Snowman Day 2010

It's that time of year again...Snowman Day!!! In case you missed our first Snowman Day last year, it's a Rowe Family tradition that we are proud to take part in ;).

And this year did not disappoint! If only we had more time...we had SO many ideas that didn't happen because we flat ran out of time. Next year, we might just have to do Snowman Week!! But the best part of Snowman Day 2010, was that we were able to share some of our day with TWO of the original Snowman Day participants...Daddy and Aunt Sarah. Talk about awesome. So, here's how it all went down.

Here's our (ridiculously UNhealthy) Snowman Breakfast!! Aren't all those donut snowmen just adorable!?! (Even if I did forget the Milk Snowman noses). We had two really happy...and a little sugar shocked girlies on our hands!

After breakfast, we got right down to business. Sweet Aunt Sarah read us Snowmen at Night...it's always been one of mommy's favorites. Em noticed all the hidden snowmen and Hayden noticed all the balls!

Next we got busy building our very own snowman!! Of course, since it was like 70 degrees outside today, we didn't have any real snow to work with. So we headed upstairs to make our own version on our felt board. We were pretty thorough in designing our accessories and by the end of the day, our snowGIRL even had a purse and Starbucks ;). Oh dear.

We got dressed in our snowmen tees and headed downstairs for some Marshmallow Snowmen making! Emerson was working with glue and Hayden was trying to do the "lick 'n stick" version. Well, HK couldn't quite get past the lick part because those marshmallows just kept ending up in her mouth ;). Em did great with the glue...it was actually her first time to use anything other than a glue stick. And she named her snowman Mat.

Next we collaborated a bit to make our snow globe. Aunt Sarah and Em worked on making some snowflakes for it while mommy and Hayden worked on the snowman to go inside. If you look real close, you can see they tiny snowman painted with HK's fingers and the snowflakes cut out by Em. What great teamwork!!

I'd been saving "Frosty" on our DVR since Christmas and it was the perfect chance for the girls to get a little break and for Aunt Sarah and mommy to get ready for the day. I even let them have their lovies...which I never do during the day. Guess "Snowman Day" just made me a softie ;).

By this time, we couldn't stay indoors any longer...it was WAY too beautiful to not be out there! We needed to gather some supplies for another one of our projects anyway, so a nature walk was perfect. And let me tell you...those girlies were READY to be outside. My sweet little Hayden walked the entire block by herself and refused our help when we tried to pick her up. I think you can see the JOY on their faces!! Seemed wrong to be celebrating "Snowman Day" on such a warm day, but that's how Texas works ;).

Lunch time!! Our sandwich snowmen and banana snowmen weren't quite as detailed as I planned to make them, but those girlies were hungry and did NOT want to wait for mommy to doll them up. But they were yummy...so that's all that mattered!

When Hayden headed up for her nap, we got to work on our new scripture! God has really been speaking to us through this book and we've been so blessed by memorizing scripture as a family this year. Then I stumbled upon this idea on how to illustrate this specific verse. Emmy loved the idea of God washing us clean and I trust that He will continue to help her understand as He reveals little by little to her sweet heart.

Nap time!! The girls slept, Sarah and I had fun girl time!! I love that girl ;).

When the girls got up, we just had to have a little snowman snack! It was definitely a hit, though Aunt Sarah and mommy had to keep a close eye on HK because the look of it just screamed "choking hazard" ;). She was just fine.

Next we used some of the things from our nature walk to make these cute little stuffing snowmen. They didn't work out quite as well as I'd hoped, but mainly because I was trying to use some smaller containers I had available. Should have just stuck with the size they recommended. Though the girlies didn't seem to mind at all. They loved 'em.

Emerson loved playing with this snowman puzzle but I wish I would have made it a little more difficult. She flew through it and it didn't last long ;).

The girlies headed up to play with the felt snowman while we finished up on our special "Oh no!, the Snowman melted" potato soup. It was goo-oood. And our little Hayden loved it the most...tore it up!! I've never seen her throw it down like that and it was hilarious!!

For dessert, they got to play with "snow"...aka cool whip. They both loved it and loved getting messy ;). Thanks for the idea, Ali ;).

Sweet daddy cleaned up after dinner so that the girls could do a few snowman games on the computer. We did Starfall and watched some snowman songs on YouTube...Hayden's giggles make me think she loved it. And Em just kept telling me to do it over and over and over.

