When the weather outside is frightful!

In the past couple of weeks we have had some pretty nasty weather. It's either been extremely cold, windy, snowy, or slippery. It seemed like for awhile the weatherman was suggesting staying inside almost every day. And while I'd love to curl up with a book in a blanket, drink some hot cocoa, and watch the beautiful snow, the two little girls in this household have other thoughts. I'd love to send them out to play, but the -10 degree wind chill says otherwise. I'd love to take them to the mall, but the black ice makes me think not. So, in the mean time we had some pretty cooped up little girls that have been pulling at my pant legs wondering what to do. While I would have loved to play with them more, the preparations for Christmas trumped their needs. So we had to get creative.

Our back deck almost covered to the top railing with snow!

We did have a wonderful time decorating cookies one night. The girls loved frosting the cookies, and I loved watching their glittery creations take fruition.

Look at their intensity!

Surprisingly they (or maybe I should say Kyra) did a pretty good job helping me wrap presents. And they loved the idea that they were helping me. Kyra had so much fun that one day (unbeknownst to me) she cut paper, taped, and basically wrapped her own gift for her parents and put it under the tree. I was quite impressed by her ability (maybe next year I'll have to put her to work on more presents).

We did a couple crafts, involving pipe cleaners and pom poms too. I wish I had some pictures of those too, but Kyra is saving her picture for a present for her cousin (shh!)

But the indoor activity I loved most was the sleigh creation. We made a diaper box into a sleigh and both girls had oodles of fun trying to pull each other. They took turns being the reindeer and Santa Claus (although Katie wasn't very good at pulling her sister on the sleigh). They would put "presents" in the sleigh and deliver them from room to room. I was surprised at how many days was occupied by this simple activity. They even tried getting Rudy (aka: Rudolph the Red Nosed Doggy) to pull the sled, although he wasn't too pleased.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Vizsla!

I am thankful now that we have had a couple days reprieve from some of this confining weather, but am hopeful that we can weather the storm again if similar weather heads our way in the next few months (and I'm certain it will, for this is Michigan)!