What to do on a Cold Day

Doesn't this just look cold and gloomy? Brrr! The view out our window was enough to keep us inside.

Today the schools were closed, since the cold temperatures were the reason we could not go out and play in the snow like we would on a typical snow day.  It was just so cold today we were inside all day with busy hands...

Building his own lego creation is always a good idea on a cold day:

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Making some new and fun homemade snacks:

If you think she does not look enthusiastic to eat these crackers with almond butter and homemade vanilla whip cream, you're right, she just wanted to lick off the whip cream!

Trying to figure out how the child safety lock works on the bathroom door:

 

Feeling proud that he figured out the door handle from inside the bathroom, opening and shutting over and over:

And lastly, what seems to be the highlight, and thus tells you just how exciting the day must have been~ finding the beautiful box of veggies that came in the door with their daddy:

Well, those were little moments from our day inside.  There were plenty of other more tedious things like cleaning the kitchen, the dining room table, the toys here and there, and loads of laundry...but who wants to hear about those things.  Tomorrow we will get more creative for it will be another cold one, a high predicted of 8 degrees!!

Photo of the Week

Kitty, Kitty...

We were cats

One of our favorite activities is face painting.  It seems like a project that would take a lot of time but actually it goes quick and satisfies the frequent "What can we do?" question.  Once painted, they go about the house as there new character and the imagination begins...This week we were cats...

I follow the Klutz series for face painting. The book comes with the paint and how to instructions and we love it.  We have so much fun, it won't be long till we need some replacement paints.

I just had to include this photo of 2 kitties playing together and sharing a moment in the window:

January Reads

Here it is the end of the month and I am just now posting our reading, a little late but it will be good to have as I look back over the year...

An everyday favorite for the youngest is Jamberry, by Bruce Degen. Maybe because it is about a little boy and a bear and their adventures picking and eating berries...since Quintin loves berries I think he imagines himself eating the berries with the bear.  Sometimes he points to the boy when I ask "where is Quiny?" and he smacks his lips like he can actually taste those berries.

My daughter is loving Bears in the Night, (it was mine when I was little) by Stan and Jan Berenstain.  She loves the repetition- at the window, out the window, down the tree, over the wall.  It is basically a cute story of adventurous bears told in one long line of prepositional phrases! Then at the end is a surprise owl, maybe where I started to love owls...whooo knows...ok, that was goofy.

Lastly, Tovrea truly enjoys A Pirates Guide to First Grade by James Preller.  He can relate to the challenges of school but he loves the authentic pirate language. At the end of the book is a list of pirate words and definitions. He now says to me, he needs to brush his choppers (teeth) and read books with his goggles (eyes). It's a cute and playful story...I always read it with my best pirate accent!

So with Valentines Day right around the corner I will have to post next months Valentine book choices early in the month, so probably next week.

Yammy Chocolate Muffins

Yes, I did mean "yammy"~

On my pursuit to find healthy or, I would be happy with just healthier snacks that the kids want to eat I decided to try what a lot of moms have been up to lately.  Jessica Seinfeld has a successful cookbook or two about sneaking in the veggies.   Hidden vegetable purees, a secret never told to the kids, or good luck getting them to try the next creation!

So, I saw on facebook a friend was making chocolate muffins with chocolate cake mix and pumpkin puree. I thought I would try it, except I did not have pumpkin- sweet potato is close enough right?

Here's how it went over-

Went well for the most part... Then the 7 year old came home.  At first he saw those chocolate muffins and was so excited...but then-

Well, I agreed with him actually. They did not taste that great.  So, later in the week I will try again with pumpkin.  I will let you know if those yams were the problem... In the meantime I will feed the yammy chocolate muffins to the younger two who think they are actually yummy!

Photo of the Week

In honor of the last weekend of the Denver Stock Show, here are my cowboys and cowgirl... (these are their tough faces)...

to see more cowboy and cowgirl photos click over the Read More link-

It's not my plan..but it's nap time.

I'm trying so hard to get the two younger ones to nap at the same time. Sometimes it works and sometimes, well you know.. most of the time, it does not.
Today, even though I knew my youngest was tired, I tried to get them to eat lunch and then nap at 1 (it was only noon)...but as he sat on my lap eating peanut butter crackers this is what happened.  He crashed out!

Isn't that funny how I always seem to have my camera close by? I have a small house what can I say... it usually is within arms reach!

Anyway, back to the baby...Oh, I just wanted to hold him for the next 2 hours...he's so sweet and he's my baby!  Yes, he's the youngest...so he never gets to be held for hours while he sleeps or picked up at every cry, or attended to every need...he has to be put down and he has to wait since there are others here who need me too.  It's hard to be the baby, and this is only the beginning for him.  While many fret over never getting to put their baby down in the crib because babies love to wake as soon as they are laid down, here I am all worked up over not getting to sit and hold him longer...

(*I put him in the crib and he slept like an angel for 2 hours, my daughter didn't fall asleep until after he woke, but...yes, I am fortunate at least he naps!)