Guide for outdoor fun in winter

People have commented on how often we're outside.  I had a friend say once that she was solar powered, and needed the sun.  I would say I'm fresh-air powered; I need to breathe fresh air to feel right.  I know that most people think going outside in the winter is miserable, but I love it as much as being outside in any other season.

The key is knowing how to go about it. It doesn't take much preparation, nor much time. First off, take a few minutes and think about some things. The weather-is it severe or mild? High winds or negative temperatures are reasons to stay indoors, esp with toddlers and preschoolers. Also consider this-are you or your little people in a funk, or actually sick? The winter air can be helpful to some colds, but fever and aches need to stay inside. If the weather is right and you need to get out, the next step is to get the necessary items for an outdoor excursion. As for clothing, 3 layers are best, 2 fitted under layers & a waterproof outer layer.

Next you need a small backpack. Why small? Why a backpack? Small so that you don't try to carry to much, a backpack so your hands are free. Now then, what to pack. A list of basics- travel size first aid kit, water bottles, snacks, cellphone & house keys, extra gloves, socks and pants. The pants should be sweatpants or fleece, and if you use them, it's time to head home. You can add to that a nature guide, camera, and a small towel.

But what is there to do in the cold, you ask?  Plenty.  When there's snow, you can look for tracks-animal, people, vehicle.  You can also make tracks, using sticks, toys, whatever you can think of.  Have the person with the biggest stride take the longest steps they can, and then everyone else tries to walk in their footprints.  Hard packed snow can be slippery, so be careful, but you can also have slide races to see who can go the farthest.  Snow has a quieting effect, stand still and listen, walk quietly and hear the sound of your feet.  There are different consistences of snow, soft and powdery, wet and slushy, and few others.  You can make snow men, snow animals, snow angels.  When it's the right kind of snow for packing, you can attempt to build a igloo.  Of course, there's always sledding.

When there's no snow and it's just cold? Regular outdoor games, as well as nature walks are fulfilling ways to spend time. Ice can be hours of fun, just be sure to have spare gloves. You can make sculptures, use pieces as windows, play foot hockey, and just enjoy looking at what's frozen inside of the ice. 

How long to stay out is a good question. There are outdoor preschools that stay out in frigid cold and all types of weather. If you're not used to being outside, start slowly, for your sake and the kids. Under 4s shouldn't be out for more than a half hour; work your way up the time scale, just remember to be dressed appropriately. Some people would say that it's not worth going out because you spend more time getting ready than you do actually out of doors. And yes, in the beginning, it is like that, however, you'll quickly become adept at getting ready, and that process will go faster. Also, just because getting ready takes a long time doesn't mean it's not worth it-the benefits of  being outdoors for even just a few minutes are many and varied.  If you keep putting off going outside until all circumstances are "just right" you'll miss many fun hours of outdoor play.

For those of you that are book lovers, like me, I recommend these books-

Nature's Playground, by Fiona Danks & Jo Schofield-This is the only book I've found that offers ideas specifically for cold weather play, which is unfortunate.
Sharing Nature with Children, by Joseph Cornell-learning activites that can be used in cold weather, and just a great outdoor book.  You should read Sharing Nature with Children II, it expands on how to use Flow Learning a wonderful teaching method for children or adults. 

  There are several others, these are just the ones I happen to have in my collection.  I've also got a number of outdoor activity books that are out of print-all of them were found at Goodwill and garage sales.

Being outside in cold weather provides just as many fun experiences as warmer weather, with same amount of planning s going to the pool or the park for a picnic.  Look forward to it, plan and dress right, and make memories.  Since I'm posting this at the end of winter, you've got 3 seasons to pump yourself up to have some winter fun!

I may have found a sure-fire way to save money...

I've said before that I get ideas & inspiration from other blogs for all sorts of areas of life, and last night, I got one of the best multi-purpose ideas ever.  I've mentioned the incredibly beautiful and amazing blog, A Holy Experience before, and this post made me smile and cry and laugh.  If you want to get to the heart of it all, or don't have much time, scroll to about the middle of the post and read about their Collecting Box.  Or, you can read the letter I'm referring to further on in this post.  This idea works because it meets some important goal-setting rules-
1 It's motivating
2 It's easy
3 You have a long term goal that's broken into smaller goals

On to the idea...Which is for married people...And she's so much more elegant about it...

