Rinn Reflections

Today I'm linking up with 1+1+1=1 to share some of the fun winter activities Isaac and I have done over the past few weeks.  I'm not going to lie...last Friday, when our high was 77, I felt a little ridiculous working on one of these snowmen projects with Isaac.  We'd just come inside from a bike ride and were trying to cool off! 

Oh well..I'm hoping that we at least get a taste of winter weather here in north Texas like we did last year.  But for now, this is the closest to snow that we're going to get!

I made this winter sensory box using a lot of our Christmas decorations.  Isaac's favorite part was the "nose" (snow) in the bottom of the box, which was just extra fleece I had in my fabric drawer.

 Isaac made these snowflakes out of marshmallows, which I found here on this fun blog.  I tried to have him "glue one, then eat one"--but I'm pretty sure he ate 10 for every one he glued onto the paper.  :)

Isaac also did stacking....

and patterning with the different sizes of marshmallows. 

(Has anybody else seen these giant marshmallows?  My mom bought them over the holidays to roast s'mores, but we never used them.  After Christmas, she "donated" them to us...and they somehow just don't seem quite right to eat!  I'm not sure why--it might be the size, the texture, or the slightly gray color?  So, I decided we'd use them for crafts instead.)

My friend Holly introduced me to these large tweezers.  I've taken them out occassionally in the past few months and tried to have Isaac work with them, but he couldn't quite get the hang of it.  Last week, though, he was mesmerized by them!  I think this project of tonging the cotton balls and moving them into the egg crate was the quietest he'd been in days.  I love how intent he looks!

Last week Isaac glued cotton balls to make this snowman.  My friend Meghan "interviewed" her kids about the snowmen they made, and I thought I'd try it too.  I'd never done anything like this with Isaac, and I was surprised at his answers!  Here's what he had to say...

What's the snowman's name? Frosty Snowman

What does he eat? Carrots--Frosty Snowman eat the carrots.

Who are his friends? Carson and Santa Claus

Where does he live? Colorado

What does he like to do? Frosty Snowman read books.

What's his favorite color? Red--no, the snowman is red.

What songs does he like to sing? "Holy God Mighty"

Where does he sleep? in a bed

What toys does he like to play with?  toys

We also made a Spice Jar Snowman (idea from here).  (This was a great excuse for me to clean out my spices as I tried to find spice jars to use, too.)  ;)

On Saturday morning, we headed to the Fort Worth Zoo to have a day together to celebrate Dave's birthday.  From the moment we pulled up, we knew something was up...there were wagons, dollies, trailers, and families everywhere!  After seeing a lot of girls in Brownie and Girl Scout vests, we realized that it was Girl Scout Cookie pickup day.  Who knew that they held the cookie pickup in the zoo parking lot?!? 

Check out this picture...have you ever seen so many boxes of Girl Scout cookies in one place?

The good thing about it being cookie pickup day was that it was also Girl Scout cookie tasting day at the zoo!  We may have passed their tasting table more than once.  ;)  Dave told them that it was the "best exhibit" in the whole zoo--ha!

The "highlight" of our trip to the zoo was visiting the orangutan.  When we first saw him, he was laying down and eating a big pile of fruit.  Then he moved and laid right in front of the window through which we were watching him.  Right then it happened--he threw up all his fruit.  It felt like it was right in front of us--and it was--though the window separated us.  This event has really stuck with Isaac.  It's now been three days since we've been at the zoo, but many, many times a day Isaac says, "Mommy, bear throw up" or "Mommy, bear sick."  (Then he demonstrates how the orangutan--which he calls a bear--threw up.)  It is literally the first thing he says when he wakes up in the morning and from his nap.  We've tried to tell him that the "bear" is probably better now...so now he says, "Mommy, bear threw up.  Bear better?"  It's made for a lot of laughs!

Despite the bear/orangutan incident, we did have a great morning at the zoo!

Happy Birthday, David!  I am so happy to be yours.  I couldn't imagine a more patient and loving daddy for Isaac.  I am so excited to see what this next year holds for you and our family!  I love you!

We flew to Steamboat on Christmas Eve morning and had such a wonderful Christmas with Tim, Susie, and Michael.  After our disaster adventure of having to sleep in our vehicle due to a blizzard, I am so, so happy that we got to fly to Steamboat.  Isaac loved the plane and had so much fun pulling this little suitcase.  He was determined to do it himself and would not let David or me touch it..."I do Isaac's suitcase, Mommy" was what I heard over and over.  :)  He also kept saying, "Go see Nana in 'Rado!"

Tim read the Christmas story, and then Isaac got to put Baby Jesus in the manger.

Isaac's birthgrandmother sent a huge box of Christmas presents for him!  She had individually wrapped each gift in the box, and he had so much fun opening each one.  (He also had fun climbing in the box to find more gifts!)

 And, after we were done opening stockings, this is what Isaac did.  :)

 We had so much fun sitting around the tree and opening gifts.