It’s STILL Snowing
This week’s snow reminds me of my childhood and the tons of snow we used to get in Upstate NY.
This past Thursday we got 10″ of snow. On Friday, we maybe got another inch; Saturday brought another several inches. Today, its been dumping ALL day. The kids ventured outside to deliver cookies to the neighbors, only to fall over in the snow. Allison could barely walk without face-planting in the crunchy snow. Finally, I had to hold her hand to keep her upright. Katherine lasted a few minutes this afternoon playing outside with Steve.
Fairy Fudge
Katherine has been toting around her Usbourne Fairy Cookbook for the last several months, ever since acquiring it at a Trilogy book fair. Today she whipped it out and informed me that we could make Fairy Fudge with the new colored marshmallows in the pantry. It sounded like a good idea, so we tried it.
In case you ever get a hankering, this recipe calls for marshmallows, butter, confectioners sugar, vanilla and milk. My analogy is that it’s like making edible play-doh. We spilt sugar, sorted marshmallows and tried to make this fudge into the right consistency. It sat in the fridge for a couple of hours, and finally we were ready to roll (no pun intended).
Katherine made her two batches of fudge in no time flat. Allison, on the other hand, must have taken two to three times longer. Each piece of fudge was carefully cut with a cookie cutter and carefully laid out on wax paper. Katherine, looking over at Allison’s tray, kept asking, “Allison, can I have some of your dough?” or “Allison, can I help you with that?” Katherine was so intent on micro-managing her sister–showing her how to cut different colors of fudge to create flowers. They really enjoyed themselves.
The fudge is really something else–very, very sweet. In this case, it’s about the process or journey and not about the results!
Developmental Milestones
As you can imagine, we’ve been looking for activities to keep the kids busy. In Allison’s case, she’s been a puzzle maniac the last couple days. She’s now mastered Katherine’s 60 piece, ballerina puzzle. She’s dumped and put together puzzles numerous times each day.
Katherine is turning into a computer fiend. She’s made Christmas cards using MS Paint. She’s learning how to use MS Word, typing up her “Things to Do” for Christmas break. In the process, Steve’s taught her how to apply simple formating, print, undo, etc. Katherine can now hunt/peck on the keyboard, and I even saw her hit Ctrl-Z to undo! Tonight I went to my computer and found Christmas gift tags filled out in a document. She and Steve had gone to Office Online, found a template and filled out the tags for various family members.
Katherine asked a very interesting question last night, “How do you and Mama type so fast without looking at the keyboard?” We explained the concept of touch typing, which she was fascinated by.
The kids are also enamored with a new game called “Slamwich” that Katherine received for her birthday. It basically involves putting down cards, with the intent of capturing all the cards. The girls love to scream, “Stop Thief” and slam their hands on the pile. Katherine can be pretty competitive and a sore 6-year-old loser. Allison just loves to participate, taking her cards out slowly and turning them over–but not giving up her red onion cards. ๐
Violin Lessons
Allison is continuing to work on her violin lessons. We basically work on the bow hand, keeping it relaxed and tension-free. We’re also working on holding the violin properly under the chin, which takes a lot of work for a 3-year-old!
Allison can sort of play Mississippi Stop-Stop (4 16th notes + 2 8th notes). We’re working on string changes, which are kind of dicey, and a 8th + 2 16th note rhythm.