FROSTY STOUT

I have spent the last three years waiting for the right snowfall to build a snowman with Jack, and it finally came! We had a ball making a snowman the other morning. (Actually, Jack and I made it while Maren ate the snow.) After we were finished, Jack was only disappointed that the snowman didn't come to life. When I asked him what he wanted to name his snowman, he said, "Frosty mommy, he can be Frosty Stout." Perfect.

January Crafts and Snacks

SNOWFLAKE BRACELET OR NECKLACE


We painted wagon wheel pasta white by diluting the paint a little and shaking the paint and pasta in a large plastic bag until coated. (We dried the pasta snowflakes on a cookie sheet covered in waxed paper.) Fianlly, we strung our "snowflakes" onto ribbon to make bracelets.


SNOWMAN SNACKS

We used a pretzel stick to string three giant marshmallows together. Then we broke a pretzel stick in half for arms. We decorated with raisins (using peanut butter to glue the raisins on) and gel frosting.

JACK'S FAVORITE WINTER BOOKS
The Snowy Day...Ezra Jack Keats
Flannel Kisses...Linda Crotta Brennan
Bob's Snowy Day...Annie Auerbach
Curious George's Snowy Day...Rotem Moscovich
Sam's Snowy Day...Mary Labatt
Schubert's Snowflakes...Lynn Mercer
Huff and Puff's Snowy Day...Jean Warren
White Snow, Bright Snow...Alvin Tresslet
The Place in the Snow...Rebecca Bond

MAREN'S FAVORITE WINTER BOOKS
Spot's Snowy Day...Eric Hill
Under My Hood, I Have a Hat...Karla Kuskin
Bunny's First Snowflake...Monica Wellington
Max and Ruby's Snowy Day...Rosemary Wells
Snow...Manya Stojic
Snow Bear...Piers Harper
Dora's Chilly Day...Kiki Thorpe
Mouse's First Snow...Lauren Thompson
The Snow Fairies' Skating Party...Irene Kilpatrick

EDIBLE SNOW PICTURES

This one goes way back to my years of teaching in a daycare, but I want to thank our music teacher, Ms. Becky, for the idea of adding marshmallows. We took three sizes of disposable cups and dipped them in white paint. The kids "stamped" them onto blue paper to make a snowman and used wiggly eyes, ribbon, and markers to decorate. Then we dipped the marshmallows into glue and stuck them on to look like snow. It was lots of fun to eat a few marshmallows along the way!


SNOW ICE CREAM

When it's too cold to actually play in the snow, why not EAT it! My kids loved this recipe for snow ice cream!

8 C. clean snow
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Place snow in a large bowl. Pour condensed milk over the top and add vanilla. Mix together and serve immediately.


SNOW PAINT



We have certainly had enough snow lately to get out and enjoy it! The kids and I filled up old spray bottles with water and food coloring and spent some time "painting" the snow. A few tips if you decide to do this, use lots of food coloring and very cold water. (If you use warm water, it just melts the snow. The more food coloring you use, the brighter it will be.) If you want to spell names like we did, wait until the end of your spray art, take the lids off the bottles, and pour the letters into the snow.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

After much anticipation, Christmas finally came! It was an exciting day at our house. It started with Jack waking us up bright and early. We were shocked that he handled waiting for his sister to wake up so well. (He was easily bribed with a cup of hot cocoa and a Christmas show on TV.) Once Marsy woke up, the living room was filled with screams of excitement as both kids discovered the car Santa had left for Maren. The coveted car had to be strolled around the living room for a bit before the remaining presents could be opened. Actually, Maren never cared to part from her car long enough to open the rest of her presents. Luckily, her brother was happy to open his and hers too! After a nice breakfast, we braved the snow and drove over to Nana's house to open presents and have a nice lunch. Needless to say, it was a wonderful Christmas for all of us, and one we will never forget.

Gotta Love Cousins and Aunt Emmie

As most of you mommies out there know, just as soon as you can get clothes for the season bought for your child, the outgrow them! Well, that's just what happened with Maren. We started in October with 18 month clothes, and she has already outgrown them. We would like to extend a BIG thank you to Maren's cousin Jane and Maren's Aunt Emmie who graciously let us borrow enough clothes so that we won't have to buy two sets of clothes for the season. Now that Maren has caught up Jane, we may be able to return the favor and let Jane borrow from us this Spring. Here are a few pictures of Marsy modeling for me.

