We brought in all the potted plants earlier this week, making room for them about the house, and today we cleared off our garden. The mornings and evenings have nipped cold and crisp, and I keep the babies inside for a while longer until the sun comes up and warms the blue October sky.

With the weather changing I have been trying to think of more toddler activities that can be done inside the house. What are we going to do all winter with the two little people who must always been exploring and experimenting?

Earlier this week I thought of making them playdough, but after I looked at a few recipes I realized I didn’t have flour.

Well, today I had flour, so when it was still in the 30-degrees Fahrenheit outside, and we were already getting bored, I decided to try again. I combined a couple recipes to use the ingredients I had in my cupboard for (hopefully) the best results.

Our playdough was yellow, pink, and peachy-orange because those are the colors that I like, and the children aren’t old enough to care. I got a stash of cookie cutters at a friend’s yard sale the other day, and Ellie especially enjoyed helping make shapes with them. After tasting the playdough once or twice, she decided she would rather not eat it, thankfully, and contented herself with punching and stacking. Teddy was not as interested in playdough and kept saying things like, “No aih-pane! No beah!” when I tried to catch his attention, and running away instead of playing with us.

When it warmed up outside, we put on shoes and put the playdough away in plastic containers.

But this evening when I needed to make supper, I found another benefit to playdough–they both played happily for quite a while, standing on kitchen chairs at the island and poking it with forks and taking it out and putting it back into the containers. Perhaps they felt like they were helping me cook.

A Question

I have a question for you, my readers.

I am considering running a series of guest posts on my blog. I have two different ideas currently: I might do one or the other or both.

My ideas come from a desire to use my blog for something more meaningful than just typing random stories from my life–I would like to include some of your stories too. I would like to add depth to the content here and draw women together by sharing more people’s experiences.

My ideas are as follows:

1. I would share a series of guest posts centered around stories and experiences with pregnancy, labor and delivery, and the newborn stage.
2. I would collect stories from women about their relationship with or need of other women at different stages of their lives, and how that changes over time.

I like both of these ideas, and I would love to contribute to either of them, but I want to hear from other people too. The first one might not be of interest to those not in the middle of child-bearing years, and I want to be sensitive to that.

The second idea stems from various conversations I have had recently with other women, about how so many of us want really good relationships and friendships, in all seasons of life, with those from different ages and experiences, but how we somehow struggle with that… I would like to hear other people’s experiences.

If you don’t mind sharing, please comment below and tell me what you would like to hear, what piques your interest! Or, even better, if you have an idea for a story or experience you would like to share, email me at alisonrosemartin@gmail.com. I would love to hear about it!

Stay warm and cozy this weekend!