Snow Angels- Inner child

The last week of December approached and FINALLY this year we have SNOW! Yay! We took a six hour car ride up to "Papa Tractor's" and braved the cold. It was time to channel my inner child. My oldest son and I took the opportunity to make snow angels. I am honestly not sure who had more fun- him or me. We bundled up in our snow gear and plopped down into a fresh batch of snow. We laid down and created angels. We giggled the entire time and after a few minutes we just sat there and chatted. It was a GREAT memory created and I am so glad we did it.

Have you ever made snow angels WITH your child?

13 Things You MUST DO With Your Children in 2013

1)  Take photos

When was the last time you took photos with your kids?  I mean, you get in the photo with them.  You don't have to take professional family photos (though those would be nice), self portraits can be a lot of fun too!

2)  Play in the rain

Let out your inner child, don't worry about getting wet (or even muddy), just have some pure fun, and play in the rain.

3)  Watch a sunrise or sunset

Share the beauty of nature with your children and watch a sunrise or sunset.  Enjoy the colors in the sky and the peace that comes with them.  Just maybe you'll become engrossed in an conversation about the day.

4)  Have a one-on-one date

Show each of your children they are special by spending some one-on-one time with them.  Whether it's a half-hour or a full day, you'll both get something from it and you'll strengthen your bond even more.

5)  Go through old family photos

Younger children love to look at baby photos of themselves and older children like to see how weird mom and dad looked when they were younger.  You'll have fun reminiscing and sharing the stories behind the photos.

6)  View the stars

You don't need a telescope to view the stars (though going somewhere with a gigantic one would be a TON of fun).  Star gazing can be as simple as finding a dark area and looking up!  Bring your phone, laptop, or tablet to look up different constellations and have fun finding them in the sky!

7)  Surprise them at lunch

If your child's school (and/or your work) allows it, surprise your child for a lunch date.  Bring take-out from your child's favorite restaurant for an even better surprise.

8)  Let them talk while you really listen

We all listen to our kids but when was the last time you really listened?  Turn off the TV and radio, get your head out of your book or computer and listen while your child talks.  Don't interrupt, just let the conversation flow.

9)  Dance

Yes, dance!  Crank up the radio, don't worry about how weird you look, just enjoy a dance party!  It's great exercise and a ton of fun too!

10)  Plant something

You don't have to plant something big like a tree or even a garden, something simple like a house plant from a seed will do just fine.

11)  Make a time capsule

Gather things from the past year, write notes about what you think the future will be like and vow not to open your time capsule for at least 5-10 years.  Even better, have your younger child write notes (or you can write them while your child dictates) to be opened on dates such as their highs chool or college graduation or wedding day.  Include things such as what they think they will be like, what cars and houses will look like and what things will cost on that date.  Don't forget to include photos and the cost of things on the date the notes were written.

12)  Go on a hike 

Whether it be through the sidewalks of your city or on a trail at a park, go on a hike and make it an adventure by finding the beauty in the small things you come across.

13)  Show them you love them

We all tell our kids we love them.  This year, show them you love them.  Spend time with them, real time with them and let your actions speak how you feel.

Playing In The Snow WITH Your Kids

*There is no Pinned it, Did it! this week as we have been spending time with our families.  Instead, enjoy this post that was originally posted on the 17th but was taken down for a post about Sandy Hook.
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We finally had our first big snowfall of the year last weekend.  We got almost a foot of snow in one storm!  Needless to say, the girls were anxious to get out and play in the white stuff!

Most of the time I sit in a chair and watch my kids play in the snow.  After all, they have way more energy than I do, I don't really like getting all bundled up, and I hate being cold and wet.  However, every now and then I do like to re-live my childhood by making snow angels.

I had a blast a few years ago when we took the girls sledding for the first time.  Tottie was too little to go down the hill by herself so Hubby and I had to go down with her.  At the end we were tired, cold, and wet but we all had smiles on our faces!

