Chill Out

It's freezing here and while Penticton can boast almost unlimited outdoor opportunities, it may not win any awards for indoor activities (unless you like curling). With things being closed down for the holidays (thankfully school started again today. Wahoo!), we were on the hunt for some things to do... forcing Jack to walk only takes up so much time. It was really too cold for skiing or sledding -- and trust me, the playground is not that fun when it's 23 degrees outside. Oops -- so we bowled, we played with Playdoh (some people, okay both people, ate it), and tried to avoid going completely bonkers within our own walls. 

Baking cookies, for example, comes with all sorts of different responsibilities. Sometimes it's about breaking the eggs, sometimes it's about adding flour, sometimes it's about going house on the candy canes so they can get sprinkled on top.

Other times we spend a lot of time rearranging couch cushions. 

And other times, we just help ourselves to whatever is in the 'fridge. 

Winter is hard, though, don't you agree? My genius children have managed to master their second language (a shock to those who knew my German grades in college): whining (okay, now that's not so surprising). I swear, they found the Rosetta Stone cds for whining and learned it by heart overnight. Oy vey... the mom I would like to be wishes that I had creative solutions to whining up every sleeve and could just redirect, redirect, redirect but sometimes the cabin fever gets the best of all of us. Word to the wise... sticking stars on the calendar for peoples' birthdays: thumbs up for an activity. Bringing your three year old to Staples at the end of the afternoon and then, apparently, picking the wrong check out line: big thumbs down (actually, whole body down) for an activity. We're hoping for a winter warm-up so that we can actually breathe the fresh air outside instead of trying to avoid it when we're running from the house to the car.