Are you and your little ones going stir-crazy yet? We are -- at least, we were yesterday. Today it's thankfully warmer, which means we can spend more time outside but when the temps were hovering in the low 20s? Forget about it.

It made for a long day but we did end up having a lot of fun in it. Here are a few of the crafts and activities we've been doing, to beat the homebound feeling.

1. Paint tie-dyed marshmallows.


A tablespoon of milk and 1-2 drops of food coloring made the paint that we used to decorate our marshmallows. Anouk and I had fun coloring them with (clean) paintbrushes and then set them on a paper towel until they dried. They looked lovely floating in our hot chocolate after we came in from the snow.

2. Make colorful ice balls.



A Pinterest idea that worked! We dropped 4-5 drops of food coloring in each balloon, then stretched it over the faucet and began to fill it veeeeeeeery slowly. Tied them off and stuck them in a bowl outside to freeze overnight. In the morning, we snipped the balloons off and had fun rolling our new treasures through the snow. (They took a long time to freeze, so putting them in the freezer might be a good idea to help them along).

3. Bake "snow" cookies.



I found this recipe ages ago by searching for dairy-free cookie recipes. It's actually from Weight Watchers' site (the cookies are 1 point, if you are interested). Anouk calls them "snow" cookies because of the sprinkling of coconut in the dough. I call them delicious. We were mixing up a big batch right as it started snowing on Tuesday, perfect timing. Find the recipe here.

What have you other snow bunnies been up to? Stay warm out there!

As soon as I saw our new house, I knew I wanted to paint the front door. The front of the house is pretty neutral, with grey-blue siding and black shutters, and I thought a pop of color at the door would be a little more visually interesting than the plain white door that was there.

Bright yellow was the main contender early on but after thinking about it, I decided a solid wall of yellow might get a little tiring to see day in and day out, especially when the door was open into our living room. After deliberating over colors for months I finally snapped and bought a quart of the first swatch at the store that I liked. It happened to be Martha Stewart's Wrought Iron, a sleek dark navy with just a touch of cobalt in it when the light hits it.


It's not a huge contrast to our black shutters but I like that you can see it's definitely blue. I think the dark-colored door makes the front of the house look a little more pulled together. Now I'm searching for the perfect mailbox to set off our new door and thinking seriously about what I'm going to do to that awning come spring...

What color is your front door? Black or white, or did you choose something else?

I've always been a little obsessed with the idea of snow candy, ever since I first read Little House in the Big Woods in third grade. There's a scene where Ma pours maple syrup over snow and little Laura and Mary eat it up. Last week, on our third straight day of being cooped up, when the novelty of the snowstorm was wearing off and the day's maximum screen time had been achieved, I decided that we might as well soothe our frustrations with sugar and see if the idea of snow candy translated into our modern age. And good news -- it did! (Only we had to use honey because we had no maple syrup in the house.)

Here's our recipe and instructions, based on the one found here.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla (or other flavoring)

MacArthur Mall's outdoor skating rink ended its season earlier this week, but that's no reason why you can't keep skating through the rest of the winter season. There are plenty of places in the Hampton Roads area where you can strap on a pair of blades and glide over the ice (or fall all over it, in my case). Here are five great venues to check out if you're looking for a dose of icy fun.

1. Chilled Ponds Ice and Turf Sports Complex (Chesapeake): The ice rink at this sports complex is open to the public for a few hours each day. The hours change by the day but there's usually one session in the AM and one in the PM. Click here to see their daily schedule.

2. Iceland Family Skating Center (Virginia Beach): Free public skating is offered several times a day, including some evening hours on Friday and Saturday. The $9 fee ($8 for 12 and under) includes skate rentals, a great deal (an even greater deal is the Groupon they're offering right now -- thanks Lisa for the heads up!). Here is Iceland's public schedule.

3. Hampton Roads IcePlex (Yorktown): Open skate is offered at this facility in Yorktown in the early afternoon, late afternoon, and evening, most days. Their Facebook page is full of great information and updates, so don't forget to follow them!

4. Norfolk Arena (Norfolk): The Norfolk Arena has both public skate and public hockey hours. Bring your military ID for a discount on admission.

5. Sullivan Square (Williamsburg): The only outdoor rink on our list, the Sullivan Square rink in New Town closes on January 26. So this is the last weekend to enjoy it. What are you waiting for? $7 gets you in and gets you skates, too.