Last year there wasn't enough snow to really play in.  Needless to say, this year my girls and I were extremely excited about the near foot of snow.  I was looking forward to making snowmen with them and taking them sledding again.
Unfortunately, thanks to un-plowed and icey roads last Sunday, I got into a minor car accident on my way to work.  I ended up with whiplash and have been battling the pain all week.  No snowmen or sledding for me yet!

That's not the point of this post though.  The point is, you'd be amazed how much fun you will have and how much MORE fun your kids will have if you join them in the cold, wet fun!  This year, I will not be one of those parents who sits at the top of the hill and just watches.  As soon as my neck heals, we'll be heading to our local sledding hill and I'll be racing my kids to the bottom!  Maybe we'll make a snowman and some snow angels in our yard first!
Do you play WITH your kids in the snow or do you just sit by and watch?

Advent Calendar Making

I remember when I was a kid that I had an awesome felt Advent Calendar to use every year during the month of December. My grandma made it for her kids when they were young and it was passed down to me. Sadly, I have no idea where the calendar ended up (I sure wish I knew). I was thinking to myself that it would be fun to have one for my kids to use every year....and maybe pass it down to their kids. So I got to work!
I Google-searched 24 images of items I wanted for the calendar and printed them out on paper, then cut them out and used them as templates for the ornaments.
I made 2-3 ornaments each week during the summer and really tried to add as much detail as possible to the ornaments to make them extra special. I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. What do you think???

I made a stocking for each one of the kids

Santa, Christmas bag, Cardinal (for my grandma), Candy Cane

Christmas Tree, Hot Cocoa, Gift, Bell

Gingerbread Man, Ice Skate, Baby Jesus, Holly

Poinsettia, Snowflake, Light, Frosty the Snowman

Angel, Mitten, Wreath, and Rudolph

Decorated Tree

undecorated tree

Did/Does your family do an advent calendar?  Do you have special memories of it growing up?

Oh I wish I were a....

I wanted to share this fun song with you all. This is a song I remember my aunt singing to me when I was a kiddo and now she sings it to my kids via Skype. It is really easy and super funny. She made the kids these great "verse" flash cards so they would know what comes next.

Here are the words:

Oh I wish I were a little mosquito (mosquito)
Oh I wish I were a little mosquito (mosquito)
For I'd nippy and I'd bitty under everybody's night
Oh I wish I were a little mosquito (mosquito)!

Oh I wish I were a little bar of soap (bar of soap)
Oh I wish I were a little bar of soap (bar of soap)
For I'd slippy and I'd slidey under everybody's hidey
Oh I wish I were a little bar of soap (bar of soap)!

Oh I wish I were a little striped skunk (striped skunk)
Oh I wish I were a little striped skunk (striped skunk)
For I'd climb up in the trees and perfume up all the breeze
Oh I wish I were a little striped skunk (striped skunk)!

Oh I wish I were a little can of pop (can of pop)
Oh I wish I were a little can of pop (can of pop)
For I'd go down with a slurp and come up in a BURP
Oh I wish I were a little can of pop (can of pop)!

I've seen many other versions and verses of this but these are my favorite ones. Do you know this song? What are some of your favorite songs from childhood?

5 fun songs to sing with your kids (you might remember some)

Source

Say, Say Oh Playmate
Say, say oh playmate,
Come out and play with me,
And bring your dollies three,
Climb up my apple tree.

Slide down my rain barrel,
Into my cellar door,
And we'll be jolly friends,
Forever more - more - more!

Verse 2
Say, say oh playmate,
I cannot play with you,
My dolly has the flu,
Boohoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo.

Ain't got no rain barrel,
Ain't got no cellar door,
But we'll be jolly friends,
Forever more,more, more,more,more.


