Today was a warm; but, soggy day on "the farm". The kids actually slept until 8:00 AM which is VERY LATE for them. It could have had something to do with the fact that they were each up sixteen times last night; but, still a few minutes of quiet this morning was awesome! However, they were both ready for action when they did wake up. After a quick breakfast and ninety-seven constructs of "the body puzzle", they sat down at their art desk for lots of coloring and drawing with only minimal squabbling.
We didn't really have any plans for the day other than a morning trip to the post office. I know it shouldn't seem like a big deal; but, I dread post office trips above all other errands. It seems like such an ordeal to unbuckle car seats, herd everyone in there and wait in line behind seventeen people for twenty minutes just to stick something in the mail. I have seriously considered offering to pay for a random stranger's package to be mailed if they will just take mine in, too. Nevertheless, we headed to the post office and waited in a very long line while Aidan chatted up other customers about the giant bolt he brought along and Addie made "snow angels" on the floor.
After the post office, we headed home for lunch and Addie's nap. I knew we would need some activities to keep us busy this afternoon. Rainy days without planned activities seem to drag on endlessly, so I try to think ahead. I was not at all prepared for the amount of "fun" we would have today, though. I think in one afternoon we have managed to use every possible artistic medium in existence and every single towel I own. To put it mildly, we have been BUSY.
We started with our school work as usual: a story, drawing project, math page and letter page. This occupied six seconds of our afternoon.
Next, it was on to cake baking. I had been promising Aidan we would make some cakes with our new little bundt pan and it seemed like a great way to pass the time. The cakes turned out really cute and we couldn't wait to have them for dessert. I think this activity helped us fill another three minutes of afternoon. We decided to go ahead and cook dinner ahead of time since the kitchen was already a mess... and another six minutes passed.
After a quick kitchen cleanup, I spread out the messy mat and gave Aidan a bottle of Mod Podge, a paintbrush and some stickers. He had a new collection of bottle caps that his barber had given him last week. (Don't ask.) He'd been carrying them around in a jar all weekend so we decided to jazz them up a little with some "clock sticker" decoupage. I was quite certain this would eat up tons of time, so I dug out some of my own craft supplies. I wanted to make Addie some little hair clips to match a shirt I had made for her this weekend. I think my glue gun was almost lukewarm when Aidan finished his bottle cap craft. I told him to just keep adding glue until I was finished. He was happy to oblige.
About this time, Addie was considerate enough to wake up from her nap an hour early screaming at the top of her lungs. Apparently she was ready to join in the fun, too. I figured since we already had the messy mat out, we might as well do some painting. So, we got out all of our fun foam stamps and rollers as well as the world's most unwashable washable paint and got to work. The kids actually stuck with this activity for quite awhile. When they started to lose interest, I tossed in some tiny stickers and that bought me another ten minutes to finish up dinner. They even managed to clean themselves up without much help from me and gave the bathroom a nice "Law and Order" touch.
While our giant masterpieces were drying, someone found the bag of DIY crazy straw parts that I had apparently not hidden well enough. They made bendy straw pipes and marched around the house playing "Sump Pump" which consists of humming into the straws and slurping up water. "Sump Pump" kept everyone busy until Matt arrived home for dinner. Thank goodness! After dinner and cake, Matt and the kids headed outside to play and I started the cleanup. Only a few more hours to fill until bedtime. I'm so glad the night shift is here.
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