MOPS Table Brunch

This morning our MOPS table met at our mentor's house for a brunch. The brunch was delicious and both the mommies and the little ones had a great time socializing with one another. Our mentor even pulled out a old box of her twenty-two-year-old son's legos, and the kids had a ball playing with them. After brunch, the kids were overjoyed to get to decorate Christmas cookies together. Thanks Elaine, it was a blast!

Pierponts

It has become an annual tradition in my husband's family. Every year the whole family goes to Pierponts for dinner in December. There is such a great feeling to Union Station during the Christmas season. Jack has always loved seeing the trains before dinner, but this year, Maren was just as interested. After walking around Union Station, we meet up with the other Stouts and have a wonderful dinner downstairs. The above is a picture of us just before we had dinner.

Jack's Class Party

Jack had his class preschool Christmas party today, and it was so much fun. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, Jack or Maren. Jack loved getting to play the games with his friends, and Maren adored hanging out with the other preschoolers and playing with the classroom toys. Jack's teacher was so kind to let all the younger siblings participate, and I think Maren believes she's ready for preschool too. I know it will crush Jack when he hears that there is a long break from preschool now for Christmas; he loves going to school. After seeing his party today and all his little friends, I can certainly see why he enjoys it so much.

DECEMBER CRAFTS AND SNACKS

DECORATING COOKIES



This is not a new idea for anyone, but one of my favorites never the less. We spent last weekend baking and decorating sugar cookies. Jack is actually getting pretty good, although he dislikes anything getting his hands messy. Marsy enjoyed herself, but spent more time eating the sprinkles off her tray that dropped from the cookies than she did actually "decorating." Needless to say, we have lots of yummy cookies that were made with a lot of creativity and Christmas spirit.

PAPER PLATE SNOWMEN


We spent the other morning making paper plate snowmen, and they were so much fun. Basically we just taped two paper plates together, and then cut out arms, legs, and a hat to glue to each one. We also added some decorations to make them more fun (googly eyes, pom-poms, and yarn for the scarf).


SANTA HATS


Yesterday the kids and I made Santa hats out of red construction paper. Maren really liked playing with the cotton balls for this one! It was a gluey mess, but lots of fun!

SNOWFLAKES



We made these cute snowflakes out of wonton wrappers for a yummy,wintery snack. Jack and I folded the wontons into quarters like you would if you were making a paper snowflake. We then cut designs into them and laid them on a greased cookie sheet. After brushing them with melted butter and vanilla, we baked them at 350 for 5 minutes. When they came out of the oven, we sprinkled them with cinnamon and sugar.



HOLIDAY TRAIL MIX AND COCOA


What better way to spend a cold, icy afternoon than by making a holiday trail mix and having a cup of hot cocoa? The kids and I put a bunch of their favorites into a holiday trail mix and warmed up with cocoa. What a treat!

CHRISTMAS FINGER PAINT AND CHRISTMAS TREES


Jack and I used our kool-aid finger paint recipe to make green and red finger paint. We thought this would be fun to enjoy during December. The kids then painted green Christmas trees and added red ornaments. We added a glitter star to the top of their trees too (Jack insists that all Christmas trees have a star at the top), but more ended up on the floor than on their paintings and Milo has been walking around with silver glitter in his whiskers ever since.


REINDEER PLATES


The kids had a lot of fun making these cute reindeer plates one cold afternoon. Maren loves the wiggly eyes!

FROSTED TREES


We did this activity last year at our holiday party, and it was still just as much fun. Jack and Maren loved getting to pick out how they wanted to "decorate" their trees. Afterwards, Maren wolfed her tree down and licked the remaining icing off her fingers, while Jack picked at the leftover decorations on his plate and refused to dirty his hands by trying to eat the tree. Go figure!

ELF ADDITION GAME
Jack and I had a lot of fun printing off the elf addition game (www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/ChristmasElfRollandColorAddtion) and learning while we colored. In this game each player gets a picture of an elf. Each feature on the elf corresponds with a number. The player rolls two dice and adds the numbers together. If the number matches a number on the elf, the player gets to color it in. The first player to color the entire elf wins.

MAKING ORNAMENTS
Last Wednesday we were snowed in, and printed off a couple of the ornaments at www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/ChristmasOrnaments.htm. After the kids were done coloring, we laminated them with home laminating paper and tied ribbon through them to make ornaments. Jack is really excited to see his own pictures on his tree. This is a really quick and easy activity.