Miss Mary Mack
Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack
All dressed in black, black, black
With silver buttons, buttons, buttons
All down her back, back, back
She asked her mother, mother, mother
For fifty cents, cents, cents
To see the elephants, elephants, elephants
Jump over the fence, fence, fence
They jumped so high, high, high
They touched the sky, sky, sky
And didn't come back, back, back
Till the fourth of July, July, July 


Nobody Likes Me
Nobody likes me
Everybody hates me
Guess I'll eat some
worrrrrrmmsss
Fat ones, skinny ones,
oochy, goochy go ones,
Ones that squiggle
and squirrrrmmmm
First you cut the head off
Then you suck the juice out
Then you throw the
skin awaaaayyyy
Nobody knows how girls
can live on worms
Three times a daaaayyy
Boom ba de ah da.....
boom boom.

Miss Sue
Miss Sue, Miss Sue
Miss Sue from Ala-bam-a,
Sit-ting in a Roc-ker
Eat-ing Bet-ty Croc-ker
Wat-ching the clock go
Tick Tock Tick Tock Sha-walla-walla
Tick Tock Tick Tock Sha-walla-walla
A B C D E F G
Wash those germs right off of me

Mush-ka mush-ka mush-ka  Freeze

On Top of Spaghetti
On top of spaghetti,
all covered with cheese.
I lost my poor meatball,
when somebody sneezed.
It rolled on the table
and onto the floor.
I found my poor meatball
had rolled out the door.
It rolled in the garden,
and under a bush.
I found my poor meatball,
was nothing but mush.
The very next morning,
I found a bush,
all covered in meatballs,
all covered with cheese.
So if you have spaghetti,
all covered with cheese.
Hang onto your meatballs,
and don't ever sneeze.

Paper Ring Count Down to Kindergarten

My oldest starts Kindergarten this year and I can assure you he will not let anyone forget it. He has been asking me "when do I get to start Kindergarten?" for at least a year now. Now that we're in the home stretch for the first day of school I thought it would be fun to make a "visual" for him so he could really understand how much longer until that big day. (Well, OK to be completely honest- my mom gave me the idea!)

I made an old fashion paper ring counter for him. I found a cute school bus photo online and printed it out. Then I counted off the days until the first day of school and made a paper ring for each day. Starting last night he gets to tear off one ring before bed and when he gets to the school bus he knows it's school time! What fun! My mom even had a great idea to add to the "good ol' fashion paper ring"....mark off special dates along the way with big events so he has even more to look forward to. I added a special ring for "the state fair starts," "back to school shopping," "VBS," and "papa tractors house" (he calls my father-in-law papa tractor cause he lives on a farm.

The Evolution of the Dandelion

So my experience with my kids reaction to dandelions is similar to the way life changes much like the dandelion changes. Last summer my oldest brought me a handful of "flowers" for my kitchen. How could I resist such a sweet gesture?

First, you see dandelions as pretty flowers you can pick for your friend, teacher, or mommy. As a child reaches the age of 3 or 4 they soon learn that life is about love. They want to share their love and show it to you by picking pretty dandelions for you. You drive in the car and hear them joyously shout out "look mom!!! Lots of pretty dandelions." They have yet to be tainted by the evils of the world and and they see things in such an innocent way.

Source

Next, you see dandelions as these beautiful fluffy things that blow in the wind. They are different and often they don't see them as the same flower as they once were. Much like a child grows, they change and become a little person, rather than a kid. Its different and often the change evolves into something beautiful and totally different than they were. Often they see this phase as a time to watch the wind blow them in the breeze and find much enjoyment in that.

Cooking WITH your kids

I know this subject has been touched on before by many people, experts, and blogs but I felt it necessary to reiterate the importance of cooking WITH your kids.

Why cooking with your kids is important:

Cooking with your kids teaches them the importance of eating together as a family

Cooking with kids teaches them simple math

Cooking with kids teaches them problem solving

Cooking with your kids encourages them to try new foods

Cooking with your kids give them a sense of accomplishment

Make fun of cleaning

I've mentioned my grandma a few times before and how she was creative, clever, and fun. I have so many amazing memories of the "little things" in life that she turned into great things. Not long ago she passed away and while the pain of losing her is still raw I know that I am so lucky because I have so many wonderful memories to last me a lifetime.

