Two Activities

Thanks to the influenza of near-death, we've been at home a lot more than normal.

A LOT.

Having been completely wiped out myself last weekend, I had no time -- okay, I had plenty of time, but no energy or mental capacity -- to plan our normal preschool for the week. By Wednesday morning, everyone was yelling at everyone pretty much all of the time, and it was high time for Mommy to kick it back into gear.  We ended up doing two reasonably fun activities:

1. I've seen this idea floating around pinterest for quite some time now, and it was pretty easy to execute. Pour some baking soda into a tray, set out some vinegar colored with food coloring, give each boy an eye dropper, and let them make their own fizzy fun. This kept Levi occupied for over an hour, and Owen for about twenty minutes.

It always amuses me, what you can see on my counters in these pictures. I'm such a mess.

Not very pretty, but lots of fun to watch the fizzing. Reminds me of the hot springs in Yellowstone National Park.

The next day, we went standard and threaded penne noodles and Cheerios onto string. Once again, poor Owen was limited by his developing fine motor skills. When I found him trying to eat Levi's necklace off from around Levi's neck, I realized that he needed and wanted more help in finishing his own necklace. Three minutes of undivided attention was all it took to calm that particular fight (and let me assure you: when one boy is trying to chew on the chest of another, there is a major fight involved). Unfortunately, I only got things calm enough to take a picture by putting Owen down for a nap, so you'll just have to marvel at Levi and imagine the rest: 

Since these two activities are pretty much the whole of what we did this week, I'm going to skip my weekend check-in tomorrow. I didn't even cook: a sweet friend heard of our plight when Isaac cancelled the Latin class he teaches and brought us a giant pot of chicken soup that lasted for three dinners. In the meantime, I'll just leave you with this post from Rachel Jankovic, who summed up my own bad attitude of the day week perfectly. Here's hoping for healthier and happier times ahead!