Copper Country Living

 Hello readers, it's been awhile. I'd like to claim I've been hiding from the internet, but my friends and family know I've been on my personal accounts nearly daily. I have been hiding out from all of you- public audience- mostly because the internet has been a very mean place lately. Election years are the worst for social media, and since blogging seems to really lean heavy on the social media to get the posts out there- it's a necessary evil. My point is, I've been avoiding engaging in all that jazz- I don't care who you voted for and I don't plan to talk about who I voted for. But I'm sure you're as fatigued from the topic of politics as I am. In search of a solution for this problem, Hubby and I took full advantage of (probably) the last warm weekend of the year. It was absolutely beautiful weather and we took a drive to the tip of the Keweenaw- Copper Harbor, and took Baby to one of my favorite places- Estivant Pines Nature Sanctuary. It w

The picture of the hand-print on the porch door is pretty much my life in a nutshell these days. A giant smudgy mess in the middle of everything. Not sure which kid made this "art", but it's a near perfect print. I'm playing super mom today. Hubby's been delayed at work an additional 8 hours, so I'm not getting any relief any time soon. And I have to say, I feel pretty on point. I'm on the third load of laundry. I need to complete 9 loads, so it's barely a dent, but everyone will have something clean to wear in the morning. I made gourmet lunch. It was leftovers from last night's supper and mac n cheese. And the only healthy item was the fresh green beans from our garden, but it looked and smelled good. Both gobbled it up. I'm still working from home too. Admittedly not very productive at this today, but it's still there. 8 hours devoted to the the people who write the paychecks. I rescheduled my "mom's alone time" so I didn&#

Earlier this summer on a random evening I took the "big kids" (my term referring to the step kids and not the baby) to the beach for a sunset swim and to enjoy the evening. Lake Superior never fails to impress, and the warm evening was beautiful. Out on the horizon was a dense fog and we could hear the fog horn of a freighter off shore. We weren't the only ones with the bright idea of a sunset swim. There were quite a few people out on the beach. We all kept our distance though. The kids had a great time. They got neck deep in Lake Superior and were soon pruned and shivering but having too much fun to get out of the water. I eventually had to order them out to dry off before the sun set, and they used the time to build a rock tower. It's too bad summer sunset time is so late at night, almost 10pm during these early July days, and Mommy wants to be in bed by 9pm. The entire ride home from the beach they kept asking when we could do it again. So on weekends we've go

A fun place to visit in the summer is Eagle Harbor, Michigan. This little community on the north shore of the Keweenaw Peninsula has enough to keep you busy for an evening or a weekend. We had a kid-free date night last week and took a drive up to Eagle Harbor- home to the Eagle Harbor Inn , which is, hands down, one of my favorite restaurants in the area. The food is always fantastic and I've never had a waitress that wasn't friendly. I recommend the place to everyone who's looking for a good dining experience. It's also family and budget friendly. Most dishes on the menu range from $10 to $30. Eagle Harbor isn't just home to this restaurant. It's also where the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse is located (and accompanying museums). They are closed this year due to COVID-19, but the lighthouse grounds are still open and free to visit. Hubby and I took a wander around after our dinner and enjoyed the gorgeous evening. The weather was absolutely perfect, and I returned h

We bought our home from smokers back in October, and I've been trying ever since to make it smell like our house and not like we chain smoke in our living room. I've finally found the solution! And it's just so simple . While I was at my parents' house for mother's day, my mom showed me this clever idea for keeping rooms smelling fresh with two simple ingredients and a few supplies: Baking soda Essential Oils Mason jar Coffee Filters Scissors Simply fill the mason jar about half way with baking soda, drop in about 5 drops of the essential oil of your choice (I used lemon and eucalyptus). Then replace the metal lid of the mason jar with a coffee filter, trim off the edges, and wah-lah! Room deodorizer.   You can mix and match scents for different rooms too! My library has a cedar blend, the linen closet was just eucalyptus, and I used lavender in the bedroom. Our home no longer smells like cigarette smoke when you walk through the door. Just a fresh spring smell to

