Winter Fun

I'm always cold. Pretty much no matter what the season. Ok, maybe not when it's in the 90's, but on our honeymoon in Hawaii, I didn't see anyone else walking around wearing a jacket at night.

With having kids, my body temperature regulatory system, or whatever it's called, has changed slightly. I don't feel quite as cold as I used to, but still even keeping our house at 73 degrees all winter, I have to snuggle up with a hot water bottle/or electric blanket and a big comforter at night.

Our kids are definitely not like me, thank goodness. They run around half the day buck naked during the coldest days. I don't know how they stand it. They also love to go outside in the snow. I do try to go with them sometimes. I now wear snowpants and own a pair of heavy duty snow boots, and I've went down the hill sledding with the kids, too. Still, it's usually Steve who goes outside with the kids during the winter.

I braved the cold a few weeks ago to take a few cute shots of the kids outside.  Jared loves to shovel.  I hope he still has that same love when he's fifteen and we'd like him  to shovel the driveway!

Painting with Soap

I found a fun recipe for painting with soap flakes from the book Picture Book Activities.

You just take 1 cup of grated Ivory Soap and mix it with 1/4 cup of really cold water. Whisk this together until it becomes thick. Then pull out the paint brushes and have fun!  We used construction paper since the soap showed up better on a more vibrant backdrop.

Jared poured his soap paint on so thick, we said it looked like he created glaciers.

DuPage Children's Museum

I really, really like the DuPage Children's Museum in Naperville and so do the kids. It's not as big as the Chicago Children's Museum, yet it still seems that every time we go there, there is something new we haven't explored yet. Of course there are the favorites we always make time for like Jared's drums.

There's an awesome section with PCV pipes and holes in walls and floor. I was really surprised the kids played there for about 40 minutes. I guess having Daddy there to build with made the difference.

We'd never been in the woodworking section before, so it was a new treat for the kids. I think Alexa enjoyed it even more than Jared. When they are five, they can go to the workshops at Home Depot for parents and children. I've always thought they'd like doing that with Steve, but we'll see when it comes time. I'm definitely not wanting to rush it. I really don't want them to turn 4!

One reason I love taking the kids to children's museum is watching what types of things they are drawn to. After seeing how fascinated they were with this wooden ball run, I know what I'm going to put on their wish list for their birthday.

We went upstairs to the room where they set up rotating exhibits. Here they played a variety of games: pretend car, where they could actually change the hubcabs, dress-up (of course), blocks, Color-forms (another great birthday idea), Legos, and reading with Daddy. Every time we come with the kids, it gets a little more relaxing for Steve and me. We actually have pockets of time where the kids are engrossed with something and we can talk for a few minutes. Yeah!

At Work with Granddad

Some of the simplest things, like eating lunch with your granddad at his work, are the greatest adventures for a kid. My father-in-law is the pastor of the church we attend, and although the kids get to see him preaching most every week, still it's not the same as time spent eating in his office, playing with his many souvenirs like the wooden animals and dagger from India or even a leftover candy canes from Christmas, and just talking.

This is the second time we've had lunch with Granddad. I especially like to visit when Steve's out of town for work. It's just a great way for the kids to spend time with family, get out of the house, and run around during the winter months.

The kids love playing in the church's gym. They dig through all the equipment, pulling out the soccer balls, hockey gear and scooters. They release a lot of pent up energy, which I like as long as it means not taking a nap in the car. Then they're up late at night, something I'd rather not have when Steve's not home and I'm exhausted.

After a fun-filled afternoon with Granddad, we made a quick stop at the library to pick up the DVD of James and the Giant Peach to watch tomorrow night (we had just finished reading the book together during our lunchtimes), and headed over to my friend's house, who had graciously invited us over for dinner. I don't have any pictures to post, but the kids had a blast playing pirates with her 23 month old son, singing, and basically making a wonderful mess.

Lagrange Indoor Playground

I've so been missing the warm weather. We've had snow on the ground at least two-thirds of the winter so far, which is very different from last year. Although the kids like the snow, I think it's become less of a novelty, and they don't ask to go out that much anymore.

Since they really need to move and run sometime during the day, we visited the indoor playground in LaGrange, a place we used to frequent more often when the kids were younger, but since they've raised the prices, it's now $10 each time we visit, we haven't been here in quite a while.

It's fun to go to a place with the kids that we haven't been to in a while, just to see how different things are now. I remember the first time coming to this playground; Jared couldn't climb up the slide, and now he shoots right up. Alexa, too, was very nervous about climbing up ladders and going down certain slides, and now she doesn't even hesitate.

