What we've been up to

As usual, I've been busy at life and delinquent at blogging.  What have we been up to lately, you ask?

I'll give you the low-down by family member . . . 

Alicia: Washing dishes, cooking meals, reading Alice in Wonderland to Chloe, baking cupcakes, singing Fifty Nifty United States, researching school options for next year, surviving attacks of low blood sugar, wiping noses, eating large amounts of pepperoni, shoveling snow, and playing scrabble on Facebook.

Matt: Preparing English lectures, playing cars and trucks with Clive, reading books about DeSoto to the kids at bedtime, teaching Chloe Latin, reading Taming of the Shrew (his current Shakespeare-for-fun read), folding laundry with me while watching cheesy science-fiction flicks, playing cribbage, and consuming carrots.

Chloe: Losing both her front teeth, reading whenever she gets the chance (today in the car I turned on some music and she said impatiently, "Please turn it down mom, I'm trying to read!"), practicing the piano, drawing, playing with Barbies, snuggling with me on the couch to do school, crafting a "snow grouch" (not good enough packing snow for a true snowman), flitting around like a fairy, and being generally annoyed by her younger brother.

Clive: Playing with his cars and trucks, watching Richard Scarry dvds, spouting ridiculous and unexpected sayings in an unbelievably cute 3-year-old voice, warming my heart with his huge grin, mowing the snow with his lawnmower, coloring, creating general disorder and loudness, helping me bake muffins, and building garages for his construction machine toys.

Solomon: Climbing stairs, cruising around furniture, laughing hysterically when tickled in the tummy, trying to feed himself and making disgusting messes, smiling like the sunshine, suffering from a double ear infection, and cutting more teeth.


That's what we've been up to in a nutshell!  What have you been doing this month?

Making suncatchers

This week we made homemade suncatchers.  I LOVE this winter activity because 1) it's super easy, 2) it doesn't require any special materials, and 3) it doesn't take long to get the final product.

It's also a fun one to do near the end of winter so you can observe some melting.  Then you can throw in some science instruction about changes in states of matter.  That's my fancy teacher way of explaining that ice melts and becomes water.  :)

And when ice melts, spring is NEAR.  Yeehaw!  We're all hoping the groundhog's early spring prediction is correct!

This suncatcher craft is ridiculously simple.  Get a deep circular 8" or 9" pie pan.  Have your kids fill their pie pans up with small stuff.  A quick raid of your junk drawer or sewing box should net PLENTY of materials.  We used buttons, magnets, stickers, paper clips, sequins, erasers, ribbons, strings, appliques, plastic spools . . . the possibilities are endless!

To make a hanging string for your suncatcher, use a sturdy string or cord and place it with the ends inside the pan.  You'll want your hanging loops to be well frozen into your ice so they don't break.

Then, fill up the pans with water (we dyed our water with food coloring first).  Pop the pans in the freezer and give them a few hours to freeze solid. 

Voila, customized icy suncatchers!

They look a little strange hanging outside on our porch but I could care less.  The kids have already gotten big kicks out of watching their suncatchers to see how they're melting. And Clive's even has a little icicle forming on the bottom of his. 

[Find a variation of this craft on the Family Fun website.]

What winter crafts do you enjoy making?

Clive was a bit excessive in adding items to his pie pan.

Chloe's pink and purple themed suncatcher.

Clive's crowded suncatcher turned out pretty and sparkly!

How do you hot cocoa?

For the last week our corner of northeast Ohio has gotten a goodly amount of snow. Yes! Finally!

In my opinion, if we're going to endure the cold temps of winter, we might as well have some nice clean white snow cover on the ground instead of dirty looking slush.

In a blast of unexpected motivation, I bundled up the kiddos twice yesterday for some outdoor snow romping. Thankfully, Chloe can get herself almost totally bundled. Whew. Clive on the other hand is a squirmy wormy and I have to keep dragging him back to don him with the next necessary piece of winter wear.

Anyways, after some hard core snow playing (after which Clive balled at having to come inside) we warmed up with hot cocoa. To my shame I must admit I've never made hot cocoa from scratch until this year. It's delicious and far superior to those sad little instant cocoa packets!

Last night I strayed from the standard cocoa recipe and added some crushed peppermints to the cocoa pot. YUM!

I'd like to do some more hot cocoa experimenting . . . . especially with the mexican chocolate sitting idle in my cupboard (it's a hard chocolate wedge mixed with cinnamon and sugar).

How do you make your hot cocoa? Any interesting variations you'd like to share?

Snow, snow, snow, snow, snow!

Snow has FINALLY hit Ohio with a bang this January. It seems that God is making up time for the lack of Chrstimas whiteness with the recent days of unending snowfall.

Since we live just south of the aptly named Ohio "snowbelt" we haven't been getting unusually large amounts of snow. Instead we have just enough to be pretty, playable and enjoyable.

