Why I Love Snow Days

While the blizzard raged outside, we found plenty of activities to keep us busy.  How nice it was to watch my entire family take part in melting crayons into valentines.  I didn't do much of anything besides provide guidance.  There is just something about all five of us partaking in an activity.  Not only is it hard to find the time, it is hard to find an activity that meets all of my children's skill sets.  Daddy cut the wrappers, the twins pulled the wrappers, and Savannah broke the crayons and placed them in the molds.

With the exception of today where crankiness and feeling not so good was abundant, I love snow days. They force you to stop, alter plans, and spend time together as a family. It seems that the world stops which allows me to put my "to do list" on hold. We don't comb our hair, eat real meals, or watch the clock and are typically happier for it. With two and a half feet of snow on the ground, more expected on Wednesday, and temps below freezing for many days ahead, we will look forward to more days like this.

Snow Fun

I ventured out with Lila and Savannah this afternoon.  The winds were gone and the sun setting.  It was rather pleasant.  I couldn't believe how much snow there was.  Almost every neighborhood kid had dug out some sort of snow cave that the girls enjoyed.which was a nice treat for the girls.

Miss Grace couldn't bare parting with the snow so I let her bring some inside. I don't know how she can continue to shovel it into her mouth with out her lips freezing off. She doesn't seem to mind it one bit.

In Case You Were Wondering. . .

Yes, Alex is kicking himself for not asking for a snow blower this Christmas.


(shoveling in our blizzard conditions - with Miss Grace by his side)

No, Lila does not get cold, never wants to come in, and, oddly enough, found a way to "swim" in our deep snow because walking was too hard.


Savannah tried it for awhile and got cold.

Adeline and I looked on from the driveway for two minutes max.

(They enjoyed a snuggly read in the chair while Lila and Daddy dealt with elements)

Yes, I got my wish my wish and then some.  We got dumped on and I love it!!! I hear more is coming on Wednesday too!!

Symmetry and Patterns

The other day I let Lila skip her nap and stay up with Savannah. Poor Adeline was sick and begging for her much needed nap. Savannah and Lila had the Play-Doh out and began demonstrating some interesting concepts. Savannah started out with patterns galore and finished off with a pattern cake stacked high. She eventually put together a presentation with symmetry as well. The girl really loves patterns!

 

I decided to see if Lila could recognize and complete a simple pattern. I didn't think she would be successful and don't know at what age simple patterns emerge. I was pleased to see her extend my simple Play-Doh ball pattern of red-purple-red-purple. She did it all on her own.

She wasn't too interested in repeating different patterns and moved on to cutting out a gingerbread man which she declared was Baby Jesus. Soon Baby Jesus had a binki and a Bunny.


Guess who was cutting Baby Jesus in half with a knife when I walked into the room a few minutes later?

Coloring

One of Adeline's many challenges is coloring.  It is also something that goes unnoticed by the untrained eye but will most likely lead to significant hurdles on down the road.  My last conference with her IU teachers concluded that it was too early to "work" on coloring.  I was encouraged to develop strength in her hands while also making her use two hands together.  Most children automatically hold their paper with one hand while the other is coloring but Adeline has to be reminded.  Things that help strengthen her grasp are activities that include tong-like tools and small objects.  We also rip paper, crinkle, paper and string various objects.  Working on coloring has not been on my radar since I have been focused on laying the foundation of a pencil grasp.

I am sure you can imagine my surprise when a couple of coloring pages ended up in her back pack (from her mainstream preschool).  They had scribbles with more than one color.  In the past, Adeline has HATED coloring.  It has been hard and unsuccessful.  Recently, I have seen some coloring come from her IU classroom too.  I am working on scheduling a conference to talk about this transition. 

The other night I had some one on one time with girls and I decided to try coloring with Miss Belle.  I didn't use hand over hand but talked about what colors we should use and where in on the coloring page they should go.  I also continually pointed to white space and asked Adeline to color it.   I had her color fast and slow, both of which she could do.  Her crayon worked its way out of her grasp numerous times but she kept going.  She clearly has more hand and finger strength because she can apply enough pressure to make solid marks.  It is a far cry from what seemed like a "greased-up, falling from her fingers, no pressure, crayon grasp" from a few months back.

Here is her picture of Big Bird.  It is her first complete coloring and I am more than thrilled.   The yellow is pretty hard to see but it is there!!

I also included a picture that Lila Grace did that same evening so that I can look back and track her progress as well.  She is coloring quite well when she is reminded to go slow and is working on drawing people and writing her name.

 

Her First Party

Adeline and Lila have both received their first birthday party invitation from someone outside of the family friend circle. I am floored that they are old enough to receive such invitations. It is very strange taking one and not the other, although in this case the other was invited which I graciously turned down.

Off Adeline went to her first birthday party this weekend. I need not list all of the things that could have made this event disastrous such as crowds and an unfamiliar house etc., but I must mention that I was well aware that it could be a pretty miserable experience.

Upon arriving Adeline stayed on my lap and hung pretty close which was the case for all of the girls??? Every now and then she was sucked into the cars and tractors. Eventually, she was full force into Batman helicopters and Star Wars helmets. She even took after the boys in their game of whacking the monkey puppet with a helicopter. Why do boys HIT everything??

Adeline sang Happy Birthday, ate her cake, gave Ms. Joan (the mother of the birthday boys, yes twins) a kiss goodbye. I ate up every comment such as this one, "Is she always this endearing." I pretty much said yes because if the stars align in her sensory world and she without sibling rivalry, Adeline is still my peace and calm with a dose of cuteness thrown in.

Here she is with one of the birthday boys.  She could tell you if it was Josh or Justin but I still haven't figured it out.

Taking part in some BOY fun! 

A Little Surprise

When coming home from work Friday night, I found this. . .

My bed turned down

A book about Heaven

A story written and illustrated by you know who

And a little keepsake box (unearthed from the infamous Goodwill pile) housing a secret message.


Sometimes I can't get over how thoughtful my oldest girl is.