No School Again

Today school was closed. The kids were ecstatic until I told them that this would mean they would have to go on Saturday. UGH! was the response. They spent the first part of the morning trying to decide what to do. My children are usually very imaginative and creative when it comes to play, but one of the things I noticed is that during the school year their senses are dulled and their creativity screeches to a halt. I am not sure what causes this. Maybe the sitting for hours during the day in a classroom with just facts and figures coming at them has something to do with it. During the summer they can let their imaginations soar and they come up with such elaborate games and ideas! I enjoy this very much. But now it seems like they cannot come up with anything and need to be told what to play. I don't know, maybe it is just the winter doldrums setting in. Although they do still play outside a good bit. I just love watching their metamorphosis come summer.

One important lesson I learned today involved finger paint. I found a new recipe for finger paint which involves flour, salt, oil, and kool-aid. You mix it all with boiling water. What appears is a glob of goo that is pretty and smells nice, but does NOT resemble finger paint. I kept adding water but it still did not have the true consistency of finger paint. But, the kids were excited so I placed them at the table with paper and set them loose. Wrong thing to do. The 5yr old did fine with it, but the 2yr old loved the texture so much that it ended up all over the table, chairs, floor, walls, and her. This happened because once she was done with her "painting" she shook her hands and rubbed them on anything in sight to get the gunk off. I could not catch her and clean her fast enough. Needless to say I came up with the idea of putting them in the bathtub to finish painting and them they filled the tub with water and grabbed some sponges and cleaned it all up. They loved that and so did I! Next time I will start them off in the tub. :)



















Catbird after her bath.




















Sissy's enjoying snuggle time.























Brother enjoying one of his favorite past times.