it is negative 7 degrees with the wind chill. without the wind it is a balmy 9 degrees. ferenheit.
I HATE YOU, OLD MAN WINTER!

Busy little bees are we...

So I missed posting last week. Could have been that every time I went to sit at the computer I had 2 kids at my side with a whole list of "Mom can I...", could have been that I needed a week to recover from a VERY LONG 4 day weekend. Could just have been that I forgot.
I honestly don't remember much these days....
But I do know that our time has been filled with dress-up, art projects, books, and as much silliness as a body can handle. Because if you are going to get a little cabin fever, it's best to get the silly kind. The best-loved silliness here goes like this:
Me: (sneeze!)
(look around until I catch eye contact from one of the kids)
Was that you?!

That is the funniest thing EVER, according to our resident 5 year old.

Anywho, I'm off to do my 1 hour of art for the day. Enjoy the pics.

This was 2 weeks ago. Today we hit 43 degrees and are currently enjoying a light drizzle. I am considering breaking out the short sleeves & having a hula party.

Turning a corner

Maybe it was just openly admitting a case of the blahs, or maybe it's that Adrian craves to know EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING but I have gone and decided to make the best of the next 10 weeks of winter. (10 weeks--gag!)
Thus far we have

1. Created a question box. In it, we put questions he has that I don't have answers to. (Currently I need someone who knows about porcupines and someone who knows about bees--Nessa I'm looking at you)

2. Caught snowflakes on black paper & examined them w/a magnifying glass. (EVERY household should have a magnifying glass)

3. Tonight we are timing how long it takes for ice to form outside (it's 22 degrees). We also put animal-shaped cookie cutters into the tray of water--I'll let you know how that pans out.

4. Looked up craft projects for later. I reeeeally need to restock the kids craft bin. We are all out of pipe cleaners, pom poms, and googly eyes. I learned that with wax paperas a non-stick surface you can make a whole mess of stuff out of stuff from your kitchen.

5. This coming weekend is a 4 day weekend for Adrian. I thought we could get crafty, get cozy, and learn a little bit about Martin Luther King, Jr. And if I can get Fiona into snowpants (or newspaper bags) we can go out into the yard and make some snow sculptures. Our current accumulation is about 6 inches (measuring will come later)

Fried polenta cakes for breakfast. Heaven!

Unh hunh unh hunh

I have been busy trying not to be "ogre mom". It is tough work, let me tell you. I think its just the season...I've said it before, I'll say it every year until I shuffle off this mortal coil: I HATE WINTER.
I feel no joy in a snowy landscape. I don't look forward to first frosts, wool sweaters, thermal underwear, and all that heavily layered stuff.

So, I am trying to overcome the tiny black cloud that follows me like a balloon & not take it out on the kids. (After all, they can't even tie their shoes--it would be highly unlikely they could build a weather-changing device out of legos & shiny gum wrappers for me)
And as winter draaaags on, I have less patience, less time for fun & frolic. Today, it was pretty sunny out so I made a point to sit in a sunbeam for as long as I could.

And its becoming harder to live up to the goal for 2010: don't forget to have a good time.
Blah!
Winter is a roller coaster of blah!
I'm going to drink some hot chocolate and read something funny. All this stewing is no good.
More later.

Happy New Year!
My resolution is as follows: Don't Forget To Have A Good Time.
What's yours?