It's spring time in the Keweenaw! I wandered around the yard the other day and played photographer with my new camera- a gift to myself that I've been wanting forever. Here's some of plant life bursting forth in the warmth of spring. Enjoy! The forget-me-nots grow on the east side of the house and are adorably dainty. The pear tree has been in full bloom this week. The little apple trees are just starting to show blooms. Last week the cherry tree was all flowers and has since lost its petals in the wind. Spring Foliage is in full swing and summer is right around the corner. Get out and enjoy the fresh air! Until next time, Emma Leigh

There's plenty of negative news regarding Coronavirus lately. But I have been trying to stay positive and one of the upsides to taking things slow at home- I've noticed nature more. It's 5am as I write this, and I'm watching the moon rise in the south east just ahead of the sun. I didn't know much about the lunar cycle until this morning when I sat puzzled by the moon rising in the morning instead of the evening. So I dug out my trusty Google and looked it up. I'm going to have to find a book about the moon. I want to know more. I took the time to wonder at something and let my curiosity lead me in a new direction. I watched robins out the window earlier this week. They're interesting birds. They show up every spring right before our last big snowstorm and somehow still manage to sing. We have four deer that regularly visit our yard now each evening. We have oak trees so they are searching for acorns. Hubby spends some time watching them each

Mommy's relaxing alone time is all set to begin. The bathroom is warm and steam-filled, just how I like it. I've finished running a bath for myself and adding a few drops of eucalyptus essential oil. It smells absolutely heavenly. I've got a magazine to read, a chilled glass of wine, and comfy pjs to put on when I'm done. Baby is fed, freshly diapered, and asleep so this time is all mine. As soon as I finish lowering myself in to the water and have gotten my shoulders wet, I hear the faint wail of Baby cries. And just like that, the relaxation is out the window. The first few times this happened, I considered just getting out of the tub right then and there. Why try relaxing at all? Baby needed me to hold him and rock him back to sleep or nurse him until he was relaxed. But I stuck it out. Sure I wasn't relaxing anymore, but I needed an hour to myself. Hubby's got this, and Baby needs to learn how to spend a little time away from Mommy. The crying wou

Some moms are homeschool moms. They take great joy in teaching their kids from the dining room table and spending all day every day with their little ones. I am NOT a homeschool mom. If you're like me, the 9 to 5 working mom lifestyle is what you're familiar with. The kids spend 8 hours or more with a babysitter, at daycare, etc. You get a break from being the go-to person for the little ones and get to converse with adult humans. I enjoy conversing with the adult humans. But this week has been a new challenge as I navigate the new-found role of Mom in my life. Sure, I've been home since my little guy was born in early February, but life has taken a few curves since then. We did not expect an extra week of parenting time with the older kiddos, and there's all sorts of pressure to make sure the kids are still filling their minds and learning new stuff. In an attempt to get some of my regular work done and keep the kids busy, we've been embracing homeschool

COVID-19 It's all the media is talking about. It's all my friends on social media are talking about... heck, one of my mommy friends even called me to make sure we were okay. I was already in a self-imposed quarantine. My little guy is not even 2 months old yet, and we've been holed up at home avoiding the crappy late winter weather (is it snowing or raining? why not both?!) and the regular seasonal flu. The ones who have stopped by were sure to be healthy, but really the only person besides the baby that I've interacted with is my husband. The media has made COVID-19 sound like a plague. News reports are all dire doom and gloom. The memes have been great, and Hubby shares them avidly on social media. Neither of us is particularly panicky in nature, and our daily life hasn't changed much. We're both introverts who rather only interact with fewer than 10 people at a time anyway. Baby could contract all sorts of things that he hasn't been vaccinated

Leap Day is a "bonus" day. I missed being a Leap Day baby myself by several hours which would have resulted in today being my 7th birthday, but I still get excited about the extra day. Nothing special necessarily happens on Leap Day, and there's nothing special I do to celebrate it. But this year it really is a bonus day and it's full of potential. A full extra day of baby snuggles!  Well, a full extra day of diapers too. But really, I haven't found diapers all that repulsive yet (and I've been peed on twice). A full extra day to get some house cleaning done.  Let's be honest, Hubby hasn't done any cleaning besides dishes while I've been on the mend from child birth. It's exactly why I went crazy with the nesting cleaning the day before baby's due date. It's now been 3 weeks and the house needs to be vacuumed again- badly. A full extra day of sunshine.   Yep, there's real life sunshine today. In fact, we've be

