a morning out

the kids and i enjoyed a free morning out!  i am starting to get back into a scheduled week and that is helping life come back to equilibrium - finally!  it is nice to be able to 'relax' and do normal, fun activities again instead of constantly feeling like i am behind and just operating in survival mode.

we started our outing with 10am story time at barnes and noble .  madelyn was in a twirl-y sort of mood so she wanted to wear one of her full skirted summer dresses.  she then selected striped tights (that didn't match in the slightest) to wear with it.  for warmth she wore her heaviest jacket and snow boots.  not totally weather appropriate, but not too big of a deal.

i always wonder what people think when they see us coming.  i don't know that anyone was too excited to have their kids sit next to madelyn because she has rubbed the skin between her top lip and nose raw (think red, hitler-style mustache) with her tissue wads, knocked the bridge of her nose on the corner of a table for a nice gash, was dressed crazy, still coughing, and had slept in hair with yesterday's braid.  oh well.  at least she is happy and polite in public (and at home too for the most part).

the lady at barnes and noble offered each child a sugar cookie and then read two books (i think they were called "diary of a spider" and "cows love cookies" - we had read the spider one before).  after the stories she handed out a sheet of stickers with scenes from the spider story, miscellaneous coloring sheets, a strip of paper paints, paint brushes, and little water cups.  the kids did a great job with the water colors and i thought that the strips of paper were ingenious!  i am pretty sure that it was nothing more than color circles printed on plain paper.  when the child dipped a wet paint brush on it - presto - water colors!  and then you can just throw away all the mess.  i think that this might be an idea for a future birthday party...

madelyn and mason painting away.

i was proud of this picture because the legs behind mason are mine.  i just held the camera over his head and snapped since i couldn't get around the bench to get in front of him.

after barnes and noble we loaded back into the van and headed across the street for a free craft at michaels - valentine's day puppets.  we got there close to 11am and were the first ones of the day (the event ran from 10-12).  i kind of got the impression that not a lot of people show up for the crafts.

since madelyn and mason were the only two crafters, they got a lot of help and attention.  the girl who helped us with the craft was great and even braided the 'hair' on madelyn's puppet for her.  and since we were the only ones, she threw in a bonus craft of picture stands made from clay, mini-cupcake wrappers, and pipe cleaners.

the kids would have stayed all day, but maddux was really getting hungry (and so was i).  we were probably there for an hour.  i was going to browse the craft supplies for home projects but maddux was working himself up so we had to go.

madelyn and mason had so much fun playing with their puppets at home.  i think that they were making them 'fly' through the air and chasing each other.  i really can't believe that the things survived the day!

i think that these outings will work their way into our regular routine.  love.