One day, while the others napped, my mother and I took a snowy walk through the woods by the Sawkill.

 Always a highpoint of any visit to Woodstock!

 Summer or winter, every turn of the river is gorgeous.

 I had to share this random moment because it's just too funny not to share.

 It hasn't been snowy enough in Denver, and we have been too busy to head into the mountains this winter, so Q hasn't had a chance to try out her snow blades.

 But that hasn't stopped her from learning to use her equipment. 

Q likes to figure things out, and she needed to do several test runs of putting on her boots, easing into her bindings, working the bindings, and finally attaching the safety leashes.

 Only Q knows when she has practiced something enough times to process it properly in her little computer of a brain. She will not stop practicing until she's satisfied that she has it down.

 Ah.........

Success!

 Breakfast chéz LaoLao.

 Surrounded by her beautiful art...

 It's a magical world for a little one.

 Playing "A Paris, A Paris, sur un petit cheval gris" on the couch. The same game my mother and grandmother used to play with me when I was little.

My mother has been working this year on a series of paintings from last year's trip to Africa for a museum show. Aren't they amazing?

Back in Colorado, of course, the weather is much balmier, and we're planning on heading to the National Western Stock Show this afternoon...just for fun!

(btw, yes, that is a "mommy you're walking on thin ice" look in the last photo. Even Q sometimes gets tired of the paparazzi.)

...OK, now back to NY photos...

 What to do on a chilly day in January, but go exploring some old haunts from the past!

Here, the famed Maverick concert hall, where my piano-prodigy of an aunt played when I was small, where we spent so many languid summer afternoons listening to classical music in the dappled shade of the forest.

 Interesting to stomp around here in the deep snow, my mother and I, when all the doors are locked and the benches drawn in for the winter, and not a track but our own footsteps in the blanket of white that shrouds the winter woods.

 A visit home is a time for happy rememberings...

Then a winding drive home past the Ashokan reservoir, with the baby falling asleep in her car seat.

p s - thanks to Julia over at the very fabulous Planet Awesome Kids for featuring our Q again today! Big kiss.

 Heading out in a bitter wind for a Sunday breakfast at local favorite Oriole9.

 I think Q was enjoying herself ;)

 In an everday sense, I am not much of a breakfast eater. More of a dark-chocolate-and-coffee girl. But Oriole9 makes my favorite breakfast, flat out, no contest. I promise you that this plate was clean when I was done!

 In Woodstock on a chilly morning, with snowflakes materializing out of a cloudless sky outside the windows, and the peace and comfort of my mother's home keeping us cozy inside.

 Opening belated Christmas presents with LaoLao.

 No winter too cold for Q and her intrepid sidekick, Keroppi.

Reading "maps" in the car. She considers herself a master navigator.

PS - Stop by one of my favorite blogs, MaandagDaandag, to wish Elvis a happy birthday! You might see some of my prints among her fabulous birthday photos! Daan is one of the coolest (and most creative) moms in the blogosphere, and her kids are the coolest!

PHEW!

She finally arrived at her new home in France...the doll that I made on commission for Valérie of L'atelier de Marie et Rose-Alice. 

I thought she was lost for good...

Remember that storm that ravaged the postal service in France and England just before Christmas? Well, she was shipped just before it, and weeks later when she had still not arrived on Valérie's doorstep, I was sure she had fallen victim to the tempest. 

But upon returning from NY I was thrilled to find this lovely post on the MRA website!

Hurrah!

We're back from NY...in body, if not in soul. It always takes a bit for the soul to catch up...or so I hear. Certainly feels that way. 

I will eventually get all of our photos downloaded and begin to post in earnest. 

For now, I leave you with this photo of Q and her daddy at MoMA. 

Oh, how she loves her museums!

Us communing with Serra at Dia Beacon. 

We're off to NYC on the train today. 

Keep voting for sweet Qiu: 

www.babiekinsmag.com/final

We don't expect her to win, but there's something important here about challenging the conventional concepts of beauty, and about the fact that a child who has had two major facial surgeries could be nominated for something like this. It means something to me, and to the self-esteem of so many children who will face the same challenges that she has faced and will face. 

Q in snowy Woodstock with her LaoLao

Hello from snow upstate New York! We woke up this morning in the midst of a storm predicted to dump 19" of snow on our region! The dim-lit morning world outside my mother's windows is already swathed down to the smallest twig in a fairytale blanket of fine powder snow. There is maple syrup on the table and coffee brewing in the press. We are currently digging in for a cozy, snowy day, after a party among old friends last night and a day at the contemporary art museum in Beacon the day before.

Meanwhile...to my surprise I've just discovered that Q has been nominated as a finalist for the Babiekins magazine cover contest! You can vote for her here: www.babiekinsmag.com/final

You're allowed to vote until February 1, so go on over and make a little girl excited! OK...actually she's much more excited about a snowstorm and a grandmother and the Wizard of Oz right now. But you know what I mean ;)

If you don't know Babiekins, it's worth a look: http://Babiekinsmag.com/ and the blog: http://babiekinsmag.com/blog/

I'm trying to import one of their lovely buttons, but the html isn't working for me, so you'll just have to click the plain ol' link and take a gander. It's packed with yumminess!

If we're lucky, we will be taking the train down the gorgeous Hudson valley to NYC tomorrow. See you on the other side of the storm! ox

 Q sporting a haircut for our trip. Her very FIRST actual haircut!

We went down to the lake before dinner tonight to play with cattails and enjoy the last of the sun before we travel to snowy New York!

 "Teaching" with her handy notebook.

 Releasing cattail fluff with daddy.

 I think they call this "jumping for joy"!

 She is such a ham.

 Daddy and the dogs at sunset.

And with that...see you all on the 17th! 

Have a lovely week!

OX