Happy Monday! I’m just popping in for a quick post this time. I’m fighting the blues and swamped with things I should be doing, and I thought it might be good to focus on the magical moments around here lately. These are only ones that I happen to capture on my iPod, which really made me realize I need to start taking more pictures again!
I highly recommend making your own little list up, either on your own blog of for your own records. It’s a nice way to remind ourselves of the happy stuff. 🙂
10 random ways we’ve made a little magic here lately….
1. Went to the children’s museum. Multiple times! I love our annual membership, especially when it’s particularly cold, dreary or boring out. 🙂
2. Helped out at a maple syrup tapping event. Our family takes part in maple syrup tapping at a local nature camp every year and it’s so much fun (and so tasty — there’s a fabulous all-you-can-eat breakfast feast with real maple syrup from their trees). My hubby ran the sales table this year and during quiet times he played the dulcimer and taught some other folks to play, and even did an impromptu jam session with some other musicians he struck up a conversation with. The kids got to play with old friends and we left with full bellies and good memories.
3. Hugged some trees. You know we love yarn bombing and it was fun to find these yarn bombed trees. It’s our goal to do some yarn bombing in our own back yard at some point.
4. Harvested some walnuts. You can’t live near Walnut Grove and not gather walnuts, right? We do a lot of foraging for wild edibles in season, and the kids helped gather tons of walnuts last fall that are now dry enough to start cracking and cooking with. Alex is particularly fond of helping since it involves hitting things with a hammer. 😉 He also loves to gather the walnuts all autumn, and personally collects bags and bags to bring to Daddy. Here’s the instructions for harvesting the dried walnuts, courtesy of my hubby, if you ever want to give it a try.
5. Did blow painting. Just make up some liquid watercolors (here’s the recipe we use to make wet or dry watercolors) or mix some food coloring with a bit of water, put it in dropper bottles or tiny dishes with eyedroppers, drop it on paper (watercolor paper and other heavy papers work best) and let the kids blow it around with straws. Be sure to wear craft clothes and protect surfaces, since it can get a little messy.
6. Visited an art museum with friends. Since our friends had connections, we even got a private tour! This particular museum has free admission for all teenagers, courtesy of a grant, and is free after 5 p.m. Many museums offer similar deals if they’re not free all the time.
7. Made recycled treasures. Check out the awesome knight’s garb that Jack made for Alex! It comes complete with armor, shield, sword and helmet. 🙂
8. Went to the zoo. Even my big kids love a day at the zoo!
9. Went snow-shoeing. Daryl took Toria and Alex to a park event in a nearby town to take part in a naturalist program where they got to snowshoe through a state park. They loved it, but I’m hoping not to get a chance to snowshoe again for a long, long time! We got more snow today but it’s melting and I’m really hoping for nothing but mud and grass for a while. 🙂
10. Tickled and wrestled and played. And a whole lot of silliness and fun. (Sorry the pictures are such terrible quality! They are bad photos but good memories.) 🙂
And with that, I’m off to make some more fun with my kiddos and drag myself out of the blues. I have to say, that helped a bit!
Focus on what you want more of, chickies. 🙂
I’ll be back soon, even to post something boring! It’s my new goal!
Happy Monday!
Thanks
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Love it! The baby is getting so big *sniffle*.
I know she is! I’m with you in the sniffles. 🙂
Looks like you’ve been having a lot of fun lately! Thanks for all the ideas…I guess we are all feeling a bit blue with this winter that just refuses to end. We don’t have any museums near us, unfortunately, but I think those blow paintings look like fun for sure!
We don’t have museums very close to us either (we’re in the boonies!) but we are such a large family that it’s still cheaper for us to get an annual family membership to the museum an hour and a half away and then use it when we can. If we use it two times a year, it’s paid for itself. 🙂 We combine trips to the city with our shopping and all of our errands to make it worth the gas, and also use the membership to get into museums when we travel, so it works out. There are a lot of little museums and nature centers even in the rural areas though, and sometimes we just hit those to get out of the house.
And yes, the blow painting is fun! You can make the creations into fairies, monsters and even “germs” too… Here’s one example. http://raisingsparks.com/craft-activities/blow-painting/