I seriously hate getting the kids prepared for snow-play. It feels like I'm suiting them up for battle. The first time Matt witnessed the "dressing for snow" ritual he laughed at my over-preparedness. But as this Wisconsin girl knows, if a child's skins gets wet/cold snow playtime is immediately over. So, I bundle each kiddos in two pairs of pants, two shirts, two pairs of socks, and then layer the outerwear on top and seal any remaining gaps with scarves. There's nothing more miserable then snow dripping into a boot or sleeve.

If you're envisioning the bundling-up scene from "A Christmas Story" then you know what I'm talking about. :)

Playing in the snow is not only invigorating, it's followed by yummy cups of hot cocoa and GUARANTEED naps for the children. That in itself is more than enough motivation for me to endure the snow-bundling ordeal.

And in my opinion there is almost nothing cuter than a little kiddo all bundled up toddling around in the snow.

Hope you too have some winter white goodness to play in! What are your favorite snowy activities?

Winter insanity

Between runny noses, energetic kiddos, and frigid outdoor temperatures in our household we have come to a consensus . . . WINTER SHOULD BE OVER BY NOW!

Am I the only mom who comes dangerously close to insanity during these waning winter months?

Chloe and Clive have both had on-off colds the last 10 days and it's kept us at home more than usual. Lately I've been noticing how desperately my kids need to expend their energy and how easily they can become bored with the same old sights and sounds of home.

Yesterday I made concerted efforts to do some creative and fun activities to fend off the impending insanity factor. We did bubbles twice (giant bubble wands are magical! The big huge ones that look like sheathed swords, know which ones I mean?), made winter suncatchers, played elefun several times (boy, did Clive dig that game!), colored with chalk on our basement floor, and generally destroyed every room we played in.

Still, 5:00 p.m. did not come soon enough! (And Matt came home later than usual so it was more like 5:40 p.m.) Part of that is because on these "at home" days Chloe just doesn't get tired enough for a nap so I don't get a child-free break time. And I need a child-free break. Even from my precious and adorable little Chloe.

Chloe's tummy is now a bit uneasy and she got sick this afternoon. I feel for her, she's a pitiful whiny little sickie right now. But it means another day of quarantine at home tomorrow. The forecast looks to be a promising 36 so we might brave the elements and take a walk. That always helps the day go by faster. (Especially if we make a stop at Dairy Queen . . . Ice cream is comforting to me regardless of the weather.)

Anyone have any creative suggestions for fending off the winter crazies?

Snowpants!

Today we woke up to a couple meager inches of snow. It wasn't much but definitely enough to do some romping and playing in.

I happily got out Chloe's winter snowpants and decked her out for the cold. She's such a big girl; this year she's graduated to the overall type of snowpants! She LOVED them. The feel, the noise, everything. Check out her happy smiles below! Who needs snow when you've got rockin' snowpants?!?

Outside we made a teensy-weensy snowman, romped through the backyard making footprints, and formed some snowballs. Chloe doesn't get the whole throw-the-snowball idea yet. She just wanted to hold hers and carry it around. :)

After only 20 minutes I got cold and forced Chloe inside. She kept saying, "I not cold. I not cold, mommy!" Oh well, there will be other snowy play days where her and daddy can brave the weather for longer periods of time.



What are your favorite snow-playing activities?

An unexpected Valetine's gift

Better than a box of chocolates is the unexpected gift I got today - Matt's school is closed because of our recent snow dumpage! YAY! No classes for him to attend and no classes for him to teach all day. What a great break for him and what a blessed Valentine's treat for us to have him home.

Unfortunately, he hasn't had too much time to read or study. He spent most of the morning shoveling our driveway and sidewalk and then he did a few neighbors' sidewalks. This evening we're going to splurge and have a dairy queen dinner (we just love their bacon cheeseburgers) and either play a game of scrabble or watch a movie. I'm hoping for scrabble. Matt's whomped me the last two times we've played and I need to redeem myself. :)

A quiet snowy Valentine's Day for our family trio. How nice! How are you celebrating today?

Survey says . . .

Thanks so much to all of you who posted about your thermostat readings! I found it really interesting to read all your comments. Because there are so many variables, it's hard to compare and contrast the findings. But, for those of you who are graph-oriented (feel free to call me a nerd), here's just a basic chart depicting average daytime thermostat temperatures . 68 degrees was by far the most popular temperature choice.

Enjoy your weekend and stay warm!

Thermostat Survey

As the arctic chill moves across the midwest, I've attempted to convince my husband to crank up our thermostat. And he did! We've gone up one whole degree to 68! Thank the Lord for a working furnace and indoor heat to stay warm during these crazy frigid days.

Our household thermostat debate has made me curious, what temperature is your thermostat at during this winter weather? When you post your answer, also indicate what type of abode you heat (apartment, one-story house, duplex, etc.) and also which state you live in.

Stay warm!