On day three of the snow siege last week, I got an email from one of my friends stating, "What do you do with them all day!?  This is ridiculous!"  I laughed after reading that.  I definitely have those days.  What mom doesn't?  I think there's a huge difference from just having a normal day at home compared to being on lockdown in your house for five days.  That's right, we were in the house for five days.  I actually surprised myself and didn't loose my mind.   I think it helped a lot that Chris wasn't able to fly out that week and was stuck at home as well.  So, all four of us plus Cooper trapped in the house for five days.  We got out about once a day to walk the glacier that had taken over our neighborhood.   

So, here is how we occupied our time during those five days.

If your children love to read and look at books, I highly recommend the TAG reading system by Leapfrog.  Ella got one for her birthday and then one for Christmas and it has been such a great toy.  I am amazed how that little pen can do so much.  Ella has received the Leapster Explorer for Christmas.  Again, another great toy made by Leapfrog.  Can't say enough good things about that brand.  Great, education and fun toys.  

This is a game that Ella invented called Bumping Down the Stairs.  Bet you can't guess what this game entails.  It's fairly simple, the girls lay on their tummies at the top of the steps and bump down the steps.  Have no fear, it's not face first.  The fleece jammies are their uniforms.  As Ella explained, it allows them to bump down the stairs faster.  Of course it does.  We had about five or six outfit changes a day so they could get in their gear to play their new game.   

This was Maddie's pool where she took her bath.  This was day three so the crazy was starting to set in.  

One of my best friends gave this puppet theatre to the girls for Christmas.  I think it's awesome.  I can't get over how cute all the puppets are.  We broke it out for the first time during our week trapped inside.  The girls loved it and I did too!  We knocked the stage over a couple of times trying to fit our bodies through the stage hole but what play doesn't have some bumps along the way.  With a little more practice they'll be able to take their show on the road.





Playdoh!  Ugh!  I think just about every kid loves playdoh.  And I would bet that just about every parent hates cleaning it up.  My girls love it.  I tried to remember that when I was picking up hard little playdoh balls all over the kitchen floor days after we had played with it.



Getting ready to go outside yet again.  We did a lot of this.  Not sure if I could make it in a place that has snow on the ground all the time.  The prep time just to get the girls ready to go outside is crazy!



We applied a lot of lipstick (really it's just chapstick) since it was cold out there.  Not really, the girls just love it and probably apply it about ten times a day.

And so ends our five day vacation  where we never even left our house.  I'll leave you with the best quote of our time together inside.  Maddie and Ella were playing down in the basement and we overheard this;  Ella: "I'm sick" Maddie: "I don't have any medicine.  Do you want a doughnut?"  If you only knew of Maddie's love of doughnuts, it would make the comment even that much funnier.