The weather has been so startling. I’ve even done yard work. Yes, me! Jacked on coffee, sure, but nonetheless, there are muscles in my armpits that ache from raking. Being outside has given me a stab of energy, a feeling of poignant buoyancy that floats me through the day.

This afternoon I dragged the kids, kicking and screaming, to Tryon for a walk. They protest hiking, but once the boys are surrounded by sticks naturally forked in the shapes of guns, they run and run and run. The delightfulness is unstoppable.  Tess frantically grabs any stick and follows screaming “Wait Me!” Eventually I have to drag them, kicking and screaming, back out of the forest.

Making your own playdoh is way fun and easy and cheep. Using old funky broken kitchen tools from the thrift store is much more entertaining. A few nights ago I made playdoh with the kids and they stayed up late playing Operation Playdoh Planet, which was incredible fun.

Our playdoh recipe –

2.5 cups flour

.5 cups salt

1 Tablespoon Alum

Wisk those together in a big bowl

Mix  in a different bowl

3 Tablespoons salad oil (canola)

2 cups boiling water

Food coloring, glitter, and scents are optional but fun.

Mix the wet into the dry and knead on a well floured board until smooth and elastic, adding flour to your kneading surface often. The dough will absorb quite a bit of flour, so be prepared for that. The playdoh will last a month or so in a Tupperware type container.

I am dying to add some of these molds to our playdoh tools, but I can’t tell if the kids will love them enough to make the cost worth it. But they sure look like fun to me!

I’m losing my mind over here.

Yes, I was ready for a nice long holiday break from the school schedule. Yes, I loved hanging out with the kids at home all day doing crafts and hanging out in our pjs for days on end, stocked up on tea and Brett Dennen. But now, with the long weekend and the snow day last week and no school yet this week, I’m feeling crumpled and worn out. Snow puddles are melting on the hardwood floors and today I had to divvy up the last lonely packet of swiss miss into three tepid mugs, none of which were for me. The kids are stuck in whine mode and Tess has taken up crying for no reason in the night.

I foolishly decided to reorganize all of our financial records and now I don’t want to do it anymore, but I’ve already pulled everything out and made slippery piles on top of the bunny cage. I simultaneously want to push it all back into the box, and pull it into chronologically alphabetical stacks.

On a happier note - I loved it this morning when our whole family bundled up and we lugged the sleds across the street to the big hill and spent a happy hour with snowflakes pelting our cheeks. Dave’s childhood sled the ‘Speedy Dave’ was delighted to once again be cutting tracks.

Now that the madness and the rush of the season is over, we are left here with the clouds and rain on sleepy days when the earth doesn’t turn on the lights. I pull myself out of bed in the dark. Each second before I throw back the covers I have to talk myself into leaving the warm flannel nest to brave the house with heat turned down low.  Sammy rolls out much easier than I. Together we confront the stark lights of the kitchen, both of us blinking, me with an dirty lunchbox to wash and fill with carrots and a cinnamon raisin cream cheese sandwich and a water bottle, him with his bowl of Joe’s Honey Os.

Once the lapsang souchong has heated my throat and the heaters are knocking good-morning, the day has begun.

I am glad to fall into our mellow routine again, with quiet time in the afternoon. I am happy to see my chore list for the week ticked off slowly. Hearty soup with crusty bread and butter for dinner. Take down the Christmas tree. Fold the laundry. Make dress up capes for the school auction. I keep the TV off for the kids, pile up on new books from the library, and tell Sammy no more computer games this week. We begin reading The Enormous Egg at bedtime.  I am reading The Known World. Everyone falls into the familiar pattern easily.