Saving Sanity

This may sound redundant... because it is.... we have had another full week of sickies. This time each child took a full 1-2 days to themselves before passing it on to the next sibling, where we would start the cycle again, and extend the quarantine. We missed a lot of fun activities and obligations this week, but we tried to be creative at home.
 

Ella got a belated birthday card from Great Grandma Jean with birthday money in it, and when I told her she could pay tithing and then spend or save it in her piggy bank, her eyes lit up--spend!! She was super excited to chose anything she wanted and we brought home a box of valentine chocolates with plush bear and a set of beads to make jewelery.

 

When Maddie came home from school and heard that Ella got a shopping trip, she wanted to use some money from her piggy bank too. Since she never did chose a gift from Grandma back in March, I thought it was a legit request and a good time to practice her math skills. She loved the power of choosing her own toy, handing over the money, and counting the change.

 "Turty" and "Bearie" have been very loved additions to our exploding collection of plush toys.

Tyler is a cute little character to have around.  He loves trains, cars, tractors, and anything that goes!

 He can be a little monkey sometimes, though.

The girls have enjoyed a few sled runs with Daddy. We missed most of the latest storm, but the sledding is the best it's been yet with the ground packed and frozen!

One night we beat boredom with a rousing game of pictionary. Maddie recently watched a special on the Sphinx and did a pretty good job depicting it!
 

This is Ella's cute Horton elephant.

Mike drew a Swagger Wagon (Toyota Sienna). It has been the subject of many conversations of late as we try to figure out the car situation!

The girls quickly guessed my humble depiction of the Wizard of Oz.

Since it has been too cold to really play outside, we brought some snow in to make snowmen.

We had to work fast to keep them from melting! 

We kept them outside where we could see them, and they lasted a few days until the temperatures finally thawed and "in the sun they melted!"

Various other crafts keep the girls entertained for hours. They love being creative with pipe cleaners, buttons, glue, beads, marshmallows... you name it.

Looking back through pictures I have a slew of the kids trying on shoes! They especially favor the new brown heels I got for Christmas... oo la la!

 

Ella doesn't nap very often anymore, but some days we all need a break, especially with the sickies. She was so cute sleeping with all her dolls... she is definitely our princess! Speaking of, she was able to go to a princess birthday party in her royal attire and got her face painted so pretty.

 

 

Daddy got creative one night while I was away and built a castle in the basement!

Each kids has their own "room" and windows to peek out.

Just an extra word about Ty Bud... he is getting so expressive! In this picture he is saying "cheese" because he knew I was taking a picture... I swear nobody taught him that. He also likes to say "Thank you Mama" and repeats it over and over. He loves animal sounds, and just started calling his bunny "Foo foo" after I sang him the song. He also just started singing along to a line from "Twinkle twinkle." His vocabulary is growing and we love to hear more about what goes on in his little head!