Learning to Love Winter

Winter has come (finally) and my husband has turned into a little boy. Saying he likes winter would be a gross understatement- he LOVES winter. It turns him giddy and, well, into a child again. The first time the temperature dropped down to almost zero degrees he came back into the house so excited exclaiming . . . "it's finally reached freeze-your-boogers cold out here!" eloquent, I know, but I couldn't help but laugh with his happiness.

I, on the other hand, am not so in love with winter. I'm not a winter hater either, for that matter. But after a couple of days, snowman, and snowball fights you could say the novelty does begin to wear off. I confess, though, that I am learning to love snow and winter. It is definitely in huge part due to my husband- his love for it is contagious. We've been out sledding and snowball throwing, and snowman building and it is just so much FUN to be with him and William while doing it. He's like and energized 12 year old with all the enthusiasm he puts into it- and I can't help but be enthused as well. The other thing that helps, is that Jordon is a Montana boy- where it is winter 9 months of the year (in my opinion- which I will back up with evidence that two years ago when we were there we built a snowman in June)- and so he seems to also have an endless supply of games to play in the snow. And memories. We decided that is in part why he loves winter so much.

He remembers, while he lived in Yellowstone, that in winter it was easier to track the animals with his Dad (for studying, not hunting- clearly since they LIVED in a national park). When his toes start to get cold he can hear his dad's voice saying "Stamp your feet and wiggle your toes"- which he still does because it works. He remembers games that he would play with friends and family in snow that was as high as his head. At school, they would turn part of the school yard into an ice skating rink and kids would bring their skates. They had hills in the school yard, so the school provided tubes for tubing. Winter like that anywhere else means indoor recess (which teachers and students are not fans of) but, with a recess like that, what child wouldn't love winter?

And so, thanks to my husband, I have started to enjoy it. I have enjoyed going outside with William and pulling him around on the sled. I have enjoyed sitting on my couch, in a clean house (on a good day), with a book and just watching the snowfall through my window while my precious child is sleeping peacefully upstairs. The snow is beautiful to me, and has, this last winter, regained the magic I once believed it held as a child.

I have even learned to love the challenge of entertaining William, and sometimes two other children, indoors for most of the day. I have had a lot of fun with the activities we've done and am eager to do more. Here are some of the things we've been up to- I haven't documented everything, but it's a pretty good span of things we've done.

Reading

. . . and LOTS of it. We easily spend a half hour or more reading in the mornings. I love that time we have together. It is fun to see William ask for me to read a book again, and again, and again, and again! He is to the point where he can anticipate what is going to come next in the book (if it's one we have read alot). It's an important pre-reading skill so I was excited to see him show that he knew what was coming. I love the video of him doing the actions I would do for him- but now he does them on his own!! The video is a couple weeks old, since then, he's added a definite "wheeee", "uh-oh" (which progressed from "uh-uh-uh") and better blowing.

He also will just grab a book and read it to himself, like he's done for a while now. He LOVES books.

My house isn't really this dark. I think because of the window the photo is backlit? Not sure on my photography terminology there.

Laundry/Cleaning

Maybe it's the cold weather, maybe it's because I'm nesting, maybe it's because I've made it a goal- who knows? Our house has been cleaner lately and part of it is that Tuesday has become our massive clean the house day each week and William is a big helper. Mostly, I do everything (like bathrooms, mopping, etc) while he sleeps. He does, however, get to help with the laundry. We like to count the hangers as he hands them to me to hang clothes. Of course, folding the clothes is a whole other concept- that can definitely be a challenge.

Pretzels/Cooking

These were a lot of fun to make, if you couldn't tell by William's face. I got the recipe from my friend Jocelyn. We had some with hot cocoa and it hit the spot just right on a snowy day. We like to make other things too- he's a great help in the kitchen and getting better and better at helping me add ingredients!

Indoor Snow

Yes, I was too lazy and too daunted by the cold to get us all bundled up and outside one day. I've seen this activity all around the blogosphere and decided to try it. It was wonderful. When he was all done I dumped everything in the sink and used the towel that was underneath to wipe up the few water spots that missed the towel. Good times. Minimal clean up. My kind of activity.

Crafts

This one was a lot of fun too. I got the idea from HERE and HERE and combined them. You can see the shirt in the background- William did the snowflakes with his fingerprints. We turned his footprint into a penguin with a little bit of felt- and ta-da! A homemade shirt made with his feet and hands. Finished product:

We "painted" snowflakes made from popsicle sticks. In William's case we used the Dot-a-Dot marker things (I am absolutely IN LOVE with those). Then added some glue and glitter. Lastly came the clothespin with magnets on the back. It is now on our fridge holding one of William's artwork pieces. I'll try and add a picture soon. The idea came from HERE * I have just spent forever trying to find the link to this and I can't find it- so sorry*.

Physical Activity

If we don't make it outside to play and run around some, we dance and practice "jumping". William prefers to use the couch cushion to do both. I love the Putumayo children cd's- they even have music I enjoy listening too! And I'll admit that I slip in a little Lifehouse here and there- William likes to rock out to them too.

Speaking of music, my friend Becky gave me this little game for William at Christmas. She laminated a bunch of different pictures, more or less around 2x3 inches. Each picture represents a song to be sung. William and the children I nanny love to play this game. I have them take turns picking a picture out of the baggy- and then we sing the song! As a mother, I love that they love it. As an educator, I love the schema it begins to develop! I mean really, we've been singing Wheels on the Bus for a while, but I've never pointed out a bus to him and said- "that is a bus". Now he has an image to go along with the music! Which is also why I loved this music post on ABC and 123- I've checked out from the library some of the books on her Top 100 list and William loves them. We enjoy singing them together during the day and before bedtime.

The Staples like finger painting and play dough!

This snow picture was super simple. William enjoyed helping me tear and glue the pieces. I did the initial coloring with the crayon and he finished up. Got the idea from HERE.

The reindeer I saw on my friend Heather's blog and did it with William and the kids I nanny. I did not, however, use paint. I just used these colored stamping inks I had that I got for free when I was teaching. Less mess. I love that the head of the reindeer is his foot.

The kids LOVED this snowman activity. It takes a little prep work for it to go smoothly. The idea came from HERE *so sad, I can't for the life of me find the link! I used contact paper cut in three different sizes, used doublesided tape to stick it down, then peeled it when the kids were ready to put the cotton balls on*. William, Dominic and Amelia loved tearing up the cotton balls and then sticking it to the contact paper. Then they added the felt pieces I had cut out for them.

Sensory Bins

I was a little nervous for the first time I did this with William. I was worried he would pretty much see this as a big tub of things to put in his mouth. To my delighted surprise, however, he was extremely focused on scooping and dumping. When I tried to get him to look up at me for a picture he wouldn't- not until the end . . . . which happened to be a half hour later! We've pulled it out twice more since the first time awhile back- you can see in the last picture that I try to vary what he scoops and dumps with. He also will just stick his hands and feel- which is, I suppose, the point of a sensory bin, no? The idea for the contents of this bin came from HERE.