sNOW dAYS…

So what have you been doing to keep your kids busy? And from driving you crazy? =o)
Here’s what we’ve been up to….
We played in the snow the day it was sunny…it’s been rather cold since…

We finger painted – see the wall behind Araya – that’s why they’re in their paint shirts.
TIP: I put old t-shirts on the kids, and pull the backs back with a safety pin. Because they are so big
they cover the kids clothes and skin REALLY well for some good old messy fun! And they love to put them on!

We also made Snow “Ice Sculptures”. I admit I did not come up with this on my own, though I wish I had, because it makes me so happy!

I got this idea (and the snow ice-cream idea) from another photographer in VA. 
Here’s where I saw it on Alissa’s Facebook.   Here’s her photography site!

She didn’t have any directions, so we had a bit of trial and error….but I think they turned out great!
Add Wax Paper to a cookie sheet or plate. Get your favorite cookie cutters and fill them with snow.

I added water to the kids eating bowls, then added a few drops of food coloring to the water. (I tried just adding the color
straight to the snow, but it was wasting the color too quickly.) We used one of the kids medicine droppers to add the color to the

snow. If some of them seemed like they were melting I added more snow. I did a little too much, so you don’t need to go over board.

Then I put them in the freezer until fully frozen, (though I could have just set them out on the porch too, since it’s so freezing outside!)

These below I tried to do more water, less snow…it did not work as well, and they didn’t turn out as well or as brightly colored. 

Arn’t they SOOOOO adorable? I just love them and they make me SO happy every time I look out into the blah and see our little

cutie Ice Sculptures!

This I just put snow in a cup, poured the remaining dye into the snow, then added more snow – then the next color,
then more snow, then the next color, etc…. I added String into the snow before I put it in the freezer so we could hang it
from a hook on the porch. The kids call it the Rainbow cup! =o) Very cheerful!

We also made Home-Made Snow Ice Cream
1 Cup Milk

1/2 Cup Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla

 

6 Cups Snow  - I put a bowl outside when it started snowing and let it snow into the bowl

It was fun…but I thought it was too much vanilla…
More fun than yummy. The kids got a kick out of it though!

We’ve played Memory, Candy Land, Memory, Hungry Hippos, Memory, Elefunt Butterfly catching and more Memory!

Ezra beat us every time! I was really trying too! Look! His ate so much, it was so full they were falling out of his mouth!
Crazy!
 
This is the EleFunt game the kids LUV!!!

The butterflies come flying out of the elephants trunk, and
you catch them with your net….HUUUUGE hit!

More ideas to keep things fresh – use cookie cutters to make sandwiches fun!

And finally, I made cookies ….if you know me at all…you know I’m no Lanie Chuang when it comes to cookies…
I make the pre-made….but my kids don’t care – yet!

Have you ever had your pictures look like the one above when they should look like the one below?

(The difference is the clarity….see how the one above looks all glowy?) It’s fingerprints on your lens, glass, etc.
We let our kids use our point and shoot cameras – they’re the shock, drop proof…any ways…their little fingers can make
quite a mess of the lens….resulting in the above picture…just wipe it off and you’ll get the below photo! =o)