She calls it a Collecting Box phenomena.  The idea is to put a box on your dresser.  A Collecting Box.  For dollar bills, to go towards a honeymoon, a dream vacation for just you and your spouse.  What makes this Collecting Box work is that you put a dollar in it every time you have sex.  So, not only are you saving for something fun, you're doing something fun whilst saving!  Also, I must point out, that if you're not engaging in this ahem, activity, very often, it would be a way to encourage more...activity.  And if you are being, erm, active, and you have kids, it makes for a nice code.  I'm thinking of sending Bry-D a picture text of a dollar bill and asking if he'd like to spend it.  Or waving a dollar bill in front of him once the kids are in bed.  And if you're ever not in the mood or need a reason to, you know, you can always remind yourself that this will get you a dollar closer to your dream vacation.  For those of you that aren't going to visit her site, she states that the idea comes from an Ann Landers letter, and here's the letter-(with no date, I couldn't find it in the Ann Landers Archives)

“Dear Ann Landers: Last weekend, we celebrated my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. This morning, they left on a long-awaited trip to Hawaii. They were as excited as if it were their honeymoon.

When my parents married, they had only enough money for a three-day trip 50 miles from home. They made a pact that each time they made love, they would put a dollar in a special metal box and save it for a honeymoon in Hawaii for their 50th anniversary.
Dad was a policeman, and Mom was a schoolteacher. They lived in a modest house and did all their own repairs. Raising five children was a challenge, and sometimes, money was short, but no matter what emergency came up, Dad would not let Mom take any money out of the “Hawaii account.” As the account grew, they put it in a savings account and then bought CDs.
My parents were always very much in love. I can remember Dad coming home and telling Mom, “I have a dollar in my pocket,” and she would smile at him and reply, “I know how to spend it.”
When each of us children married, Mom and Dad gave us a small metal box and told us their secret, which we found enchanting. All five of us are now saving for our dream honeymoons. Mom and Dad never told us how much money they had managed to save, but it must have been considerable because when they cashed in those CDs, they had enough for airfare to Hawaii plus hotel accommodations for 10 days and plenty of spending money.
As they told us good-bye before leaving, Dad winked and said, “Tonight, we are starting an account for Cancun. That should only take 25 years.”

– Loving Daughter in Abilene, Texas“

I'm thinking of making this our go-to Wedding Gift. 
Bry-D and I never went on a Honeymoon.  We always said we would go on our 10th anniversary, but I was big pregnant that year, and the following year was a contract year(in union speak that means you have to stop spending in case of a strike).  This summer will be twelve years, I wonder if we can manage to save enough for a trip this year?  At least if we use this savings method we'll definately have fun trying!

Glad that's over

Yesterday, that is.  To quote Annie, "Yesterday was plain awful."  At the end of the day, as I sat mulling over the many reasons why it was awful, and in general feeling like a failure, a song I haven't heard or thought of in years came to mind.  "Come Rest"  by Considering Lily, a band I loved, though I don't really know how popular they were. I found the cd and played the song.  The song may as well have been written with me and the day I had in mind.  So very timely, so very appropriate, praise Jesus for playing the song in my head. And I was inspired to try something new.  Or to make something I've never made before-a video.  It was theraputic finding the pictures to go along with the music, I really like it. 

Dino Dig Progress

On the first day, her dad joined her, and immediately decided she needed smaller digging tools.

 In just five days, she's made alot of progress, and her interest in it isn't waning yet.  She would really excited over uncovering a new bone, and so spent alot of time just looking for as many bones as she could.  Then she got to take that arm piece out of the rock.  That changed her perspective, and now she is working diligently to get each part she's uncovered out of the stone, b/c then, she'll get to put her dinosaur together!

A young palentologist

Apatasaurus, Brachiosaurus, Corythosaurus, Dimorphodon, Eudimorphodon, ummm, yeah, I'm stumped when it comes to a dinosaur name that starts with an "F".  I never thought I would know as much about dinsoaurs as I do.  Sauropods and therapods, flying reptiles and sea reptiles, ornithischions & saurischians, so much information I'm not sure how I remember it all.  I know it because of Eliz.  Around the age of 2, Eliz discovered dinosaurs.  I honestly don't remember how she was introduced to them, but ever since,  dinosaurs have been a staple in her life.  We get books from the library about dinosaurs, we visit websites about dinosaurs, she has all sorts of dinosaur toys and books of her own.

I get asked weekly(not kidding)if we can go to the dinosaur museum, aka the Children's Museum, which has a really great dinsoaur area.  For a homeschool science project I got her a Dinosaur Excavation Kit.    There are two others avilable, however, this one came with a book and tools, so we started with it. 

Eliz is like me, wants to get it done, and get it done FAST!  Doing something slowly and carefully is a big challenge for her; so while she's excited about digging up a dinosaur, I'm excited that she's going to learn that some things must be done slowly.  We'll see how she takes it.

The Flying Ace 2nd Birthday, Part 2

Bry-D decided he felt well enough on Friday to brave the Children's Museum.  I should have carried the camera around with me, I missed several great moments.  I was pleasantly surprised that Lex was willing to wait his turn on this tractor.  Sorry the pictures aren't any better-the lighting in this area is terrible!

