Soup's On!

The weather has been appropriately Spring-like lately --warm and dry with very little wind -- perfect for playing outside.  There is a rush to get outside in the morning -- sometimes they have to be reminded to get dressed! -- and even Laurel heads for the door when she sees the boys going.  The squeals of delight as she chases the boys around the yard are enough to chase any clouds away.

Yesterday they boys put some snow in a bucket -- because they couldn't find any water -- and waited for it to boil.  "If we leave it in the sun long enough, it will boil Mama!" I was told ... still waiting.  When slush became "good enough", they added some chestnuts, grass, mud and whatever else they could find -- voila ... soup!  Today it was Laurel's turn to tend to the soup (which still hasn't boiled) and she seemed to take the job very seriously.   Here is what I learned:

Stirring is very important ...

... but sometimes, you just have to get your hands in there in order to get everything mixed up properly -- you know how it is.

 Then you need to taste it to make sure that the flavours are blending nicely.  Sometimes you need to taste it more than once ... if you want to make sure that it is perfect.

 

Add more of some things and remove the ones that aren't working for you.

 Get a second opinion when you are unsure if you've gotten it exactly right.

Perfect! Soup anyone?

Things That Make Me Happy # 10

Strolling around the Internet one day, I came across a blog post entitled "100 Things That Make Me Happy".  What a great idea, I thought as I scanned the list, so Fridays (or Saturdays, as the case may be) are now dedicated to things that make me happy!

Things That Make Me Happy!
# 10 Muddy Boots

Okay, it's not really the muddy boots that make me happy -- especially when they go walking through the house! But the fact that there is mud to be found (and if anybody can find it, they can!) must mean that Spring is right around the corner, right? In fact, the boys have spent many afternoons this week happily playing outside with their trucks in the dirt / mud. Not once did I hear the question "can we come in now?" that was so often uttered this winter. Instead, I heard: "just a couple more minutes, I'm not finished yet", when called for supper. Ahhh ... happy children playing outside!
Happy Spring!

Games, Games, Games!

Okay, so I have almost all of the Christmas gifts put away, but had to stop and take a picture of our stack of new games.  ALL these games arrived under our tree this year!  Yep, every single one of them.

It's kind of ironic that before Christmas I was lamenting about our collection of games.  Everything we had in the cupboard seemed either too easy or too complicated or seemed to get the "do we have to play that again?" response.  So the elves did they're best to update our collection and boy, did they do a good job!  We received some classics like Monopoly, Clue, Battleship and Twister (Owen's new favourite game!) and some co-operative games made by Family Pastimes (www.familypastimes.com) -- the concepts of which I am hoping will carry over into everyday life -- I can hope right?

I am now looking forward to many winter days curled up by the fire playing any number of games with any opponent that I can find.  Game of Snorta, anyone?  Thanks to all our Christmas elves!

The boys playing Snowstorm, one of the cooperative games, and -- surprise, surprise -- they're cooperating!