Hot chocolate – Mom on the go in Holy Toledo

From a very young age my mother taught me that I have options and choices in life. Of course there are the very obvious choices like what to wear in the morning, what book to read next, etc. But what she was referring to was how I chose to live my everyday life. I could choose to be very cynical, I could keep “score” of other’s lives, complain and compare myself to others, etc. or I could find the joy.

I Choose Joy!

Granted my journey to Joy has not always been smooth and there have been a few bumps along the way but I think that is just part of the human process. Every now and then I do have a moody moment and find myself caught up in cynicism. It is in those moments that I take a step back and reflect on the situation and evaluate the issues. I often find that the problem is fleeting and not worth surrendering my joy. Taking down the Christmas decorations is the perfect example of a task in life where you have the option of complaining, making it a neutral task, or finding the joy.

Truth be told, I had initially planned on taking down the Christmas decorations and tree when the kiddos went to bed. I figured it would just be easier that way and I could make certain everything was stored away properly. I started going through a box in our dining room that contained Christmas gifts we had received and in it was a bunch of Gingerbread themed items. My parents had given us the cutest basket full of nothing but Gingerbread men themed items like, a hot pad, tins, kitchen towels, large cookie pan in the shape of a gingerbread man, gingerbread books, cups, plates, hot chocolate, and so much more.

I figured I would just pack it all away for next year. Then it dawned on me that I, we, none of us, are guaranteed tomorrow, let alone next year. And then I repeated the phrase I say to myself every morning after first thanking God for another day…Live today as if it is your first, last, and best day of your life!.

So, instead of making the process of taking down the Christmas tree and decoration a boring and/or tedious task I busted out the gingerbread men basket and I chose Joy!

First we sat near the Christmas tree and had hot chocolate, chocolate cover gingerbread men, and talked about our favorite memories from Christmas 2012. I asked the kiddos to point out their favorite ornaments and I in turn pointed out mine (the ornaments the kiddos made of course, they are priceless…their little handprints, fingerprints, artistic expression, and I adore those that illustrate all three).

Then I read two books, The Gingerbread man and Ten Gingerbread Men. We discussed the books then put on some music and started taking down the Christmas decorations.

We had successfully taken something that could have otherwise been meaningless and put some joy into it and possibly came up with a great new family tradition.

So, no matter what it is you have to get done today. Maybe it is changing the sheets, washing the floors, etc. put on some music and try to remove the idea that it need be a chore, add a little joy. Perhaps you have papers to grade, work that you need to bring home, light an aromatic candle, make your favorite beverage and sip on it while your finish your work, and add a touch of joy. You have options in your life. Why waste this wonderful life you have been given on cynicism….what is keep you from your Joy? We are not promised tomorrow, why waste today?

How do you find your Joy?

http://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com/2013/01/the-homeacre-hop-3.html

http://gnowfglins.com/2013/01/09/simple-lives-thursday-129/#

http://www.cornerstoneconfessions.com/search/label/linky%20parties

Our kiddos nearly lost their minds when they saw the white precipitation falling from the sky. As the snow accumulated the kiddos’ anticipation intensified as they eagerly awaited the moment that they could go outside and play. So, after bundling up, unbundling, to use the potty, and then bundling back up again it was finally time to go out to play!

This year I decided to put together a Snow Much Fun basket for the kiddos and we are having a blast with it, so much so that I just have to share!

The Snow Much Fun basket consists of:

Snowman Soup (hot chocolate, chocolate chips, mint marshmallows, peppermints)
Snow themed activity sheets (educational)
Various pails/buckets
Spray bottle and squirt bottles
Food coloring

So first things first, I removed all the paper activities from the basket as well as the snowman soup. Then I placed water and a few drops of food coloring in the various water bottles. Placed them back in the basket along with the pails/buckets, and we ventured outside for some snow fun!

We had fun playing in the snow, making various things, such as the Very Hungry Caterpillar in the picture above. The spray bottles were easy for all three kiddos to us, ages 2-7, and the colored water did not stain (though I suppose it could if the kiddos turned the spray bottles on each other, so do make certain there is adult supervision).

Once the children’s cheeks started getting too pink it was time to head inside for some warm Snowman Soup near the fire.

As we warmed up we talked about the fun we had outdoors. It was also the perfect time to talk about precipitation, the effects snow can have on a city, the need for salt, etc. Then we decided it might be fun to do some of the other activities that were in the Snow Much Fun basket.

I had printed off an entire packet of lessons for our preschooler from Living Life Intentionally and we had so much fun completing the activities together. His favorites were the snowman mathematics and the Capital/lower case worksheet since it required bingo markers.

To print off a packet click here. While you are there be sure to take a second to peruse, I love that blog!

For our 7-year-old I came across a fun activity about compound words that introduced her to the Dictionary, remember that thing we used to reference before google…you know that ginormous book just gathering dust? She had to look up snow words in the dictionary and determine if they were 1 or 2 words. snow_compounds

And then for our toddler I printed off some fun activity sheets from Kiboomu. Click here to print off the Mitten Counting Sheet we worked on. Then she had fun making her own snowman out of cotton balls and construction paper.