50 Boredom Busters...

Indiana was one of many states hit last week with over 3 inches of ice and accumulating snow. We were lucky we never lost power and faired better than many of our Chicago-land friends. However, I was NOT cut out for 4 consecutive days inside with my darling girls. To top it off I got this nasty cold/cough thing that was going around so my nights were about as painful as our long days were. The good news? We lived to tell the tale! Here's a listing of some of our Boredom Busters from the week, many we did last week, others were carried over from other hostage situations, but a good list anyway.

1. Make Monkey Bread
   
2. Finger Paint
   
3. Play with Play-dough
   
4. Have a tea-party themed hot cocoa party


5. Play dress-up, pretend to be your favorite princess while watching princess movies


6. Mix food coloring in bath water, see what colors you can make


7. Collect a bucket clean snow and bring inside to play


8. Collect icecles from outside and bring in to eat
   
9. Have a dance party


10. Make s'mores in the oven


11. Make catepillars out of old egg cartons



12. Practice letter-writing, scissor cutting, glue sticking or any kind of craft!
    
13. Bead necklaces


14. Count money in your piggy bank


15. Skype with Aunt Cat


16. Make Valentine's Day card


17. Bake cookies




18. Build forts


19. Play 'school' setting all our dolls up for circle time and reading books


20. Look through old pictures of mommy & daddy as kids


21. Watch mom & dad's wedding video


22. Make heart garland


23. Bake "Heart Tarts" (not a fan favorite)


24. Help mom organize toys!


25. Compile info for taxes (mom's task)


26. Have a dinner date with our neighbors



27. Change all the outfits on the dolls--have them do a fashion show


28. Build our train tracks off the train table and around the first floor of the house


29. Watch videos of Addy & Lilly as babies
    
30. Make a movie video
    
31. Read LOTS of books (Have You Filled a Bucket Today? is a current favorite!)


32. Take pictures


33. Shared popsicles with our friends



34. Have a spa day--manis & pedis for everyone
    
35. Watch A LOT of Dora the Explorer


36. Wrap ourselves in toilet paper to pretent to be mummies


37. Sign up for summer camp (yea!)


38. Roll bouncy balls down the basement steps to see which one lands first (testing gravity)


39. Squeeze our own orange juice


40. Build pyramids out of our plastic cups


41. Make an entire village out of our wooden blocks


42. Paint cardboard boxes into our own houses


43. Play super-hero's with pillow-cases as our capes


44. Make colored pancakes with food coloring


45. Schedule a winter get-away (Great Wolf Lodge--see you in 2 weeks!)


46. Read blogs and let kiddos see all their online friends :-)


47. Online shopping (mom's therapy)


48. Host in indoor scavenger hunt


49. Build inside snowmen with marshmallows


50. When the ice begins to thaw and you are brave enough...head outside!

Snow Days...

A holiday post will come this week, but I needed to upload these pictures or I know I never will! We had a lot more snow than normal for December in Indiana and the girls love it (Addy more than Lilly). And a snowy afternoon spent with our neighbors makes the event twice as nice for A & L!

They didn't quite understand why I told them this was a bad idea...

Addy is always ready for a ride!

Snow-wrestling

Our Neighbors...

Snow-sisters!

Sometimes we forget...

Sometimes we forget our little munchkins are ONLY 2! We stay up at night and talk about how fun it will be to camp and fish and swim and hike with them and when it snows, we get as excited as we used to when we were kids.

So, when Indy got hit with 7 inches last week, what else was there to do? We layered up and head out to the hill Jeremy had "scouted" earlier in the week with our 2 shiny new sleds. The wind chills were in the single digits....not winning any parenting awards on this one. One trip down each (Daddy & Lilly on the left/Addy & Mommy on the right) and then in the car and home for hot chocolate...I guess there is always next year?

For now, we'll stick to the "bunny hill" in our neighbors yard, video linked, here.

Mommy Resolutions...

The holiday decorations are packed in the attic and we've eaten the last of the leftovers, it's time to ring in 2010. Here are a few Mommy Resolutions for 2010:

1. Find calm in the chaos (I resolved this last year and will probably resolve this every year until retirement)
2. Bribe less, show praise with words more
3. Be more patient with my VERY independent toddlers
4. Bring back date night
5. Stop eating Addy & Lilly's snacks
6. Play in the snow more...

The video is about 4 minutes, so pop some popcorn if you must, and enjoy!

Leave me a comment and share your New Years resolutions! Cheers to you and yours this NYE!

Snow Days, Play Dates the Museum (again) and More!

Keeping 2 very busy toddlers entertained has become the hardest job I've ever had to do! We are officially down to just 1 nap a day. Somedays those naps range from none (Lilly yesterday) to 3 hours, so we are working on consistency. We are doing our best to avoid cabin fever, because the days we stay couped up in the house, usually end in dramatics for the last hour before bedtime. With a couple inches of snow expected in Indiana today, I thought I'd bundle and take a walk with them in the snow. They were funny and true to every story you've ever heard about snow and kids, after bundled in fleece/footed pajamas , under fleece lined, waterproof pants with fleece sweatshirts, coats, hats gloves, socks and shoes, Lilly dirtied her diaper! We got outside nonetheless and had some fun. I even got a neighbor to take a picture of the three of us.

Here are some pictures of our busy week...

Saturday was a fun day with Grandma and Grandpa Ash at the Children's Museum

Monday, we tried a playgroup with the local twins group. Here's Lilly riding with her friend Olivia.

Tuesday, Mallory hosted a big playgroup, so we got to see lots of friends! Seriously, how many kids can take over 1 toy?

Today, we've played in the snow, torn the house apart, had a dance party, unfolded laundry mom just folded, stuck toys in the kitchen trashcan and more--is it naptime yet?

Keep in mind, during the craziness of trying to exhaust them every morning, I'm also trying to keep up with my "real part-time job". Somedays it is easier than others, but whoever said working from home with little ones was easy--lied to you! I typically end up doing quite a bit of work after they go down at the end of the day. Not that I'd change it--we love everyday! A little more sleep out of them might be nice.

PS. My roommate from grad school and good friend Jenny also visited over the weekend, but apparently I was off my photo-shooting game. Despite having no good pics--Thanks for the visit Jenny--WE LOVE YOU!