Do you know of any other skating venues around #HRVA? Please share if you do.

Happy weekend!

Photo credit: Life with Zeke. 

One of the perks of living right by the beach is that you get to know it in all types of weather. There's the stormy spring beach-- the summer sunny beach -- the autumn beach, with the goldenrod growing in the dune grass. And the snowy beach in winter, quiet and austere.

When we woke up after last night's snowfall, James and I bundled Anne up, and then bundled ourselves up (we're talking two pairs of fleece leggings here, it was cold) and headed down the dunes to see what we could see. The wind and waves had blown and melted the snow below the tideline, but above it, there was a dusting of white caught on the grasses and the bark of the scrubby beach pines. The sand was frozen where the water had touched it, and heaps of frozen sea foam was mounded up on the jetties (looking a lot like whipped cream). There were little sandpiper tracks all over the white fluff, marking where they'd been.






Before too long we had to go or else we would have frozen solid. But I was awfully glad we went. It was a treat to see our familiar beach with its white cap on for a change.

This regular feature has suffered a little as I've tightened my purse strings -- both literally and figuratively. I'm trying to put away more than I spend, and only bring things I'm sure will be beautiful or useful or both into our new home (having to pack and move a ton of junk will do this to you. It's still fresh in my mind). So I haven't been shopping much recently, except for others, for the holidays. I did, however, poke into two new (to me) thrift stores in the past few weeks and couldn't resist bringing home a few odds and ends that I'm eager to show off.

The first shop we hit was Best Thrift, on Military Highway in Norfolk. It opened in October and to fully explore every nook and cranny of this huge former department store building would probably take me until next October.

I found these hand-made Chinese pants for Anne in the toddler boy's section. They're not in the world's most pristine condition but our playgroup is planning a big Chinese New Year party and for 89 cents, I figured they'd at least get one wear. I love the double row of piping on the pant leg.

In the book section, I found a stack of kids' books for a quarter apiece, and this old vintage Halloween book. I love the old-fashioned, two-color drawings.




One of my fave things about thrift stores are the giant grab-bags of craft supplies. This one had pom-poms, pipe cleaners, foam stickers, and wooden letters, my favorite yet.

What's best at Best? The kids book section, housewares (a lot of Pampered Chef stuff the day we went including a stoneware dutch oven), toys (Molly found a couple of brand new Ninjago sets for pennies on the dollar), and kid and baby clothes. There wasn't much furniture, but what they had looked good -- everything in the store was clean and in almost startlingly good condition.

The second place I explored (with my two favorite thrifters, Molly and T.) was the Habitat for Humanity store on Tidewater Drive, also in Norfolk. I went looking for some home reno odds and ends and was surprised -- I had no idea they also did the traditional thrift store fare, I thought it was all building supplies.



I found these burlap bags and tinier cloth drawstring ones hanging out on a random shelf. The burlaps were pricier than I would have thought (50 cents a pop!) but the little ones were about a million for $2.00 so I think it evens out? I'm not really sure what I'll use the burlap for (maybe a pennant banner, something like this?) but I've already got visions of next year's advent calendar using the small ones.



These IKEA Vivian drapes will replace the ones in our bedroom that are looking a little sad (I'm convinced the Vivian drapes are pretty much disposable, not meant to be washed or even touched much. But they sure are pretty.) They were full price but brand new and saved us a long trip up I-95. James, hopefully, when he saw them: "Did they have anything else on your list?"



The big surprise at Habitat for Humanity was the bins and rolls of fabric way in the back. I never would have thought to look for fabric but boy, was there a lot of it. Molly walked away with two full rolls of upholstery fabric for something like $10. I found a couple of yards of this chambray with eyelet embroidery, which I'll probably use to make a dress for Anne.



Another big score was this bamboo Levelor blind for $5.00. Brand new they retail for $50. That's a 90% discount! J. and I hung it up in our kitchen, which needs a LOT of work, still, and already the place looks more finished. I'm going to be on the lookout for one for our breakfast room.

And last but not least...a cookbook. I live for these cookbooks -- you know, the kind that were put together by PTAs and Junior Leagues thirty years or so ago? This one was made to raise money for the Ponchatoula High School band and features some amazing Cajun and Creole recipes and also this one for Sad Cake (isn't that an oxymoron?)



