Who needs fancy toys?

Elizabeth put herself in and took herself out (sometimes by tipping) of Ben's $2 Goodwill mixing bowl at least six times yesterday afternoon. I'm not quite sure why it was so fascinating or how it could be comfortable, but she thought it was pretty cool. She was rather upset when I put it out of her reach after she tipped over multiple times.

Snow Day

 

After receiving virtually no snow since February 2011, we got hit hard by a late-Winter storm yesterday.  At various times, snow was falling at a rate of 4 inches per hour, and in all we got 12 to 14 inches of it (it's tough to tell exactly how much, considering the drifts).  It shut the city down, and we all stayed home rather than chance the roads. Ben was quite excited by it all -- he spent a good portion of the day yelling, "Thundersnow!" (which was an accurate description of the storm), and asked repeatedly if he could go outside and play in it.  When the storm finally abated, we let him do just that.

He had a great time tromping around in the snow, throwing snowballs, and making snow angels (not the easiest task, as the snow was crusted with a thin layer of sleet).  Emily joined in to show him how it's done.

 

Elizabeth was much more interested in the snow than she was earlier in the winter; she most emphatically did not want to play in the dusting we received a couple months ago.  This time, she enjoyed patting it, making a small pile of it ... and crawling around after Ben, of course!

 Note the makeshift boots made of plastic grocery bags.  We're classy, sophisticated people.

 

 

Ben's valentines

After denying last week that his teachers had said anything about handing out valentines to his pre-K classmates, Ben changed his story and decided a) they were handing them out and b) he wanted to bring some. My requirements for the valentines were that they were simple, inexpensive, and didn't have candy or animated characters/superheros he talks about but really doesn't know anything about on them.  Pinterest saved the day and pointed me toward these cute magnifying glass valentine printables from Dandee. Ben loved the magnifying glasses they had in his last classroom and adores PBS' "Sid the Science Kid" who uses one frequently, so I thought it would be a hit. As a bonus, 12-packs of magnifying glasses were only $3 at the party supply store! Ben had fun either writing his name or using rubber stamps (or both) on the valentines and was excited to have his very own magnifying glass.

And here are a couple random pics from the last few weeks of us playing Ben's new favorite game, Crazy Eights, and the kids cracking each other up!

Little Wing Nut

Elizabeth was all decked out in appropriate gear to cheer our Detroit Red Wings onto victory against the St. Louis Blues, 5-3. We are still working on her octopus-throwing skills. Her current method involves a lot more drool and chewing than is typically recommended by expert octopus throwers.