 Choo-Choo!  He actually spent more time pushing around a lawn mower, but twards the end of our visit he noticed that there was more to the Playscape.

 As great as the Playscape is, Eliz is to old for it now, so Bry-D and I had to divide and conquer.  We traded kids a couple of times, making sure both got to do their favorite things.  Which is really easy-Eliz wants to see the dinosaurs and Science Works, Lex wants to see the Trains and Playscape.  We girls did visit the Barbie exhibit, while the guys went...somewhere... 

 Once we were home, Lex passed out and Bry-D went back to his jammies and robe.  Oh, yes, and his true love, Diet Mt. Dew.  His birthday was Friday, but since he wasn't feeling well, all he wanted was to sit and do nothing.  He did ask to have China King for dinner, and he got it, of course.

The Flying Ace 2nd Birthday, part 1

Bry-D was sick today, so we stayed indoors-Bry-D wore his warmest clothes with a stocking cap, his robe and slippers all day.  We're hoping tomorrow he'll be well enough to celebrate his and Lex's birthdays.  Traditionally, we go to the Children's Museum for birthdays until they can request something else. 

We sang Happy Birthday and Lex got to watch a movie first thing.  The rest of the day was rather quiet, until we did birthday cupcakes. 

Eliz is like her Dad, not a big sweets kind of person-at a birthday party last week she asked to have her icing removed and only ate a bite or two of her cupcake.  Lex, however, is like me-sugar, sugar, and more sugar!

He seemed concerned that we were setting his cake on fire.

Oh, sweet bliss, icing with sprinkles!   His sister didn't want a cupcake, & his Dad ate one without the icing.  Freaks.  I, of course, had a cupcake.

He kept asking for the candles, so I gave them back to him.  He put them back in and tried to blow them out.  When he realised he was out of icing and only had cake left, he said "Uh-oh!  All gones!" 

He ate around the candles, and sang what sounded like his version of "Happy Birthday" to himself.  I'm praying his Dad feels better tomorrow and we can do more to celebrate.  We'll see!

Fun during vacation

Bry-D was off work the week after Christmas, and one day he made this ship.  We spent more than an hour playing with it.  No wonder we miss him so much when he's gone! 

When Bry-D and Eliz were on the ship there was a seawitch that kept attacking them, and even ordered her sharks(that look an awful lot like dogs)to attack the ship & it's crew

Somehow the crew members were able to fix the ship from the outside without drowning.  I really never got how that worked.  Altho the sharks did come after them.  When it was Eliz and I in the ship, a big Winged Dragon came after us.  I didn't try to get a picture of the Dragon, he would have hidden in the closet for a week if I had.  We were able to defeat him using small cannons(wadded up paper)

 Lex spent most of the time running around with his coat on asking when we were going 'side?  I think it was a combination attack from the sharks and the dragon that finally capsized the ship.

 Lowlife vultures picking the bones.  Doesn't anyone feed these animals?

 Eliz would leave the boat to fight the bad guys, and was always insistant that she was immune to whatever she was attacked with.  The Dragon finally captured her and dragged her to the couch to be tickled into submission.  I was unable to help her as I was being attacked by sharks and a toddler.

There you go, she can walk on water.  That Cranium Mega Fort was found @ a second hand store for $10.  I don't know how much it costs new, but I'm thinking it's worth the retail suggested price. 

Time outside

We've been having more colds this year than in years previous, and have spent way to much time inside.  It was time to get outside, before we cught a bad case of cabin fever.  Around the corner from our house is a meadow with a walking path, retention pond, and creek.  We took our plastic buckets, since woven baskets get eaten by our dog Kaya, and did some exploring.

 The terrain can be difficult for Lex, but if I'm not close his sister is always willing to help to him.

 One part of the walking trail gets flooded when it rains a lot, and probably b/c of all the melting snow it had flooded, and then froze when the temperature dropped again.

We didn't have spare gloves so we didn't play with the ice much.

 We did find grass that had turned to icicles.  They make a wonderful crunch when you step on them.

 A leaf caught floating on the ice.

 We stopped for snack,

 But quickly returned to searching nature.

Because of his mittens Lex couldn't get things into his bucket on his own.  He started shaking his bucket close to something while saying "Wat dat?" or "Dis!"  and Eliz or I would put it in his bucket for him.  There's a wooded area that is rather treacherous to get to (lots of thorn bushes) but we braved it and found a tree growing sideways. 

 Lex tried his best to push it back into place

 Then his sister gave it her best, but it wouldn't budge.

What sort of treasure did we collect?  Rocks, branches with berries, leaves, moss, twigs, and lots of dirt.  I think we'll make mobiles out of our finds and hang them on the lilac bush.  Since our ice wreath has melted.