Countdown to sunshine and warm weather!

A friend of mine has a great blog, SewSassySweetpeas, and she had a great idea last week for a vacation chain.  What better way to count down the days until vacation that with a fun, brightly colored paper chain.  Being stuck in the frozen tundra, as I like to call it, has been rough this year.  The cold and snow have been plenty and the sun scarce.

I checked my crafty stash for the brightest colored construction paper and went to work with the little people.  It didn't dawn on me how close vacation was until we started putting the paper chain together.  I have to admit that I am 50% SUPER excited and 50% overwhelmed.  I had no idea how little time I had to get ready.  I am a planner when it comes to taking trips and I like to have lists and lists for those lists.  So, besides the fact that the paper chain was a reminder to get my "planning butt" in gear, it was a lot of fun to see how excited the kids were.  We are all ready for the beach, Disney World, the sun and warm weather and especially seeing family.

The kids loved pulling off the first ring and tossing it in the garbage and then counting them again.  I even numbered ours so that the next ring tells us exactly how many days we have left!  The kids requested that we hang the chain up in the kitchen so that we can look at it 100 times a day.  If you don't have a vacation planned, well I wish you did!  If you DO - then make a paper chain and do the countdown!

Hide and Go Seek!

It's an oldie, but a goodie!  I don't know anybody who didn't love to play Hide and Go Seek when they were little and my kids are no exception.  The problem - it's a little chilly for an outside game of hide and seek.  SO, we have adapted.  We started this game around Christmas and there hasn't been a weekend since then that my children haven't badgered us to play.

The game - Flashlight Hide and Go Seek!  It's pretty simple, but I will review the rules for us old folks.  This is a game for evening/night time.  I should add that this is convenient in the winter months since it is dark around here by 5PM.

1)Everybody gets a flashlight.
2)We have a multi-level home and an "almost" 2 year-old playing, so we limit our game to one floor for safety.  I recommend it if you have stairs.
3)Then pick a person to count and then everyone else hides.  That covers the rules!

We take turns counting and hiding.  We have even suckered out house guests into playing and I am pretty sure they had a great time!

A few funny moments that I will share with you:
- Aidan actually hid in a drawer and it took quite a while to find him - there are only 4 bedrooms and 2 baths up there!
- Nicholas can't stop giggling long enough to stay hidden.
- Emma will totally rat you out if she knows where you are OR if she is hiding with you and when YOU find HER she hops and says "I pound youuuu"!
- Last, but not least - it took a few tries for the kids to realize that they should turn OFF the flashlights once they found a hiding place!

I would love to share photos with you, but, well.... it's DARK!  It would just be photos of darkness and some lights in the hallway.  We do have one fear.  We are pretty sure that one day the neighbors will see the lights and think that someone has broken into the house and they will end up calling the police.  That will be in this blog one day!

Gooooo... give it a try!  It's really fun and it's something new to do while it is cold outside!  Let me know if you play.  I am sure you will all have some great stories to share.