Fort Cameron

So yesterday (the 27th), I decided to do something constructive with my kids. Literally constructive.

We built a blanket and chair fort.

Okay I built a blanket and chair fort.

And I had fun.

Here are a few tips I learned.

1) Use whats in the space. I built the fort around the TV. One of the walls is the play kitchen set. I used a card table and just a few chairs.

2) Drape and Clip. So drape big thin blankets and sheets, then clothespin them into place. Perfectly tight and somewhat more stable then draping alone.

3) Add something fun...a secret entrance. I blocked off every available crevice with toys and blankets. Then I used our purple crawly tube thing and ran it along the back wall directly into the card table. Only they can get in and out. Which, of course, makes it uber cool.

4) Never underestimate the power of pillows as design elements when it comes to tent forts.

Here is the finsihed product form the exterior.

And a view from the purple crawly tube thing.

Interior view. Feet optional, but I felt it added a personal touch.

They have spent hours and hours in the fort. What is it about blankets and chairs that makes everything more interesting under them?

Before, and after, and after...and AFTER!

Every once in a while, mother nature decides she needs to let us know who's boss. She has been doing that quite effectively of late. Allow me to share.

So this is what my house usually looks like.

And here it is..snowstorm number 1 in January.

Snowstorm number 2 at the beginning of February. This one blew in from a different direction and just drifted weird. Very weird.

And the dig out.

And some pretty "snow dunes" in the cow pen.

And mother nature's most recent tantrum. Nice drift. Again. Sigh.

He's sitting on a lawn tractor. And that's the drift. So glad I did not have to dig that out by hand, that could have counted for my aerobics for 3 years I think.

And the pile gets bigger. My kids think its awesome. A hill in Mercer County!

Icicle Art

So, I could not refuse. This "art" was in the alley behind the building where I work. I thought it was amazing...and rather pretty.

What we learned today...

• If you walk through snow drifts and then clean up flour piles in slightly damp pants your hemline pretty much turns into a paper mache project.
• I also learned that a 10 pound bag of wheat flour, when chewed open from the corner, makes a mess that take about an hour to clean up.
• The kids learned that buses can also get stuck in snowdrifts. And it makes you late getting home.
• Paul learned the word for soaking meat in liquid mixture containing oil, vinegar and spices isn't "serenade" its "marinade".
• Conner learned that when you pull really hard on window shades...they come off the roller and your mom suddenly becomes grumpy.
• We learned that if you find the spots in the snowdrift in your drive that are the lowest and plan a path that avoids the parts that are up to your waist...it makes an S shape around the garage and up to the house.
• I learned that only people in southern Mercer county use the word "yet" to mean "still" (as in "I have that movie I borrowed yet.") and that other people don't get it and get rather confused when you use it in a sentence.
• I learned that in text world mmkaa means "Mmmmm...okay."
• My daughters learned that its okay to use toilets that have blue water in them and that they aren't poisoned or broken.
• I learned that where the instructions on the mouse poison box say "Simply lift tab and twist off" is an exaggeration. Simply my foot.
• I learned from a young friend that she doesn't wear earrings in her ears or have a nose piercing because it would hurt too much...but the one on her lower lip didn't really hurt at all.

Curiouser and Curiouser...

Snow

So, I was trying to decide whether or not to cancel lessons tonight. I drove over to New Bremen, and on my way back, 119 in Maria Stein was fine, but the rest was only okay. Then I turned on my road. I was positive I was either going to get stuck in a drift or slide off the road avoiding one. I had been gone 2 hours by the time I got home, and where my can had been parked had(which was clear when I left) was now covered in a 18 inch drift. After I got inside, I had to go back out to get the garage door propped shut against the wind, and in the 10 minutes I was out there, the wind completely covered my tracks through the drift.

The kids are home. Again. I am over this snow thing.

Quote of the day

Ashlyn :(After coming in out of the snow and wind)

"The snow was biting my face mommy!"