JACK'S FAVORITE DECEMBER BOOKS...
Santa's New Suit- Laura Rader
The Christmas Humbugs- Colleen Monroe
Twelve Hidden Days of Christmas- Macky Pamintuan
Hurry Santa!- Julie Sykes
The Little Engine That Could and the Snowy Blowy Christmas- Watty Piper
I Spy Merry Christmas- Jean Marzollo
You Are My Miracle- Maryann Cusimano Love and Satomi Ichikawa
A Very Marley Christmas- John Grogan
The Night Before Christmas- Clement Moore
Here Comes Santa Claus- Gene Autry and Oakley Haldman
Corduroy's Christmas Surprise- Lisa McCue

MAREN'S FAVORITE DECEMBER BOOKS...
Spot's First Christmas- Eric Hill
My Christmas Gift to Jesus- Dandi Daley Mackall
That's Not My Santa...His Hat Is Too Soft- Fiona Watt
Maisy's Christmas Day- Lucy Cousins
Merry Christmas, from Biscuit- Alyssa Satin Capucilli
Biscuit's Christmas Eve- Alyssa Satin Capucilli
Frosty the Snowman- Jack Rollins and Steve Nelson
Christmas Stocking- Dawn Sirett

Missing friends...

As many of you know, last May our dear friends (The Savages) moved to Texas. It's been a long few months without them, and we are SOOOO excited for their Christmas visit home!! We thought it might be cute to count the days until their arrival. Can't wait to see you guys... we miss you bunches!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We were so fortunate this year to be able to have our families over to our house for Thanksgiving. (Our families were also very kind to brave my first attempt at hosting.) It was a great day...the kids had so much fun playing together, the men enjoyed watching some football, and the ladies had fun chatting over martinis and helping me in the kitchen. Jack spoiled his dinner on Aunt Emmie's pumpkin cookies, and poor Marsy was all tuckered out by nap time from running laps through the house. I was amazed at how much more I was able to enjoy this Thanksgiving than my last, and could not have asked for better company to surround me and my mom. There's certainly no doubt about it, we are very blessed and have much to be thankful for!

In Memory

As many of you know, last Thursday (November 19) marked the one year anniversary of my father's passing. While the year has been very difficult, I am so grateful to my friends and family who were so supportive over the last year. What a wonderful month to be able to express my gratitude. I feel so blessed to have all of you, and can't tell you what it meant that you not only remembered, but cared enough to call, drop notes, etc. on this very hard anniversary. While I have spent the year realizing my loss and I know I still have a lot of healing to do, I can't think where I would be without all of you. My deepest thanks go out to you; I know a beautiful man up above who is also so grateful for the way people have come together for his wife and daughter.

November Crafts and Activities

TURKEY TREATS




The kids and I had so much fun today making these adorable turkeys. (I'm not sure if they were more fun to make or watch the kids eat them.) If you'd like the recipe, visit www.ricekrispies.com.

FALL PLACEMATS


Every Fall, Jack and I go on a "leaf hunt" and write a book about the leaves we gather. He loves reading the book we write and usually ends up having it memorized because we have to read it so many times. This year, even after the book, he kept wanting to go out for a walk and hunt for more leaves. We decided to make leaf placemats for the kids table at Thanksgivng. We took our favorite leaves and pressed them between two sheets of contact paper.



THANKFUL TURKEY


It is so important to me that Jack understand the meaning of Thanksgiving. We decided to make a thankful turkey this month so we could keep track of all the things we are thankful for. Daddy drew the turkey for us, since I am a terrible artist. Jack and I traced his hand several times and practiced his scissor skills cutting them out. Now anytime we think of something we are thankful for, we write it down on one of the hands we cut out, and add it to our turkey. Slowly but surely, our turkey is gaining a lot of feathers!

JACK'S FAVORITE THANKSGIVING BOOKS...
What Is Thanksgiving by Harriet Ziefert
Gus, the Pilgrim Turkey by Teresa Bateman
A Plump and Perky Turkey by Teresa Bateman
Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks by Margaret Sutherland
'Twas the Day After Thanksgiving by Mavis Smith
Franklin's Thanksgiving by Paulette Bourgeois
The Berenstain Bears Give Thanks by Michael Berenstain
Give Thanks to the Lord:Celebrating Psalm 92 by Karma Wilson
The Perfect Thanksgiving by Eileen Spinelli

MAREN'S FAVORITE THANKSGIVING BOOKS...
Spot's Thanksgiving by Eric Hill
Happy Thanksgiving Biscuit by Alyssa Capucilli
Thanksgiving Parade by Jodi Huelin
Courderoy's Thanksgiving by Lisa McCue