Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Rainy Days and The Sillies.

We have had quite a few rainy days this past week. Not the sprinkling "lets play outside and see worms and slugs rain" that the boys like, but the "it is cold, wet and windy and slugs are all over and why won't it ever stop mom" rain.

We have had a bunch (let me rephrase - TON) of work over the past 6 or 7 days due to several client project re-surfacing at the exact same time - so we have been working very late nights and weary parents welcome some at home inside play days - but the kids need more action.

So we also organized, de-cluttered, made yogurt, made cheese, made ice cream, sliced and froze tomatoes, moved furniture, did puzzles, played zingo!, built forts, stacked blocks, read books, had tea parties, played simon says...you name it...to keep boys interested and happy. And then it was only Monday. :)

SOOOOOOOOOOO

We painted rocks:We did some wet on wet watercolor painting:

And then the boys "caught the sillies". A was first:

His brother followed closely behind:

It seemed to have balanced out...but then there were a few incidents which seemed slightly surreal, and I think the sillies may have played a part:

More rain is in the forecast - lets hope they keep t he sillies and don't get the crankies!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Denise, love your rainy day activities. Tea parties with boys? The painted rocks are great. You really know how to keep them busy and be creative. I don't have half the ideas you have.

What CSA farm do you get the veggies from? I'm in Madison too but have been buying from farmer's market and stores.
Thanks!
Justyna
http://funkymonkeyphoto.blogspot.com/

denise said...

Our tea parties are not gender centered and we have a lot of fun! They LOVE serving each other "tea" (water). We have a nice ceramic sake set which is great for pouring. And a second set with a white ceramic pot (like a restaurant creamer pot) with small white ceramic mugs (espresso cups) and saucers. Small pots, small cups and saucers, cloth napkins, all on a tray to contain spills.

It is fun, but also big picture they develop hand/eye coordination (learning to pour accurately), learn about relative volume, work together and take turns pouring for each other, and get into the social interaction that goes with the tea ritual. Goes great with snack time too! :)

Our CSA is JenEhr Farm in Sun Prairie - we have really liked them (this is our first year with them, we had Vermont Valley for 2 years before that).

We also get our eggs, cheeses, dairy, and meats from local farms. It is a great way to do it, and we have met some really wonderful farmers that way! :)

Elisheva Hannah Levin said...

What fun ways to deal with the rain. We haven't had any for about two weeks--including the whole time that we were gone. We'd sure like to to see some, but we do not wish for the deluge either!

I have been reading about the rain in the midwest and about the flooding in Wisconsin. I hope you and yours are high and dry!

denise said...

Elisheva,

It was nice to see that you are back - your vacation pix are great.

Thank you - yes, we are safe and dry. A little bit of cabin fever is all (how many times can they go outside for a walk to look at slugs, they ask me!). :)