Celebrating Random Holidays in the Brrrr Cold

The past few weeks have been BLAH! Relentlessly grey, rainy, yucky, dreary weather in Belgium. Do I sound like Alex and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day? It is truly amazing how sunshine can impact your bones and your mood and your energy.

To make matters even more exhilarating our building lost all heat and hot water during a snowstorm this week. Thankfully it was only for 24 hours, but the not knowing of how long it would last is the hard part. It was freezing inside and it was freezing outside. So we donned our coats inside and found random ways to PLAY! Connor found my old glasses in the bathroom and decided to be a model. I can't believe I actually wore these - love the cat-eyed frames!Wearing our coats we rubbed our hands together to keep them warm.Our heating fiascoes took place on Groundhog Day. That morning Puxsutawny Phil popped out and saw his shadow, predicting another 6 weeks of winter. Great. I pulled out our Happy Meal Chipmunk prizes - they looked like good groundhog doubles to me - and we made our very own groundhogs.Connor colored and I tried to explain the Groundhog shadow tradition. It is bizarre when you come to think of it. She could only relate to her movie friends Tigger and Peter Pan who both spend time looking for their shadows.This coloring activity was one of the first times she kept focus throughout and concentrated on making a final product. Our little TP roll groundhogs turned out pretty neat. And for the record OURS did NOT see their shadow. We are bucking Phil's prediction and rooting for a quick end to winter in our home.Connor was in to making the groundhogs smooch! Look at her little lips puckering up too.The next day was "officially" Elmo's Birthday - or so said Sesame Street! Don't ask me how I know this, just came across something I read and I knew we needed to celebrate. I thought about what makes a bday party and immediately thought - CAKE! Googling "Elmo Cake" I found this....Hmmm. No way to get a special mold. And keep in mind boxed cake mix and canned frosting is nonexistent here. I also found these cupcakes online......and feeling ambitious with my red food coloring in hand, I decided to attempt a replica.I made cream cheese frosting and Connor helped me scour the candy aisle for orange nose lookalikes. At first I thought I would do white chocolate with raisin googly eyes. But that only produced a huge mess.They weren't "furry" like the cupcakes that spurred on my task, but they were friendly and fun just like Elmo.Brady came over with his Elmo and we sang Happy Birthday.Check out Connor's expression in the photo below!We made Elmo birthday cards too. I know the kids were a little confused about a party for a red furry monster, but they were absolutely adorable. Connor got red and black icing on every part of her body.It may be cold and dull outside, but we are staying colorful and bright inside!