Things to look for at Habitat for Humanity? FABRIC, doors, furniture, books (a great selection of random titles for the latter) and leftover paint samples in every color you could think of, perfect for craft projects.

What thrifted treasures have you brought home recently?

Time for the first 12 in 12 of 2014! This month, the 12th fell on a Sunday, which means that our day was only very slightly different from an average day. When you're a SAH parent (or a WAH one), weekends don't really mean the same thing as they did before. It's like a weird version of Narnia -- always Friday, never quite Saturday.

We're pottytraining over here, which means we're also doing lots of laundry. Can you count the number of Anne's outfit changes in this one 24-hour period? Go! Also be sure to click over to No Monsters in My Bed and Not-So-SAHM to see how they spent their days.


8:00 AM: Due to recurrent bouts of inflammation, my eye doctor has decreed I have to wear my glasses as much as possible for the next few weeks. I will be OK -- but my vanity is suffering.



11:00 AM: After a lazy morning, we headed over to Hampton for our monthly(ish) brunch with friends at Conch & Bucket. Anouk was obsessed with her newest little friend, the 2-month-old Baby T. She even shared her Elsa doll with her, which is selflessness personified in Anne-world.


1:30 PM: Because we're in the area, I stop by Patrick Henry Mall on the way home to return a few things at Gap (and pick up a few others, of course). I buy most of my clothing secondhand, so being able to find items in multiple sizes seems like a luxury. P.S.: Can you tell what my favorite color is from this picture?



2:30 PM: This nap isn't going so well today. Anouk finally goes down but only after an hour of bargaining (and bribing).





3:45 PM: Bathroom: While A. is napping, I work on the back bathroom, which we're in the middle of painting. I wish we had before pictures because they were baaaad -- peeling silver flowered wallpaper and faded brown trim, yuck! This color is a little greyer than it appears in the photo -- a kind of sandy stone (It's Natural Wicker by Glidden, same as our bedroom, and I chose it primarily because we had an extra gallon of it on hand).


4:30 PM: Anouk has awakened and is running around the house playing a complicated game that involves 1) the cat, 2) my tape measure, and 3) a silpat. ???





5:00 PM: A few weeks ago, I took over the Fun and Free Hampton Roads blog on HamptonRoads.com. I spend an hour or so researching for upcoming posts. Lots of (fun! free!) MLK Day events coming up so be sure to click over this week. Not pictured: the giant basket of laundry behind my computer. #soprofesh



7) 5:30 PM: Thank you notes! While writing one to her friend Cade, Anouk draws her first A. "So he'll know it's from me." I might not be able to send this, I think I have to keep it.



6:30 PM: Brunch this morning was so much fun that we decide to have eggs and bacon for dinner, too. Look at that man of mine, cooking while I sit back and blog! I tell you, I like this photo.



7:30 PM: Of course we have to recreate the brunch Bloody Marys, too. And from then on, things get rowdy (AKA we watch multiple episodes of Call the Midwife while A. gets ready for bed.)

We've been enjoying all of our Christmas presents over the past few weeks but one of the big hits for us as a family has been a little unassuming board game -- a coloring game called The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse, based on a book of the same name by Eric Carle. Anouk got it from her Aunt Bonne, who has a knack for picking out some of the best presents. Thank you, Auntie B.!

The concept is simple: each player gets a handful of small drawings and has to take turns coloring them in. The one who finishes the first is the winner. There are very clearly defined rules (you can only use the color you are given at any certain point) but there's also a lot of room for creativity, too (you can color your drawing in any way you want). Which makes it pretty much the perfect game for the wiggly, I-do-it-myself toddler stage (though I think older kids, and even adults, would enjoy this game just as much. James and I can get pretty cutthroat over it, it brings out our competitive streaks.)






This is the first board game we've ever played with A, and it's gotten me really excited about doing it again in the future. What board games do you play with your family? And am I the only one who thinks there's something incredibly soothing about coloring?

Happy Monday!

My guest post about our visit to the Air and Space Center in Hampton went up at My Active Child a couple of days ago but I forgot to post it here! I guess my brain was moving slow thanks to the cold weather we were having. Anyway, we had a great time exploring and hope to go back soon! Click here to read more about our visit.

Have a great weekend! If you're looking for something to do, check out my post over on HamptonRoads.com's Free&Fun blog about some free historical events this weekend.