Snow Day!!

We have been long overdue for the fluffy white stuff but we finally got a few inches dropped in our area overnight!! The kids took full advantage of their day off from school and spent the better part of the morning sledding and having snowball fights with the neighborhood kids! I enjoyed some quiet moments watching from inside while sipping my hazelnut coffee. I think I could use a few more of these snow days :) I managed to make a quick appearance outside just long enough to snap a few photos of my kids and then quickly tiptoed back inside where the gas-log fire had enveloped the house with warmth. Oliver was not a fan of the snow and all the commotion and unusual gear that went along with it. He was spooked by all the "snow stuff" and stayed clear until the kiddos along with their boots, snow bibs, and sleds were safely outside. Then he reappeared and sat by the back door and watched...quick to scamper away if any of them came near, lol!

Once everyone was all snowed out we had to make our traditional snow cream. It's super easy and the kids (and husband) love it!

10 cups of packed snow (no yellow!)
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1-2 tbsp vanilla extract

Simply mix your milk, sugar and vanilla in a cup or bowl until sugar is dissolved. Then pour the mixture into your large bowl of fresh snow. Mix until creamy and serve immediately. Your kids will thank you..even more so if you let them help!! Happy Friday!!

Picking Leaves

Every morning as of late it's the same thing,"Mommy, can I go outside and pick leaves?" she asks. She is fascinated by them...sometimes calling them flowers because in her mind anything colored this beautifully must be a flower. Isn't childhood innocence just the most precious thing?! If only we could all view our world through child-like eyes...what a magical place this would be. Just a simple thought for today. Happy Friday!!

 

 

Rapunzel! Let down your hair!! Fun with playsilks

Those of you who have been around here a while may remember this post I did years ago when I first discovered the magic of playsilks! They are such a simple toy and simple to make using inexpensive silk scarves and kool-aid. If I remember correctly I believe I bought my silks here and you can find a line-up of which flavors produce which colors here. Not every flavor is available everywhere so you may have to do some hunting if you want a particular color. I still have a special stash of kool-aids that aren't available in my area that I bought in a SC Bi-Lo store while on vacation in 2008. My husband and kids are always trying to sneak packets out to use to make kool-aid and I am forever having to snatch them back, lol! If you'd like to make your own there are lots of tutorials online but this one is one of the ones I followed back in 2008.

My girls have been playing with their silks for 3.5 years now (my how they've changed!) and they still have tons of fun with them. Yesterday they, along with my mom came up with a fun new idea for them! Both Halle & Ella are big fans of Disney's Tangled movie so they decided to use the playsilks to create long hair like Rapunzel and run around watching their "hair" follow after them! It was beyond cute!

Just a cute photo

Just wanted to share a photo I snapped this morning of the kids enjoying some daddy playtime! I was doing my morning bed-making rounds when I heard laughter in the living room. When I went to see what the commotion was all about I found this....



LOVE it! Luckily they stayed on long enough for me to get the shot. Gotta love playtime with daddy! Happy Thursday all!

How Boys Play

While the girls were napping I snapped this shot of my son quietly playing with some of his favorite toys....army men. He had them all over the living room and kitchen, hiding in every corner, crack, and crevice. I'm not entirely sure but I think they were plotting an attack! Looks like these three little speckled men were the unlucky targets! Doesn't seem like a fair fight to me.


"Give up...You're surrounded!"

Sweet Innocence

I took Halle outside yesterday to get some images of her playing and discovering. I love how these photos reflect the innocence of a child at play. We visited three different locations during our photoshoot...a field of flowers, a vacant English tudor style home, and a park downtown. We had a lot of fun together and I plan to do this with each of my children.

5 Minutes

That's all it took for them to turn a perfectly clean bedroom into a complete mess! But, I couldn't get upset b/c it was just too sweet watching my two little girls (without their knowledge) play together at their picnic with all of their furry friends! Any mom knows that if you can get away for 5 minutes to fold some laundry, check email, do a little blogging, wash dishes, or (insert your task here), you are bound to find your kids doing something that makes your "to do" list a little bit longer! Lucky for me today it was just innocent fun...no permanent markers or scissors involved. Phew!











Little Lamb and Valentine Bear snacking on a strawberry poptart, kiwi, and a golden delicious apple! Yum!

















Pink Piggy and her babies were invited to the picnic as well! What a sweet little family they are....and such great manners! I think pigs get a bad rap! LOL!

















Also on the guest list was Mr.& Mrs.Birdie. They came along with their musical birdhouse! Hope they don't mind my girls banging on their roof all the time!













Anyway, hope you are all having a great monday. Spend some time on the floor playing with your kids! It's taken me about 15min to write this post so I'm off to see what kind of "to do" list my kids have created for me this time...I'll grab my Magic Eraser on the way!