What is the only redeeming part of February (other than your birthday Cindy)?? The miserable cold, yucky weather is a perfect excuse for enjoying a nice warm cup of hot cocoa. And what is the best part of hot cocoa? Why the marshmallow on top, of course.
This weekend the kids and I made some homemade marshmallows. Well I made them and they supervised. (Working with boiling sugar water is a little advanced for preschoolers, I think). But once I whipped them up the kids helped cut them into shapes (Valentine hearts of course) and were first in line to be testers. The day was blah and miserable - perfect for enjoying a nice cup of cocoa and some really good marshmallows.
This Saturday instead of bringing a toy, the February Fairy brought a surprise event - an indoor camping trip. We put up the giraffe tent in the playroom, the kids got out their sleeping bags and had a slumber party. Greyson was a bit hesitant at first mention of it but once the tent was up they were both enthralled. They stayed up late giggling and playing with each other in the tent. Hopefully we will have as much success this spring when we try it for real outdoors...
Well so far February hasn't been the drag it usually has thanks to our little February Fairy. She comes every afternoon and has a little surprise in store for the kids when they get home. They are having a ball with it, though it seems that the actual hunt for the mailboxes (she hides them in a different place each day) has been more fun than what is actually in them.
We have also been kept occupied this past week with Valentine cards. I got these great cards at Stubby Pencil Studio (one of my favorite guilty pleasures). At less than a buck a card they really aren't that much more expensive than the ones you get a Target. Plus the kids can color them and they are big enough that both kids, who are still in the writing your name as big as possible stage, can actually fit their names on the cards. We are so going to have the best Valentines at school....
I hate February. It is by far the most miserable month of the year and generally the coldest month here in Nashville. Spring seems to be a distant dream. There is nothing to do and by now the kids are getting major cabin fever which leads all of us to be big, mean, grumpy bears.
In an effort to lift us out of this February funk I have decided that we are going to have 'February Fun' this month. Every day until Valentine's Day the February Fairy is going to descend upon the Erim household and put a little trinket in each child's mailbox (providing they have been good of course). I am hoping that this might curb some bad behavior and occupy us every afternoon for a little bit. We will also be celebrating Chinese New Year this month as well as Groundhog Day, Mardi Gras and of course Valentine's Day. So stay tuned for lots of fun February adventures.....
Sunday was my birthday (yay me). Another year older and wiser or more accurately older and more tired. You know you are getting old or the mother of two preschoolers when all you ask for for your birthday is to sleep in as late as you want.
Raif granted my birthday sleeping wish and even let me take a nap in the afternoon too. I got a beautiful set of (handcrafted by my children) mosaic stepping stones and a lovely dinner out. I couldn't think of a better way to spend my birthday....
Raif organized a Discovery Kingdom (Greyson's preschool class) outing to the Predators game on Saturday night. A nice group of families braved the snow and more importantly the crazy Southern snow drivers and made it out to the game. Greyson was in heaven being able to watch hockey with all his friends. And even better, Yohannes' mother is friends with the woman who does the Goal Girls' hair and so she got Gnash (the mascot) to come visit the kids at their seats. Greyson hasn't stopped talking about the game since Saturday.....
Keeping a child away from a hill of snow is about as fruitless as keeping a kid away from a big dish of candy. Friday morning the kids bounded outside and enjoyed some sledding. Of course we have no sleds so the kids had to improvise. First this....
Then this......
In case you don't recognize the 'sleds' they are the plastic tops to our recycling bins. Any self respecting Southerner will tell you that you don't need silly old sleds. You can use cardboard, cookie sheets - whatever is flat and handy.
Now the final evolution of sledding (which unfortunately I have neither video or pictures (though it might be better that way for the heart attack Grandma and Nini might have had)) came when Raif came back from Texas because as you can see the kids clearly aren't going fast enough or far enough for my darling husband. He took the bindings off my wakeboard and we used that as a sled. The board was so slick that with a minimum push I was able to careen my children all the way across the yard into our neighbor's yard where Raif was waiting to catch them lest they crash into our neighbor's house or car. Clearly this was the best sledding of the day.
