I let them all stay home today. There's no way I'm gonna drive 3 kids to 3 different schools on opposite ends of town on icy roads. And it was 9 degrees again this morning.

The plan for today is that it is "Productive Day". This means that the TV is staying off for as long as emotionally possible and the kids have to find productive things to do and get along with each other while doing it. To me, anything is productive as long as the TV is off! This kind of day is only do-able when B goes off to work. Today's blog will be updated every hour or so. Let's see how well we do...

9am-10am W and J are playing with blocks. K is doing a yoga DVD in her room. W and J are now making roadways with the blocks with tunnels and bridges. K found her sketchpad and is drawing some of the snow-covered cars she sees from her window. Temporary break from blocks to dance to "Since You Been Gone" (K. Clarkson) on Radio Disney. K decided she wants to make homemeade pizza for lunch and planned that out with me and the Whole Food Vegetarian Cookbook. K made hot chocolate for J and W. They shared a big mug of it with 2 straws. K felt like cleaning the stovetop (?). W and J used the aforesaid straws to blow spitballs at me and K.
10am-11am - K is still cleaning stovetop (??). W and J put away all the blocks and cars and are now doing the beginner Tae-Bo tape (doesn't count as TV). K is getting bored. W went inside to practice Chopsticks on the keyboard (he's so determined to learn it!). J is still doing Tae-Bo. K is trying new haristyles, has the radio on quietly, and now just went in to help W. I read half of "Toy Story" to W. J and K are READING together!!!! J is reading "Chicken Soup for the Kids Soul" and K is reading more of the "Whole Food Cookbook". Now W went inside with them to read. K started on the pizza dough. W went back to play on the keyboard. J registered her Luv Cub online and browsed around the PBS Kids website - Reading Rainbow, which means books!
11am-12pm - W and I did laundry together. J scooped snow from her windowsill into a bowl to eat with W (kinda yucko, but hey). K ran across the street to MIL's house to "borrow" a can of tomatoes for the pizza. W and J looked for places on the globe then rolled the globe back and forth to each other. J played on the keyboard. J played with her baby dolls. W joined in. K grated mozzarella cheese. W played "Letter Factory" on Leapster. J played "Alice in Wonderland" on Gameboy. K started on the pizza sauce (from scratch!).
12pm-1pm - J continued playing Gameboy. W went on Disney.com and played a few animal games. K finished putting together the pizza and put it in the oven. I started another load of laundry and scrubbed the bathroom. J cleaned the toilet (???) and is now Windexing the mirrors with W. K is playing Gameboy. We all helped put together a big Fisher Price Imaginext pirate ship W got for Christmas.
1pm-2pm - We finished the pirate ship and then sat down to eat K's awesome pizza! K and J went into K's room to listen to music. W and I played pirate ship on the dining room table.
2pm-3pm - K and J put makeup on each other. W and I did some of an old Kindergarten workbook. He traced As and Bs and learned how to do a word-search puzzle. K went on the American Girl website and played Picture Pieces. I started a 3rd load of laundry and put away the first one. K and I started putting together the other Imaginext toy of W's (Dragon Castle). I found the instruction sheet online (B attempted to put this together a few weeks ago and gave up, and lost the instructions). W played with the little medieval men. J is tired and laying down.
3pm-4pm - I finished putting together the dragon castle for W. That was really hard. J and K both resting in bed for about 15 minutes and now K is teaching J how to knit. (K learned from MIL last year).
4:20pm - Ok, I cracked under pressure. The TV went on. 10 minutes later, no one was watching it! LOL! I swear they only like it on for the background noise. Hey, not a bad day for not being able to go outside. I learned a lot today. Now J is playing with the dragon castle, K is on the phone with her friend, and W fell asleep. MIL made soup for us (yay!) so I'm picking that up in an hour or so. B is working late all week but is off on Thursday for a doctor appt. It's back to the old grind tomorrow. I'm off to go play Rummikub with J and K now.