great snowballs batman...

Here in the great Pacific Northwest we are looking at several snowstorms back to back.  This makes for interesting play times outside.  Try keeping a 4 year old in inside when snowflakes are just right outside the window.  Sunday night she ran from her bed to the living room window to check on snow all night long.  Monday was worse!  Tuesday night she didn't want to sleep either, the one desire of her heart was to make sure it was still 1) snowing and 2) getting deeper on the ground.  Sunday afternoon much of the snow melted before dark and it wasn't until she finally woke up today, Wednesday, that she seen enough snow to actually have a lot of fun in.  And boy has she.

Daddy stayed home today so she had both of us entertaining her.  We built a snowman, shoveled walks and then she decided her ATV was much more fun than a sled.  She had a blast and didn't want to go inside, even after almost 3 hours of outside play.  She cried and bemoaned the fact that we were cold, her cheeks were red as well as her hands inside wet mittens, but she was happy and full of fresh air and snow flakes.  The hot chicken soup waiting for her was but a small enticement. This week I guess our mud time has been snow time.  :-) 

Mrs. Kombucha is almost ready.  Both Bob and I tasted it tonight and we think it needs a few more days.  She has a nice scoby forming on top.  I think next time I will do a half gallon instead of a full gallon, but we shall see how fast we drink this batch. 

We have been progressing slowly with the weather on getting through our challenge.  We have removed close to 18 bags but aren't nearly done.  The attic and basement are going much slower because of the weather.  It is also making it very difficult to get the bags we are donating out of the house. 

I have decided that we will be labeling some objects around the house with their names to help Sarah with words and recognizing letters making up words.  We have had her bed room door labeled for some time and it was fun for her to pick out the letters and say what the label said, so now we will branch into other house hold items like the TV, bathroom, stove....  I really have been hesitant to do this and I can't really put my finger on why, but I think we will give it a try. 

We also bought a storage bin thing from Ikea for Sarah's toys and so far it is helping.  We still have a ways to go though and I know I will have even more items to sort and donate from her room, 3 bags later.  This is quite the task we have undertaken.  Saturday I am spending the WHOLE day in the basement, regardless of weather. 

 Along with the storage bin for Bear's room and toys we also bought a step stool for her for the kitchen.  No more chairs or containers of wheat for her to have to stand on.  It's on the tall side but it will be so handy for her and cooking with me in the kitchen.  We have already used it several times and she loves it.  She helped Bob put it together and the little stinker did a lot of it herself.  I think some real tools, not her toy ones, are in her future very soon.  A small tool set with a hammer and some wrenches and screwdrivers would be very good for her I think.  She was so proud of helping her daddy.

Lately she has been very much into telling jokes and stories as well.  Her stories are generally retelling of ones she has been told already but that is wonderful as well.  We are trying to learn some new jokes now.  Do you know any?  Clean kid jokes?  Please share them with us!

Have a wonderful week!