Breastfeeding is not for the weak-hearted or anyone afraid of their own inner thoughts. This 24-7 job, project, whatever you want to call it, is a constant minefield of emotions. Well, at least it has been for me. I was forewarned that breastfeeding would be difficult; I was under no illusion it was going to be easy. All the literature and advice said so. None of it prepared me for the actual experience. Your nipples will be sore. Yep, that was true. "Sore" doesn't quite cover it as an adjective though. It straight up hurts, it's painful, and once we mastered latching so it wasn't as painful- they are still ridiculously sensitive. My bra touching them is uncomfortable. The idea of having to let the little monster suck on them in yet another 2 hours again and again is emotionally draining. You won't get to sleep. Yep, accurate. Mine's a pretty good sleeper (when he's full and dry) but I'm still not getting enough sleep. I've never bee

It's winter here in the Copper Country and that means SNOW. To keep from going crazy, the fact of snow has to be embraced with open arms. This weekend we are predicted to get up to 15 inches or more of the white stuff, and since it's been snowing big fluffy flakes all morning- Safe bet we will likely get the amount predicted. At least we don't name our storms. I was watching the weather channel at the doctor's office last week while I was waiting for my baby check-up. The people on the show were discussing a named winter storm out in the mountains and I laughed a little to myself. If we named winter storms around here, we'd run out of names. Last I checked, the snow report total for Keweenaw County this year is already 167.3 inches (almost 14 feet). And it's still got a long way to go before winter is over. The snow is inevitable- like death and taxes. So what's a person to do? Play in it, duh. Sure, we have to move it, drive in it, dr

Working in an office while pregnant has some challenges. Now, compared to a lot of other jobs, an office setting where you sit at a desk most of the day isn't too horrible of a job to be at while pregnant. As long as you remember to occasionally get up and walk around, it's pretty manageable. But this post isn't about the physical issues with working while pregnant. It's my rant about the people. I like my co-workers in a general sense. My office environment is pretty casual (we can wear jeans and sneakers if we want) and it's a small group (about 15 people) so any issues that arise are often quickly resolved. But because of this casual atmosphere, which I usually love, almost every co worker has taken it upon themselves to make some awkward comment regarding my new mommy status. So here's how I'm dealing with the following types of people while pregnant: The guy who can't remember asking about all the details before There&#

I finally got to use my new snowshoes! For those of you who have been following along, you know from my previous post that everyone in our family got snowshoes this year for Christmas and I was ridiculously excited about it. The kids' reaction to them was as "meh" as I had figured it would be, but they both ended up out in the woods with Hubby for a few hours to try them out. Hubby and I's new snowshoes (and my baby bump) Today I got the chance to strap on my pair and head out to the far edge of our property with Hubby when he got home from work. We didn't go all the way to the edge of the property since it drops down into a ravine. At 35 weeks pregnant I prefer flat surfaces, so we mostly strolled (can you stroll in snowshoes?) around our yard. But it was the farthest back on the property I've been since we bought the place so it was a fun adventure. Now you're probably thinking that trudging through the snow in snowshoes at this sta

Happy 2020! New Year's Day Sunrise 2020 Today doesn't feel much different from yesterday. But it's regardless a fresh beginning, even if only a date on the calendar. We started out this morning with bright sunshine but still plenty cold- perfect January weather. This is the time when people usually talk about resolutions and changes they are going to make. I don't have any changes I plan to make this week, but I do have aspirations and goals for the coming year ahead. I don't usually make resolutions any more. In the past decade, very few of them made it to February and so I've found making a few main goals for the year works better than "resolutions" to change things. Of course, baby will be arriving in a short while and so most of my upcoming plans revolve around him. There's lots left to do and I've been putting off a lot of it until the holidays were over. So I guess my first goal for 2020 is to be prepared when baby arrives.