Snowed In

Agenda 2-1-11 (times are approximate, I did not actually keep a log):

7:30 am: Breakfast of Warm Pear Muffins and Fruit

(a nice change from our usual rushed oatmeal on school days)

8:00 am: Hit the shower, get the boys ready for the day

(again... enjoy taking time to do this...no rushing allowed today)

9:30 am: Begin Art Project.

Goal: Create 100 Pieces of Art to redecorate a wall in the boys room.

Purpose: To celebrate Jack's 100th Day of School.

Reward: 100 Pennies and 100 Skittles a piece

Story: I came up with this idea on the fly, knowing I didn't want to waste the day but I couldn't quite tell if the boys were on board or not. I asked Jack "So what do you think? Do you like the idea?" His response: "I love that idea... because I am an artist." Later in the day he bestowed a huge, sincere, non-silly hug (a rare thing) upon me because he was so excited about our plan.

9:30-11:30 am: Cut, Paste, Paint, Stamp, Glue, Glitter, Draw, Number, and Bead works of Art and Jewelry (Jack couldn't resist a little break to make a pipe-cleaner/bead necklace). I was shocked Alaster participated for that length of time! For him that was a big deal. He couldn't get enough stamping. He wanted to use each of our stamps once and each with a new color. He also really enjoyed stamping with glue and then sprinkling glitter on top. Jack did more drawing and painting. All in all: one fantastic mess!

Truth: 2 Hours is a long time, and we only made it to 35 pictures. I knew it was time to quit when Jack wrote that little note inviting us to take a break and go play a game. So we did! But don't you think it still looks great? The boys were so proud looking at the wall with all of their hard work. We plan on doing more today to see if we can reach the goal, but yesterday we were all arted-out.

11:35 am: Snack

11:45 am: Play Dominoes and Memory, pick up living room

12:00 pm: Mommy eats lunch and cleans up our arty-mess while boys play Wii

12:30 pm: Aly's Lunch
1:00-2:00 pm: I honestly can't remember... weird. I know the power was out at that point... I know I made a few phone calls... is that when my Grandma Carmen called? Maybe.

2:00 pm: Put Aly down for his "nap." Jack is finally ready to eat lunch (he ate a LOT of muffins) and I soak up the alone time talking and joking with him while he eats.

2:30-3:30 pm: Wake up Cor ey! Hooray! Hang out with Corey while Jack plays a States Game online and with Aly when he "wakes up."

3:30 pm: Make Banana Bread with Aly while Jack plays with Daddy.

Alright... enough of the times.

After we popped the banana bread in the oven I retreated to our bedroom to make some calls while Corey played with the boys. I needed to talk to my Grandma Carmen again, and I hadn't talked to Whitney in like a week which is much, much, much too long.
The rest of our evening was terribly relaxed. I came out of our bedroom to very wound-up little boys who were playing "football," with dad. No actual ball was involved. The boys "lined up," and crouched down, then they ran at dad who knocked them over to their extreme delight.

Dinner was a quiet and easy affair. The boys were still pretty hyper through the rest of the evening and Corey and I just talked and watched 'em go.

As the evening wore on they got a little grumpy and there were some incidents...

Legos were thrown at peoples heads, time was spent in the naughty corner, apologies made.

I included these horrible pictures for Corey and I alone:

Alaster was being hillarious with that cart, and the other picture is after the "incident," when Jack apologized and Aly said in the funniest voice "that's okay," as they walked off to play in their room together. Not a funny story to you, I'm sure, but Corey and I thought it was pretty darn cute and funny last night so I wanted to include it for our sake in this post.

After that things went pretty quick. I gave the boys much needed hair cuts, Dad did bath time. One last snack, scripture study, prayer and it was off-to-bed. They could not have been more worn out at that point. It was the first time in weeks there were no shenanegans at bedtime. They were out cold in minutes.

There is probably not anyone still reading at this point so I will close.
Here's to another snow day today! Jack is home again, and I might skip out on work too.
I'm hoping it will be another good day... although it is sure to include more work and less play for all involved... but that can be fun too right? Right.

Bye!