Snow Day

Tuesday our district had a snow day.  They called off school on Monday afternoon way before it really started snowing. (last Tuesday we had snow all afternoon and made for a messy pickup and the buses were running way behind).  We ended up getting less snow this week, but the kids were pumped for a snow day.

Andy decided(was convinced) to work from home (it took him an hour to get home last Tuesday). His working from home will all 4 kids home is both a blessing and a curse.  Blessing: he is here and we get to see him.  Curse: the office is in the basement where all the toys are and there is only a half wall...we cannot use the basement.  The teacher in me decided I needed to have a game plan for the day.  I got ideas from the kids the night before and added a few of my own so that the day was not chaos.  All in all it was a great day.

I let the kids play as usual, but anytime they started getting on each others nerves we did an activity.  First, we made snowflakes.  I have always loved making these since I learned how to fold them in junior high.  I have made some for them before, but this was their first cutting of them.

 Toby is really into winking.

 Instead of cutting intricate shapes in snowflakes, Toby practiced his fine motor skills cutting out large shapes.  He did a fantastic job cutting on the lines, even on the circle and oval.

I don't remember when I first had the others cut (Caleb I am sure was WAAAAY older), but I let Nellie join in the fun.  It was so adorable.  She simply cut lines, but had a total blast.  At first I had to open the scissors for her, but then she started using her left hand to open the scissors (it was so cute).

 She was in awe and had so much fun.

 Just check out that chubby little hand.

 The next planned activity was watching The Princess Bride.  Our TV is also in the basement so we had to improvise, which ended up making it more fun.  We set up sleeping bags (with couch pillows propping their heads) and put a laptop on the couch.

 

 Note Toby's excitement in every picture, he enjoys having his older siblings home to play.
We started the movie before lunch, so I decided a picnic would be fun.

We had planned a puzzle marathon for during Nellie's nap.  Our goal was to do every (kid) jigsaw puzzle (12-100 pieces) that we have (21 I think) on the floor.   

 Unfortunately, Andy's knocking snow off his boots (yes it was very loud) woke her up and we had to cut the party short.

No snow day is complete without a little paying in the snow!

 I stayed in with this little pig-tailed cutie and watched out the window.

 What a cute view I had!

All the gear was dripping wet when the kids came in and went right to our drying station over the heat vent.

We always have hot cocoa when we come in from the snow.  Someone put her hands into the mix.

While dinner was cooking, the boys played Wii and the girls made some chocolate chip cookies.  

 

Lucy was so proud of doing (almost) everything herself. 

The only bummer about snow days is we have to make them up at the end of the year (and a day off in the middle of the week really messes with my internal calendar).  It is just nice to have a day where we have nothing to do but play.