Saturday, December 15th from 10-6pm.  The craft show, bake sale, crafts... and maybe even Santa are at the Mariner  North.  

Then, at 6pm sharp (unless Don has a lot to say about the park), we light it up!  Don't tell anyone, but there will probably be fireworks too.  Organized and safe, of course.

We're even getting festive at our house!  My honey pie and I harvested a tree, made some decorations and lit it up.  Our stockings are hung over the back window with care, or, um, thumb tacks.  And we try to exchange gifts once a week.

Brady P. is into it.  He's a little too much into the lights on the tree, but he will learn.  Some year.

And the fluffy snowflakes make it seem all festive out there.  The big lake is still open wide.

I feel fortunate to live in such a magical place.

A true winter wonderland.