Cool under fire

It's been pretty hot lately. Okay, not just pretty hot... Seriously hot. Ridiculously "global-warming-stinks-and-you-could-scramble-an-egg-on-my-forehead" hot. The last thing we want to do is play outside, so we've had to get creative inside.

(Setting the scene: It's 3pm. The girls have napped AND snacked. They're bored... and beginning to fight over their toys. There's grabbing and probably pushing-- Things are getting ugly! It's time to do some kind of organized indoor activity, but I have no plan for something to do and I'm not feeling particularly creative, so it's time to wing-it!)

"Okay, girls! Let's MAKE something! You want to??"
---Big, cheesy, open-mouthed Mom smile---

Avery nods and says, "Mmm-hmm!"

"What should we make, Avery? ...Let's make something for Daddy. What do you want to make?"

Avery thinks for a mili-second and then says, "How about.... SNOWMAN!"
---Sure! It's July... everyone does a snowman craft in July, right??---

So, that's what we did! :) We ate ice cubes and marshmallows and made snowmen out of construction paper. I cut out the shapes and helped Avery by putting the face on hers, but she did the rest herself. She loves crafts. Julia... does NOT love crafts. She successfully watched me build the basic snowman shape on her paper and then she wadded it up and bit the head. :/ Not a fan of the arts, that one. (You think I'm kidding? Check out the picture of Julia's snowman-- there's a chunk out of the head. In her defense... she was just having a rough afternoon. She became our sweet spirited child again before bedtime.)

But even with Julia's snowman assault and all, it was a good way to kill the afternoon and stay cool in the process. Both snowmen proudly hung on the fridge to greet Collin when he came home... Julia's looks a little battered, and Avery's a little surrealistic... but hey, we didn't break a sweat and that's what it's all about!