get moving! winter inside and outside.

This time of year is about moving as much as it is also about pulling in and slowing down for the dark cold winter. With two boys we have to keep moving, no matter the weather!

Both A and G have a lot of energy and love being active. For us that means that while we do still like to get outside in the winter, a lot of what we do is inside (it gets cold in WI in winter!). The challenge is to find a fun variety of things to keep it interesting without taking up much space in our small house. We do have some out of the house action - A has karate a few times a week and both boys take a private dance class together weekly. We also have many other ways to go go go right here at home.

• We have a small exercise trampoline in the living room.
• The boys love the yoga ball for balancing, jumping, and tricks.
• We have table tennis and electronic darts.
• We love active games like twister or wii sports.
• We have been known to rollerblade in the dining room and sometimes pull out a futon in the living room for gymnastics extravaganzas.
• Of course I can't leave out daily dancing to loud music. Every day!
• The boys have wooden crossbow and bow & arrow sets and a felt target for the front door.
• We try to get outside for a walk or to a park whenever the weather is do-able, even if for a short time.
• If it ever snows (!) we will be outside sledding and playing in that too!
• We have rings to mount in an archway (I just need the anchors!)

This month the boys decided they wanted to do a 30 day wiiFit challenge, and so the 4 of us are doing 30 minutes a day each of yoga, balance training, strength training or cardio. It feels good to get moving even when it is blech outside - and it is a necessity when our winters can be so long.

What do you do in the winter to keep moving and active? What is your favorite in the house get moving activity?

first snow.

Ah, first snow. We look forward to it every year. The anticipation and wondering when it will finally come. The air smells different. The birds huddle up in the bushes. The light changes.




Today we finally had first snow. Just enough to play in, build mini-snow people, throw around and do a few snow angels. Just enough to pull out the coats and snow pants and boots. Just enough to lay the garden down. Just enough to come in cold and wet with rosy cheeks and drink warm elderberry lemonade. Just enough to let us know winter is coming.






It will warm up enough to melt and we won't have anything stick for a few more weeks at least. But today was just enough.


Bon Hiver!

silliness.

At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a
kaleidoscope of new possibilities.
~Jean Houston



The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.
~e.e. cummings


Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes
your smile can be the source of your joy.
- Thich Nhat Hanh

Having fun and being silly is a good way to get through those dark gray winter days (and help a sick boy feel a little better)!
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giggles.

G working on a comic. About a very very gaseous hamster.
Need I say more?


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let it fly!

The boys woke up this morning with a cold, which for G means asthma attacks, the nebulizer, inhalers, and being home. So, today we were all about being pretty still, but having fun. After baking some cookies, the boys were ready to fold some paper airplanes!


We spent hours folding designs from our paper airplane books (we just picked up a new one over the weekend), reading diagrams, testing, re-folding, and working on getting the best flight from our planes.


Paper airplanes were launched down stairs, from on top of the couch or any other elevation in the house...distances measured, tricks compared.


Definitely a fun way to spend a not-feeling-so hot kind of day. And tomorrow? I think the boys might just have a few more ideas and design tweaks...



Want to make some paper airplanes??

Fold and Play Paper Planes, Dean Mackey

Super Simple Paper Airplanes: Step-By-Step Instructions to Make Planes That Really Fly From a Tri-Plane to a Jet Fighter, Nick Robinson

Cut and Fold Paper Spaceships that Fly, Michael Grater

breezy.

After weeks of really hot, really humid, really wet, and really bad mosquitoes yesterday was LOVELY. Sunny, warm, and breezy. We headed out to fly one of our kites.



Standing in a green field, under an intensely blue sky, watching your kite get smaller and smaller...oh, summer.



We have a trick kite that is fun - but it requires a few people to get it going and a bit of effort. Yesterday was perfect for the old-fashioned triangle with a loooong tail kind of kite (with 500 feet of line :)). Relaxing and fun - great for the perfect summer day.

You will find truth more quickly through delight than gravity.
Let out a little more string on your kite.
~Alan Cohen

to tuesday.

"If you never did you should.
These things are fun and fun is good."
— Dr. Seuss

street sports.

While A found the perfect sparring gear at a garage sale over the weekend, G found a skateboard. A has one he rarely uses but G did NOT want to ride that one, he wanted his OWN. He was so excited he found one, and when we got home he immediately looked for some gear to go with it so he could get right outside. A has the full set of pads for his rollerblading (the boys love gear) and we found some kneepads and gloves for G. The boys got decked out and went into the alley - A on his blades, G with his new skateboard.


As was expected the always graceful G stepped on and skated off immediately like he had been skateboarding his whole life (I knew he wouldn't need those kneepads, but he wanted gear!). He even had a few tricks down within 30 minutes. Sweet!


He wanted me to take some photos of him, and was pretty cute giving me his skateboarder attitude.


Of course this guy was pretty cute all decked out, playing street hockey with a giant plastic golf club he found. :)


Love it!!!

Wisconsin Winter Day.

Ah, the sun! Just in time for our sledding outing, the sun returned. Cold but bright blue sky and glorious rays. We visited farm friends who live near a rural sledding hill ... and a big one at that! The sun and cold after a week of crazy weather meant that the hill was pretty icy. Before we even could start sledding, one girl was launched out into the middle of the highway at high speed. A few minutes later another girl shot off into the woods and hit a tree *head* on. Her shrieks could be heard all the way at the bottom of the long steep hill. But, the boys wanted to do it. After that intro, though, they were relieved that we brought helmets for them...they could come down pretty fast without being too scared (although it was icy fast and they were a bit intimidated). The trick was to dig in the heels 2/3 of the way down to slow down and stop before being launched into the street at something like 35 miles per hour. We stood at the bottom to jump and catch the kids before the road if their heel brakes or the ROLL OFF THE SLED NOW!!! didn't work. They figured it all out after a run or two. Needless to say, the kids had a blast, and I didn't get any photos of everyone sledding. ;)


After a fun but exhausting hour or so of sledding (that is a long hike up!), we went back to our friends for some hot cocoa and play time. From there we stopped by one of our favorite cafes for an afternoon snack and a game of chess.


After a full day spent enjoying the winter weather, we headed home. The snow in the fields was so shiny it looked more like waves than frozen fields. So beautiful. Tired boys, good day.

Happy Winter!