After a little family time, Hayden went to bed and Emerson stayed up for one more snowman game. She did great...only did about four letters this time, but we'll save the rest and play some more. She eats that stuff up ;).

Whew...Snowman Day WORE. MOMMY. OUT!! Glad we have a whole year to prepare for next year ;). And so thankful Aunt Sarah was here to help us out!! We had such a great day.

P.S. Click on the pruple links to see where I got all these ideas...they deserve the credit!

Turkey Day

Just as January needs a "Snowman Day", so does November need a "Turkey Day". And that's just what we had around here!! Here are some pics of our "Gobbly-Gobble" Day ;).

We talked daddy into hanging around for breakfast so that he could enjoy these precious little Turkey Waffles with us. Talk about yummy!!

And we posed with our "Thankful Turkey" one last time. We've been writing what we're thankful for on her feathers each night and love her cute little face (she doesn't know it yet, but we're having her for dinner ;)).

Then we got down to some Turkey crafting! First up were our Handprint Turkeys. It was impossible for mommy to get a picture during the process, but here's the after. Awww. Though let's just say that Hayden was NOT a fan of paint on her hand!

Next we spent some time playing with Turkey feathers...not really, but we were pretending. Emerson counted out 6 feathers and used hers to make a beautiful turkey. Hayden practiced throwing hers on the floor, saying, "uh-uh" and then putting them back into their box.

Then while Emmy practiced tracing the letter T for Turkey, Hayden and I played with the little turkey a bit. "Boble, Boble" as she would say ;).

We all read one of mommy's old teacher books...The Plump and Perky Turkey. So cute!!

When Hayden went down for her morning nap, Emmy and I did some of the activities that only "big girls" can do ;). And this one was my very favorite of the day...Sewing a Plump and Perky Turkey! We used yarn for the thread and made a "needle" out of a small piece of pipe cleaner. She did SUCH a wonderful job and I only had to help a few times. We both really enjoyed this one!

Next we made a Turkey Doorhanger. A little painting, teamwork, cutting and gluing and here it is! She like the painting part the most.

Computer time. We watched some YouTube videos of real turkeys making turkey calls and Em got a kick out of that! And we watched this silly Turkey Song. Over and over and over...she loved it!!! And we played the Turkey Game on Starfall too...not my favorite of all their games, but Em still liked it.

Hayden's up and it's snacktime!!! We made these Apple Turkeys and while I just expected them to eat the goodies on the feathers, once Em picked up her apple and took a bite, little sister wanted to do the same! I was worried about choking at first, but she has plenty of teeth and REALLY wanted to do it like Em, so we went for it ;).

We played a fun little game of "Hide the Turkey" using the "you're getting warmer/ cooler" method. Guess we're a little young for that. Em kept telling me..."you're warm, you're warm, it's in the shopping cart!" Too excited to wait ;). But we all had fun finding the turkey anyway.

Turkey Lunchtime!! First we had these cute little turkey sandwiches and then these yummy turkey cookies...super yum!!

While they were eating, I got our "Thankful Turkey" ready for dinner tonight. They were both SO interested in watching me peel and cut that thing up...and Em was a little worried about our poor "turkey" too ;).

One last Turkey before naps...a Spice turkey!! We used pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and nutmeg. Em liked how they smelled, but was NOT impressed with how they tasted. I believe "yucky" was the word she used. Ha! Hayden didn't really know what was going on, but she sure enjoyed pretending that she was shaking those spices onto the paper. I love that kid!

Naptime for my turkeys ;).

After naptime, we really spent the rest of the day in the kitchen. We made Turkey sugar cookies for dessert...well, Em and I did while HK ate the dough ;) and they turned out really cute. They don't necessarily look like turkeys, but they were cute anyway.

Emmy was working on this Turkey letter matching game when Scott came in so they kid a bit of it together.

And compliments of our very own "Thankful Turkey", we had this yummy Butternut Squash soup for dinner! It was a huge hit with Hayden and myself, but daddy and Em weren't huge fans. To be fair, I knew that daddy's isn't ever a fan of squash, but I really thought I could fool him. Not so ;). But we still had a wonderful family dinner! And wouldn't you know it, we completely ran out of time to finish our last few Turkey activities for the day ;(. Oh well, we might just finish them up tomrrow.

So goodnight from our little turkeys!!