…to pluto and back

and the winter days drag on… and on… and on…  with rain that doesn’t even melt the snow in the beginning of March!

and i think we are going stir crazy cooped up inside day after day after day…

though we do get out a bit.  out to go sledding (or force aidan to try), out to build snowforts, out to dig tunnels in the mountains that the snow plow builds up in the cul de sac around the corner.   out to ride tricycles and red-cars with the faintest glimmer of meltage along the sidewalks… even an early trek to gallup park in the still freezing river air.  and we’ve found a few outlets to venture out to and still keep warm.  library storytime on thursdays,  treks to the occasional mall that has a kids’ playplace, stops at a mc d’s that might have a climby thing, a toy store here or there.

but we do stay in an awful lot.  and what do we do for two months straight with only a couple sightings of green grass?  well, here are a few ideas:

• we play camping (upstairs) and cottage (in the basement) and more camping and cottage, and more camping and cottage, and more camping and cottage and more…
• we make yummy things to eat… brownies, cookies, dishes & supper foods, finger jello, and for a while- friendship bread
• alex is taking the first steps in learning to read
• aidan loves to do puzzles and more puzzles and more puzzles
• we do crafty stuff- making cards & decorations for the ‘cottage.’  aidan likes to paint.  muma likes to color pictures in the coloring books
• we look at pictures on the computer whatever the interest is for the day/week.  cars, space stuff & shuttle launches, how they make glass/crayons/…
• we play bup-bums who like to eat tasty snacks and tender morsels, and we ‘chase’ some more, and muma’s favorite:  ‘alex run around the circle 10 times- you need to burn some energy!’
• we play trash guy, trains, trucks, and cars that zoom down the given ramp into the ‘mudpuddles’ and need another car to ‘help’ come get them out
• we play more camping and cottage
• we use any and everything to build sabbath schools, pianos and (yes, still…) nativities.
• we listen to alexander sing about anything he wants to… made up songs to every song he knows.  he loves loves loves to sing
• we read books.  alexander has the turtle book memorized…looks like we need to move on to longer bible texts!
• we have lots of birthday parties
• we build houses out of magnets
• we take apart cars and put them back together over and over again
• we do dishes, and then muma cleans up the sink area from her dish ‘helpers’
• we build hospitals, houses, sabbath schools, zoos, and tons of campsites out of lego duplos
• we’ve been learning a bit about space- the planets, stars etc…
• we’ve been enjoying Alexander’s growing list of spontaneous similes: “I’m as hungry as an ant in the morning!”   “I was sitting as quiet as the setting sun”
• we play more camping and cottage
• we try to keep up with laundry and dishes… and cleaning up after cars, magnets, sabbath schools, camping and cottage
• we laugh, and laugh, and feel very loved as alex tells us all the time.. i love you to the moon, and to jupiter and to the heavens and to pluto and back!

we have some pretty cute videos and a few pictures we will have to post sometime… clearly blogging is not something we’ve done a ton of this very long winter! 🙂