Today was our annual Winter Event. When we started home schooling Ernie, I decided to do a quarterly party, like a class party. We invite a few moms and kids over (we had an even dozen kids today, ages 2 to 9.)
The girls were excited to help make the treats- got this sweet idea off Pinterest. Donut snowmen! I know, right? (Powdered sugar mini donuts, candy corn, and mini chocolate chips. Who knows WHY I stocked up on a bag of candy corn at the after-Halloween sale, but I'm glad I did!)
We did chores in the morning to get ready, and I did a blitz clean on the house after I finally got all three down for naps. I made a batch of our yummy popcorn marshmallow bars, and set out slices of bread with honey. We had construction paper, glue, scissors, stickers, markers, crayons, and pens on the table for kids to make valentine cards (and bags to decorate to hold their cards.) Oh, and googly eyes- I found a bag of them at the Dollar Store yesterday. So, so, so fun.
The party was insane- it's definitely a winter party! Everyone is so stir crazy. Somehow there were toddlers everywhere, it seems, and all holding powdery donuts or sticky marshmallow treats, or boxes of jelly beans. They kept sneaking away from their moms. There were kids banging on drums, kids in princess gear, kids running outside in rain boots, kids waving magic wands, kids playing with trucks, kids making cards, KIDS! I'm gunning for sunshine for our Spring Event- kids need space! So fun, though. The girls love these things so much.
I managed to make a no-brainer dinner (because I didn't have a brain left after this afternoon!) that everyone really enjoyed- I used the remains of a rotisserie chicken to make a really great pot of chicken stock that finished its 24-hour-simmer this afternoon. I threw in a sliced onion, some egg noodles, garlic, a bit of pepper, and some pinches of salt for a quick chicken noodle soup. So, so good. Perfect for a crazy day, and a house full of little people with little wintery sniffles.
(Have I mentioned that now ERNIE is waking me up in the middle of the night? No joke. I find her next to my bed, wanting to tell me she can't sleep. Last night I put an extra blanket on her at 12:30, and didn't see her again after that. Fingers crossed I don't find her in my bedroom tonight. Seriously, this is crazy. The night before, she was in my room at 4:00 am, crying and claiming not to have slept AT ALL. I know she slept, I checked on her before I went to bed, but she doesn't remember sleeping, and she's freaking out because "IT'S NIGHT AND I CAN'T SLEEP AND I'LL NEVER SLEEP!" I remind her that her only job is to be in bed and resting- if she doesn't sleep, she can sleep later. That's the beauty of it all- there's always another chance to sleep. Please, please, please don't stress yourself about not being able to fall asleep! She is a champion stresser, I can't imagine where she gets it. (*guilty*)
The girls were excited to help make the treats- got this sweet idea off Pinterest. Donut snowmen! I know, right? (Powdered sugar mini donuts, candy corn, and mini chocolate chips. Who knows WHY I stocked up on a bag of candy corn at the after-Halloween sale, but I'm glad I did!)
We did chores in the morning to get ready, and I did a blitz clean on the house after I finally got all three down for naps. I made a batch of our yummy popcorn marshmallow bars, and set out slices of bread with honey. We had construction paper, glue, scissors, stickers, markers, crayons, and pens on the table for kids to make valentine cards (and bags to decorate to hold their cards.) Oh, and googly eyes- I found a bag of them at the Dollar Store yesterday. So, so, so fun.
The party was insane- it's definitely a winter party! Everyone is so stir crazy. Somehow there were toddlers everywhere, it seems, and all holding powdery donuts or sticky marshmallow treats, or boxes of jelly beans. They kept sneaking away from their moms. There were kids banging on drums, kids in princess gear, kids running outside in rain boots, kids waving magic wands, kids playing with trucks, kids making cards, KIDS! I'm gunning for sunshine for our Spring Event- kids need space! So fun, though. The girls love these things so much.
I managed to make a no-brainer dinner (because I didn't have a brain left after this afternoon!) that everyone really enjoyed- I used the remains of a rotisserie chicken to make a really great pot of chicken stock that finished its 24-hour-simmer this afternoon. I threw in a sliced onion, some egg noodles, garlic, a bit of pepper, and some pinches of salt for a quick chicken noodle soup. So, so good. Perfect for a crazy day, and a house full of little people with little wintery sniffles.
(Have I mentioned that now ERNIE is waking me up in the middle of the night? No joke. I find her next to my bed, wanting to tell me she can't sleep. Last night I put an extra blanket on her at 12:30, and didn't see her again after that. Fingers crossed I don't find her in my bedroom tonight. Seriously, this is crazy. The night before, she was in my room at 4:00 am, crying and claiming not to have slept AT ALL. I know she slept, I checked on her before I went to bed, but she doesn't remember sleeping, and she's freaking out because "IT'S NIGHT AND I CAN'T SLEEP AND I'LL NEVER SLEEP!" I remind her that her only job is to be in bed and resting- if she doesn't sleep, she can sleep later. That's the beauty of it all- there's always another chance to sleep. Please, please, please don't stress yourself about not being able to fall asleep! She is a champion stresser, I can't imagine where she gets it. (*guilty*)
3 comments:
We are having the EXACT same problem with Molly. It got so bad that she would start stressing in the afternoon and it would get worse until bed time hit. I explained over and over that there is no rule that says you have to be sleeping, just resting. We tried everything!
We've been giving her 1mg of Melatonin before bed and it has done wonders. We tell her it's a vitamin and I plan to wean her off it.
What a great idea-
And super cute snowmen. =)
Love events of any kind.
Must be a phase becaue my six year old daughter does the same thing! She also has a terrible fear of the dark(and waking up alone in the dark at 2 a.m.) which my son had at this age too.
Post a Comment