We had a very lovely Christmas, one to treasure forever. It was so low key and relaxing and I think that is what made all the difference. I did not allow myself to get stressed or pulled in too many directions and I did not allow myself to be guilted when I could not meet someone else's expectations.

I have been going back and forth between my home and my parents home with my hubby going back and forth between our home, my parents home, and his grandparents home pretty much all week. But despite all the activity we have managed to make it all work and get some much needed relaxation.

One way we avoided stress was to keep gift giving simple and put the emphasis on family time. For my extended family I bought Zazzle mugs with the kids pictures on them. For the kids we kept it pretty darn easy. My oldest son got a card game, the World of Zoo Wii game (for the console his grandparents gifted us), and a dreamcatcher I got at a thrift store. My daughter got an assortment of Haba play food, and the book Apple-Pip Princess, recommended by a reader. My youngest got an EverEarth Wood ramp racer. I didn't have to wake up at the butt-crack of dawn to put anything together either. I actually got to sleep in because the kids tired themselves out playing Wii (which they opened early).

I loved my gifts too.. a bean pot (wohoo!), a crocheted dish scrubbie, a mousepad with my kid's pictures, and books. My peeps know me so well!

At my parents house there was ham or turkey for every meal so I ended up eating lots of salad and my kids ate lots of fruit… it was rather nice though. I didn't feel any guilt when we didn't care to eat the main dishes and I never left the table feeling like a stuffed turkey.

At around noon on Christmas day my husband took the two oldest kids to his grandparents house. I opted not to go because I knew I would just end up shadowing my toddler all day to keep him from breaking all the figurines and tchochkes they have there. I saved us both the aggravation and just spent the day with my parents. I ended up lounging in front of a fire with a book while my toddler played. We took breaks to sip on hot cocoa or read some children's books every so often. It was HEAVEN! The book I read was The Daily Coyote… FABULOUS!!!

When the other kids came back the following morning we spent the day playing the Wii. My son loves the boxing, my daughter loves the bowling, and I love the tennis. Right away I can see that this gaming console is VERY different than most and I can truly see not being so worried about hours spent playing. I mean after an hour of boxing and tennis my arms HURT and I felt like I went to the gym. We also got some games that are educational in nature like the World of Zoo.. where the player gets to be a zoo keeper, caring for the animals.

All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas. It was all about love and togetherness with some gifts thrown in for good measure. It wasn't crazy… it was just fun.

How was yours?

Just one day after I posted about wanting snow… we welcomed our first snow and we celebrated the day by going sledding of course. We got our toboggan ready and away we went. And boy am I glad I scooped one of them up for $20 at a yard sale!

At first I tried to get out of a long drive by going to a cemetary nearby that has decent hills but alas they were not steep/fast enough for my brood. So we went to a park that has some very steep hills that relatively tree free. 

My oldest boy did a little running while pulling the sled and his younger brother. 

They stopped to check out the resting place of President Harding and his wife, which makes this an educational outing too I guess. 

Back on the slopes… these hills are MUCH better and they even found some people to race. Our wooden toboggan kicks plastic sled booty.

Looking forward to more snow days!

I love to sew but even I can appreciate simple no-sew craft projects. Since I was running short on time last week I didn't want to lug out the sewing machine to sew up some draft snakes so I decided to get creative, and now I can't see doing these any other way.

A draft snake is a tube of fabric filled with batting, fabric scraps, or another insulating substance like rice, or buckwheat. Actually rice and buckwheat are BETTER than batting or fabric scraps because the weight anchors them in place. You place draft snakes at the base of drafty doors to stop the air blowing in or on/in windows to do the same. They insulate your house and plug drafts. And they are SOOOO easy to make.

To make mine I went to a local thrift store and bought a couple pairs of girls cotton tights. Long socks, leg warmers and the arms of sweaters would work well too. Long socks and tights work the best if you don't want to break out the sewing machine though.

I took a pair of black, cotton tights and cut the leg area away from the crotch piece. Then I put a twist knot in the foot area. This wasn't actually necessary since the foot area was already closed but I wanted my draft snake to look like a tube… not a leg with attached foot, LOL. Then I used an empty mason jar to scoop rice out of a 25 pound bag and fill the tube. I like using a jar as opposed to a cup because I can fit the mouth of the tube around the neck of the jar and simply flip over and pour without spilling.

After it was filled to my liking, I placed a twist knot on the other end and voila!

It took all of 5 minutes to do this project and I ended up with 2 draft snakes. How easy it that???! The only thing left to do was place both snakes in drafty windows.

Hope this helps you find an easy, low cost solution to your own draft problem!

A new toy my kids have been enjoying and the neighbor kids have been itching to try. A Labyrinth Balance Board. It is a wood disc with a maze or labyrinth and it has wooden balls that you can nagivate through the maze by shifting your weight using your feet which are perched on each side of the disc.

I like that it is wood and therefore sustainable but I really like that it gets kids up and moving and working on their balance, agility, and problem solving.

I have posted about cardboard toys a couple times before.. I just love em! In addition to being fun they are essentially an eco friendly arts and crafts project as well as a toy. We recently got to review some of the cardboard play houses from the Imagination Box Company and while they aren’t as original as say the cardboard tree house or the castle we got this year… I am liking these better.

For one thing they keep it simple! The instructions on some of these cardboard toys can be very hard to decipher but these were assembled very easily. They are also throwbacks to more simple times. The cottage has a lovely ethereal, old fashioned feel to it with the cobble stone, wood framed door ways and windows, climbing vines, etc. It is exactly the kind of house a fairy (or me) would choose, so it made the perfect house for my daughter’s wooden fairy dolls.

Other cardboard toys we got came with markers and these toys came with watercolors paints. I love that. It made the decoration phase just a bit easier for the kids, cause who can stand to color with markers for 4-5 hours BEFORE you start playing with your new toy? My daughter spent about 2 hours painting her cottage and it was dry enough to play with immediately. Whereas my daughter colored only what was “in the lines”, she let her older brother do a little freehand flower on the roof of her house. If it were HIS house that blank space would be utilized in full.

We also got a one room schoolhouse which is another clever throwback. I often take my kids to historic schoolhouses for fun so I like this one a lot. But it has some modern touches that eco parents will love, solar panels and a recycling center.

As the company name suggests these are little units of imagination in a box. You get the basic framework and the kids (along with a parent) put it together, and then they can get to work decorating and designing. Then it can take them wherever their imagination wants to go. It has no doorbell that rings, it has no mechanical doors… the kids have to do the mental work and that makes these a couple of excellent toys in my opinion. Plus when they get trashed or tossed aside they can be recycled.