It's hard to believe they will be four a little over two months. Some days can seem so exhausting and overwhelming, but I'm so blessed to have them and be with them all the time.

Drawings

The kids have been drawing and painting well before they were a year old. I've become a huge art lover in the past few years, and since it's a big part of my life, I love to share that with the kids. I've always wanted them to experience the joy of making art, simply for the pure pleasure of the process.

If you've never read Susan Striker's book Young at Art, go out and get it. Read it cover to cover. It radiates with the idea of letting kids come to art on their own, to just step back and let them experiment and explore to their hearts content.

My kids have covered themselves head to toe in paint, drawn over all the walls in our house, painted the fence and garage outside, and created colorful creations on the bathtub walls. They excel at abstract art, as do all toddlers and under 5's. But up until a few weeks ago, I've never seen the either Jared or Alexa attempt to draw something recognizable. Then to my amazement Alexa showed me the picture above. She pointed out how she had drawn eyes, nostrils, a mouth, chin and legs.

We've never asked Jared of Alexa to draw a person or any one specific thing. I abhor coloring books simply because they allow no imagination. I see other kids "drawing" things when we are out, but it's almost always done with "help" from the parent, showing them the "correct" way to draw things. I wanted my kids to always be free to explore and expand thier own ideas, not to copy the ideas of others.

So, going from never, ever drawing anything that resembled a person, to showing me details like lips in the picture below, took me by surprise. They are definitely the crude drawings of a three year old, but I was so proud of her. Jared also likes to draw. In one of the pictures below, you can see a set of what look like triangles. He informed me those were sharks teeth.

Museum of Science and Industry

Steve took off work the last Monday in January and we went down to the Museum of Science and Industry. I'm so glad it wasn't a weekday, as there were a lot of people but it didn't feel too crowded. We stopped in first at the Idea Factory. I thought we'd be here for a while, but after 20 minutes or so the kids were ready to leave.

Next, we headed for the baby chicks. This is our fifth time coming to the museum, and every time we've watched the chicks in the incubator. The kids love looking at the eggs, and are especially thrilled when they can see a chick right as he's hatching from his shell. I'm always sad, though. I can't help thinking how wrong it is for that little chick to hatch and not have his mother right there. It also made me a little sad to see that the kids could walk right up to the glass and see the chicks at eye-level. Last visit, they had to look on tip-toe, and the visit before that we had to pick them up. Soon, they'll have to bend down to see the chicks. I better stop now before I start crying.

We quickly went through the flight exhibit.

We usually make our way sometime during each visit to the farm exhibit. There is a real combine and tractor for the kids to climb into. As long as there isn't a long line (unfortunately there was this time), this can be a great experience for kids. However, it makes it hard when they finally get up into the drivers seat, start pulling away at all the levers and knobs, only to be pulled away so another kid can have his turn. I'm so thankful that Jared and Alexa don't have to spend the majoirty of their days being yanked away from self-initiated activities and projects just to fit someone elses' agenda.  

We also made a brief stop in You! The Exhibit. It's a new exhibit, and I'd heard good things about it, but I must say I was a bit disappointed. There were too many computer simulations. I know they're hands-on, but what about exhibits like the old heart you could walk right through? Or things you can touch and manipulate that don't always involve a keyboard? 

That said, Alexa loves computers, so she did like the exhibit where you'd try to capture different blood cells and platelets and drag them over to a large microscope to learn more about them, and the exhibit where you grab onto a handle, and after a while the computer syncronizes with your pulse and you can hear it over speakers.

I was surprised at how much Alexa loved the miniature train area. We've passed this section several times in the past, and while the kids liked climbing into the trolley, they didn't want to look at the trains that much. Not this year. Alexa asked dozens of questions and didn't want to be pulled away at all from watching the little trains wind their way around the tracks.

But the ultimate fun was watching Alexa at the cow milking station. In the farm exhibit, they have a station set up when you can put real suction cups on a fake cow and pretend to milk it. Steve showed her how to spray each teat with an air gun, and then put a suction cup on each teat. She LOVED doing this and spent 20-30 minutes doing the whole milking procedure over and over again. I can't wait to take the kids in the spring to  working farm where they have a junior farmers program. The kids will be able to collect eggs, feed the goats,and I hope, get to milk the cows.

Jared, however, was more impressed with the fake cow poop.