Activity Menu Challenge

Andrea at Lifesong has challenged us to come up with some ideas of things to do this winter to combat the winter blues. I have decided to break my ideas into three parts.

• Since I am a stay-at-home mom my first list of ideas is things that Hailey and I will do during the day to help keep me from going stir crazy.

1. One day each week we go to babies and mommies story time at the library. It lasts about a half an hour and we get to hear stories, sing songs, play games, and I get to talk to other moms. In January Hailey will graduate to the toddler class, which still takes place once a week. After the class we spend time picking out new books and CD's to take home, we play with the puppets, do puzzles, and watch the fish in the aquarium. If the weather continues to be warm enough we will spend time playing on the playground too.
2. Another day we go to story time at Barnes and Noble. We hear stories, play games and sing songs. Afterwards we walk spend time looking around at Barnes and Noble and trying not to buy too many things.
3. Every other week we attend a MOPS group. Hailey gets to play with some kids her age while I get to have some adult conversation with the other moms.
4. The other days of the week we stay home. But, to keep things from getting boring I plan out activities for us to do. Much like when I was teaching I pick a theme for each week and I plan activities around that theme. When we go to the library we get books that relate the theme. I have found TONS of ideas for things to do with toddlers and preschoolers on this amazing site called Pamm's House. She is amazingly creative and full of ideas- all of which she shares for free.

Next are my ideas of things we can do together as a family either in the evenings or on the weekends:

1. Have a family game night.
2. Take walks together and enjoy the fall leaves and later enjoy all the Christmas decorations.
3. If it's too cold to be outside we enjoy going to the mall just to watch people. People can be so interesting to watch!
4. We have some great children's museums where we live- we need to start visiting those.
5. We have a membership to our local zoo, which is open all year, so when it is not too cold out we can go see the animals.
6. Play in the snow.
7. Go to things like Build-A-Bear and Color Me Mine.

Now for some ideas of things for me to do:

1. Get back into my scrap booking. I keep buying more stuff and printing more pictures, but I just can't find the time to sit down and work on my scrap booking. I am going to start working on this one night a week after Hailey goes to bed.
2. Read!! I love, love, love to read. But I haven't been doing much of that lately either. It's so hard to find the time. So, I am going to start giving myself a little time to spend reading on the weekends.
3. Take walk everyday. When the weather is nice enough I will take Hailey for a walk each afternoon. Once it gets too cold, I'll dust off the treadmill and start walking on that everyday.
4. Blog without feeling guilty. For some reason when I blog during Hailey's nap I feel guilty like I should be doing something else (like folding the piles of laundry). But, I need to have a little time to relax and do things I enjoy as well.

Well, I guess those are my ideas for now. Please check out the Activity Menu Challenge over at Andrea's blog for more ideas.