Rainy Days

For only being gone for a short bit of time, it took us a bit to get back into the groove of things this week. I started off Tuesday by working very hard to get all of our luggage unpacked and put away, and to catch up on a few more chores. Apparently, this wasn't the best way to start the week. Jayden was very irritable, and more difficult than usual. So, for the rest of the week I focused on activities. The weather was horrible, and Jayden begged to go outside from sun up to sun down every day. He already had the sniffles, so I tried to keep it fun inside. Easier said than done.
Gavin on the other hand has been as happy as can be. He wanders all of the house, and only gets cranky when he's hungry or sleepy. Plus, he's only been waking up 2 times a night this week (down from 4-10), and he's been napping great. We put a stereo in his room and have Michael Buble continuously playing...seems to work!
First thing Wednesday morning we went to get some Play-Dough. Jayden was thrilled because he plays with it all of the time at Grandma's house. We'd had Play-Dough before, but had to get it out of the house because Jayden wouldn't stop eating it when he was younger (Yuck, huh). He has played with it for hours at a time this week, definately a good investment!
I also thought it would be fun to recycle our old broken crayons. My sister gave me a Halloween muffin tin for my Birthday one year, and it made the perfect mold for new crayons! In case you haven't tried, it's very easy.
You simply grease a tin, and throw in the broken crayons. Bake until they're all melted...

And voila! Cool new crayons!
I also thought I'd introduce one of my favorite foods from childhood to Jayden, sugar sandwiches! Suprisingly, he didn't like them!We also made forts. This was a hit with Jayden, Gavin, and Jasper.

I tried to find a good mud substitute. Jayden loves digging with his tractors in the the dirt outside, and I know this is going to be one of the things he misses when the weather gets bad. I threw on his swim trunks and put shaving cream in the tub with his diggers. It was fun, but it didn't keep him entertained for quite as long as I'd hoped.
Gavin thought it was cool though!
Tonight we took the kids down to Bootiful Nauvoo. We wanted to get there in time for the Halloween Parade, but we just missed it! It was still a wonderful event, and we fully intend to go again next year.
There are hundreds of Jack O'Lanterns throughout the town. As it got dark, they really added to the atmosphere. There was a haunted house, but the line was over half a block long, so we skipped it. The whole downtown was open, with treats to be found everywhere, kids in costumes, and entertainment. I had no idea it was such a big deal, the sidewalks were absolutely packed down both sides of the street.
Nice and toasty!There were also picture boards throughout the downtown. Here is Jayden as the Headless Horseman!
And that's it for the week! I can't believe we had such a hard time with cold rainy weather already...I just hope we can survive this winter!

4 Response to "Rainy Days"

  1. Shelene Says:

    Kudos for all your cool ideas!!! I might be stealing some of them to keep my poor boy entertained as well. I especially liked the broken crayon idea! Christopher sure loves the play-doh too, especially with the Fun Factory. He and Jayden would have so much fun together!!!

  2. Shelene Says:

    P.S. Happy birthday yesterday! I totally spaced it off when I was on here last night... I hope you enjoyed your special day and that all your birthday wishes come true. :)

  3. Jordan@Me and My 8 Says:

    Aw so much fun!

  4. Anonymous Says:

    Chelsea, you're such a good mommy! I love your rainy day ideas. I've always wondered about the melted crayons but I've never seen them actually done - and the shapes make them even more fun looking! The shaving cream idea was really clever, too; too bad it didn't work as well as you'd hoped. Sugar sandwiches???!!! I thought Josh's ketchup sandwiches were disgusting! Well, maybe they still are more than sugar sandwiches. Tell Jayden he made a great headless horseman!