One thing that she made fun was cleaning. Yes, you read the right, cleaning! She loved to sew and she had sewn me an apron that she kept in the top drawer in her kitchen (right next to her towels). On Sundays we'd get up and she'd open the kitchen drawer and pull out my little apron and tie it on. It's amazing to me that a simple apron made cleaning fun. I thought it would be really neat to "pass on the cleaning fun" to my daughter. I made her a special cleaning apron that I now keep in my top drawer in my kitchen right next to the one my grandma made for me.

When it is time to get some cleaning done I try and make a game or a race out of it. I hand my daughter a duster and tell her "hey let's race and see who can dust off the most window sills or heat registers." I set a timer for 10 minutes and then we go for it.

The point of this post is two fold really. First, I wanted to encourage you to make "fun of the little things" in life and second to remember that daunting tasks can be fun if you make a game out of it. I hope you will share some of your stories with us too!

Here are some links to some great FREE printables to help out with making cleaning fun!
Free Chore Chart
Free Cleaning Routine
Free Blank Cleaning Routine
Free Spring Cleaning Kit
What Chores are Appropriate
Free Chore Reward Chart

Coloring WITH Your Kids

The tag line of our Toys In The Dryer blog is "ideas for living in the moment with your kids."  The whole purpose of this blog is to get you interacting and doing things with your children.  We have a ton of fun and crafty ideas around here and we hope they inspire you.  However...sometimes it's not about the super cool, crafty stuff...sometimes it's just about time with your kids.

When was the last time you sat down and did something simple--nothing fancy, not a ton of supplies, not a lot of thought required?  When was the last time you did a craft or activity with your children instead of supervising them.  When was the last time you let your inner child out to play?

(Thanks to Hubby for taking this photo while I enjoyed time with my girls)

Early in this blog I did a post about cloud watching.  It's a great, free and fun activity that allows you to spend time with your kids.  Today, I'm encouraging you to color.  I'm not talking about getting out the crayons/coloring books and supervising your kids while they color and you do the dishes, sit on the computer, or do something else...No, I'm talking about getting out the crayons/coloring books and sitting down to color with your kids.   

Grab some crayons for yourself, relax, and let your inner child flow.  There are plenty of free online printable pages out there.  Just search "free coloring pages".  You can even find some "cut and color" pages for something even more crafty.  The whole point is to do a simple, frills-free craft that allows you to spend some quality time with your children.  You'll be amazed at the things you might discuss over this craft too!

Cloud Watching-- An Easy, Free Activity!

 "It's a turtle!"
"No it's not, it's a elephant!"
"You're both right, it looked like a turtle before it turned into an elephant."

Do you need a super fun activity to do when you are tired but your kids are bored?  Try cloud watching!  It keeps the kids occupied, gets the imagination going, is free, and best of all, doesn't require a lot of activity from the adult supervising!  It's a win/win situation!

You'll need a partly cloudy day (preferably when the clouds are moving a little).  If your kids don't mind getting dirty and up close with the bugs in the grass, you can simply lay down and start watching.  If your kids are like my girls and squeal at the site of a bug, you may want to put a blanket on the grass before laying down.  Now simply relax, look up at the sky, and let your imaginations run wild!  What shapes, animals, or objects can you find in the clouds?  How many clouds can you count?  What other stuff do you see in the sky (i.e. planes, birds...)?

Use cloud watching to not only relax with your kids, but also as a time to interact with them.  Along with questions about the clouds, throw in some questions about their day, how they are feeling, or even what they want for their birthday.  You'll be amazed at what things they may open up to during this quiet time!

Have you ever relaxed under the clouds with your kids?