Snow Days!

As a child, I looked forward to those mornings when I woke up to a blanket of fresh snow. I would turn on the radio and wait anxiously as the school listings went from a to b to c, and finally to the m's. And when I heard 'Moberly School District' called out, my siblings and I would have a little celebration and immediately start planning our day...or go back to sleep for a while. 

Oh, those poor teachers. I felt as though we pulled a fast one on those teachers because they wouldn't have the privilege of teaching our wonderful faces that day. If I only knew then... Because as a teacher now, I realize there is more celebration on the teacher's part than the students' parts. 

For now, we have Monday and Tuesday off for snow. Although we have had two weeks off for Christmas, I feel a sense of relief. I was dreading starting back with a full week, so it works out nicely that we can gently ease back into it. 

I'll start off my post about my snow day with an adorable picture....

We were so worried because we were out of almond milk for Knox. And so was the grocery store. They ran out of all their milk in one day because of the storm and weren't getting more until Monday around 3. We were worried that Knox wouldn't be able to fall asleep without it. He proved us wrong yesterday when he fell asleep eating! 

Today, I went to work creating some fun inside activities for Knox. He loves being outside and, even when it's cold out, we try to take him outside for a little bit every day. However, when you hear on the news that you can get frostbite in 10 minutes today, we decided to keep him in. 

I made a felt snake using ribbon, a button, and felt scraps. He threads the ribbon through the slit in the felt pieces...still a little tough for him but he can get it if we help a bit. (Let me know if you want the tutorial...I'm feeling too lazy to look up the link!)

Next, I made a 'window painting' station for him. I put a few squirts of paint in a gallon ziploc bag, taped it to the window with duct tape, and he used his finger to make designs in it (see photo below). 

Finally, my favorite. Our friend, Ardith, gave Knox an awesome water and sand table for his birthday. Although we never got the sand to put in it, he LOVED playing in the water this summer. I had an idea to move it inside for the winter and use it as a sensory table. I've read that beans are way easier to clean up than rice. So I spent about $3 on a few bags of pinto beans, dumped them in, gave him some scooping tools, and it entertained him for a LONG time. Even as I'm typing, I hear him going crazy with the beans! 

 

You'll notice the paint on the window behind him. Also, take note of the 'big boy underwear'...aka cloth trainers. They are basically the cloth version of Pull-Ups. He's awfully proud of those. No, he's not potty trained. No, he's not even close. But he knows what the potty is, loves his new bottoms, and is making some gains toward it. I'm hoping he will go in his potty seat soon so he can make all the connections. Wish us luck!